Tuesday 13 March 2012

One Reason You Should Buy Anime - Hentai

Now I'm not going to pretend I haven't seen a pirated DVD. It's virtually impossible to say that these days. And this isn't a "I'm holier than thou" post either. This post is about one simple thing, saving something we love.

Picture taken from SBS


Anime is a business that brought Japan a revenue of 2 billion dollars each year. That is, before piracy and the internet became a major problem. Now I know you stream anime. For everyone who doesn't live in Japan or an Asian country finding legal anime is virtually impossible. Unless you're willing to wait months after it's release. And even then you have to pay about $80 for each season.It's just easier to download right?

You see the thing is too many of us think like this and we're hurting the anime industry. The industry that made us laugh when Tomoyo convinced Fuko that he had lost his penis in Clannad. An industry that even made us want to get up and dance to the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya's Hare Hare Yukai. It's under threat and having to resort to - let's just say different because I don't want to offend anyone - measures to stay afloat.

Many anime publishing houses are now making hentai in order to avoid shutting down. An SBS Suspended Animation documentary goes into this in a lot more detail. It's only a 12min segment so I recommend it.

Picture taken from SBS
I'm not saying go out and buy every anime under the sun. Just the ones that mean something to you. If your jaw was on the floor at the end of Code Geass then buy it. If you cried to the ending of Angel Beats! then support it. 

Picture taken from flash-screen.com
If you want to buy some anime, make a day of it. I've spent hours with girlfriends discovering new animes in JB HIFI. Or if you work full-time and can't stand the thought of going to any shopping mall on a weekend you can get anime delivered to your work or to your door from places like Ezy Dvd, Madman and Sierra.