The End of an Era

The time has finally come. Not particularly in the way we wanted it to, but it's here. Early in October, for some reason that's far beyond my meager control, our petition software went belly-up. We've spent some time working on it, but it's just not cooperating at all.

But to be honest, I don't think we were going to be running them too far past our two year anniversary this coming March to begin with. There's some reasons for that of course and developments in the past two months have helped solidify that opinion in my mind.

1. Company changes - In the 20 months since we've been running petitions, things have changed almost 180 degrees. The changes were small and big. From Pioneer planning it's entire catalog to DVD and to ADV in getting a couple of titles out and then laying out plans to bring the majority of their catalog out. We'll have more on each of the companies in November in our big year end round up article, but the gist of things is that the companies are seeing the money.
    

2. The money - This is probably the biggest factor in things. Anime's come a long way on DVD. Those of you who were with me from the beginning remember when retailers like DVD Express would have 50-100 copies of a title tops on the new release days, and even that was sometimes iffy. The anime companies that didn't have a vested interest in the media watched to see what would happen. Now, titles are hitting over 1000 pieces at one online store over a new release day and then getting in several hundred more copies. This is the second big change; there's money to be made out there now and the companies are seeing it.

The second reason is probably the largest reason for the lessening need for petitions beyond some niche titles that may have a harder time. But with two of the largest domestic anime companies bringing out large portions of their catalog and even the smaller ones, things have changed. If the numbers keep going up on titles being sold, then more titles will come. And with so many great titles coming out, they'll support the smaller ones as well.

Petitions however should never replace the simple solution of emailing the companies and telling them what you want. Some companies are naturally more responsive than others and some won't respond at all. Of course, those that don't respond at all are also the ones who ignore things like petitions. The only thing they see is the money. Now that the money's starting to get there, they may change their tune. 

I do want to thank everyone who helped with the petitions over time and for all of you who signed them. Many were quite effective and helped to show the continual growing interest in the DVD format. 

Sincerely,
Chris Beveridge