# Best Buy Closing Out Anime in Stores



## Stewart Vernon

*Best Buy's New Anime Strategy*

*Cuts Presence in Many Stores*

_Published: 02/20/2009 02:59am_

Best Buy is about to dramatically change its anime strategy, eliminating most anime from nearly half its stores, according to an industry source.  The change will focus Best Buy's anime efforts on those stores that have historically done best with the category, and nearly eliminate anime in stores that have produced a disproportionate share of anime returns.

Full article *here*.

List of affected stores that will be selling Anime at 50% off 3/1/2009 to 3/21/2009 *here*.

© 2009 ICV2, SUBSIDIARY OF GCO, LLC


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## Mark Holtz

I'm not surprised. The Anime market has tanked in the past few years. There hasn't really been a title that I was able to get excited behind.


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## Stewart Vernon

I must admit that while there are fairly large Anime sections in a couple of my local Best Buy stores, I can't say I see large crowds there. Truth be told, though, no large crowds in the movie section at all really with the economy being what it is.

I hope this doesn't deal a blow to Anime sales overall in the US. I don't have a huge interest, but I do like some Anime and I find the larger the selection the more apt I am to look and give something new a try.

I'm looking forward to the possible deals as well, to try some new things.

I also am curious if this clearance will include Anime Blu rays as well. I say that since the Blu ray Anime titles are in a separate part of the store from the DVD Anime... I'd love to pick up some clearance half-price Blu ray Anime!


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## Brandon428

I thinks its a good business move. Anyone who wants Anime and can't get it at their local BB can just buy it online.


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## RasputinAXP

I never saw the point in going so buck-wild on anime. It's still just a niche market, and for some reason my local B&N is FILLED with shelves of manga that doesn't ever move.


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## xIsamuTM

You know, at first I was thinking this was horrible news. Then I was thinking, this could be good for the local anime/comic vendors. less competition. Maybe now more people will go to Gimmie Anime and support the local economy.


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## clyde sauls

I dont want to sound stupid but what is anime anyway? I guess I am like most people dont know what it is and wont miss it.


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## RasputinAXP

clyde sauls said:


> I dont want to sound stupid but what is anime anyway? I guess I am like most people dont know what it is and wont miss it.


Japanese animation. It was a huge fad a while ago and BBY and other stores stocked shelves full of it. Then they found out the fad was a fad.


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## xIsamuTM

it is not a fad, it's a lifestyle. and if the ever-growing attendance at NDK, Anime Expo, and Project Akon tell us anything, it's going to be around for a while.


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## Reaper

xIsamuTM said:


> it is not a fad, it's a lifestyle.


Anime isn't a lifestyle dude, it's entertainment.

If my local BBY was on the list, I'd check out the sale - unfortunately it isn't.


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## xIsamuTM

Say that to all the Cosplayers, Loli-goths, and general otaku. it's as much of a lifestyle as rock, metal, punk, or vegan.


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## BurgEnder

How long do fads last? I, for one, have been into anime/manga to varying degrees since about 1978. As for BB, I never bought any there anyway. If I don't get it on Amazon I go into my local Fry's which still has a whole aisle dedicated to it, as least last time I looked.


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## Nick

If anime was a viable market, people would be buying the stuff, but it's not, and they're not. Most of us have grown up, matured and gone on to more important things in life than (not then) spending our time and money on cartoons.

For those of you stuck in your childhood, surely you can get your fill of anime online where most of it is probably free in the first place.


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## phrelin

Anime, like Star Trek, is for some just entertainment and for others it appears to be a cult obsession.


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## paulman182

Nick said:


> If anime was a viable market, people would be buying the stuff, but it's not, and they're not. Most of us have grown up, matured and gone on to more important things in life than (not then) spending our time and money on cartoons.
> 
> For those of you stuck in your childhood, surely you can get your fill of anime online where most of it is probably free in the first place.


I would not characterize the small amount of anime I have seen as being aimed at children, but perhaps you have seen more of it than I...


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## Draconis

Problem is, I am a Anime fan, but the article does not list any of the Anime close-out stores in Las Vegas. 

Guess I have been giving them too much business.



clyde sauls said:


> I dont want to sound stupid but what is anime anyway? I guess I am like most people dont know what it is and wont miss it.


The nutshell is, Anime was Japan's answer to Hollywood back in the old days after WWII. Their economy was so badly destroyed they used animation to make movies instead of live actors.

