Anime retailer Right Stuf has been acquired by Sony/Aniplex

https://www.rightstufanime.com/post/right-stuf-has-joined-the-crunchyroll-family

by davidhaymond • 4 years ago

70 58 4 years ago

I suspect that with the consolidation of players in the anime streaming and merchandise spaces in the west, we will see western values increasingly pushed into the medium, as many voices are unified into fewer bigger ones with increasing financial influence.

I'm not particularly excited for this as the big players have already demonstrated themselves to be conservative and censorious when it suits in other areas. I think we're on the edge of the hollywood-ization of the medium. Crunchyroll has already been apparently involved in the production of a bunch of programmes, and was directly responsible for High Guardian Spice, which I think few people have anything nice to say about.

krapp2• 4 years ago

That might be true if "western values" (whatever that's supposed to mean) were a primary determining factor in what anime Westerners chose to watch, and if it were still the 1990s when things like cigarettes, guns and LGBT relationships were routinely cut out of anime for Western release. But looking at the MyAnimeList page for Summer 2022 anime[0] I don't see signs of the "hollywoodization" you're talking about. The selling point for these services is immediacy, not censorship.

[0]https://myanimelist.net/anime/season

superchroma4• 4 years ago

Right, but immediacy is already solved. The streaming side is solved by platforms already, and the translation side is solved by having a sweatshop of translators and maybe eventually algorithms to help, too. We've had immediacy for some time now, already.

Moving on, I don't think you will see changes prominently on anichart or MAL anytime soon; the point is that it's gradual and more subtle than that. Crunchyroll was already involved with 60 productions apparently. Conceptually, in a hypothetical "worst case", they could have been influencing artistic choices for each of those programs. We do know they did one: High Guardian Spice is a particularly explicit example of an anime deliberately constructed to western progressive specifications. A lot of people are rather unkind about it, but that's really immaterial; what it really is is a clumsy first attempt at end-to-end control of the anime pipeline from script, to production, to distribution. They didn't find a winning formula with it, but they'll keep trying because there's too much money on the table.

So, I do think that this change in tone is imminently about to happen. Weatern values have already been injected in other forms in localized content too, e.g. in our uptightness about certain types of expressions of sexuality (e.g. that which is perceived to be pervy; e.g, the infilling of "boob-windows" and covering of midriffs in localized games), and with activist translators who deliberately whitewash phrases they find problematic and also who select progressive translation choices over neutral ones.

The bottom line to me is that the money men have zero interest in the integrity of the mediums in which they dabble. As you note, there's precedent; in the 90's, it was 4kids dubs which routinely butchered shows, sometimes extremely. The nature of the interference will change with the standards of the day, but the fundamentals don't.

aidenn03• 4 years ago

I think the point GP made is that it doesn't matter what anime Westerners choose to watch, it matters what anime the fewer number of players want to license.

[edit]

I personally don't think that will be an issue because I don't see Netflix turning down an anime that Crunchyroll refuses to carry...

dotnet00• 4 years ago

At the moment the extent of it is mostly that sometimes dubs or subtitles are changed by overeager translators trying to leave their mark, in the process changing the meaning or intent of the dialog. Rough examples that come to mind are changing jokes that can potentially be interpreted as sexist or even less justifiable cases of changing dialog for the sake of adding in meme language like "sus". There are also cases of trying to get rid of features of japanese like honorifics because of the samewhat strange assumption that western audiences can't be expected to understand them, despite them being pretty normal to the anime community. Personally I also miss the approach that older fan subtitles used to have of including TL notes for things that don't necessarily translate cleanly, it was a nice way to respect the original material.

For now, it doesn't really have too much of an effect since Crunchyroll and Netflix's subtitles already don't really have a good reputation. But it's certainly a sign that if they could get away with it, they'd definitely do more.

_notathrowaway• 4 years ago

I don't buy it. For better or worse Japanese studios have proved time and time again to not really care about the west. Just look at how expensive and hard it is to import their (usually not localized) stuff. Japan lives in its own isolation bubble and western values are of no concern to most Japanese people.

