Hello again people of TheO. I trust everyone's 4th of July weekend has gotten off to a good start. In this post I'm going to talk about something that happened today that kind of made me pause. Actually it's not just about something that happened today, but also about something that happened a couple of days ago. Alone these incidents probably wouldn't really considered to be anything significant, but together they could be viewed as the sign of a trend that's maybe picking up speed.
So this afternoon my aunt and I decided to go out and see that Jurassic World movie (which ended up being awesome, by the way). The theater we decided to go see it at is attached to this mall that also has this little shop I sometimes go to for anime DVDs. We got to the mall an hour before the movie was supposed to start, so my aunt decided to go off and do her own shopping at I think the Yonkers they had there while I went to the little shop to browse. I didn't plan on buying anything, just look over the selection and maybe get a few ideas for my Christmas list this year (not that I don't already have a list of options to put down). During the course of my browsing though, I found the entire Strawberry Panic anime series at what is considered dirt cheap price for anime DVDs. And it was the only copy the store had, so I went ahead and bought it since another chance like that probably wouldn't have come around again. It would've been a little like a few years ago in my younger days when I was playing Pokemon Blue and ran away from Zapdos, which is a story for another post.
Anyway, while finding that set of Strawberry Panic DVDs was a fateful encounter, it's the state of that little store's anime collection that I want to talk about. Not only had the store's anime section been moved to another corner of the store, it also seemed like the selection of anime DVDs had been scaled back a bit. It didn't seem like it had been cut back too much, but the area compared to the old anime section was quite a bit smaller. Plus it seemed like the new section could've been organized a little better. Now by itself, I suppose this incident would've only meant that I may need to find a new place to get my anime DVDs from in the future, but when I compare this to another recent incident, I have to wonder if there's something more to all this.
A couple of days ago, I had to drive into the city to take care of this one assignment for my current online class. This assignment I speak of actually isn't due for two weeks, but due to a bit of a misunderstanding about the class schedule I ended up getting that little task done early. Anyway, after I finished what I needed to do, I decided to stop by the Barnes & Noble I usually go to in order to get the first volume of this new Sword Art Online Girls' Ops manga that I had heard about (it got a pretty favorable review on the Anime News Network). When I got into the store, I found that their manga section had been moved slightly. It kind of switched places with their selection of American comic book graphic novels, so the manga was tucked further into the rear corner of the store. And while I'm not entirely sure because of the kind of weird way a lot of the manga they had was being displayed, it sort of seemed like the store's manga section had decreased slightly. Looking at that state of that store's manga selection along with the anime selection at the store I was at today, I have to wonder if the days of being able to go into a store to buy anime and manga are starting to come to an end.
Let's face it, we live in a digital age. Computer technology integrates itself a little more into our lives each day, and various forms of entertainment can easily be accessed with the push of a button on the keyboard while sitting on the couch at home. We can stream anime on computers and download manga to read on tablets. Of course I have nothing against streaming anime online. In fact in some cases that's the only way some anime can be watched these days. But the truth is I prefer to watch anime on a DVD over streaming it. For one thing, if your internet connection goes down, you're pretty much stuck. Plus DVDs are a little more permanent than streaming shows. Every now and then, sites like Netflix and Crunchyroll take down some of their anime shows to make room for other shows. With DVDs and Blu-ray discs, you always have your favorite series on hand whenever you want to watch it. Of course I imagine that in another decade or two, anime shows can be bought online and downloaded onto a little flash drive or hard drive, but that's fine too since that would also be a permanent viewing platform.
As for reading manga on tablets and e-readers, I'd rather just read the actual physical books. For one thing, I don't really like the idea of having to occasionally plug in what I'd be reading on for a recharge, especially if the device is low on power and I'm somewhere that doesn't have a power outlet. Also, if the thing breaks down for whatever reason, chances are I'd have to buy all those digital manga volumes all over again. Plus reading from the screen of a tablet for long periods of time can be damaging. It can screw up a person's sleep patterns for one thing.
Of course it's not as if anime DVDs and physical volumes of manga are going out of style. I mean I see ads for anime DVDs on the Anime News Network and even here on TheO every now and then. But in this digital age it's a lot easier to buy anime and manga online from sites like Amazon instead of going to the store. And I'll admit that buying anime and manga online has a lot of advantages over buying it in a store. For one thing you always know you're going to get the item in question, and sometimes the prices are even better. Still, there are some downsides to buying online too.
For instance a skilled hacker could somehow plant a virus on your computer that let's him get your credit card info. That happens, and the next thing you know you get a bank statement saying you bought fifty pornography DVDs and $5,000 hot tub. Another downside is having to wait for the items you ordered to come in the mail. Also for me, there's kind of a thrill of the hunt in going to the actual store to find the anime and manga I want, a thrill that's pretty much lost in ordering online. Though I'll admit that in the instances where I don't find what I'm looking for, I walk away feeling greatly disappointed.
Still, I don't like the idea that the age of buying anime and manga in actual stores might be going away. But then in many ways I'm kind of a simple old-fashioned guy. Heck, I don't even have a Facebook account. I've thought about getting one, but I'm not sure if I'd ever really use it. Anyway, sorry for the super long post. Until next time, I guess.
