Why Choose Physical Copy over Streaming Services?

The concept of buying goods used to be pretty simple, you pay an amount of money, the seller gives you the goods, you now own the goods. The digital ages has introduced an added level of complications to once simple transactions. With streaming sites, you’re no longer owning goods you pay for, you are licensing it and that license will cease to exist when that company ceases to exist or the company decides not to support the title anymore. Here are some more reasons why having tangible goods is so important in the anime world today.

Consumers have no say on what stays and what doesn’t on streaming services that they have paid subscriptions for. Streaming services company may choose to discontinue any anime title/s at any time and only allowing access via additional payment or just permanently discontinuing it for good. The greatest example of this is the merger of Crunchyroll and Funimation which had resulted in the discontinuation of certain content, leaving consumers without access to legally purchased movies and shows. This migration process to Crunchyroll has shown an increased in subscriptions fees but also highlights the lack of consumer protection in the face of licensing deals and unethical corporate decisions. Consumers are now charged more for more or less of the same content that they would’ve gotten previously on Funimation.

Different people watch anime differently, some may prefer their anime in their original form (Japanese language) while others preferred it dubbed in their preferred languages. Either ways, there is not right or wrong in the way each individual enjoys their anime. This however, could not be guaranteed on streaming sites due to licensing measures. Most of the time, streaming sites may not preserve, migrate or even provide dubbed versions. On the other hand, consumers can choose the version that they want in physical form.

The biggest selling point of streaming site is the fact that they are available to you at anytime and anywhere but is it really? Many consumers are left hanging without access to these paid for subscriptions during something as simple as a maintenance period or when the internet is down because let’s face it, internet do sometimes go down. Physical media on the other hand, do not rely on external factor such as the internet to play and you can be sure to watch your favorite anime whenever your heart desires.

The recent passing of Akira Toriyama will make most Dragonball fans value their physical copies of the entire Dragonball copy. Why? Simply because these are the classics and although there may be other manga artist and character designers that replaces Toriyama in the future, to some fans, it just may not be the same. As a tribute to the legend, many fans are rushing to collect the anime series in it’s physical form as a keepsakes or collectible. For many otakus, having physical copies of their favorite animes is a form of display of passion and their love for a franchise or even an anime character because animes and mangas are the earliest form of these franchise. Ultimately, you can guarantee that your ownership of the anime (in physical copy) is preserved if you looked after it.