Anime War in SG..

Hmm.. Seems like the action taken by the company, Odex, to persecute anime downloaders is creating a very big hoo-ha among the anime lovers here..

Seems like they underestimated the passion the anime lovers possess... Well.. Let's see.. If I am in the shoes of the directors, what other actions can I take other than this legal action???

Change of business plan and structure.. Haha..

By making use of technology of course.. Let's explore some determining factors on why anime lovers here are downloading animes illegally instead of buying them from stores..

1) They are free of charge

2) They get the newest episodes rather than buying the DVDs..

I have looked around in video stores and to tell the truth, many are not up to date.. Most are like 30 to 50 episodes lagging behind.. It's a bit frustrated for anime lovers I guess when they read the latest updates on the animes and yet are so far lagging behind and the passion over-rides sanity to download them over the web..

3) Limited amount of animes offered here..

A lot of animes from Japan never reach the shores here in Singapore.. Only limited and selected ones are, like Bleach and Naruto.. TV always repeats the same animes.. I don't know how many times have I watched Shaman King on TV already... Some old Gundam shows like Gundam Z are not sold here.. Or rather, never seen on sale.. I have to borrow from friends who bought through japanese DVD websites to watch..

4) Ease of downloading Animes

Simply said, technology and the internet has made it easy to download animes without going out to shops to search with the chance of not finding the animes, which might be a waste of time..

Business Strategy

To consider the threat of piracy of fan-subs, why not think of it in a positive way? I mean, using legal means is the last resort that I might want to use.. Especially considering that the anime-lovers here might be young also where they are still schooling..

What's the point in persecuting them when they have no money on their own and the parents pay for them? They don't feel the pinch.

Besides, it might create a backlash for the companies also. Judging from how rich the kids are nowadays and people here in Singapore is getting more influential, anime-lovers might not even buy any animes from the stores here and would rather go online to get the latest anime DVDs straight from Japanese webstores.. Most will have credit cards to pay..

Worse still.. They can form a group, get one copy of anime DVDs, burn and distribute them among members, which is harder for the Odex to locate the mastermind and persecute them, and they end up paying more for the legal fees, employing of detective etc etc..

To me, Odex move is an unwise movement.. They didn't take account into several factors and the most important, being the social-cultural factor.. If according to business, they are not wrong in doing that.. But, they failed to see the effects and the risks involve.. Culture is always evolving and society changes and improves over time.. Strategies have to change too..

What's my business plan then?? It's a modification from Dell's business model..

1) Set up servers to cater to online downloads... Have them pay a low monthly or yearly subscription to download translated animes.. Or maybe a pay-per-episode of a few cents..

In this aspect, Odex can work out contractual deals with the different anime companies to distribute the animes exclusively to the Singaporeans and to increase significantly the amount of animes it carries...

I believe there are many fan-subbers out there and Odex can acquire them or work with them to do the translations..

Fan-subbing is a big business too and this provides another revenue income for Odex..

2) Set up E-stores for those who want to collect anime boxes..

Here, Odex can reduce inventory significantly and will order from the suppliers upon the receiving of orders.. This would aid a lot in reducing the costs of rental, especially in Singapore where land is super expensive...

The above are two suggestions from me... Which I believe will be a better way... Music companies are also offering to sell their music online for only a few cents per song.. So.. Why not animes? iPods can also play animes right???

Implications involve in the plan..

The change of business plan and structure will affect a lot of the employees in Odex.. In this aspect, to be more humane, the directors can use their influence and network to help redundant employees find new jobs in other places.. Some can be re-trained to fit in newly developed departments...

But I guess one of the major factor would be the cost.. Well, I am not an analyst or a finance person.. It's not up to me to calculate the set-up and running costs.. Haha..

Anyway, the above is just my personal comments lah... And I wonder who will read this post anyway.. Haha..