Gonzo planning to release subbed shows same day as Japan airing

[Beat]

...Hell has frozen over. This is something I've heard as a potential solution to marketing issues, but one I never thought would be implemented.



Worldwide, same-day streaming of new titles on YouTube, Crunchyroll, BOST (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-03-21/gonzo-works-to-be-streamed-simultaneously-with-airing)

The Japanese media company GDH (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=1279) has announced (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2008-03-21/gdh-to-offer-worldwide-online-release-synchronised-with-japan-broadcast-for-new-gonzo-titles) that the YouTube, CrunchyRoll, and BOST online video (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-03-21/gonzo-works-to-be-streamed-simultaneously-with-airing#) services will be streaming new titles from GDH's Gonzo (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=395) animation studio — worldwide and on the same day as their Japanese broadcast. The video streams, which will be in Japanese with English subtitles, will start with The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8746) (pictured at right) and Blassreiter (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=9069) anime series. Druaga premieres on April 4, and Blassreiter premieres on April 5. All three video services offer their content via streaming, although GDH also mentioned "fee-based download of high-resolution movie files" in its press release. America's Viz Media (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=4552) offered (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-05-03/viz-to-offer-death-note-downloads-via-direct2drive) NTV (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=834)'s Death Note (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=4354) episodes for download within half a year of their Japanese broadcast, but GDH's new initiative is the first global, simultaneous streaming of multiple series from a major anime studio. GDH added that its "decision to provide its content globally in parallel with Japanese broadcast is an effort to offer equal accessibility and new viewing opportunities to fans around the world, while at the same time showcasing a legal online alternative to illegal file-sharing (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-03-21/gonzo-works-to-be-streamed-simultaneously-with-airing#) and downloading." GDH also emphasized that these services are for foreign viewers only; the company already has deals in place to stream its content through services within Japan.



Cut out the middleman, and get paid for it? Sounds like a win-win. Now let's see if anyone else takes the initative and does this as well. Imagine legal eps of Naruto Shippuden out the same week they air in Japan.

[GWOtaku]

Wow, this is certainly big news. I think I'll give Druaga a chance when it arrives.

[FlyByNite77]

Holies Crapppppp

I am shocked :eek:

You know the more I think about it, I wonder what impact this would have on the NA american distribution companies should this actually succeed and other japanese anime producers start doing it. I think having sanctioned subbed releases and the option to purchase a high-res to d/l and save would somewhat devalue the series before it was released by a dub company.

But this is something I've always hoped for, I always said if there was an option to be able to sign up and view these animes and just get subs I'd be there. Even if these shows are crap I'm going to be there to support this experiment.

[macattack]

On a scale from 1-10 on the "Holy Crap" meter this has to be at least a fourteen.

I knew this was going to happen someday but I didn't know it was going to happen now. As usual, Gonzo's a bit ahead of the game compared to everyone else.

This makes me wonder, though, how this will impact licensors and dubs in the future.

The way anime is going to be distributed is never going to be the same, and this is a sign we're knee-deep into the transition to . . . whatever it goes.

[beren]

good move, these guys just made themselves a mint.

[Tash]

This was the obvious solution from the beginning: outspeed the subbers.

[Beat]

This was the obvious solution from the beginning: outspeed the subbers.

How many of these subbers are now applying for jobs in an attempt to go legit?

It's interesting to think about. Obviously Engrish is bad, and you need someone with an interest in the material to sub it. So who do you hire?

[Tash]

Obviously Engrish is bad, and you need someone with an interest in the material to sub it. So who do you hire?
Professional translators!

[Beat]

That's true in a lot of cases. I'm just reminded of incidents in the technology sector where hackers and others were eventually bought on to work for firms.

There's still a ton of maybes and possiblies in all of this.

[Katsumara]

This is pretty awesome news indeed. Will be interesting to see how the fansub community reacts to all of this. I can see them saying "I'd rather stick with fansubbers, or fansubbers > official subbers. dvd subs are horrific."

[garfield15]

So this is the big news that I heard about on crunchyroll

[beren]

I would guess the vast majority of people who watch fansubs don't really care what the source is. Thats why there is always such a rush to be the first group to release, imo anyway.

[garfield15]

So, um, why did it take nearly 20 years for a company to finally figure this out?

