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mcity
2009-03-13 03:39 pm UTC (link)

it is growing harder and harder to deny that the quality of the content is really going downhill as a whole.

Isn't there still a lot more anime being made now then there was in the 90s? If so, doesn't Sturgeon's Law apply?

If everything is being pulled back to that model, well, it means that's the model most consumers want.

Wrong question. The right one would be "Is this still an economically sustainable model?"

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arionhunter
2009-03-13 04:11 pm UTC (link)

Isn't there still a lot more anime being made now then there was in the 90s? If so, doesn't Sturgeon's Law apply?

Yes, but I'll bounce it back to your second point (with which I agree): the problem is that this crap is making the industry as a whole not economically sustainable. It's the same problem as with the Big Two in Mainstream Comics - Sales Numbers are frequently the ultimate determinant of what books are kept alive, which means a low-quality peripheral book in a Major Hero franchises will be bought based on insular fan interest as the good-but-not-Major-Hero books are cut.

Niche marketing works well on a small-scale, but not when 90% of an *industry* is niche marketed. Niche marketing means that, not unlike the movie industry, studios are forced to put out ten series like Akikan or Strike Witches for every one non-niche product. And like the movie industry, the foundation of this model is beginning to show its cracks.

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	mcity 2009-03-13 04:13 pm UTC (link)
	So you're saying we need a Sundance or Cannes for anime? Something to promote "indie" series and movies? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

arionhunter
2009-03-13 10:13 pm UTC (link)

No, since that really wouldn't work with the current sales model for series. I can't begin to propose a solution because Japan handles licensing and distribution differently from America, so there's a lot of legal things I have no knowledge of.

And as with any discussion of successful media industry business models, there's not so much one single solution as a bunch of little things put together which may lead to success as determined by trial-and-error.

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	gorogoro 2009-03-13 08:45 pm UTC (link)
	...sadly, Strike Witches was actually good. Even for me as a usually anti-fanservice type (albeit in a sort of hilarious way.) Certainly better than most of the general fightan/pseudo-philosophical series out there. Akikan, on the other hand......... (Reply to this)(Parent)

altoidsaddict
2009-03-13 04:46 pm UTC (link)

First they came for the 401(k), and I did not speak up because my retirement plan consists of pennies in a sock.

Then they came for the mortgaged houses, and I did not speak up because I live in a squat while I beg for DeviantArt commissions.

Then they came for the CEOs, and I did not speak up because I was at a con dressed as an anthropomorphic tiger.

Then they came for the stock market, and I did not speak up because Sci-Fi had a Moonlight marathon.

And by the time they came for my lolipetz hentai dub-sub animes, there was no one left to speak up for me.

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	cygnia 2009-03-13 05:53 pm UTC (link)
	Best Buy is apparently cutting back on the anime it sells in some of its stores. Unfortunately for me, the Best Buy closest to me is on that list. :( (Reply to this)(Thread)

	dejana 2009-03-13 06:34 pm UTC (link)
	But that means they're having a 50% off sale! I already hit up my local store. Big box discount stores weren't very good for the industry anyway. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	lady_ganesh 2009-03-13 09:12 pm UTC (link)
	And I could buy pretty much everything cheaper at Amazon or RightStuf, so I never quite got why they carried so much. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	sandglass 2009-03-13 09:20 pm UTC (link)
	They are? I know where I'm going tonight! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lady_ganesh 2009-03-13 07:32 pm UTC (link)
	STFU, I got the first two sets of DBZ for thirty bucks. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	usagivindaloo 2009-03-13 06:25 pm UTC (link)
	Oh lord, I'm too terrified to even look. I work in the anime industry (writing dub scripts) and I've already found that times are kinda tough. I don't want to have to look for new work. :-( (Reply to this)(Thread)

	lady_ganesh 2009-03-13 09:12 pm UTC (link)
	This is more about the Japanese industry. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	usagivindaloo 2009-03-13 09:18 pm UTC (link)
	True, but it still can adversely affect the Western side of the industry... for example, if less anime series are being produced in Japan, then obviously there will be fewer series for Western companies to translate, dub, etc. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

quartz
2009-03-13 10:37 pm UTC (link)

That implies that Western companies have the money now and into the future not just to license Japanese anime for release in other countries, but to produce it in either dubbed or subtitled form for the Western markets. There's a lot of Western-based companies barely hanging on or currently going under/selling off assets because Western consumers just aren't buying anime like they did two years ago. If Japanese companies can't look forward to international licensing fees and royalties from the Western market then they'll cut back the costs involved in making anime as much as possible and conserve money by not making as many shows.

Hopefully a smaller number of animes coming out of Japan will allow the Western companies to recover from the past anime glut and get their financial feet under themselves, thereby allowing them to buy more shows and boost the Japanese companies.

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usagivindaloo
2009-03-13 10:53 pm UTC (link)

You do make very good points. I have had concerns about the state of the Western anime market since, well, since I started working in the industry. ;-) I don't disagree with you or the article in saying that glut is part of the problem and that a cutback might be good for the industry as a whole on both sides of the ocean. And I know what you mean about Western companies having the money to continue licensing.

I suppose I get a little blinkered by the whole, "Am I still going to be getting paycheques?" question and lose sight of the big picture. Mea culpa. XD

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quartz
2009-03-14 12:32 am UTC (link)

The big picture is a scary one just from a fan perspective. I've watched so many titles I was interested in being picked up for distribution in the US and then the companies say that they don't have any money to release them. Or the company sells of its anime licenses to other companies who then publically state that they have no plans to release those shows and that they're just hording so that other companies won't have a chance. Before I dropped out of mainstream anime fandom two years ago I had a whole list of shows which were being fansubbed specifically because the companies who owned the licenses stated they were never going to release the titles in the US.

I guess I should start buying anime again and support the companies, but there's so little out there that I like compared to a few years ago. Manga seems to be now what anime was two/three years ago, but due to the ongoing monthly longterm nature of many of the more popular titles it seems to be slightly more sustainable than anime has been. Buy a license for Bleach or Naruto manga and the development costs are lower and profit margin higher ($10 per book or more retail with $2 or $3 in costs = profit) with the knowledge that profits are going to be more steady than an anime DVD release simply due to the nature of book series. *should be working, but is pondering economic relationships instead*

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	sparkysrevenge 2009-03-14 11:04 am UTC (link)
	I've never been an anime fan (and probably won't, as I don't like the plots, nor do I like the art), but... seriously? The same thing is happening in the American filmmaking business, and no one's trying to do anything about it here. (Reply to this)