Tag Archives: sales

Bakacast Episode 2 – Beating Like a Disco

Posted on by
Reply

Click here for the direct download or subscribe to the RSS feed.

On this episode of Bakacast, we go from super-serious to super-goofy in the span of one LOST episode. First, we use this article on the Akihabara killer as a springboard to talk about…well…a lot of stuff. Then, we discuss Blu-Ray sales going up and what that might mean for our anime collections. Plus, the ASOS Brigade is back with a new voice actress for Haruhi. Finally, we wrap the show up with our finalized impressions on the Silent Mobius movies and a review of the Dirty Pair TV series. Be sure to watch the clean OP that Jon/Ryoko uploaded. It’s disco-riffic and perfectly encapsulates the style of the show.

Early Endless Eight Sales Indicators Poor

Posted on by
12

Although official sales figures for the Endless Eight DVDs are still forthcoming, early indicators seem to reinforce Kadokawa’s pessimism about the much-reviled arc’s market potential. In particular, Akihabara’s various anime-oriented stores have seen low sales, with one employee describing them as “mortal”. Whether or not this will translate into poor sales overall remains to be seen; however, it’s not looking very good at this point.

Despite this, Akiba’s shops still feature a wide variety of colorful Haruhi promotional material, some of it emphasizing the fanservice aspects of the E8 arc. The variety of swimsuit designs featured throughout E8 seems to be a particularly potent selling point. Pictures of a few of these displays can be found below. For a peek inside the actual DVD set itself, check out this post over on Cartoon Leap.

Continue reading →

Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya Ends

Posted on by
Reply

With it’s fifth and final episode airing earlier today, the Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya arc (episodes 20-24 of the Haruhi re-airing, and episodes 10-14 of the “second season”) has come to an end. This arc’s claim to fame (or lack thereof) was how unremarkable it was, at least compared to the huge storm of controversy that Endless Eight generated. Fortunately, Sighs has been well-received by the fans; especially in the case of the last two episodes where, by all accounts, the art improved to “near season-1 levels”.

Select screenshots from the episode are posted below.

Continue reading →

K-On! Enters the Record Books

Posted on by
2

The fans have spoken, and they love K-On!

Riding the impressive wave of Blu-ray sales, K-On! has claimed the record for the most opening-day sales from its previous holder, Code Geass. With 33,000 Blu-rays and 8,000 DVDs under its belt, K-On! has topped Haruhi’s best opening-day record by 1000 sales. When taken in the context of equally impressive television ratings and CD sales, it would seem that Kyoani has created another goldmine.

Despite some opinions as to K-On!’s perceived lack of quality, it seems the franchise is here to stay.

–From Sankaku Complex (NSFW)

Japanese Anime Industry Shrinks

Posted on by
Reply

ANN is reporting that the Japanese anime industry has shrunk for a second year in a row, with revenues down over $2 billion in 2008. Drops in both box office revenues and DVD sales contributed to this downward trend. Yasuo Yamaguchi, the director of the Association of Japanese Animators, thinks he knows the problem.

“The spread of free Internet downloading is having a deadly effect.”

Of course, that MUST be what’s wrong. I’m sure this industry decline has NOTHING to do with endless moe filler, ill-advised publicity stunts or ridiculously overpriced DVDs. Good call there, Yasuo!

Meanwhile, while the Japanese anime industry is floundering, the American industry is thriving. Must be a fluke.