An Open Letter to Odex
Odex is just about the only company in South-East Asia that licenses anime, but unfortunately their products are pretty low quality and few people buy them. They also maintain a low profile in the Singaporean anime community with virtually zero presence in anime-related events and online communities.
This picture has absolutely no relation to the topic
Recently, Odex hinted that they are teaming up with IPOS to catch anime downloaders in Singapore, sort of like RIAS (Singapore’s RIAA) except for anime. Feeling bored, I sent them an e-mail regarding this rumour exactly one week ago but apparently Odex does not have the habit of checking their inbox, or perhaps they have a filter that automagically redirects everything into the spam box.
Well, here it is…
Hi,
I am DarkMirage, the owner of darkmirage.com. I run one of the more well-known anime blogs in Singapore and I have been involved in the online anime community for quite some time. I write to you with regards to some recent rumours regarding your company and your company’s operations in general.
There have been reports recently that Odex is going to team up with IPOS to target anime downloaders in Singapore. This was first reported in the community by a source close to your company and subsequently confirmed after the recent focus group by kwok, the owner of the blog lolicontrol, who participated in it.
Although I can understand your concerns, I disagree with this decision. But I am sure you have already heard similar objections from many sources so I will move on as this is not what I want to talk about.
The issue I am trying to raise was actually brought up by another local blogger, albeit in a blunter manner.
If you overlook drmchsr0’s usual over-dramatization of the issue, there is an important point to note. Your company has never been engaging the community. Unlike American distributors with their anime conventions, you do not appear at local events. I have met employees of American companies, such as ADV, online and they participate in forum discussions and community events just like the rest.
A recent example would be Bandai’s asosbrigade.com viral marketing campaign for Haruhi Suzumiya. I created a parody site at code-geass.com and the person in-charge of the site at Bandai actually added me to his MySpace friends. The fans KNOW that Bandai cares. We know that Bandai has been reading forums and anime blogs for feedback. The little things count.
When American fans are unhappy with something, they know where to find the people to speak to. Your recent focus group is about the only thing similar in nature that I have ever heard of from your company. I know of local anime fans who do not even know your company’s name.
The issue with IPOS is yet another side-effect of this isolation. You have your reasons for making such a decision, but you have to tell us what they are and keep us informed. But you don’t. Instead, we have to rely on rumours and second-hand information to get a vague idea of what Odex is really up to. And when we do that, the conclusions we come to are most definitely NOT in your company’s favour.
The same goes for your DVD releases. No one knows anything about your products until someone notices them on a LaserFlair shelf. You can hardly blame poor sales on downloaders alone (or at all). The lack of publicity on your part is just inexcusable, it’s almost as if you don’t want to sell those DVDs. The least you can do is to keep your website updated.
Because of your company’s isolation from the rest of the anime community in Singapore, you are seen as an outsider. In America, there is genuine support coming from the fans for the companies there because they feel that the companies pay them the respect they deserve as the consumers. The credits at the end of promotional video on asosbrigade even thanked fansub watchers who support the DVD releases. That means a LOT to the fans who obviously downloaded the fansubs (illegally you might say) and are now eagerly awaiting the R1 Haruhi DVDs’ release.
On the other hand, Singaporean fans view Odex as a non-entity that is outside the community. I have not met a single person who is looking forward to your Haruhi release, which may or may not exist at all since all we know about your future releases come from anonymous rumours. Personally I am looking forward to the R1 release which I plan on getting and I already own the R2 set. But I can’t say the same for Odex’s release.
It all boils down to a PR problem. Your company’s behaviour rubs fans the wrong way and you do not make any (noticeable) attempts at engaging us and addressing our grievances. The impression we get from past experiences is that Odex hates us. You do not bother to correct this impression, so we assume it to be true. You cannot expect local fans to support your products in a situation like this.
I have a very simple suggestion for Odex: create an official blog. You can post all your new releases and acquisitions there and keep us updated what the hell is going on so that we do not have to rely on rumours. When the fans are unhappy with something, we can bring it up there and get a discussion going. Some problems may not be so easily resolved, but at least we will know what is Odex’s official stand instead of making assumptions that are usually negative.
It does not take a whole lot of effort to maintain a blog and the benefits to your PR are enormous. All you have to do is to let the fans know what you are doing. Look at how the Japanese companies do it. Hell, if you cannot find someone to do it, I can even volunteer darkmirage.com for it. Free of charge even, if money is your concern (which it often seems to be).
I dare say that if you do go ahead with the IPOS plan, you will not see the slightest increase in sales. On the other hand, if you engage the community through a blog, forum discussions, feedback sessions and by participating in anime-related events such as Cosfest, support for your products and brand will build up naturally.
