Despite the complexity of anime fandom, it always amazes me how it’s a hobby one can be fully involved in and yet never have to spend any money on it. I’m not going to get into the whole debate about fansubs vs official viewing. Rather, I’m just thinking about what compels some fans to spend a good amount of money on their hobby, while others spend little to nothing, yet both are equally interested in anime…
I’ll illustrate with a few examples. When I have extra money to spend on anime (which isn’t very often), I mostly buy character goods – posters, figures, pencil boards, artbooks, or basically anything that isn’t a CD, DVD, or manga. I never buy CDs and I’ll only buy DVDs of series that I’ve seen before and especially like, almost always in box sets rather than individual discs. Over the years, I’ve met fans with a variety of other buying preferences including – 1) only buying figures and games, 2) only buying official DVDs and rarely character goods, 3) only spending money on conventions and cosplay, 4) buying character goods once in a while but never DVDs, 5) buying all manner of products but only for series they really like, 6) spending little to no money on any anime stuff but watching it all the time for free online, and 7) buying the original manga or novels but watching the anime for free online.
As much as I think it’s good that fans spend money on anime products if they can, many of the fans I’ve met rarely buy anime DVDs (which I believe is the bulk of an anime’s profit), CDs, or much of anything else besides occasional character goods. Some would say that you’re not a true fan unless you financially support the series you like, but after spending time with such fans, I can’t deny that their passion is real even if they choose not to buy the anime they like. It really is a dilemma since anime is a fandom one can take full advantage of without having to spend a penny – an endless amount of anime episodes, manga, games, image scans, and music is available for free online if you know where to look. I believe this is one of the reasons why fans in recent years, at least here in the U.S., are getting more enamored with anime while spending less money on it than ever before.
So why is it that Fan A, who doesn’t make very much money yet will spend lots of money each year on anime, while Fan B, who makes more than Fan A, spends close to nothing on anime, yet both watch just as much anime and are equally involved in the fandom? Is it right to call Fan B cheap and less passionate or is he/she simply acting on a personal preference not to buy, but can still love anime just as much?
I believe the idea is different with Japanese fans in that buying products shows great support for a series even if it’s not completely worth it for the buyer. Then you have fans like the one who spent nearly $4,000 on a single film strip of the recent Haruhi movie when they could have spent that money on a ton of other, better Haruhi products to support the series. I often wonder if people like this are really that rich, and a few thousand dollars is no big deal to them, or if their priorities are out of whack and they won’t eat for months after buying this XD
Putting one’s financial situation aside, perhaps there’s a certain level of passion that drives some fans to buy anime products, DVDs or otherwise, while other fans are on another level where, while they indulge in anime as much as the former, don’t have that drive to spend their money on it when they don’t need to. I personally couldn’t satisfy my passion without buying products for my favorite series and characters as much as my budget permits. But I know there are others whose passion is satisfied without needing to open their wallet, perhaps by simply drawing, writing about, or discussing anime. Like many other things in this fandom, buying preferences are just as varied as the fans and anime stories themselves.
Well there are the ones that have it difficult buying anime, or anime related goods. for example: Me. I’m Mexican, I live in a city with almost no anime related goods, and so it is really expensive for me to buy any good, because i have to do one of two things to get it:
1)buy it online with a lot for shipping.
2)Travel to another city with a con and buy it there.
and mainly my usual budget is of 10 dollars equivalent. yes, just 10 because i just work sporadically and don’t get allowance, so I think I am forced to be Fan ¿B? or ¿could it be called C?
Half Fan A is more suitable to describe me. I often buy anime products like DVDs, Soundtrack CDs every month with half of my scholarship money. But I usually download manga, new anime music, image scans, and certain anime from internet because they are easier to be found and I’m an indoor type guy that too lazy to go to the city to search for the products.
Besides, I feel uneasy if I didn’t buy any anime DVDs every month, so I had to spend money at least for one title. Is it some kind of wastefulness in spending money since I can download the anime from internet for FREE?
I only bought anime goods when ten dollars still seemed like a fortune to me. Every time I babysat, I would immediately go buy, say, the next Skip Beat volume. During middle school and my freshman year of high school, I amassed a collection of 100+ manga. Now that I make enough money to have to pay taxes, though, I value my money more. I guess that makes me a Fan B?
Also, the merchandise here in America isn’t as cool as the stuff in Japan/online. I’ve lost count of all the things I would love to have but can’t afford shipping on. It was worst when I still lived in North Dakota. Now, at least, I’m back on the east coast and can visit some more unique stores in malls.
The other thing that has changed is my understanding of the Japanese language. Why pay for a translated copy when I can just read the raws on a foreign website? And I’ve always preferred subs to dubs (4Kids and LittleKuriboh may have influenced that a bit).
LOL, I just used the Fan A, Fan B thing as a random example rather than a generalization, but it seems people actually match them XD
@ K-NIQ
iTunes and other music downloads have really hurt CD sales worldwide so it’s cool that you still like to buy them. I think a lot of anime CDs (like DVDs) have extra goodies with them to keep people buying.
@ Saere
That’s interesting that even though you have more money now, you’re buying less than you did when you had less money. Are you not as into anime/manga as you were before or is just because you can read it online for free? I personally don’t enjoy reading manga online, which is why I’m not nearly as big a manga fan as I am an anime fan.
That’s so true ! I’ve seen dozens of animes and read so much scanlated mangas. Althought I’ve just 3 mangas (gifts) in my room and I’m sure almost nobody would figure that I’m an Otaku. However I am even into visual novel games ^^ (like konata).
I think this is the greatest thing about that awesome subculture.
I used to spend lots of money on DVDs and CDs when I’m younger and obsessed with few specific series. Now I’m older and more careful on spending money. I think it’s just the way I was raised; to think carefully before spending money, is it totally necessary?, is it worth?, where am I going to keep all these stuffs?
And I end up buying only food and occasionally clothes and books -_-;
@ Canne
I think that way too – is it really worth the money? Do I really want it that much? That’s a responsible way for anyone with a tight budget to think when they shop for luxury items. Usually when I do this I leave the story empty-handed though. In recent years, I’ve been buying online because there’s less anime stuff in local stores and you can find those unique, worth-the-money products on specialty web sites.
hmm I have never spent a single penny on anime/manga related stuff to date.
I guess it’s because I only pay for entertainment if necessary
I’d spend most every dime to my name on anime if I didnot, ya’know, need something to live off of…. I watch anime mainly online, though I try to buy as much as I can of my favorite manga. I would love to get plushies, figures, DvDs, ect, but I really donot have the money for it. If I ever get a good amount of money, ( I want to be a vet, so that might be possible one day ) I will likely buy all the manga, DvDs, ect that I can get my hands on. I love all books in general and will be trying my hardest to get a library like in Beauty and the Beast |3;; ’til than, I’m stuck only spending what little I can on anime…
@ Piper
I understand about having to watch what you spend on anime. You could always use some of the money you spend on manga to buy plushies, figures, etc,. They’re not all expensive. But if you like anime and manga fairly equally, it’s probably more worth it to buy manga over DVDs because one manga volume could cover the anime equivalent of at least five episodes.
Anime products will brighten up my dull walls and fill my heart with happiness<3
Me buying anime products will give me something to glance at and put a smile on my face. It'll put aside my situations and walk me through my day.