[GWOtaku]

posted by Katsumara:

This is pretty awesome news indeed. Will be interesting to see how the fansub community reacts to all of this. I can see them saying "I'd rather stick with fansubbers, or fansubbers > official subbers. dvd subs are horrific."If anyone makes that argument, they can have the "fan" part of "fansubbers" taken right out of their title as far as they are concerned. With an arrangement like this, there is no excuse at all.

In regard to whether this puts licensing companies in trouble, I don't think so. I'll always prefer home video releases over streaming video as long as dubs are good and TV's are able to offer a better viewing experience than my computer screen. Even so this is huge news because it eliminates the wait for fans and saves the industry lost money, which is a win-win situation. And because this is legal distribution, I imagine companies could observe total views and sales for the high-quality video and have a good metric for what kind of potential a given title would have in the United States or anywhere else.


posted by garfield15:

So, um, why did it take nearly 20 years for a company to finally figure this out?Er, that's a very faulty statement. Easy digital distribution has only been a possibility for about seven years. In fact arguably less, when you consider that it took youtube for easily-accessible online video to really take off.

[garfield15]

Oh, my bad, I was including like hong kong subbed videoes and stuff.

But seriously, with the rise of youtube, why did it take so long to figure this out.

[Sparticus]

YAHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! *dances the dance of joy*

Come on Sunrise! Hop on the bandwagon - we wants us some legal Gintama!!!! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[Captain Highwind]

Ad space is the band-aid for every marketing problem. :)

[Mr. Anime]

Now THIS is more like it. This is what I have been thinking really needs to happen in order to fight fansubbers if anime companies want to be serious about it. Fansubs have demand for two reasons: 1) they're free and 2) they're fast, compared to the minimum several month wait it takes for anything to reach the US in "official" form.

This is free, fast, AND official. This is just the beginning. Get ready folks. The new era in the anime industry starts now.

[Gatomon41]

Talk about preemptive strikes!

[Rolling Cloud]

Hey, if the subs are good quality, I won't argue. :anime:

[Jacob T. Paschal]

And then, our heroes from the Allied Great Kingdoms banded together for one last ride into the battlefield, their newly devised super weapon in tow...

[bigdeath]

Wait, are they serious? Its free and ava at the same time as the airing. NO WAY! YES! OH GOD YES! :anime:

[Scirel]

As someone on another forum said, It feels like this is Gundam 00 and the fandom has actually made a real impact in the situation like a small group (CB) achieveing a hereforethought impossible goal(eradicating war/ official fansubs).

[Rud]

I might actualy join a religion after this, i just have to figure out which god is responsible for this great news.

[bigdeath]

If only this could be for code geass second season. Then she could your goddess: ;)

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh315/bigdeath111/R2CC.jpg

[River26]

Gonzo is probably doing this to weed out the possible unofficial (and I might add; "fake") subbers that plan on doing these animes. You've seen the article with FUNimation joining Gonzo right. Well, Gonzo is now taking it into their own hands with this.

[Karl Olson]

good for gonzo, though i hope DVDs/hard media doesn't go the way of the dinosaur. i'm probably a bit of a dinosaur for saying that though.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

I wonder if these translatioins are done by FUNimation's team then, considering how tight the two are right now...

[Dogasu]

This is pretty awesome news indeed. Will be interesting to see how the fansub community reacts to all of this. I can see them saying "I'd rather stick with fansubbers, or fansubbers > official subbers. dvd subs are horrific."

That is probably exactly what's going to happen.

Next thing you know, we're going to have fans demanding free subbed episodes before they air in Japan.

[Beat]

That is probably exactly what's going to happen.


That IS what's happening. Most of the replies seem to be moronic crap like "give me a soft-subbed mkv any day" or "our fansub quality is way higher than any official stream."

Jeez...

[GWOtaku]

I don't give a damn what stupid internet nerds say, the subber reaction is what matters. Any fansub group with an ounce of integrity will stay the hell away from these shows.

[River26]

I don't give a damn what stupid internet nerds say, the subber reaction is what matters. Any fansub group with an ounce of integrity will stay the hell away from these shows.

Oh, I dunno. I kinda like some of these shows. Mostly like with the announce of Blass Reiter.

[GWOtaku]

Well, right, I like them too, which is why I'll watch/buy the legal subs.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Oh man, it'd be so sick if TOEI teamed up with FUNimation to release One Piece's recent episodes subbed. So, frick'n, sick.