ThrowawayR2• 4 years ago

That seems rather out of touch? The vast majority of TV broadcast anime series every season are licensed for simulcast by streaming services in North America and that has been the case for several years now. At a casual glance at the TV tab of https://myanimelist.net/anime/season/2022/spring , I think at least 2/3 are licensed by western streaming services. There's enough revenue that they can't afford not to care.

antonymy• 4 years ago

Netflix and other streaming platforms have made inroads into anime production committees, but you are correct in that so far very little overall impact is seen in the industry. The Japanese domestic market is still the chief driver of demand for new anime, and success overseas doesn't seem to really inspire a response from most of the anime industry. I wouldn't say they're "isolated", since the market has been penetrated by the west, it's more like they're indifferent to western money.

I think Aniplex is in a position to change this, but the difficulty is going to be luring the studios since money doesn't seem to have as big an impact as one would expect.

quartesixte• 4 years ago

What might happen is a return of the original Anime market and (hopefully) more steady pay for animators.

The Japanese domestic market is dominated mostly by Manga, Light Novels, Visual Novel, (and now Gacha games) anyways, with Anime mostly being a cherry on-top for those things. Occasionally there will be a good adaptation or a good original Anime product but the industry’s been suffering a little bit. This new cash infusion might be healthy and allow for enough animators to be paid a livable wage that lets them go off and do crazy adventurous things as they advance in their careers.

ihuman3• 4 years ago

They're already proving your point by immediately removing 18+ items from the store https://www.rightstufanime.com/removed-items-faq

_23sd• 4 years ago

The money is definitely trending that way. The Association of Japanese Animators publishes yearly data on industry trends [1], and their data shows a stagnant domestic market and a booming overseas market from 2014 onwards. International revenues overtook domestic in 2020.

However, focusing purely on anime ignores the rest of the creative pipeline. The most popular anime series are based on manga or novels, and even though the western licensing business is growing again, it's still small enough that manga and novels only get published in English if it's already a hit in Japan. That may help keep anime distinctly Japanese even with all this money flowing in from around the world.

[1] https://aja.gr.jp/english/japan-anime-data

rendaw• 4 years ago

Manga is also done by one or (maybe) two people, rather than a committee of like 50+. This means you get a clear vision and individuality shines through.

iratewizard2• 4 years ago

I hope they never get any real influence and are recognized for the useless gatekeepers they are. Crunchyroll, for example, throws some of the worst Tumblrina translators at pretty much every show I've seen from them. They inject their own loser personality into the characters by completely changing the meaning of their words. Not only does it alienate people who haven't really watched much anime from getting into it, but it also prevents learners from getting good top-down language listening practice. Once it's translated by Funimation, Crunchyroll or Netflix, I don't think I've ever seen it get properly translated by a fansub group. They are a blight that to disappear into obscurity.

JetAlone• 4 years ago

It's not just going to be hollywood-ization or western values, this is the flavour of globalism we're getting in most of the world for the current age.

I don't like it, and the only thing I can really do about it is create my own stories and art in my time off when I feel lonely/unheard and share it with the people I'm allowed to be in contact with.

inawarminister• 4 years ago

Do you have any links for your works/space? I'm interested.

I'm usually active in spacebattles, at least the old-style fanfic writers do still output gems now and then. Like Worm and some others.

teg4n_• 4 years ago

Why the hell are they punting erotica to a different store. God I hate this major corporation puritan bs.

revscat2• 4 years ago

It's universal, too. I don't get it.

trothamel• 4 years ago

It seems to be enforced by the credit card companies and processors, who likely charge more to process transactions for companies that involve pornography. (Probably due to the spurious chargebacks.)

jandrese• 4 years ago

I remember having to slice open part of the catalog to get to the adult section. That must have been 20 years ago now. I'm actually impressed that they managed to survive the transition to streaming.

superchroma4• 4 years ago

Sony has been strongly against it for some time. They have previously demanded that game studios like XSEED censor their games to allow a western playstation release (e.g. senran kagura's "intimacy mode") as part of an effort to clean up. A cursory search reveals this had happened to a number of titles. I've seen many examples of Nintendo doing the same.

Apparently they're also targeting extreme violence too, which I hadn't heard about. https://www.gamepressure.com/newsroom/playstation-censorship...

