Anime On Digital Video Delivery?

[Chris Beveridge]

By Mark Thomas

A few weeks ago, Funimation began their digital downloads program, offering complete anime series for download for the low price of $1.99 an episode. The first title made available in entirety was Black Blood Brothers, though others have followed along such as Peach Girl, Rumbling Hearts, and Suzuka. To see how well this service works, I recently checked out Black Blood Brothers, and I found that Funimation’s foray into the download realm is a positive forward step, but one that is met with some frustration.

The way Funimation has structured their service is a bit unique to other services. Rather than open distribution through an already established outlet such as iTunes, Funimation instead built their own structure right into their website. As another break from traditional setups, the files are freely downloadable with no need for payment or signup. Payment is required only once the files are accessed.

This leads to the first drawback of Funimation’s system. When opened, the file opens a pop-up window that leads to a secure log-in system where payment is made with either Visa or Mastercard. No other options, such as Paypal, are available. Once payment has been made, the file is played and remains replayable.

However, because this setup is so unique, the coding only allows for playing in Windows Media Player 9 or above. Automatically, that eliminates Macintosh and Linux users. For PC users, or those like me who are multi platform, this is not a big deal, yet there are a large number of “non-PC” people out there who are being left out. The other problem with this log-in system is that it excludes non-US customers as there are no international options. At the very least, both problems strike me as a significant loss of potential profit for Funimation.

The files themselves look and sound very nice, as it is obvious that decent bitrates were used for both audio and video. Though I have no surround system on my computer, I do have a relatively nice 2.1 system, and it sounded very good with no distortion or dropout present anywhere. In fact, the only audio problem I had is that the show was only available in sub format. I typically prefer dubs, but I was not given the option to get the dub track despite its apparent presence on the DVD release. Not a particularly major issue, but I would not have thought it difficult to provide both if both are already present.

For the video, I have a relatively modest NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video card (PCI unfortunately), and switched between a decent 17” Dell E173 monitor and a higher quality 19” LG L196WTQ. Besides having a higher contrast ratio and resolution settings, the LG is also widescreen where the Dell is full. Regardless of monitor, the video was gorgeous, with vibrant, bold colors, and no technical issues anywhere. Again, a nice bitrate was present here. Funimation did not go on the cheap with the technical details.

But it was in exploring my video options that I came across my greatest source of frustration with the digital downloads: from all appearances, the files are not transferrable. I watched the entire series on one of my desktop computers, but I wanted to see what it would look like if I hooked up to my 37” Magnavox 37MF337B LCD HDTV. Yet, when I transferred the files to my laptop, I found that I had to buy them all over again. I could rewatch them on my desktop all I wanted, but moving them to another computer lost the license. I realize this is done to prevent piracy, but what if I wanted to take the show with me when I go on a trip? Or what happens if I buy a new desktop? Do I really need to purchase the license each time I want to use a different computer? This, combined with its reliance on Windows Media Player, also means that portable devices such as the iPod or Zune, which are widely used for video purposes, are incompatible with the files. An e-mail sent to Funimation on this issue has gone unresponded as of this writing, so I am currently unaware if there is a way around this problem. Again, I can understand their desire to cut down on piracy, but the limited nature of the license is my greatest problem with this service.

For all of my gripes, there is actually a lot to like here. At $1.99 an episode, an entire series costs roughly a third of what it would cost to buy the DVDs, and for a shorter show like Black Blood Brothers, it evens out to about the cost of one DVD. Plus, the entire series is available immediately, unlike DVDs that tend to have a few months between each release. So for those, like me, who are impatient, this is tremendous. All in all, this is a really good service. I would just like to see Funimation find a way to work around some of the more frustrating drawbacks. If they can, than this will certainly be the way of the future.

[Njr Scrawl]

The other problem with this log-in system is that it excludes non-US customers as there are no international options.

While commercial or any other type of boundaries exist, denying people who are happy to pay access, there will always be demand & supply of unlicensed cheap or free episodes. Funimation (& any other company or parties) are not only denying themselves revenue, but also feeding the appeal of & for unlicensed anime online. This only strengthens the unlicensed opposition & weakens the legit companies' efforts. Different media & culture need different, & more broader, modern vision. That message needs to be hammered home right to the suits in Japan, as well as western licensees.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Wrath of the Njr

Funimation (& any other company or parties) are not only denying themselves revenue, but also feeding the appeal of & for unlicensed anime online.

Funimation is hardly to blame here. I don't understand why you blame them when it's 99% or more likely that they were REQUIRED to enact region restrictions. It's not their property to do as they please, I would have expected you to pick up on this sort of thing years ago.

[LexiJ]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

Funimation is hardly to blame here. I don't understand why you blame them when it's 99% or more likely that they were REQUIRED to enact region restrictions. It's not their property to do as they please, I would have expected you to pick up on this sort of thing years ago.

I said the same thing when someone else made the same complaint. Funi is more than likely under the same region restrictions with downloads as they are with their dvds. I'm sure that if and when they get international distribution rights, they'll make the downloads available to those outside R1. In the meantime, they're working with what they have and feeding the customers who make up the vast majority of their buying base (well, except those on Macs, now that was a stupid move that deserved the given criticism, unlike this one).

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by LexiJ

I'm sure that if and when they get international distribution rights, they'll make the downloads available to those outside R1. In the meantime, they're working with what they have and feeding the customers who make up the vast majority of their buying base (well, except those on Macs, now that was a stupid move that deserved the given criticism, unlike this one).

Even as a Mac owner, I really don't blame them for not supporting Macs. There's no affordable way to support Macs other than to sell through iTunes. Aside from what Apple has, which they aren't sharing for non-iTunes sales, there aren't any significant DRM frameworks that support Macs. However, of the three titles listed in the article, iTunes US does offer Suzuka and Rumbling Hearts.

Microsoft's DRM system probably could work on Macs, but they won't license it for any non-Microsoft platform.

I imagine that someone could make an independent cross platform DRM, but it probably doesn't make sense until the Mac user base gets larger. Even if Linux gets a sizeable user base as a desktop operating system, I doubt most of the Linux user base would accept DRM of any kind because of the ideological positions of the operating system and its users.

[something]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

I imagine that someone could make an independent cross platform DRM, but it probably doesn't make sense until the Mac user base gets larger. Even if Linux gets a sizeable user base as a desktop operating system, I doubt most of the Linux user base would accept DRM of any kind because of the ideological positions of the operating system and its users.

Or they could just... not include completely worthless DRM! And suddenly Mac users would have nothing to worry about. Mac users should be able, so far as I can tell, to get in on the Druaga/Blassreiter Gonzo downloads, since they're DRM free and can be played in any player. All digital offerings should follow suit.

Yet another reason why DRM is obsolete.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by something

Or they could just... not include completely worthless DRM! And suddenly Mac users would have nothing to worry about. Mac users should be able, so far as I can tell, to get in on the Druaga/Blassreiter Gonzo downloads, since they're DRM free and can be played in any player. All digital offerings should follow suit.

Yet another reason why DRM is obsolete.

What makes you think Funimation has a choice in the matter?

The examples you gave are probably just test cases. If the rights owners are confident that it works, they may scale it out. It's silly to expect everything to be DRM-free all at once, a small test case is pretty smart even if they're 100% confident that it will work. It's also not the position of the US licensee to do it without explicit permission of the rights owner.

[something]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

What makes you think Funimation has a choice in the matter?

What makes you think I'm only talking about Funimation? I'm talking about the whole concept of digital delivery in general. Obviously everyone on both sides of the pacific need to get on board.