[River26]

Well, seeing they're under the Gonzo label. Most of them'll probably get handed over to FUNimation. But with Romeo X Juliet, I hope to hear someting from FUNimation soon.

[Lutochris]

This sounds very good, but there's a few questions I have:

What's the quality of the translations and the subs themselves going to be? Since it's apparently being handled fully by Japanese parties, will the subs have the same quality as a typical fansub? Also, will the downloadable episodes allow you to turn the subs on and off? These are all things that your typical fansub watcher will be concerned with.

How will the streaming eps generate revenue? Will it be only through ads on the websites, or front-loaded ads? I'm wondering because they mentioned Youtube, and as far as I know Youtube doesn't support these kinds of ads. Also, sometimes the front-loaded ads can be a pain. Also, will they have enough bandwidth to support the streaming at any given time? Again, if it turns out to be an ordeal to watch the streaming eps people will still flock to the fansubs.

Finally, what does this mean for dubbers? While there's still obviously value in their product (high-quality DVDs vs. computer screen, dub vs. sub), but how will the market respond? Will people buy dubs of series they've already seen in sub?

Definitely a step in the right direction, hopefully they get it right.

[Tash]

That IS what's happening. Most of the replies seem to be moronic crap like "give me a soft-subbed mkv any day" or "our fansub quality is way higher than any official stream."

Jeez...
They say that now, but the truth is that most anime fans just go for whichever sub gets out first. As long as there are no super-speed subbers on the series, it should be fine.

[Lutochris]

Any fansub group with an ounce of integrity...

You use that phrase like it's not an oxymoron.

[GWOtaku]

Via ANN, here's some details on the services Bost is offering:


The online anime distributor BOST TV has announced (http://www.bosttv.com/news/story/29/) today that it will offer downloadable copies of anime episodes, in addition to streaming. Each episode will still cost 100 BOST points (the equivalent of US$1.99) to stream online for a two-week period. However, under the new system, the same 100-point fee will now pay for both the stream and an unrestricted downloadable version. According to BOST, the downloadable version will have no digital rights management (DRM), so users can play the download on video-capable Apple iPod media players, the Sony (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=406) PlayStation Portable game console, or a personal computer.

To promote its new system, BOST is offering the first two episodes of both The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8746) and Blassreiter (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=9069) for free to all users who are registered by April 2 (Japan Standard Time). (Druaga will premiere on April 4, and Blassreiter will premiere on April 5.) BOST has not announced the resolution and specific file format of its downloadable episodes, or whether the new download system is retroactively available to people who streamed episodes before today.

[HellCat]

I'd be amazed if Sunrise gets on board with this. Given they're the ones who feel episodes should be split into 4 chunks (OP, part 1, part 2, ED) with each part costing $5.

[bigdeath]

good for gonzo, though i hope DVDs/hard media doesn't go the way of the dinosaur. i'm probably a bit of a dinosaur for saying that though.

Nay, hard copies are never going out of style especially for anyone who has had a hard drive fail on them (which erases everything you have on it, very traumatic).

[Ultra8]

Nay, hard copies are never going out of style especially for anyone who has had a hard drive fail on them (which erases everything you have on it, very traumatic).

Gotta agree with that.[speaks from experience]:crying:

This is quite interesting news, Blastrieter looks interesting and I'm looking forward to the one based on the Tower of Druaga.:D

[DrTooth]

See what happens when you have internet pirates? You find a way to beat them, satisfy fans and make money legally. Look at how long it took them to do legal Mp3's.

Now if only Toei didn't have a humoungous spiney stick up their backsides and could do this as well. Especially with older, more obscure products to help gauge their popularity, and to see if it would be profitable for a real US launch of those titles.

[EscaflownePilot]

Maybe I'm just growing to that point in life where new technology that threatens what I'm familiar with is scary and unnatural (although age 21 seems to be a bit early for that, isn't it?) but quite honestly, this whole trend scares me for a good number of reasons.

For one, I'm with Karl Olsen in preferring high quality hard copies (complete with the art of good professional packaging and mastering) over digital distribution (which never adhere to the more strict requirements of hard copy formats like VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray and can instead be in as many odd, horrid formats and quality levels as they exist). There are always safe guards that can be implemented with digital distribution (like the Xbox Live model of "once you buy it, its yours to download again if you lose it) and likewise there are vulnerabilities to hard copies, as well.

