Ask John: Will Blu-ray Discs Ever Contain Complete Anime Series?

Question:
Do you think it will be feasible to release an entire anime series on a single Blu-Ray disc?

Answer:
Possible? Yes. Feasible? No. The media capacity of a Blu-ray disc is capable of storing an entire anime television series on a single disc. However, an official, commercial release of an entire series on a single disc is unlikely in the foreseeable future because of the practical requirements of the home video industry. An anime series has to be priced at a certain amount in order to generate enough profit to recover its production costs and associated expenses, and generate profit for its distributors. In effect, an anime television series released on home video in Japan has to be sold for several hundred dollars in order to be commercially successful. In America, a debut anime series has to retail for roughly $100 or more just to break even on the cost of licensing, translation, authoring, mastering, replication, and advertising, to say nothing of generating profit. In effect, a Blu-ray disc with 26 anime episodes on it would have to sell for roughly $100 or more in America, and significantly more in Japan just to be economically viable. Contemporary consumers probably aren’t willing to spend that much on the purchase of one single disc regardless of how much content it contains.