I don’t rent software. Never have and never will. I buy DVDs, and I’ve bought a hell of a lot of them. But I do this. This is like those computer games which won’t run unless they have an internet connection and can phone home every time you invoke them. Your game only works as long as the company that “sold” it to you feels like maintaining the validation server.
And this Crunchyroll deal only works as long as Crunchyroll exists. Not acceptable.
What I wrote back, perhaps more angrily than I should have, was: “I ***BUY*** anime, I don’t rent it. I’ll steal it before I’ll rent it.”
Here I have to disagree. I DO rent anime. If I didn’t there are a lot of things I would never see.
Fushigi Yuugi for example. It was fun to watch, but I’ll probably never want to watch it again. The DVDs are quite expensive. If I had to buy them there’s no way that I could justify the purchase. On the other hand, renting them from Netflix was quite reasonable.
Steven is specifically talking about video streaming sites like Crunchyroll, but I think the same logic applies. If it’s not worth rewatching (and face it, most shows aren’t) then why not watch it as streaming video?
Of course there are some shows that I do want to watch more than once. Some shows seem intended to be watched multiple times, with jokes and hidden meanings that no one would be likely to pick up on a single viewing. (Many series by CLAMP for example.)
And after a series has been out for a few years, you may be able to pick up a thinpak on sale for about the same price that you would pay to rent it. At that point, if it’s any good, why not?
I have to agree with you. Now I understand everyone’s different… if Steven there enjoys building a grand anime collection like that, then more power to him… but as for me, unless the enjoyment’s going to last more than a day (ie, unless it has good replayability), then I’m not going to spend $20-$50 on a show I won’t feel like watching more than once.
Why? Well it’d be expensive, use up a lot of shelf space, and more importantly, I just wouldn’t watch them more than once a year or two (if ever). I don’t have enough money to make dozens of one-use DVD buys.
That’s not to say such shows are bad– I usually really enjoy them– but some animes are good shows to experience and remember, but not to replay.
For instance, I rather enjoyed Genshiken– I could never guess what randomness that club was going to experience next– and it was a real good time when I watched. I’d recommend it if you like the genre. But now, knowing the complete story with no surprises left, and knowing it’s good but not a 5-star favorite, it doesn’t have much replayability in my opinion. While others like Kanon touched my heart so much (and made me laugh a lot), I just had to buy the Complete Collection yesterday; I yearned to experience it again.
So rentals make sense to me. You get legal shows, original perfect quality (usually better than most illegal subs), and a chance to sample what’s out there– without investing in permanent DVD buys unless the show turns out good.
Anyways, pretty much what you said, yeah. xD I need to see if there’s a good anime rental in my town… I rely on fansubs currently to watch shows, and if I like them, I usually buy the DVDs within the year. Renting for the HDTV would be nicer than watching on the usual computer monitor.