Future of Anime?

[MC]

It seems that starting next Thursday (01/15/09), Viz will start streaming Naruto Shippuden episodes on their website, subbed and possibly uncut. As a result, one of the major fansub groups is dropping Naruto from their subbing lineup.

But, that's not all.

It seems that many anime companies are making the move to online streaming. One site in particular has picked up a handful of partnerships with the likes of Toei Animation, TokyoPop and ADV Films (just to name a few).

So, is online streaming the future of anime? And possibly the downfall of fansub groups?

 

[MF29]

I don't think fansub groups get paid to do what they do, so I don't think it would matter since fansub groups didn't really benefit from doing what they did.

 

[Deman]

If the site you're talking about is the one I'm thinking about, then I think they're going to also make you pay for accounts. Something that most cheap otakus will refuse to do. That and many fansubbers are people working on their language skills and fan translations are their way of doing it. I see fansub groups declining, but many will still continue to do it.

Then again, this move also shows that companies are becoming more and more aware of anime piracy. I wouldn't be surprised if they'll also start taking action against fansub groups now that they're offering competition of a similar form.

 

[Skiwan]

They might do what they did with the new Dragonball special and make it free to view for a few days, with something like a series they'd probably allow for 3-7 days to see the show after its aired or something. Here in the UK, the BBC and Channel 4 (and some others, but they're less advertised) let you watch almost any show that has been on within the past week online on their website, and they seem to be very proud of it and promote it quite a bit.

 

[Ness]

Dunno about the rest of you, but it's my first time hearing this. And all I can say, is that I'm happy to hear it. Maybe it will convince storywriters to stop bringing out their generic school-life romance drama **** like Clannad, Kanon, H20 and Kanokon and go back to something with depth, storyline, and quality animation. If I wanted to watch underage insecure kids again, I'd rewatch The OC. Quality of Anime is going down tbh, and imo, the last 2 quality shows were Claymore and Black Lagoon. Times have changed since Samurai Champloo, and they aren't changing for the better.

 

[Dokutayuu]

I think it's because it's getting harder to write something original, a lot of genres have been done time and time again. Or it's because it's generally easier to make a series. Good old hand drawn days.

What a series need is a new concept which doesn't appear elsewhere. Ness, I'm also sick of generic school dramas. Stuff like Death Note and Full Metal Alchemist caught my eye because it's something I haven't seen anything like before. Other stuff I just get bored with, the same plot with new characters doesn't work.

 

[Ness]

Other stuff I just get bored with, the same plot with new characters doesn't work.

Sounds like Gundam
And the sad thing is, it's one of the only 4 shows I'm currently watching =/

I understand that it's hard to come up with anything original, but the least original type of show, is a romance one. Same plot different characters. On the other side though, action and adventure anime can still keep going, just by simply coming up with new ways of doing things. I can't remember what the name of the show was last year, or the year before, but it was about a female bodyguard, protecting a prince that had some egg inside him. The fight choreography in it was amazing, the artists and animators really did put out so much time and effort in what they did, and it worked out brilliantly.

 

[wheres_]

Dunno about the rest of you, but it's my first time hearing this. And all I can say, is that I'm happy to hear it. Maybe it will convince storywriters to stop bringing out their generic school-life romance drama **** like Clannad, Kanon, H20 and Kanokon and go back to something with depth, storyline, and quality animation. If I wanted to watch underage insecure kids again, I'd rewatch The OC. Quality of Anime is going down tbh, and imo, the last 2 quality shows were Claymore and Black Lagoon. Times have changed since Samurai Champloo, and they aren't changing for the better.

You arn't really looking hard enough tbh

 

[Dokutayuu]

You arn't really looking hard enough tbh

Although for every one good Anime, there are about 7 or so bad ones .

What I'd like to see would be sequels of series long dead like Outlaw Star or Escaflowne. Outlaw Star's message of "See you next time" wasn't exactly true.

 

[fighter_Xeron]

Did you guys heard about new anime from Akira Toriyama.
It's called Blue Dragon..

Interview with Akira;
This may be my final anime, I'm a little worried (about it). There's incredible pressure, but at the same time, there's a sense of accomplishment — that it's worth doing. Blue Dragon will be a masterpiece, not simply because I'm working hard on it, but because the staff is expecting nothing less.

 

[MF29]

Blue Dragon unfortunately isn't Dragon Ball Z, therefore, it isn't exciting to watch.

We need more brilliant animes like Claymore, it's sad that the series was discontinued at episode 26.

 

[Spunky]

Claymore wasn't discontinued. They wrote their own ****ty ending to the entire thing and made it a complete series. At least the manga is still around, though there are rarely updates any more. -_-