The other day we were all saddened to hear that Vocaloid producer wowaka had passed away suddenly. In response, I wrote a post about sad anime deaths by members of the industry that have brought us so much joy. While I was preparing the article I noticed something interesting: several of my Google searches brought up articles asking is anime dying? and debating the impending death of anime as a healthy industry.
It might seem a funny question to ask, since the anime industry seems more popular than ever, with something like 70-100 new and continuing series to watch every cour, far more than anyone could actually keep up with. Animated films like Your Name and Spirited Away regularly rank as the highest-grossing films in Japan, and the list of the most famous Japanese around the world is well-represented by anime and manga creators. Even the business end of anime seems to be improving, with companies like Netflix and Amazon now funding projects for their streaming platforms. So it would seem that everything is rosy in the anime industry.
Not so fast. As revealed in an interesting post and our Twitter thread, there are a lot of challenges that could threaten the anime industry’s health going forward. Some of these include…
- The Internet, being the great remover of friction that it is, has made it so easy to pirate full HD anime that studios lose their primary source of income, which are those pricey (but gorgeous) limited Blu-ray discs (which we sell).
- Salaries in the industry are famously low, with only the top-ranked seiyu making top dollar thanks to appearances at events and royalties from songs.
- Balkanized streaming services, which make it difficult for a given fan to watch anime legitimately without signing up for multiple services.
- The danger of “online rage mobs” who call for boycotts of anime-related companies over real or imagined sins, no matter how great the contribution of the company to fandom has been in the past.
- Over-reliance on “mammoth” production companies. A few years ago Mages merged with the giant Kadokawa Group, creating a sprawling network of IP holders. My fear is, if anime is concentrated in the hands of a few huge companies, what happens if those companies go into decline?
- As a business owner, one subject I think a lot about is the lack of entrepreneurial spirit in Japan, which translates into fewer people deciding to start a new business or a new animation studio. Are new anime studios being created to take over as older ones fade away?
Another issue is the Anime Production Committee system, which I’m required to rail against every few months in order to keep my Anime Blogger’s card. This is an investing and risk-management system created in the aftermath of the financial failure of the gorgeous (but at the time, financially unsuccessful) Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro film whereby a holding company with a name like the Nausicaa Production Committee or Madoka Quartet is formed, with different companies kicking in money and bringing different kinds of expertise (production, marketing, figures or card games, broadcasting and distribution etc.). Since anime studios are usually poor, they lack the funds to invest in these projects, and as a result, they only receive a flat fee for creating the animation. Despite Your Name making more than $281 million worldwide, director Shinkai Makoto may have netted as little as $200,000 from the film because of the poor structure of the Production Committee System and lack of profit sharing and bonuses for studios and animators.
Is anime dying? I’d say much the opposite, the industry is in the middle of a fabulous Golden Age. But unless big changes are made going forward, the reality is going to catch up with the industry and cause lots of pain in the future. I hope those changes can be made sooner rather than later.
What do you think? Is anime dying, or is it better than ever? Give us your thoughts on Twitter!
Great news! J-List is having a very special anime figure sale from now through April 15th! Buy any anime figure, either in-stock figures or preorder figures, and take $10 immediately, for purchases over $60. No coupon to enter, the $10 off is automatically applied!
