Dear Netflix and Amazon
I am just a simple, passionate anime fan
But today I bring the sentiment of many of our community at large
and we have a bone to pick with the services you provide
when streaming anime online.
I am not the first to talk about this or make the point I am about to make
and I doubt i will be the last either
But I wanted to lay down a short and concise message as I could
for the each of you
with constructive criticisms that I and many of us in the anime community share towards your services
how you can improve them and why you should care.
Because i don't think the problem comes from bad business practices
but more stems from the both of you stepping into a new market which you may not fully understand yet.
And bringing the models you have used previously, thinking that it will be just as effective here
which is why i wanted to address you directly.
Let's start with you Netflix
which if by luck anyone for Amazon is watching this, feel free to skip to the time stamp shown on the screen for that segment
Now Netflix, the problem we have of your service is very simple and easy to fix
So let me lay this out in a single sentence
Please simulcast the anime that you license
I have a huge respect for what you've done
and how you revolutionize the online streaming platform
and how we consume media in this modern day
and you of the seats taking big strides to help grow
and become an actual part of the anime industry
releasing your Netflix original shows by each season
at once was incredibly forethinking
that ties with modern binge-watching culture
but this model simply DOES NOT work for currently airing anime
that you license
And there are two main reasons for this
No.1 Piracy
At the moment, the only competitor you have against the anime you license is the pirate streaming sites and torrents
and they will always win
because they are the only service available when these shows are airing
I trust that you of all companies will understand
people won't be deterred from piracy just because there is no legal options available
If fans really want to watch a show
even hardcore ones will turn to piracy
because you are holding onto anime for months after they air
and this is true for every community
Imagine if you will that you have the rights to a show like Game of Thrones
and while little is airing you held onto it until this season ended
Can you imagine how many more millions
of people would turn to piracy to see the show
Just because they know itself but not available to any legal means
you release some of your American shows weekly to combat this problem anyway
and the same theory should apply to the anime community
Simulcasting doesn't seem to be a initiative for your Japanese division
which is putting the episodes up as they air
So why is it not the case internationally?
I am sure you have the resources needed to be able to subtitle them on time
And if you doubt, it is something that'd be a low investment for a high return.
No.2 It kills the possible reach of the show that you license in our community
This may be a bit harder to comprehend at first
but the anime community works a bit differently than other audiences you are used to
In terms of our entertainment
we move on a lot faster
just because of the sheer number of new shows available to us every season
We can get up to 40 new shows
every THREE months
Now only a few of those shows will actually get popular
But because of the seasonal cycle
the shelf-life of a show is very low
Any show, no matter how popular it is,
Attack on Titan
One Punch Man
loses momentum very quickly after they stop airing
because the community are focusing on the new shows in the new season
And just because you hold on to a show
doesn't mean people will wait for it
A lot of people will just more likely watch something else that season
Shows get popular fast because we love to discuss them
And way more than other mediums popularity spread through word of mouth of the fans and the communities
and this makes sense because no mainstream outlet regularly covers anime shows
And if they do
it's because we have made enough of a noise about it
as we are still a niche community
These are our water cooler discussion
and what you've done by keeping your shows is allow other shows to be discussed around that water cooler
and because of this
the anime that you license WILL never and HAVE never had the same reach that they could have had
Little Witch Academia had bundles of hype when it was announced
which has never probably been met even after you released the first half now a good two season after it started airing
and releasing Kakegurui in 2018 is gonna do absolutely nothing but hurt it for you end
Considering it's actually one of the most watched anime of this season
I understand the model of releasing all episodes at once keeps single watch time in your site higher
which is your overall strategy
And it is working well
I cannot stress enough how much respect I have for the bundles of original anime you are funding yourselves that you've just announced
and I am so glad that you have made this initiative
which is why this only applies to the shows that you license that air on Japanese TV
Not one you produce and fund yourselves
such as Blame! and the upcoming Devilman that you completely own the exclusive rights for
But you can easily increase traffic and views for these shows that you license every season
by simply releasing them while they air
I know you probably have a larger mainstream audience in mind and not just anime fans
But if you are going to get into the market of licensing new currently airing anime
the demographic will appreciate it,
understand it and create significant buzz on the off chance that you do license a super hit
is US
As we did with Attack on Titan
As we did with One Punch Man
and by denying this you are not only denying this community
but you are also denying yourselves from traffic and a higher chance of having a hit show
So once again
Please Simulcast the anime
That You License
And now to you, Amazon
which if there were someone from Netflix watching
you could skip ahead to the time stamp for my closing statement
Amazon you recently launch animeStrike
a separately branded service simply for anime
and you are actually simulcasting shows you have which I appreciate
