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INTEREST: Prince of Tennis Musical Tops 2,000 Performances




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EnLigneAzrael



Joined: 06 Jul 2022
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 8:57 am Reply with quote
Some streaming service needs to stream them internationally!

And Touken Ranbu! And Tsukipro!

Honestly, of the three (probably longest series, with 30+ plays each), Tsukipro is probably the most accessible because it’s episodic and doesn’t rely on history or one sport (there are about 7 different AUs in it, you don’t need to know the series to get it, anything is s jumping-on point).

Stream them and get the world into them and have world tours!
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xxmsxx



Joined: 06 Sep 2017
Posts: 565
PostPosted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 11:59 am Reply with quote
EnLigneAzrael wrote:
Some streaming service needs to stream them internationally!


I have had this discussion with someone else as well, who actually speaks Japanese. This person was not getting it at all.

The thing is that the Japanese are very keen on in-person experience. For example, they would open a movie with silent mode (no clapping, no cheering, no any auditory expression from the audience) instead of streaming it online when the restrictions hit. They know that not everyone would be able to go to an in-person showing even without restrictions and yet they still opt to do that.

Why? They are very big on exclusivity and seasonality. They believe there is time and place for everything. So making it available for more people or just more accessible in general is against this ethos. Sure, maybe they can make more money. But the psychology of the fans in Japan are the more exclusive something is, the more valuable and privileged their experience become, the more loyal they become.

Traditionally, anime and manga relied on highly loyal but smaller audiences. The Production Committees behind these productions, whether it is anime or musical, retains this mindset. They want 5000 people who will pay a high price for the same product for sure as opposed to 20000 people who may or may not pay the same price for the same product. They are investors, they want "guaranteed" returns, not projections.

Loyalty can be cultivated and nurtured. But you need to make the audience feel they are special. They cannot be "just another fan". In reality, they are, but the pretense is very important.

What has happened with the pandemic is that it FORCED some of the musicals to be streamed to break even. Of course with a fee and limited time only, but at least it is not region-locked. Doesn't necessarily has English subtitles or anything, but this is better than nothing.

What I hope is that the revenue from these online streams will provide real data to back up the fact that fans from outside of Japan are willing and able to pay for content as well. Significantly. Money talks. And the Production Committee will look at the revenue more than anything else. I don't think this will start a trend of anything, but at least a few musicals will make it online and available for overseas fans.
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Anne F



Joined: 17 Sep 2021
Posts: 116
PostPosted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 3:13 pm Reply with quote
Congratulations on 2k performances! That's so exciting!!!! I hope they do reach that 4k+ milestone!

As for streaming services, I would love something for international fans. While it isn't specifically for international fans, there is Theater Complex (you need to use a VPN to sign up, but don't need it afterwards) where you can subscribe monthly and watch lots of stage shows for free, but they also have the option to rent some like DMM does. And of course there's DMM and Zaiko.

AVEX has been doing an excellent job at bringing shows to international fans (some with English subs) with Yowamushi Pedal, BSD STORM BRINGER, and Paradox Live the LIVE being the most recent ones and I hope other companies will start doing the same. TouMyu's SOGA show being posted officially on youtube was very unexpected and it has reached almost 1 million views!

I believe the person in charge of Nelke really wants to bring shows to the international audience. SeraMyu I believe has come to the states and TouMyu has done a couple of shows in other Asian countries and Paris.

And to the person above, most of the shows are region-locked. If any of them are behind pia or eplus, good luck trying to watch them if you don't have an actual JP phone number. And technically DMM is region-locked as well. You just have to use a VPN to get around that. The only shows that aren't region-locked are the ones that AVEX hosts.

I dunno about other shows, but it seemed like the streams were pretty popular for TouMyu's latest show that ended last month. Lots of people were talking about them and drawing fan art of various moments. I saw some people even create documents for the various things that changed for each show or prefecture like the adlibs and duets to share with other fans. I'm sure not everyone is like that, but it seems that rules aren't quite as strict. Again, this is just my observation from one show. I'm not trying to make a blanket statement.

As long as the streams keep happening and DMM doesn't lock me out, I'll be happy. I just hope that eventually us overseas fans will get more opportunities to see shows. Be it in person or via other streaming services that are specifically catered to us (like what AVEX is doing).
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