Ask John: Should Anime Distributors Go Sub Only?

Question:
Do u think that sites like madman and other anime company’s would make more money it they only English sub Japanese anime straight to dvd and later on bring out a English dubbed version for non sub fans i figer most people watch it in jap any way most times if i by an anime series i change it to jap with subs what do u think.

Answer:
To put it simply, no. At least here in America, although exclusively subtitled anime is more commonplace now than it’s ever been before, the dominant viewing preference and demand in America is still for English dubbing. American consumers almost never boycott commercial releases that are dubbed only or exclude proper subtitles, but American consumers do still vehemently oppose and bitterly complain about subtitled-only DVD releases. Initial subtitled-only DVD releases may please hardcore fans, but those fans who consider English dubbing superfluous or unnecessary make up only a small minority of the domestic anime DVD market. The domestic distributors that initially release subtitled-only DVDs primarily do so due to financial necessity, not by calculated choice. Including a second English language dialogue track on domestic DVDs far more than doubles the DVD’s potential consumer audience. America has never preferred Japanese anime in Japanese. If domestic distributors could generate more profit by releasing everything subtitled-only and only later offering a dub to appeal to a small remaining audience of tentative consumers that can be convinced to make a purchase by the extra incentive of English dubbing, domestic distributors would presently be releasing everything subtitled only. Doing so is certainly faster and cheaper than producing bilingual releases. But the global anime distribution industry hasn’t moved in that direction because that strategy doesn’t increase revenue or encourage consumer purchase as much as English dubbing or bilingual release does.