Anime runs the full gamut of movie ratings and types, from G to XXX. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, it's all there. If you want know more I would suggest renting Princess Mononoke, it's a very good (and serious) fantasy Anime movie.

Also, if you get Starz, they have a special called "Anime: Drawing a Revolution" that will explain it quite well.


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## Stewart Vernon

The part that concerns me, and that might be too strong of a phrase, is the exposure or rather lack thereof.

Anime does tend to have a cult following, and as such like other cult followings it can be hard to get introduced to it unless you already know someone in the cult.

As a semi-related example... I don't buy much in the way of Import movies. I didn't even know how to get them for a while... but when HD DVD was striking out, I found people online discussing and ordered a couple that were not available in the US. No way, obviously, to go into a retail store and check them out without leaving the country!

Seeing Anime on the shelves in Best Buy, I am tempted to look. No longer seeing it in Best Buy, I can too easily go back to ignoring it.

So people already into Anime might be unaffected... but new Anime-lovers might have a harder time finding the genre. Also, some smaller Anime publishers here in the US might find the reduced marketplace directly affects their business and we could see some publishers go under.


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## RobertE

While not a giant fan, this is diappointing.

My biggest issue of getting Anime from most brick and mortar stores is that they charge way, way to much for what you get.

As an example, you can get some box sets of TV series (22ish episodes) for $30-50. At the same time you'll pay $20+ for a single disc that may have 2-4 episodes.

While I understand that the stores play a part in the overall price, the whole industry is pricing themselves into a niche.

Some of my favorite Anime titles include:

PlanetES

Full Metal Panic

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid

Any of the Bubblegum series

As well as anything in the Robotech or Macross universes.

Underlined titles are clickable.


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## xIsamuTM

I don't really see this affecting the smaller publishers, since they don't usually find their ways into larger stores as it is. I can see this affecting the Naruto and DBZ fanbase. That might be a good thing, though. Having them go to Anime Plus or Lucky Neko might turn them to the good stuff (Lucky Star, Ranma, Higurashi)


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## Brandon428

I like DBZ but I don't want to buy the seasons till they come out on Blu-ray.


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## Mark Holtz

In the past, I have been one of the people who gives a heads up whenever good anime shows up on Adult Swim. I particularly remember January, 2006 when TCM had the Ghibli movies on Mondays. 

I do acknowledge that when a anime series gets released, it's often 3-5 episodes per DVD. That's because not only does a dub have to be prepared, but also subtitles, and the economies of mass production. Older titles do get released in series packs, usually after the final disc is released.


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## RasputinAXP

xIsamuTM said:


> it is not a fad, it's a lifestyle. and if the ever-growing attendance at NDK, Anime Expo, and Project Akon tell us anything, it's going to be around for a while.


It's not a lifestyle, but apologies for offending your Otaku (in the Japanese sense) sensibilities.

The great wash of anime that has showed up in Best Buy and the manga that has shown up in B&N is the fad. It was an attempt to jump on a wave that was never there. The kids were getting into the post-Pokemon crap and all of a sudden they all wanted to cash in.

Then the kids grew up, stopped watching Naruto or Card Captor Sakura or whatever the hell it was they were watching and now these places are _in general_ overloaded with crap that nobody's going to buy. How many boxed Yu Gi Oh sets does one store need? These bastards don't carry Golden Boy, so clearly they don't know what they're missing.

It's the same reason my BBY stopped stocking Girls Gone Wild. There used to be an audience, but not anymore. You'll still get your fix the way you always have, by ordering your DVDs online and downloading fansubbed stuff from wherever that comes from too, and Best Buy will never even care.


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## Reaper

xIsamuTM said:


> Say that to all the Cosplayers, Loli-goths, and general otaku. it's as much of a lifestyle as rock, metal, punk, or vegan.


From dictionary.com "When 'lifestyle' became popular a generation ago, a number of critics objected to it as voguish and superficial, perhaps because it appeared to elevate habits of consumption, dress, and recreation to categories in a system of social classification."

I couldn't agree more.


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## Stewart Vernon

I went to a couple of local stores on the clearance list today. There was a lot of selection, but I'm not familiar with the genre enough to know everything that is good. I also was mostly interested in Blu ray.

So I picked up Afro Samurai Resurrection for $15 and Akira for $17.50 on Blu ray. I was hoping to find Samurai 7 on Blu but only found it on DVD so I decided to wait.


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