Ask John: Why Don’t Adult Anime DVDs Include Collectable Premiums?

Question:
How come hentai releases in the U.S. don’t have any special edition items like figures, artbooks, or animated cells like the non-H releases?

Answer:
This is a very interesting question. Unfortunately, I don’t have a solid answer. I’ve never been personally involved in licensing or distributing adult anime, and I’ve never questioned anyone that is involved in the field. So I can only make some guesses about why adult anime titles are marketed differently in America than normal anime titles.

I don’t have facts to support my primary theory, so it’s just speculation. I suspect that adult anime DVD releases in America may not be marketed exactly the same way mainstream anime releases are because adult anime DVDs themselves may not be targeted at the same consumer audience as mainstream anime in America. Mainstream anime titles are often marketed to casual consumers and Americas hardcore fan community. These DVDs are sold through a variety of mainstream retailers and anime specialty stores. Erotic anime DVDs are also distributed through some mainstream retailers and anime specialty stores, but they’re also widely available in America’s adult video market. In fact, erotic anime may be more successful in America’s adult video industry than elsewhere. It’s possible that American distributors, particularly Media Blasters, may simply find it amusing to market imported erotic anime under totally arbitrary and corny American pun titles like “The Hills Have Size,” “Elfen Laid,” “Duchess of Busty Mounds,” and “Mother Knows Breast,” but it’s also possible that these silly titles are consciously chosen to seamlessly merge into the adult video market. To the best of my knowledge, there’s no significant demand for limited editions, collectable editions, or premium versions of erotic DVDs in America’s adult entertainment industry. If the biggest, or even a significant part of the audience for erotic anime DVDs in America has no interest in DVDs with bonus premiums, there’s a significantly reduced reason to produce versions of adult anime DVDs with bonus premiums.

Special edition Japanese adult anime DVD releases are uncommon. The infrequency of Japanese erotic anime DVDs with bonus premiums may have something to do with the high costs of standard Japanese anime erotica discs. The high cost of standard hentai DVDs in Japan may already be pushing the upper boundary of the amount consumers are willing to spend on a single erotic anime DVD. So the absence of hentai DVDs with bonus premiums in Japan may have some influence on why there are no American adult anime DVDs with bonus premiums. More importantly, the fact that there are few erotic anime DVDs with bonus premiums in Japan may have resulted in the American industry having never really thought about creating multiple versions of hentai DVDs. It’s very possible that there haven’t been hentai DVDs in America with bonus figures or artbooks or other premiums simply because no American distributors have thought of including premiums with adult anime DVDs.