The main criticism with your service, however, is a bit more complicated to fix
as it is mainly based on your pricing structure
but it essentially boils down to this:
Please Provide A Single Separate
Pricing Plan For animeStrike
At the moment to get access to your service your customers need to have an Amazon prime account
which is $10 a month
and then pay an extra $5 on top of that to get animeStrike
Totalling at $15 a month or $160 a year
Compared to the $60 a year your major competitors offer
That is $15 a month to essentially simulcast your exclusive seasonal titles
because you know most of the value in that price goes into your exclusives
as your overall selection at the moment,
to put it bluntly, is far more limited than what your competitors offer
at a lower rate
and this right is
the mentality you are fighting against when the vast majority of anime fans view your service
because really thinking about this all the benefits you get for that $15
with all the other services you provide
overall is completely worth the price in my opinion
The problem lies with your pricing structure and buyer psychology
because to us we don't see all the other benefits in that $15
many people are only interested in anime
and $15 is extremely high entry barrier
from the perspective of us anime fans
it feels like we are just an afterthought
a quick cash-grab on top of all the other services you provide
and because of this there is an air of negative stigma within the community
when we see your service
At the moment your model only targets people who have an existing prime account
which makes sense that you want to market your other services
HOWEVE
rather than incentivising people to get a prime account for these exclusive titles
you are alienating anyone who doesn't
because unlike your HBO service for example
which has HBO go as an alternative
for your exclusive anime there is no alternative for audiences to go to
and because of that this entry barrier smells of greed
by simply offering the choice of having a single pricing plan just for animeStrike
you can hit every demographic
you are already marketing to a niche
and by making this niche even smaller
you are preventing your own market from growing
You know how valuable these exclusive titles are
but by alienating the market who sees the value in them
Who really wins?
THE PIRATES
You can even price the animeStrike-only plan more
if you don't wanna set at the base rate of $5
you can maybe even take it as higher as $7 a month
Then make it so if you have an amazonPrime and an animeStrike package
it is the $15 you are offering now
That is far more appealing to everyone because the point is
the consumers have a choice
and you are incentivising people to use all your serivces
rather than alienating them
And I guarantee you will have a far larger share of the market
by simply offering this choice
while also getting rid of that negative stigma
there have been other criticisms of your service
but right now
this is the BIGGEST and most PRESSING problem our community feels needs fixing
so I reiterate
Please Provide A Single Separate
Pricing Plan For animestrike
Now I understand that the moment that we are just a niche market
compared to all the other shows and services you provide
which is true
But anime is growing at a rapid rate
and you must realize it too
if you are willing to the money you have
to get a foot in this industry
so I ask
What is the point of investing your hard-earned money
into this market, this community, this fandom
if you aren't going to see the true return on the very demographic you are marketing these services towards
it is not tell to winningest in our end
I can assure you as I am certain some of your competitors in this sphere can attest to
But it is out of a lack of understanding of our community at large
which I am hoping you now have a better idea of
by not providing a service the community is satisfied with
it is not so much you are taking revenue away from your competitors
it's more you are putting traffic to illegal sources
that hurt the industry
and you are also stunting the possible growth of these shows and fandom
and thus the market you can possible have
I say this as someone who does want everyone to do the best they can
and promote healthy competition between companies
as i fear at it is now the industry will take a step backward
rather than continuing to take that step forward
So that is why I hope this message finds the right person or people
because i am not sure what the right way to contact
either Amazon or Netflix are
both companies are so big I don't even know what the right point of contact is
for these suggestions
So all I can do is send this video to the appropriate feedback forums
and also send it to their corresponding Twitter accounts
and I am sure many fans who share my sentiments
and have seen this video will do the same
in hopes that I could make a change
It is a long shot, I know
You are both multi billion dollar companies with your own models and strategies
but if our community don't even try to make a noise
there is absolutely no hope that we will ever get heard
So to any customer service workers or social media managers on the Twitter account
all I ask if you get this far
is that you do everything you can to get this to the right person or people
when you are discussing public feedback
So that even if the companies don't do everything we have suggested
at the very least
if we can get some kind of acknowledgement and feedback
so we know that our voices are heard
As I know from my own corporate experience
that change takes a long time in these big companies
It is a long shot
But hey
it is at least woth a try
Also just in case there is anyone who thinks I am doing this for a quick monetary gain
I have removed all ads from this video and any potential sponsorships I could have had
as I just want to get the message across
to anyone else watching this
this isn't a call to boycott these services
nor is it want to promote piracy or harass any companies
but if you do want to get you opinion out ina constructive way
I will put all of additional information I can find about contacting them in the description below
Thank you for your time
Yours faithfully,
a frustrated but hopeful and passionate anime fan