For the sake of the local anime community, I sincerely urge that you reconsider your company’s business practices.
One more episode downloaded does not equate to one less Odex DVD sold. You cannot force the consumers to like your products.
Thank you for your time,
DarkMirage
Or to summarize: Odex needs a PR department. A new one if it already has one, but I bet it doesn’t.
This picture has absolutely no relation to the topic
Actually if IPOS is really going to go along with this, the easiest thing for them to do is to take down the name of everyone who walks into one of the anime goods import shops and then subpoena his/her ISP. You can probably get a >95% conviction rate.
It’s not a huge stretch to say that piracy created the entire anime community in Singapore, generating a ton of previously untapped export revenues for Japanese companies in the forms of figurines, goods and those R2 Haruhi DVDs that will be arriving at my doorsteps in about two weeks.
Please don’t kill anime.
P.S. Kyoushirou to Towa no Sora episode one ROCKED!!!… No officer, I didn’t download it. I just…uh…took a flight to Japan to catch it on TV last week.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Dun listen to us
BOYCOTT them!
We stand united against you Odex
thanks for pissing the f off your potential “customers”
Quote ‘Heck, I vote that we pay the fansubbers over Odex.’
Hell Yeah
June 2nd, 2007 at 8:38 pm
~~~
Before starting off, I like to make a short introduction about myself. In many aspects, I am very similar to the closet Hikkikomori that exists within Japanese Society in general.
As such, I dislike having contact with the rest of my fellow humans. In fact, if I had the chance, I would rather spend the whole day at home alone, by myself, play games, watch anime, laze around, literally a PEST ( Play, Eat, Sleep, Talk ), alone.
That said, I ain’t no saint. As such, the following comments were simply made by someone who does not really fit into any part of Singapore Society.
If there wasn’t so much coverage over the downloading issue, I would never have posted the following comments
~~~
The tactics used by Odex and/or AVPAS might seem to be effective, but in reality might in the end backfire on themselves. Why?
In almost all anime, there is alot of hidden soft themes, which fans get exposed to over and over again, and are eventually heavily influenced. One of these themes, is individuality freedom.
That by itself is not a big deal. But remember Singapore’s Golden Rule? “You can do whatever you want, just DON’T get caught”. The rule is practically indoctrinated into almost every aspect of life. (EVEN more so, if you have ever been into National Service)
Mix the 2 ingredients above, and you get the most explosive keg of Gunpowder. To the neutral, the appropriate term would be “Uninhibited Freedom.(To do as you wish to do)”.
To our government, it would be more like “Totally Unrestrained Freedon” which is without any form of control. I am aware that the government is doing a great job at running the country (Economic prosperity etc ) But it is IN human nature itself, to rebel against those in control.
A fine example is showcased in the recent General elections in Singapore. Despite the fine showings made by the PAP, a very disturbing trends can be noted in the numbers who voted non PAP parties/candidates.
That said, given that most Anime Fans are often influenced by what they liked to watch, the demand of fansubs WILL always be there. Just that the supply, through personal download becomes risky.
So how would they fill this demand through unofficial methods? Simple, through 2 ways.
1. Across the causeway. Anime fans are really a curious lot. Like religion, there is a certain consensus of sharing, and willinginess to help one another, especially in times of need. This also transcends nationality.
Getting downloads from friends from across the causeway, on a weekly basis is still a practical possibility. And you don’t even need to burn it into a disk.
Remember the capacity of your mp3 players and thumb drives? At the rate the capacity is increasing, carrying high quality fansubs in entire series by hidding it within these innoncent looking devices is as easy as 1, 2, 3. AND 2 dogs ain’t going to bother to try to sniff them out.
Unless they are willing to go as far as to check the electronic data stored on such devices on every single ingoing and outcoming person on the CauseWay, I highly doubt you can nip this method of entry.
Of course, this is simply just bringing it in, what about spreading it? Remember how does modern “extremist organisations works”, having a fragmented hierarchy often works, and often one in the chain may not know another within it.(Whether it is closer to creativity or just plain psychotic, I will let you decided upon it.)
This is probably the case in which anime fans would collect themselves into groups to maximise effiency and sharing. In fact, all they need is a USB thumbdrive or a large capacity mp3 player, and they can easily transfer data amongst one discreeting without having to rely on the “intrusive eye”.
Also, for those who are loners, do not despair. Whenever there is demand, there will eventually supply. Both Odex and AVPAS have only factored in the tail end users.
