Is Anime Dying?

[oldwrench]

Jh, you have good points, and they all contribute to the problems in the anime industry. One of the big problems is, the anime industry cannot survive, at least not in any large enough capacity, without the US market. The anime industry in Japan was dying, about ten years ago, they were financially bankrupt. It was only the fact that thy opened the US market that the industry survived. Most of the top series you see here now, would not have been completed if the US companies hadn't stepped in with funds to finish the series. Companies are starting to withdraw, because there is no way they can get even licenced products to the US market before the fansubs are all over the net.

What caused Densu, the parent company of Geneon to close the company? Basically it's poor return on investment. Yes Geneon had some series that really tanked, Fighting Spirit is one. But they also have had many top selling series, Trigun, Hellsing, two that I have. The Parent companies main explanation for pulling out, lost revenue due to product being stolen by internet downloading.

Talking to Tailesin Jaffe and Chris Ayers, they said the one thing the Japanese keep bringing up in industry meetings, what can we do about the internet, how can we make this go away, how can we stop them from stealing our work from us?

So what can we do when I hear people say "Why should I buy anime? I can find anything I want on the internet and download it free. It's on the internet so I have the right to download it." Or the ones that say they want to see it now, they'll buy it when it comes out, but they never do. Just because the local hardware store has a display out in front of the store, doesn't mean you have the right to walk off with the product without paying, even if you just want to test it.

[JHawkNH]

I agree with you Oldwrench and I like your hardware store analogy. The only problem is that the fansub situation is a different beast. I may be pulling this numbers out of thin air, but I believe they have some marit. I believe that 95% of those who download anime but never buy it would not buy it even if they could not downloaded it. For most of them money is an issue and if they have a choice between buying a series and just not seeing the series, most of them would just chose not to see the series. Although this would mean that the remaining 5% would begin buying DVD's, There is the major risk that the 5% that do download and buy the series would be less likely to buy DVD and could lose intrest in anime altogather. (And yes this is a real possibility, after I had been into anime for about 2-3 years I began to lose interest in the series that were out at the time. The only reason That I am still into anime today is because I found out about fansubs and that kept me interested until some of those series began to get licenced in the US.) The major risk is that more people would become disinterested in anime then would begin to buy it. If that happened it would only put the industry in an even worse position.

I will make a prediction right now and hope that it never comes to pass. "If the industry is able to shutdown fansubs completly, or at least mostly, then the entire anime industry in the US and followed soon by Japan will completely collapse." I really hope we never have to find out if I am right.

Fansubs are a double edged sword, they hurt by keeping some potential buyers from buying DVD's, but they also help by keeping some fans interested and showing them shows that they may never have bought if not for getting free previews of the majority of the series.

In my opinion it is not fansubs that are the problem. The problem is with the way so many people treat them, as a free lunch.

[Zeratul2k]

That's the situation on the US, and I believe JHawkNH and oldwrench are both right. I'm just gonna make a small parentheses and talk about those less-than-lucky countries where the anime scene isn't as strong as in the US. In Colombia, for example (although I doubt it's any different in other countries), the ones buying anime series are the TV stations. So far, nothing wrong, but the problem it's that they only buy what they want to show and even in those cases, fundamentalist groups might force the stations into taking the show off the air. A perfect example would be Neon Genesis Evangelion. It was bought by the local TV station RCN and they started showing it on weekends as part of the kids programming. When they were around chapter 9, pressure from people ignorant of any thing japanese made the station shift the program to the very, VERY late programming (2 to 3 in the morning), only to be completely canceled at around chapter 15. NGE it's not the only anime that got cancelled in this same way. A short list includes "You're Under Arrest", "Magical Knight Rayearth", "Pokemon" (believe it or not), "Dragon Ball Z" (This one was the worst in the eyes of said group of ignorant people) and "Rurouni Kenshin" (Known around here as "Samurai X").

Now I understand that some people might have problem with some stuff that shown in anime (Japanese and southamerican cultures are very different, after all), but the REAL problem is after the show is cancelled. The TV station that originally bought the rights to the anime series won't let go of them. This, of course, means that NOBODY can merchandise these series locally but them, which they won't do. But there's always the alternative, right? Importing! Well, it's not so easy. Importing has never been easy, since customs are very edgy (We know we have problems and are working hard to solve them. Too bad the only things that get on the news about Colombia are the bad things...). Plus, aside from the price of the merchandise itself, we have to pay shipping and legalization fees, which, depending on the size of the package, go from US$70 and upwards. Most of us don't have that money.

[JHawkNH]

My biggest hope for the resurgence in anime is that the current younger crowed (18 and under) will begin to buy anime as they get older, find jobs, and have disposible income. Right now a large portion of the anime fans fall under this category and do not have any disposible income. (let alone an income at all) At Sogencon I would estimate that between 50% and 70% of the people at the convention would fall into this category. (Does that sound about right to you Oldwrench?) As they become older and have more disposible income hopefully they will begin to make up for the loss of sales to many of those former collage age kids that would spend wildly on anime (I include myself in this group) but now have loans, familys, and mortgages that decrease their disposible income.

If the current US companies cannot weather the current situation in the market, or when the younger group grows up but they still do not buy DVDs. Then anime as we know it will die out.

[oldwrench]

I have often said that I understand the reason people in foreign countries might need to download anime to see it. most countries aren't as fortunate as we are in the US. But I also have heard from many people on other sites that they think there is nothing wrong with downloading their anime and not having to support "those guys who are ripping us off with the high prices". If you can't get your anime in your county, I really am sorry for you, and I can understand why you download. But here, we have hundreds of titles available, at some very low prices. I Know things can be tight for students, but many of the kids I see around have money, they buy one hundred plus dollar shoes, and have expensive cars and cell phones. ect. I just hope these "fans" learn to support the industry, not just steal from it.

[JHawkNH]

I just hope these "fans" learn to support the industry, not just steal from it.

QFT

If those US fans don't learn to start supporting industry, then all anime as me now know it is history.

[Freya]

well if it makes you guys feel better i just used my credit card to buy 7 of Hayao Miyazaki's movies! ^^

(unfortunately it cost upwards of $200 for the box set [w0ot] but i had cooouuupoooonnns! whee! and some money i had earned through a program so i knocked it down to about $100)

i won't open it until i know i can pay off that bill though...... soooo frustrating! i want to watch the movies!!!!

included:

Howl's Moving Castle
Nausicaa
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Castle in the Sky
Kiki's Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro

and now i'm broke again....

[oldwrench]

but years of entertainment there

[JHawkNH]

Nice! Very good choices there.

[Tomoyo]

I saw 4 of them i still want to see the others