Eroanime production company Anime Antenna employee Murakami Kouichi (村上恒一: producer - Mahou Shoujo Ai, The Guts!, Taimanin Asagi, other Pixy titles) made a post on the official Ani-An company blog on May 6th relating the news that Lilith Soft affiliate brand Pixy is in danger of financial collapse within the year, and that other major brands may soon follow.
He describes how Pixy was established with the goal of setting a revolutionary low price point for the OVAs it produced while retaining a high standard of quality, to make legitimate purchase of the product an option for all consumers. As a result profit margins on each sale became razor thin, but for Pixy’s first year of operation they were selling well enough that it seemed they could squeak by. Now, however, according to Murakami Pixy titles are being so widely pirated that their low-cost sales model is proving untenable. He makes the claim that if the current status quo continues, not only Pixy but adult anime as a whole may cease production within the year. Continued below:
Without solid numbers to back it up this seems to be an extravagant statement, but on the other hand I’ve often wondered how these companies do survive. If it were anyone other than Pixy saying this I’d tell them to try lowering their prices, but Pixy has already done what the industry had thought impossible in that regard.
I haven’t bought much eroanime in the past, but in the light of this post I’m going to start trying to put my money where my mouth is. Regardless of whether Murakami’s claim is true or not, I think companies like Lilith and Pixy who go out of their way to make their products economically accessible to fans deserve to be supported.
Pixy anime can be legally purchased via download at English DLsite.
I hope this isn’t a preview of hard times in the larger anime industry.
oh noes ･ﾟ･(ﾉД`)･ﾟ･｡
I haven’t purchased much(any) eronanime in the past, either, but I don’t think I’m going to change that any time soon. That’s not to say I’m downloading and fapping for free; I’ve pretty much ignored eroanime on the whole. This is largely due to the quality of said eroanime titles; while there are good ones out there, they seem rather few and far between. It’s not helped when the eroanime is based off of an existing property; that just makes the drop in quality all the more apparent(the Sara anime being the most recent example of this).
Anyhoo, all that having been said, I know there are quite a few people who enjoy those releases, so hopefully Pixy(and other companies; I’ll weep if erogame companies start going under due to this issue) can find some way to secure their bottom line before it bottoms out.
@lostdog
It’s been well known for a while now that the overall anime industry isn’t as healthy as it could be. Merchandise is selling well for the series that do take off, but the majority of shows produced are high risk/low return and get really lousy ratings and DVD sales.
Knowing that, it makes sense that the eroanime industry is struggling, because they have to reach an audience that’s even smaller than that of the “mainstream” stuff (and even less willing to pay for it).
Are the videos in DLsite DRM protected?
Over the past year, I’ve noticed a sharp dip in anime DVD sales, especially with unestablished IP. It’s really something when a show like true tears takes 2ch by storm (in terms of both critical acclaim and active discussion), but still sells under 3000 copies per volume.
Eroanime can only be doing worse.
There is no DRM on DLsite Pixy movie. The main issue is each title is freaking huge 700+ Mo in wmv while shared are reduced to the standard of 200 Mo in avi and not much quality loss. Speed, bandwidth and file size are still an issue today so it make me cringe a bit when buying through it (downloading system from DLsite doesn’t support resume for mid to low connection speed).
Lilith and Pixy are my favourite brand
and Space Bandit Sarah eroanime quality is an increase in quality better than other pixy titles except Taimanin Asagi.
and sure they don’t deserve this situation.
The problem with anime sales in general in the US market is that DVD sales have been declining across the board for all genres. While established/popular sitcoms and movies are able to pull in purchases, even those are in decline. I’m assuming that this must be happening in Japan as well.
Anime DVD’s which target a smaller market will most likely have an ever harder time. Looking at the eroanime genre that targets an even smaller market, I’m surprised that any company can make DVD sales that are worthwhile. The best solution is probably to go digital distribution with a focus on merchandising making up the difference. While the worldwide market may have a higher tolerance for copied shows, there is a very low tolerance for copycat, imitation physical goods. Vinyl and pvc figures for example.
Someone tell them to LICENSE their ANIME for US distibution, UNCENSORED!! Would be a great infusion of $$$$$$ They go under we’ll NEVER see TAIMANIN ASAGI uncensored.
–> Westworld Aniwatcher
I think it is great if they decide to focus on making PVC figure for their eroge or ero anime heroines, maybe with battle damage and castoff-able features like Excelent Model Core Series from Megahouse (which produce top quality products and at friendly price).
But the problem about physical goods for instance PVC is the quality must be good. Not that i doubt their obsession to quality with their anime and eroge.
and lastly, i hope they overcome this situation in the near future.
>> ANIMENIAC
I 2nd that - release your products UNCENSORED and I sure buy it without a 2nd thought as Pixy female protagonists are drawn to my taste.
Heck, I don’t even need English subtitles.
p.s. I did buy expensive censored ero-stuff before during the Laser Disc era (6800yen per episode at US$1 = 80yen). Definitely felt cheated as some of the scenes are 95% MOSAICs (close-up shots). I told myself, never again.
>> Shingo
Are those releases in the DLsite English site UNCENSORED? If they are, I will definitely buy some stuff now. 8)
DLsite English products are mostly taken from their original japanese side unless willingly translated by the creator or affiliated team CuriousFactory, that mean :
- text in japanese
- censor
- JP-EUC encoding
Movies get the same treatment, they are released as “raw” so no translation, dubbing or uncensoring.
If Pixy is financially in danger in maniax side I would think they wouldn’t even care to sink more money on western audience.
Thanks for the info, Stass.
Anyway, there’s always Pink Pineapple. 8)
And even if Pixy (and Lilith Soft) goes bust, some other new company will be set up to fill the void. After all, the talent’s still around to be hired.
Anyone here remember DEZ (Dreamy Express Zone) and their (in)famous ero-anime La Blue Girl? Well, that company went bust, and that original sex-ninja girl is gone, but hey, Pixy came along with their TAIMANIN ASAGI. 8)
So I won’t lose sleep over it.
p.s. even up till today, there’s no uncensored and completed version of La Blue Girl. (The american version have certain scenes involving Nin-nin totally deleted)
#1: It IS an “anti-piracy” thing. It’s about time companies like Pixilith start flexing their muscle within the “long arm of the law.”
#1b: H-anime on the cheap? I have a better idea: “H-anime based on visual novels” as oppose to “borderline softporn based on visual novels.” “Those Are My Noble Masters” my aching foot!
#2: Maybe if companies like Pixilith start releasing their h-anime UNCENSORED for the international audience as oppose to how they’ve been doing…
Shingo, on a related note, do you know if it’s possible for foreigners to purchase videos off Pin-Pai TV like from DLsite?
>>Kurushimi
That’s a good question, I’ll look into it.
In relation to Piracy, I used to bitch constantly to the people on USENET posting all the scanned MANGA, DOUJINSHI & H-ANIME etc. that they would eventually be shooting themselves in the foot because the producers would start to lock down their sites from access outside of Japan and hurt them financially. All I got was STFU, stop whining and my posts added to their KILL filters.
How ya doin’, Animeniac!
I also think that the “free Free FREE” crowd is shooting themselves in the foot.
You’re not alone in your worries and complaints.
Damn. I hate this. I’m fond of their works.
If they don’t try to lobby their government to get rid of those censorship laws, people aren’t going to find their products worthy of forking money over and resort to pirating them instead.
Didn’t Lilith / Pixy laugh off some comments at the quality of their products, stating that those were from Americans that, for the most part, pirated their products? And that proof of the quality was their Japanese customers lining up to buy them? What happened to that?