It's disappointing that Sony et al feel that they have a right to control the user in this way, albeit unsurprising. Fundamentally, consoles aren't open platforms, and principled user rights advocates shouldn't support them.

lovich• 4 years ago

It's disappointing that Sony et al feel that they have a right to control the user in this way, albeit unsurprising.

Do they have to produce content they don’t want to have a hand in making?

btown• 4 years ago

It's common to joke about the puritanism coming from the major-corporation side of these acquisitions, but in fact Funimation's ex-CEO Gen Fukunaga, years before Funimation was acquired by Sony, himself founded a Christian film studio and hired former Senator Rick Santorum to be CEO [0]. The two companies shared office space [1] and at least one common staff member outside of leadership.

Of the venture, Santorum said in 2013, "This is a tough business, this is something that we’re stepping out, and the Devil for a long, long time has had this, these screens, for his playground and he isn’t going to give it up easily.” [2]

[0] https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2014-01-24 (second Q&A)

[1] https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2013/08/02/rick-santorum-chr...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R63yutg7cjo

iandanforth• 4 years ago

I'm shocked, shocked to find religious extremism as the root cause.

aidenn03• 4 years ago

I'm old enough to have ordered anime from their catalog, back when your choices for Anime were driving to a big city that had a specialty store, getting it from a catalog, or copying fansubs on VHS tapes.

[edit]

I forgot "random anime tapes that got thrown in the children's section of your pre-blockbuster VHS rental store." as another way to find anime.

dragontamer• 4 years ago

Hmm.

A lot of my favorite anime still come in from Hidive / Sentai Filmworks. I really enjoyed "Ya Boy Kongming" for example. And Sentai Filmworks are the current owners of When they Cry (2006) and Fate/Stay (2006).

I'm definitely worried about consolidation wiping out the competition. Then again, I hope people can give Hidive / Ya Boy Kongming a try. Its basically an idol anime crossed with Chinese Romance-of-the-Three-Kingdoms / Zhuge Liang as the manager, and my favorite anime this year so far. Give the first episode a try, there's ~3 songs in there. If the songs match your musical tastes, you'll probably enjoy the show. And yes, that's a Liu Bei reference. (Liu Bei visits Zhuge Liang 3 times before the young tactician agrees to join Liu Bei's cause. This parallel's young Eiko's journey as an idol, as she sings three times before Zhuge Liang is convinced to help her). Its actually an excellent mix of subtle Three Kingdoms stories with a good idol anime.

Crunchyroll/Funimation merging, and Sony/Aniplex all being involved here is convenient for sure, I like a lot of what they do. But anime has a lot of niches, and one mega-company will inevitably have blind spots over time. Most of my favorites are in Crunchyroll / Funimation and even Aniplex (Ex: Oddtaxi, Madoka, Dragonball Z/Super).

ihuman3• 4 years ago

Hidive and Sentai Filmworks aren't independent, either. AMC Networks (the channel, not the movie theater) bought them about half a year ago.

davidhaymond• 4 years ago

Ya Boy Kongming looks fantastic and I absolutely plan on subscribing to HIDIVE later this year. I have a lot of Sentai Blu-rays and I hope they continue to license good shows.

unsignedint• 4 years ago

Hidive's catalogue is definitely smaller compared to its competition but especially if you are after slice of life type shows, it has pretty good coverage. (I used to have both Crunchyroll and Hidive, but dropped Crunchyroll when they raised their price.)

Honestly for some reason, I'm finding myself watching less and less anime anyways and instead I'm bit more inclined pursuing different activities. (I used to watch at least 5 each season, but only anime I'm watching this season is Made in Abyss...)

norwalkbear• 4 years ago

Monopolies and industry consolidation should be illegal. If only Congress would do its job.

Throwawayaerlei4• 4 years ago

Here you're saying the founders and owners of Right Stuff Inc. should have very limited rights to cash out, to turn their illiquid shares of their company into money. My father used to have a subspecialty in this, it's very hard for typical private companies, so much so he'd generally get a 1/3 cut for accomplishing it.

One very real alternative is just shutting down when the founder get too old to run it.

electriclove• 4 years ago

Sell it to someone.. anyone else..

Anime retailer Right Stuf has been acquired by Sony/Aniplex

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