They totally forget about the the Video Game Pirates. That still exists. To this particular group, it is good business waiting in the wings. They are already smuggling data as mentioned above into Singapore, then creating copies of it within Singapore itself, then reselling it.
By cracking down on the end users, those who do not have the means or will to curb their desires, looking to these pirates might be an effective remedy in their perspective.
And given the quality of fansubs, the pirates could even put down a “Quality Assurance” Seal on their products, over the products that Odex makes. (5~10 dollars for a piece of high quality pirated DVD Sub, over a poorly done original product, which would you choose?)
~~~~~~~
Off track topic for a moment, anyone actually noticed the death of a certain pirate industry? Especially those of old game platforms like GameBoy, GameBoyAdvanced, MAME, etc
Those are for a great reason, you can literally download the products off the internet, and play them emulated, for free. Any game for such consoles are too easily available.
In fact it was too easily available, such that the pirate industry for the segment is ALL but nearly gone. ( Which tech savy idiot would pay 30 dollars for what you can get for free off the net, at the touch of a button, in an instant?)
AVPAS/Odex should be able to draw meaningful insight of this.
~~~~~~~
That said, AVPAS/Odex by using the might of the legal system, will no doubt scare the typical downloader. But for the hard core, it is more like necessity rather then a luxury.
For this group to survive, banding together to get this ‘fix’ would make more economic sense. And given the 1st point they made, evidently, rather then try to challenge the system on their main grounds, they would rather quietly just boycott it and get their ‘fix’ elsewhere.
And if the pirates had their say, they would probably put an ad within the Chinese and english dailies, thanking them for the extra (lucrative) ‘product’ line, as well as the new customer base.
So, what dies that leave Odex/AVPAS with? Only resentment, hatred and utter disdain. That hill to climb WILL be alot harder then willingness to work with the community hand in hand.
Finally, to end this off, I only have this to say.
I am not going to go on the ethics of right and wrong, but rather what extent would Singaporean anime fans would go for their fix of anime.
Sometimes, creativity breeds new methodologies and ways to slip under the system, and when there is demand, you can be sure some Singaporeans will definitedly try to take the “cheap route”.
Oh yes, finally, I forget to mention earlier, I am not really into anime ( I cannot remember names of series, their singers, voice actors even), but rather I can sense the $$$ opportunity within doing it.
I am just voicing this from the pragmatic point of view.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 5th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Hi,
Well said…Seriously…I didn’t even know there is a company called ODEX….have NEVER heard of hem before….
June 6th, 2007 at 12:33 am
I bought the damn Odex vcd of G gundam, and guess what? The subtitles were inconsistent.
I can’t believe that this shit ass company dares to use the authority to their favor to ban fansubs!
I mean come on! These fansubbers ‘hao xin’ good heart, sub it so nicely with good quality for free and give people.
You chicken sub anyhow, then still sell so expensive!
Down with Odex, if they continue to catch ppl for downloading fansubs,
I suggest we all boycott this Odex and don’t purchase their products.
We will, well we will ‘fly’ to Japan and watch the anime episodes and ‘fly’ back.
June 6th, 2007 at 1:27 am
Hmmmm hang on for 2 more years!
http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/1436/53/
Not only odex subtitles are inconsistant, they “THINK” they sell their anime very cheap, since anime like Naruto,Bleach,Onpiece and more have 100+ episodes or even 300(onepiece)
If they where to sell anime 13episode for 29.90(round up$30)
300/13×30= $692.3 by the way do you just watch one title of anime? or more than 5?
I have a friend who watches new episode of animes everyday(diffrent titles)DOES ODEX provides get new episodes this quick?
he dls that much, and now what if he was paying from the begining?
if we were to pay, some ppl would steal money from parents or friends or whatevea methods to get money JUST TO BUY anime.
You go behind bars because you downloaded anime is that a joke?
or even better still going behind bars because you stole money to buy anime?
June 7th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
U rock totally! I agree with you whole-heartedly. It was a tragedy when the papers were out last Friday on Home pg 2. I really hope your suggestions are taking into consideration because this ODEX is making my life MISERABLE!
June 8th, 2007 at 11:48 am
I just got this news from a friend today because I only came back from Australia recently.
This new law, it will totally kill the anime community in Singapore. In Singapore, it is almost impossible to get the newest anime unless you are a cable tv subscriber. But are those really all the latest?
I would gladly buy anime DVDs, only if they weren’t so pricey. I used to buy them, but the quality totally sucked and in another anime, the ending credits were cut off, probably to “save space on the VCD”.
