Is the anime not selling well anymore?

[Straw Hat]

Every now and then I poked around Amazon to see how various anime are selling by clicking on their "most popular" list and in the top 100 there are no Naruto Shippuden DVD sets currently. Box Set 8 comes in around 107. The second movie Bonds is in 69th place while Bleach Fade to Black is in 30th. Bleach had a few other box sets in the top 100.

The first Naruto series Season 1 Part 1(26 episodes) box set came in 82nd place but it's the only one in the top 100 as well.

Among the shows selling as well or better than Naruto on Amazon right now:

Pokemon
Trigun
Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball
Yu Yu Hakusho
One Piece
Bleach
Rosario+Vampire
Vampire Knight
Robotech
Cowboy Bebop
Black Butler
Hetalia
Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
The Slayers
Samurai Champloo
Sekirei
FLCL
Supernatural: The Anime Series
High School of the Dead
Darker than Black
Ghost in the Shell: The Stand Alone Complex
Code Geass
Kanon
Air
Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo
Welcome to the NHK

Here's the list

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=s9_dnav_...qid=1323012088

I'm sure some of this is due to holiday sales for those titles being much better but that's a lot of shows ahead of Naruto right now.

However in the top 200 after 150 or so there's quite a few Naruto Shippuden and Naruto box sets. So it's still doing plenty well but I don't recall it being that much long ago that the only anime keeping up with DBZ in sales regularly was Naruto Shippuden but that's clearly not the case right now.

Not that I'm particularly worried about Viz cancelling their dub or anything like that but Naruto's success on Hulu isn't translating to better DVD sales it would seem. Perhaps it's even hurting DVD sales right now and not having much presence on television isn't helping it either.

[loganace]

Well that is sad, considering most all of us use Hulu.

[Maruko]

Sadly it's true,internet has ruined everything.

[sasukeuchihuh]

Thats based on a sales report, i bet if you
checked on hulu and looked for most viewed, I
bet you would notice that naruto out beats
'em all lol

[Kunoichi]

Originally Posted by Uchiha Maruko

Sadly it's true,internet has ruined everything.

I disagree. Without making Naruto available via internet i seriously doubt it would ever have reached the height it has here in america.

[[Shikamaru]]

I wonder if hulu pays them, or Viz pays hulu to allow them to showcase their videos.

As the cost of ads and such clearly would increase if they have a higher number of people watching a single video, Viz must receive something along the way.

[Straw Hat]

Originally Posted by sasukeuchihuh

Thats based on a sales report, i bet if you
checked on hulu and looked for most viewed, I
bet you would notice that naruto out beats
'em all lol

It does and I wasn't saying otherwise.

I was pondering if the Hulu streams are in fact hurting sales at this point and it kind of looks that way since Naruto Shippuden is the #6 most streamed show (of any kind) of all time on Hulu while the sales on Amazon hardly indicate it's a big seller these days.

Not that I want to hit the panic button because I'm sure the iTunes downloads are doing pretty well but Viz might stop dubbing the show and/or releasing the DVDs if sales don't pick up. They've dropped countless titles over the years and currently stream some of them.

Naruto has been successful enough that I'm sure they wont give up on it soon but for the first time I'm ever, I'm slightly concerned that Naruto Shippuden's DVD release might be halted in the future.

[Straw Hat]

Originally Posted by Kunoichi

I disagree. Without making Naruto available via internet i seriously doubt it would ever have reached the height it has here in america.

While it can be argued that fansubbing is one of the big reasons why Naruto was hugely successful here but a well handled television broadcast on Cartoon Network is why Naruto is as popular as it is here. But since then because nobody gets DXD the Hulu stream has become the easiest way to keep watching the series as well as introducing it to new people.

But I think the problem is not that many people are interested in owning the Naruto Shippuden anime compared to the number of people who will watch it but maybe only once. If they're interested in owning a copy of the story to enjoy again they're more likely to buy the manga because it's cheaper than DVDs and doesn't suffer from bad pace or filler stories that kill the momentum of the main story.

[roullex uchiha]

So Pokemon has better sales than Naruto???
I'm Really shocked.

[narutogirl13]

You're not the only one, though I'm a bit of a Pokemaniac myself

[Cosmo]

Well, of course.
Most of the Anime community looks down on Naruto and praises most other series.
Pokemon is marketed towards >12.

[WishfulFairie]

Pokemon????? Well then.

I'm pretty sure Hulu pays for it though....