But, there's just nothing that compares to the level of profession that it takes to make a good hard copy (as opposed to digital copies, which any hack encoder can create) or the feeling of having a physical copy in your possession. Sure, you can include liner notes and extras and the like through pdf files and what not, but it never has the same feeling as having the real thing, in your hands. Nor does having a hard drive full of anime compare to having a bookshelf full of tangible DVDs to point to.

Of course, there's no saying for certain that hard copies will "go the way of the dinosaur", but when you look at how much the CD industry struggles with the advent of digital downloads, both legal and illegal, and then apply that same model to the anime industry, which is already struggling heavily, and it's hard to see HOW physical copies of anime could survive if this model takes off.

Second, I'm worried that as more Japanese studios like Gonzo cut out the middleman for one thing here or there, they'll be much more likely to cut out the middleman completely and go the Toei route of distributing everything yourself. Except, unlike Toei, they have the chance to succeed now as they all are quickly grasping what the US market demands out of their releases.

This is troubling because it has the potential to do away with the FUNimations and ADVs completely, and setting in their place much bigger, more business driven companies like Toei or Sunrise, which means we have fewer and fewer Lance Heiskells or Matt Greenfields or what have you - the people that are fans of what they're doing, for the most part, and embrace the community and their ideas, for the most part. A large part of what makes anime in the US so much fun is that, in addition to the great content, there's also a (mostly) great community of fans, from the inside out. Direct distribution by Japanese studios threatens to cut out a good, and arguably the most important, part of that community - the fan driven licensors like FUNimation.

Finally, there's the principle of bastard hack sites like CrunchyRoll that thrived and profited off of illegal anime streaming - a large part of what's bringing the industry to ruin - being rewarded for their horrible behavior. This is basically proof that if you get a few thousand people to rip DVDs and download fansubs and put them up in terrible quality on a streaming service, without going through all the marketing and licensing costs and sheer hard work the anime licensors go through, you'll in turn get rewarded by given legal rights to first run streams of new shows for free. Tell me where in hell that sounds justified?

I don't know, am I the only one who feels, in a way, threatened by all this? There seems to be universal elation to all this, and I'm happy to see fansubbing and piracy stood up to, but I still can't help but feeling uneasy about it all. Am I right here, or am I just feeling like a cranky old man amidst all the noisy rock and rap music who just wants his old jazz records back?

[GWOtaku]

I think you raise some legitimate concerns, but the music analogy isn't perfect. With music, the product is precisely the same whichever method one uses to purchase it. Therefore online distribution easily wins, since folks can pick and choose what they want and take it on the go easily.

Video is a different matter. It demands more attention and isn't as friendly for casual use as music. Furthermore, quality and accessibility becomes an issue. Its well and fine to watch a stream of a show and be able to play it on an iPod if you want, but if you want quality you're going to want to see it on TV unless you have a high-class computer screen. There's also the matter of English dubbing. A lot of fans want to have a good dub, and English translation is still going to be necessary for anime to even be considered for TV deals.

As for crunchyroll, I completely agree about it and I will never support that operation. It'll be youtube or Bost TV for me.

[Sparticus]

I agree with ya on the hard copy stuff, Escaflownepilot - I like having the DVD or Manga too - I DO read scanlations, but I go out and buy the manga when it's available here/when the budget allows. It's how it's meant to be read and, extra features are a blast. What's annoying is region encoding - as far as I'm concerned, the entertainment industry shot themselves in the foot with that one.

But I have to disagree on the streaming - it's kind of like having a really awesome antenna. Having lived most my life watching stuff over the antenna (the broadcast quality was hit and miss, depending on what the weather was doing, of course) streaming stuff seems like the logcal next step for broadcast anime - and a good chunk of anime IS broadcast - anyone within range of the tower with an antenna and a tv can pick it up for free. It may not be the best quality, but that's what DVD's are for.

As for the middle man? It's a toss up - this will likely hurt those companies that are slow on the uptake, edit something to death, and/or do poor dub jobs. I doubt it will affect companies like Funimation because they are made of awesome. :)

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Agreed, hard copies are the way to go but right now this appears to be a momentary solution to a age old problem...