Most anime studios probably can't afford to take the financial risks involved in marketing and selling their products worldwide. It's not really as simple as "sell your stuff in more places and you'll make more money."

It would certainly be better if they were able to though.

>Japanese producers start releasing their anime directly in western markets instead of resorting to western dub/publishers/other intermediaries
they already do this. Bandai, Aniplex etc.

I dont see how it makes any difference if the distribution company is Japanese or American. the bottom line is you download because you dont want to pay, I dont care what justification you come up with. buy the Japanese releases and download the fansubs if you actually give a shit.

>Don't they like money? Or is the supply and demand simply not working here?
the demand has been ruined by fansubs and scanlations.

I think there are a lot of people that would be more inclined to buy if that were the case, but a lot of said people could also go the route of "If I can get it for free, why pay?".

The most they would probably get is the people who go out of their way to buy it in their original formats anyway.

They could do a small scale internet only distributed system with subtitles only, maybe even fansub based subtitles if they work along with them, with small marketing leaving it to the fans to talk about it.
Like an opposite to the current mainstream approach but with the DVD's.
It wouldn't really be that hard or expensive and they'd surely earn some money.

I wonder if the question is if they'd actually earn more like that over the current system of letting some stream sites get it and then selling the rights to the localization companies.
Assuming they'd sell less like this but with a smaller cost then it would be the actual profit that determines it.
Though they could actually end selling more if people somehow like the direct approach more, feel more in touch with their franchises or like the subs more.
I know I'd buy a few shows simply out of love for the franchises if they were released by the company that made them directly and profits went to them entirely and if the subs and the whole product satisfied me.
Never been happy with the american dubs or the subs they use.

I watch raws, so I don't need subs or dubs. And I don't want my money to go to people who do stuff that I don't even want or need. Not to mention that it takes years for anime shows to be released here in Germany, and only a few select ones are released at all.

I've looked into importing anime DVDs directly from Japan, but the shipping costs to EU are so high that I'd end up paying 2 or 3 times the already hefty regular price. Plus I'd have to wait a month or so for them to arrive.
I also prefer to have my stuff on a compact hard drive rather than on dozens/hundreds of DVDs in their cases (I also hardly own any paperbooks anymore, just gigs and gigs of e-books).

I tried to buy (legally stream/download) some episodes online, but it seems none of the Japanese anime distribution sites allow foreigners to buy their stuff, all I get to see when I'm about to place my order is a screen like picrelated. Happens at all shops I've come across, even those owned by distributors who market their stuff overseas themselves anyway, like Bandai and so on. They obviously don't want my money very much, so I don't see why I should come up with elaborate plans how to pay them when I can just get everything for free without complications anyway.

obligatory