I'll agree that the bootleg and fansub industry is harming legal anime.
I'll also agree that predatory pricing is helping. I mean, who would buy a bootleg if the legal version was reasonably priced? As someone said, you can buy most US TV series' complete season for anywhere from $15 to $70 (for Star Trek.) Compare that to $150 for R.O.D. or $90 for 13-episode Paranoia Agent.
Is it supply and demand? Dp geek-appeal products (sorry) like Anime and Star Trek demand higher prices because of a limited market? I can't think so. Sure, there's a saturation point, but the fact is that most people I know would buy a lot more anime if it was more affordable. As it is, people maybe buy one or two all-time favorites, and for the stuff they don't care about rewatching, bootlegs and downloads fill the gap.
I buy for a library (as I've said before) and with our budget tightening, I'm finding it harder and harder to justify spending an unyeilding $27 per single disc of a hot new title when I can get a new-release movie or a complete TV series which has broader appeal for so much less. In fact, the only anime I've bought for us this year so far is the complete collection of Princess Tutu, and that was because Amazon had it on sale for $25, which made it competitive with other TV box sets. Some OLD anime is actually getting to be more reasonable--I got both seasons of Magic Knight Rayearth last year for $15 each.
The fact is that the market has changed: there is a LOT of anime available to choose from, including old or second-hand discontinued titles, and if the companies want to sell, they need to offer competitive pricing.
AND timely releases. Personally, I finally caved in and bought bootlegs of Eyeshield 21 after watching lots of it on Youtube, because nobody in the US appears to be licensing it. (It's about FOOTBALL, anime companies!!! C'mon, no brainer! There's not even any US cartoon about football! This is the chance to grab a whole new section of the market, and draw a mainstream crowd to anime! It's one of the most popular shows in Japan about one of the most popular subjects in the US! What the heck are you waiting for???) The more-expensive-than-usual bootleg cost me about $30 per season. There are about four seasons of this show available. When some anime company finally starts to trickle out the 100+ episodes three or four at a time at $27 a disc, how likely do you think it is that anyone will be left who's willing to pay?
