Ask John: Do American Fans Care More About Packaging than Anime Itself?

Question:
Do American fans these days care more about DVD packaging than the anime on the disc itself? Maybe it’s an extension of my personal buying habits, but I always thought the people interested in buying Japanese R2s would generally be interested in acquiring titles either not likely to be picked up for American distribution or released exceptionally poorly here. But I can’t shake the feeling that many R2 buyers have become pack-in whores because limited edition extras are cool and they believe because R2s are better than R1s, it follows that they are better fans because they buy R2s. What compels someone to buy each volume of R2 Bakuretsu Tenshi as it comes and get it EMS shipped to them every month? With shipping fees added that must be at least $800. And the show is crap! But all that’s being talked about is how cool the artbox and figures are.

Answer:
As a private, personal anime fan and collector, I’m beginning to hate DVD premiums more and more. I’ll admit that among my several hundred anime DVDs there are a very few that are limited edition versions, but in each of those few cases, I wasn’t buying the limited edition DVD to get the premium. I was buying the premium itself and would have gladly paid the same price even without the DVD. I wonder if that could be said of people that like buying lots of special edition DVDs, import and domestic. It my observation, limited edition and pack-in premiums have ironically devalued anime in the minds of many consumers. Fans have turned into collectors that don’t appreciate Japanese animation itself. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard the statement, “I won’t buy any anime that doesn’t have a series box.” I believe that an anime fan shouldn’t be buying a pretty looking set of DVD cases in an illustrated box. A genuine anime fan should be buying the content of the discs, not the packaging. It should go without saying that attractive and novel packaging contributes to a consumer’s enjoyment of anime and should be taken into consideration when purchasing anime. But someone that makes a purchasing decision based primarily on packaging is superficial and shallow minded.

The point of being an anime fan is enjoying anime. I’m not so uncharitable as to deny any person’s right to enjoy only the visual design of anime, or enjoy only accumulating physical goods, but I have far more respect for the anime fan that values the creative art of Japanese animation than I have for the anime fan that only hordes merchandise. The trend of releasing anime with supplemental goods has drawn a lot of attention away from literal anime. I think it’s foolish to ignore or overlook an anime series just because it doesn’t have novel and sensationalistic packaging. Doing so only confines one’s potential for entertainment and education. Enhanced packaging is meant to subsidize and enhance animation, not supplant it. I’m afraid that the marketing machine of the anime industry has twisted the principles of much of America’s anime consumer market into believing that anime is a mere commodity and whoever has the most, and the most exclusive collection, is the most superior fan. But anime fandom isn’t a competition. Anime fandom is a personal commitment between the viewer and the animation. I don’t want to entirely discount the value of attractive packaging or bonus premiums, but the ancient adage holds extremely true in this case. Don’t judge a book by its cover; it’s the content that counts.