Awhile ago, John-Paul made a blog entry about how anime is, for lack of better words, not that great. Naturally, this resulted in several anime fans going on the offensive (in a typical immature fashion). Let's be honest, though: anime is not as great as it once was. The writing is clearly on the wall with the downfall of three distributors and several DVDs being forced into clearances. But rather than just complain about how things aren't the way they used to be, how about trying to figure out just what led to the current state? Only when we confront the problem can it be solved.
Let's discuss poor distribution first. The blame seems to be constantly placed on torrents. While they are a problem, they are not THE problem. Even if by some miracle every fan-subber, torrent host, bootlegger and pirate online stopped downloading, would it really improve the sales of anime? We live in an age where you can pirate ANYTHING. Software, movies, TV shows, video games, music; if you have a computer with the internet, you can get it. So just how does anybody stay in business? Why does anybody bother buying anything if you can pirate it? Well, aside from those who don't want to be criminals, most people prefer the legit product for its higher quality and packaging. That is primarily why Blu-Rays sell. I have a bootleg copy of the first Lupin TV series because I can't get it here in America. But the instant it comes over on a spiffy looking DVD, I'll trash that bootleg and spend money on that DVD without question. And if you truly consider yourself a fan of anime, you'll do the same.
But aside from the quality of the product, the main reason anybody buys anything is for the product itself. Did it ever once occur to anybody that maybe the reason nobody is buying up all this anime isn't because they can get it for free but because they don't actually want to watch it? Take a good look at all the anime we've released here in America. Look at ALL of it. Out of all those titles, how many would you actually watch? If you actually said all of them, you are far more devoted to anime than anybody I know.
Anime needs to get its appeal back and I don't mean by repeating what use to be cool. Mainly, anime needs to cross cultural boundaries and cliches to reach new audiences and increase demand. Look at Cowboy Bebop and Big O. They aren't exactly a-typical anime series and you could actually watch them without having to know a thing about convention or manga counterparts. I'm not saying there shouldn't be any anime like that, but its much easier to capture a wider audience by doing so. Why exactly does anybody care about a wider audience? Because that means more people buying it, hence more production for anime companies.
Some may ask if anime went mainstream wouldn't it tarnish its reputation for more original content? The answer is that it already happened. Anime fandom and exposure peaked in 2004; Suncoast was running anime advertisements, Sam Goodies were stocked to the brim with anime merchandise, Marshal Fields was using manga as an ad campaign and Cartoon Network was running anime on both Toonami and Adult Swim. You're worried about overexposure? It's already been overexposed and the damage to original content has been done. Companies right now are struggling to regurgitate what the fans want more of in droves. But vomit is still vomit no matter how many times you try to dress it up and sell it. If things stay that way, nothing will change and anime will stagnate until the only thing left will be one show about cute school girls who shoot lasers out of their tits and decapitate each other with penises that transform into bigger penises.
This also applies to anime distributors. I've been saying this for years and people still hate me for it, but we really need to start hen-picking titles we bring over. With the state the industry is in now, they can't afford to distribute a title that will just sit on the shelf collecting dust. Many of these companies seem to be in such a rush to grab the latest, most popular show before the file sharing people nab it that the actual content seems almost secondary. They need to stop viewing distribution as a race. You may end up being first, but the file sharers aren't expecting an income.
I'm not saying that trying to find a larger audience is going to be easy. I don't have the exact answer for what will be the next Cowboy Bebop. But it's certainly not going to be Cowboy Bebop: Rebuild 2.0. All the anime industry can do at this point to win over viewers is experiment until they find the next big hit. There will be failures and they may risk alienating followers, but the risk is far better than the alternative.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I tend to defend the American licensers, at least to the extent that the Japanese side has a large hand in why the anime industry is in a shithole. The shows they produce are catered to Japanese audiences, which may not necessarily jibe with international markets. They make garbage because that’s what the Japanese consumers are throwing their money at, regardless of the demand coming from America.
They also make things very difficult on American licensers, which of course makes it more difficult to thrive over here. It’s easy for me to assume (and I’d love to verify) that some kind of package deal where–in order for an American licenser to get the rights to a good/profitable show–they’d have to also take a few crappy ones. Kinda like how cable networks are sold to subscription services.
Japanese companies need to progress out of old market attitudes and broaden their scopes to include worldwide distribution. That would be a huge help in improving the state of the industry and hopefully allow for an artistic renaissance.
The subscription deal sounds like really bad idea if they indeed have to license a chunk of titles just to get a few. They definitely have certain contracts with studios to gain access to their properties, but holding a distributor to take a packaged deal where they must license a certain amount of titles is just not a good business deal at least in this industry. That one title they really want could turn a profit, but would it be worth the loss revenue from releasing mediocre junk?
Even if that is the case, American distributors still have to learn to say no once in awhile. They are already under enough pressure to acquire video rights, TV rights and streaming rights for all these properties that it is easy enough for a producer to tweak the deal to be as unfair as possible. To that end, the product itself needs to be turning out a larger consumer profit than the usual followers less the industry be forced to abandon the foreign market for lack of business. Take a look at Media Blasters. They are the only company that dealt heavily with anime that splintered off into the direct-to-video movie market and have almost completely abandoned anime. Why? DTV movies are cheaper and easier to turn a profit.
Japanese studios probably don’t give a crap about that as they have plenty of other distributors, but if they want to keep their place at our dinner table, they really need to stop turning a deaf ear to competition. Because as we all know, zero competition leads to stagnation and price gouging.
Who knows. Maybe this new Japanese censorship bill could be a huge blessing in disguise.
That would be an interesting turnaround… I mean, what if the Japanese market saw an increase of foreign (ie, American) entertainment? More attention Japanese audiences would turn toward imported shows and movies…then Japanese studios would have to step up their game. Not just to compete domestically, but also realize their dependence on exporting their products.