It's a tough economy out there. Japanese otaku don't always have the free space (or cash) for a million billion volumes of DVDs, especially given that the typical Japanese DVD volume contains a crummy two episodes for double the price of a regular US release.

It's not surprising then, that video releases overall are down this year. Japan's mid-year forecast reveals a drop in revenue of ten whole percentage points, down to about $1.4 billion. There was, however, a source of light in the darkness, probably generated by the burning passion of millions of otaku gleefully exchanging money for their anime fix - in high definition!

In what is surely a delight to the hearts of Sony and its partners, the end of the format wars has triggered a massive spike in Blu-Ray disc sales, skyrocketing the numbers by three hundred eighty-six percent. Which content dominated the charts? Delicious anime, claiming more than half of the total. Of course, one's joy must be tempered. DVD sales still retain the vast majority of market share. Despite the sales push, Blu-Rays still represent just seven percent of the market.  

That leaves just that last question raised by the headline. Why do I blame K-On!? It's simple. Otaku feeding their moe addiction gobbled up the charts, with the first volume alone claiming second place behind Evangelion 1.0. Since Evangelion is just one disc, and K-On! stretches over several volumes, there must have been several moeblob units moved for every OMG TEH REI. 

It's been turning into a good year for Blu-Rays in Japan. Will it be the same over here? What anime-related products have you been considering for your collection? I went and bought the second Appleseed movie, and Advent Children Complete. I would kill to get some HD Kara no Kyoukai, or at least the Gurren Lagann movie.