Ask John: Why Is Anime So Expensive?

Question:
Why is anime so expensive? Not just anime, but other forms of anime merchandise such as CDs, CD-ROMs/games and art books are very expensive too. Even with DVD storing more episodes and online stores discounting DVD and VHS, anime is still considerably costly. With all the new series coming out and the insane amount of memorabilia that is released to support them, I’m sure I’m not the only one who would rather be paying $10-15 for a DVD/CD/whatever instead of $30+.

Answer:
There are actually two schools on this one. There are those fans who think that we should be grateful to be able to obtain anime without having to pay import prices, and then there are fans that believe that anime in the US is largely too expensive. By ratio, anime in the US is roughly the same price it is in Japan. We may find $30 expensive for a single anime VHS tape here in the US, but in Japan, a copy of Ghost in the Shell on VHS, new, can cost as much as $150 depending on the version you buy! Feature length anime movies on VHS in Japan rarely cost less than $50. A copy of the Utena movie on VHS or DVD costs roughly $88 in Japan, and a copy of the Nadesico movie on LD or VHS in Japan costs roughly $100! When AnimeNation charges $29.95 for an import anime soundtrack CD or J-pop CD, it’s because you’d pay roughly $25 or more for that same CD if you were to fly to Japan yourself and buy it in any Japanese record store. From one perspective, it’s a lot nicer to be able to buy Blue Submarine No. 6 episodes on DVD in the US for $20 per 30 minute disc as opposed to the Japanese retail of roughly $50 each per 30 minute DVD. The upcoming American DVD edition of Tenamonya Voyagers will contain all four episodes on a single DVD for $30. At any retail store in Japan, those four episodes are available on four separate DVDs that cost roughly $60 each!

Anime is expensive in the US because translating companies have to cover the costs of licensing shows, then translating packaging, marketing and distributing them. To lower production costs, companies have to produce in massive bulk quantities, which anime simply can’t do. To us anime fans, anime may seem as though it’s a gigantic powerhouse in the US now, but a single American mainstream studio release like Mission: Impossible 2 can generate more revenue by itself than the entire American anime industry can earn in a year. Anime simply doesn’t have the big financial backing or mass market necessary to allow for lower prices.

On the other hand, I personally do believe that it is reasonable to question the expense of anime in the US. Without mentioning names, there seems to be an odd discrepancy between US anime distributors. Slayers and Irresponsible Captain Tylor, for example, can sell for $20 with four subtitled or dubbed episodes while Evangelion retails at $30 for two subtitled episodes. Early tapes of Brain Powered contain two episodes and retail for $25 each while later volumes of the same series contain seven episodes for only $5 more. Japanese contracts may have something to do with this. I don’t know enough about the American industry to say that licensing contracts don’t mandate minimum retail prices. There are many anime titles that have not yet appeared on DVD in the US yet because the American licensee may be contractually obligated to with-hold an American DVD version until the title is released on DVD in Japan first to guard against video piracy and Japanese people importing cheaper American copies rather than buying Japanese versions. American anime companies may also be obligated to pay royalties or continuing licensing fees on titles. At the same time, though, it does seem odd that Anime Village titles cost the same as other company’s titles when Anime Village/Bandai releases titles Bandai already owns the distribution rights to. The same applies to Viz’s retail prices for series like Ranma and Maison Ikkoku, both of which are titles owned by Shogakukan Publishing, Viz’s parent company.