Ask John: Will America Get Shugo Chara & Skip Beat DVDs?

Question:
Since Tokyo whoever is working making sub for us, will this hurt the chances for us getting DVDs? I’m hopoing there will be a DVD boxset for Skip Beat and Shugo Chara. Will we see them as boxsets once the series is complete? Just like Familiar’s Zero and Nanoha and Sasami Mahou Girl?

Answer:
It’s just too early to tell precisely how the present developing wave of online anime distribution will transition to packaged media, or if it will at all. Previous anime series that have been initially distributed online to Americans, like Death Note, Jyu-Oh-Sei, and Baccano, were distributed by American DVD distributors, so it was naturally for the titles to also get physical DVD releases. The Neko Rahmen series has been fully distributed online with no American DVD release, but it’s a show that probably wouldn’t ever have gotten an American DVD release anyway.

So far, there’s been no announcement of plans for American DVD releases of shows including Blassreiter, Tower of Druaga, Strike Witches, Kurogane no Linebarrel, Catblue Dynamite, Eve no Jikan, Xam’d: Lost Memories, Eyeshield 21, Naruto Shippuden, Shugo Chara, Skip Beat, Kaiji, Buzzer Beater, or Gintama that have been, or will be made available to American viewers online. Free, legitimate online anime distribution is an effective marketing strategy for Japanese distributors seeking exposure for their properties, but there’s little sign so far of how this new distribution method will impact domestic packaged media. America’s best selling DVDs are often television series that have previously been available for free through broadcast. Unscientific studies have determined that a majority of American consumers are more likely to purchase DVD copies of anime which they’ve already watched and are familiar with. Present online distribution can be an effective first step in a multi-stage distribution strategy that includes packaged media (DVD, Blu-ray). But present evidence indicates that Japanese licensors are only looking at the first stage of international distribution – getting anime to viewers – without examining methods of significantly monetizing that exposure through follow-up DVD releases.

It’s certainly possible that unannounced plans are in development for supplemental packaged media releases following initial online availability. But considering that titles such as Strike Witches, Blassreiter, and Tower of Druaga have already begun hitting Japanese DVD, I have a trepidatious sense that Japanese licensors aren’t presently looking toward the next step beyond international web distribution. Consumers can impact this situation by demonstrating a demand for physical media. I’m aware that America’s economic environment is precarious right now, but if anime distributors don’t see any incentive to release new anime on permanent, physical media, they won’t do so.

As an anime fan, I’m excited by the rapidly evolving legitimate, online distribution of new anime. But as a collector, I also want to posses the shows I like on permanent, physical media. I’m grateful to have legal access to titles like Strike Witches, but I also want to own them on DVD. And right now that option doesn’t seem evident in the foreseeable future. America’s anime fans have the ability to convey demand for DVD releases and send a clear message that free online distribution is appreciated but should accompany an opportunity to purchase permanent, archival copies.