Ask John: Should Consumers Buy Individual DVDs or Complete Sets?

Question:
I like collecting my anime in complete series before sitting down for a great day (sometimes two) and watching the complete series all in one shot. A friend of mine likes to watch his anime the same day he gets the DVD and says I am kind of stupid for buying an anime and not watching for it months while I wait for the rest of the anime to come out. What do you think? Am I wasting money? And do you prefer to watch the entire series at once?

Answer:
As a private fan, I think that you should watch anime at whatever schedule most pleases you. As a representative of the American anime distribution industry I have to thank you for purchasing individual DVDs as they’re released. American anime distribution companies rely heavily on the proceeds from individual, new release anime DVD sales. As a consumer myself, I understand how tempting it is to look for inexpensive anime DVDs or wait for virtually inevitable discount priced re-releases, but if consumers stop buying new release DVDs distributors don’t make any money and the anime industry ceases to exist in America.

In regards to my own, personal anime buying habits, at last count I own over 250 official American commercial release anime DVDs that I’ve never once opened. I think it’s a fairly well known fact that I watch a lot of fansubs. I also choose to support the titles I like and respect by purchasing official copies of them. For example, I own complete sets of the domestic Chobits, X, Azumanga Daioh, Noir, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Requiem From the Darkness, and Evangelion Platinum edition DVDs and all of them are still shrink wrapped. I bought all of those DVDs just to express my support of the shows. I know that my buying habits aren’t typical of most fans, and I know that many fans may not be able to purchase anime DVDs on principle alone, as I do. That’s why I think that each anime fan should individually satisfy his or her own desires.

I’m aware that many anime fans enjoy “marathoning” anime by watching complete series at once. I’ve done that myself, although I don’t have as much time to do that now as I used to. It’s absolutely fine to watch anime that way if you most enjoy watching shows that way. But keep in mind that anime television series episodes in Japan are broadcast one per week, so it takes a Japanese viewer 26 weeks to watch a new 26 episode series. So there’s also precedent for watching anime series at a leisurely pace. I, for one, prefer to break up my viewing by alternating episodes and watching whatever I’m in the mood for at the time. I find that I prefer sampling lots of series simultaneously to become familiar with many different shows rather than diligently watching one show at a time from beginning to end. The positive aspect of my viewing strategy is that I can discover first hand what two, three or four different shows are like in a single night. The drawback to my viewing method is that I start many more shows than I ever finish, and I find myself taking an extended time to finish watching even shows that I really want to watch. For example, I still haven’t finished watching Big O II, Outlaw Star, Card Captor Sakura, and Princess Nine (among other titles), even though I’ve owned all of their respective DVDs for months or even years. Shame on me, but ultimately I watch whatever I find most interesting and entertaining at the time, depending on my mood.