What I think is that ODEX is merely concerned about “profits”. An anime is licensed when it is sufficiently popular, and who makes them popular? The fansubbers. This is just such a cool way to destroy the anime scene in Singapore.
However I think no matter how much we protest, there is no way this can be overturned. ODEX has used the law to its very own benefit. Good job ODEX! Good job for letting us say goodbye to our anime! (and you must be making a lot in the out-of-court settlements)
June 9th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
AVPAS is headed by that Toh guy, ex-MP blah blah blah.
Translation: Incompetent. Nincompoop. Yes-man. Knows fxxk all about anime or anime industry.
Harsh words. But I say it like it is.
June 11th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
you know, it is really true, that in the US, Anime Consumers really feel a community to the producers. Funimation, Bandai, ADV, etc etc, they make a community, whether on purpose, or just a side effect of actually caring. Caring will make profits appear. If a company releases sub-standard products, and products NOBODY wants, then there will be no profit. I watch fan-sub, but also get the DVD’s mostly watch the dvd’s subbed, but is always fun to see the alterations in dub; That is half the point of getting the dvd’s, not to mention the possible special features.
I don’t have a special need to get the actual released DVDs of a fan sub, but I do, especially if I liked the series. Some fan subs will not be released in the US, I know, an accept that, but when they do, it can make the heart happy.
When you do not actually care about a product, nor about your consumers, it shows, especially in sales.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
so how much do those guys pay for one ep of anime listed in the odex letter?
July 20th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Oh by the way odex web is still down . . .
They r goin ard tracking records as fark as1-2year back..
they already have the list of IP . . matter of time they will just mass issue all the fines and gain major profit w/o doin much sale nor having see us as anime lover . . we are just like sitting duck and thier money making machine
July 22nd, 2007 at 1:15 am
If i dl anime not found in http://avpas.com.sg/AVPAS_Authorized.html
how?
is it trackable? DD from realitylapse.com
can watching streamed animes be used as evidence to charge too? (such as crunchyroll or youtube?)
Hypothetically speaking, as u read the letter from http://www.darkmirage.com/stuff/letter.pdf, they track things from feb 2007. and people such as i are oblivious of such thing as i piah in sch and go home didnt read/watch news but rather anime lol…
“if 30% of the population of SG, are issued with this letter and end up in jail, what happens to the economy of sg?” (hypothetically speaking) lol
anyway Thank DM for his earnest explanation as well as interest to safeguard or inform/warn the anime fans by being updated with news. And certainly DM has passed cognitive thinking (a module in RP) regarding sources online be it fact or perception (the liability of source)
ty…
July 22nd, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Common!!! Give us a break!!! ODEX YOUR PRODUCT SUCK AND NO UPDATES TO YOUR WEBSITE… U CAN AT LESS MAKE A NEWSLETTER ABOUT YOUR NEW RELEAST!!!
NO ANIME, NO LIVE
LONG LIVE FANSUBS ANIME!!!
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:37 pm
if odex is going to keep this up.. even if i don’t download any anime again.. i will not support their product.. so that they will not think by stopping people from downloading their sale will increase..
August 5th, 2007 at 12:57 am
i’m one of those who got one of the odex letters, and ya.. i think they do get a lot of money in the out-of-court settlements. they mentioned that the episodes of anime that i have downloaded does not have any copyright licenses in sg, but then as they are representing the jap companies, and that the license still belonged to the jap company and hence i am still charged. as to how much to pay …. well… i have on my list 12 lines of records, and he quoted like between 3-4k…. and … i still have to wait for 3-5 days for a response from the jap company…. and to top it all…. anyone knows what it timeshare?
August 6th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
ODEX sucks >_
August 7th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
I strongly agree with things u said over your letter.
Thats exactly how all anime lovers in singapore felt.
I don’t even know what ODEX is until this couple of weeks.
The way they are doing, is purely damaging their company’s image.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
those bastards are making money by coercing people into out of court settlement. i say we fans open a company to distrbute the anime. any fans who’re lawyers here? please educate us on the legal implications
August 9th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I agree with David!
If their products are inferior with so many problems, can we consult CASE on this and clamp them down too?
Nets on the net also said that O*** also used fansubs for their release (G****** S***), does it also implies they have violate the copyrights of others?? they don’t own the translation and they can’t use it right??
If just have the distribution rights but not releasing them to the community allows one to sue, then they might as well get all distribution rights for all damn things and sue everyone!
If ppl are d/ling O*** subbed releases, then they have a pt to sue but ppl are not using theirs so …???
August 9th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
I thought BlueMax also licenses anime? They’re the distributor for Naruto here.