Trouble for the Anime industry?
Tue 2009/11/24 09:16 JST
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in Anime
Trouble for the anime industry? Here's an intresting article from saturday's Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703819904574551834260925714.html
I suppose that none of this comes as much of a surprise to anybody who has been paying attention to the industry and Japan. It's sort of like the decline in the hobby industry in late seventies here in the US.
This definitely is a sad article. Child population in japan decreasing, discouraging toy makers in turn, and so many other bad news like the result of which I first mention results into other people making anime genres not suitable for the young. This explains a lot. I fear that me and my late friend's nightmare is about to come into fruition. This might become the saddest moment for us all. And people working in that industry are underpaid? Now that explains even more.
The last line touched me. Without young blood, no fresh ideas.
Artist
http://radiantdreamer.wordpress.com
You're totally right about that last point. Without fresh ideas, the industry will continue to decline as the older executives cannot do anything more than rehash existing ideas (much like the current movie industry and a huge part of the video game industry). And with the rehash, it's more drudgery, and less fun, which makes more people leave the industry. it's a vicious cycle.
I'm sure many people are tired of seeing the same old archetypes, interacting in similar environments, just with different outfits, hair, and voices. You literally can throw all the ideas into a hat, and pull out whatever.
It's difficult for the industry to invigorate new ideas when there isn't really a way to ask the consumer what they really want since it's still in a very zombie consumerism state. :(
Domon Kasshu fanboy/ Starving Artist
http://unrelatedimage.blogspot.com/
Gotta remember that the people are fickle too :/
Introduce a new idea and everyone will complain about its lacking in classic elements, while using the same old element over and over makes it stale and unwatchable, like most anime these last 3 seasons or so.
Student/Hikikomori
http://cream77.deviantart.com/
Maybe if company's outsourced a lot more for animators and other positions they could get fresher ideas.Not to mention if they have family's the kids could even come up with something good.I do doubt the anime business will go away but I do fear it will only pop up once in a blue moon if the trend's stated in the article keep up.
Artist
http://radiantdreamer.wordpress.com
Unfortunately, ideas don't come from the front-line animators or their families. It always comes from the creative directors. It takes A LOT of time and effort to conceptualize and solidify a working idea. Some "wouldn't it be cool?" idea from some family member is not quite enough to get things going.
While that kind of a "shotgun approach" can eventually yield a potentially inspiring idea, theoretically it's still iffy at best. True that if you have an infinite amount of time, with an infinite number of monkeys, they'd be able to write Shakespear's entire works.
Pseudo-Graphic Designer, 触手 wrangler, H-Man
http://lightningsabre.blogspot.com/
It's really scary that it's come down to those facts. The pay is so low and the work hours are crazy. I didn't realize how the childbirth decline can have such an impact like that. Scary facts...
To Aru Tenki R★IN
http://kyourin7.blogspot.com/
now time to go to Japan and do what we can in order to increase the population XD muhahah ^w^ nah just joking ^^
- if the trend goes on like this, it's no suprise that future animes will be released by doujin circles XD
Supernatural Alien Student
It some times feel sad to hear the Anime industry falling down and dying as it is .
With the recent news that More and more moe anime has been made because of a lot Merchandises can be made from the anime which leads to the decline of good animes with good plots . Nowadays , People don't understand the Moe animes which leads to a decline of Anime Lovers as well .
What the Industry should do is put exclusives on Anime DVDs or Bluray ( which is expensive) and make more Good animes like FMA , Fairy Tale and Soul eater .
NEET
http://moemoekyun.wordpress.com/
yup low rate children in japan right now so they make eroge 18+ game,echii figures to atract adults to toys right
Artist
http://radiantdreamer.wordpress.com
yeah, I find that a bit sad, really. For starters, adult oriented anime does NOT have to be eroge. Anime such as Nodame Cantabille are very popular, and actually reach a much broader audience, and all without being ecchi. Dealing with adult situations and adult topics, while still being lighthearted for the enjoyment of a general audience.
I'm actually hoping the industry will move more into that direction, while still maintaining merchandise-specific anime for the consumers in us.
Secondly, with the proliferation of all this eroge, it doesn't encourage males to go out and meet a REAL female so they can have kids to increase the population again. I miss Doraemon-type anime.
Nendo Otaku
Its a rather depressing article given my life long love for the industry. I would have thought the proliferation of all things Anime across foreign markets to have greatly boosted revenue for the makers through licensing rights, but that is an assumption on my part.
Perhaps, much like the music industry, its time to consider alternate revenue streams like offering media downloads over ITunes or have a good study of how the content filters through to people at the moment and how some additional profits can be generated as a result.
I can think of so many ways to generate additional revenue, off the top of my head on the outset, but I'd want to research what other factors could be at play in causing this decline to begin with.
NEET (no, student, AND employed min. wage)
there is another really good solution to this... NOT MAKE THAT MUCH ANIME. I think Gundam should go back to the, wait for a little while, approach (like the time lapse between Turn A and SEED). Why not stop doing fillers? Why not stop doing things like Endless 8? I mean seriously, I DON'T think it's the animation or quality of the art that is in question -since like South Park is all construction paper and a little cgi. You can have an eye candy, but if the story sucks, I am not going to watch it.
NSFW
http://bookindian.wordpress.com
yes, cut back on the amount of anime being produced - sort of reminds me of the romance novels in the U.S. not much content you read one and you can predict outcomes in many others and maybe like south park, do stories that parody real-life events. like Barsona say, if the story sucks it sucks!
Nendo Otaku
The reality is that there are a number of production houses and they all have to generate product / shows to make money. Go ahead and try asking a business to simply stop for a few months and see if it survives. I do agree that there has been a decline in the quality of shows over the years, but that's my own personal opinion, which is based on my own viewing tastes.
NSFW
http://bookindian.wordpress.com
something to consider: as people get older, tastes change; so maybe, due to the declining younger population in Japan, readership and people buying anime is also declining - so the glut of anime and diminishing consumer base has resulted in slowing sales; also, who wants to work long hours for low pay ?? the major animation studios in the U.S. have animators sleeping in the studios to meet production deadlines . . . hmmmm, wonder what they get paid besides the prestige of working on big box office cgi??
Artist
http://radiantdreamer.wordpress.com
You're right about the amount of anime churning out. It's actually a global problem - clutter. With so much clutter it becomes impossible for the consumer to pick out something that is good, and spread it around.
Clutter happens with sub-genre targeting as the market segregates into niches. But with it being so specifically targeted, it becomes difficult for the industry to get their word out to those niches, as more and more clutter floods the market.
Mechanical Engineer, 路過的Kamen Rider, Dollfie Dream Savior, 太陽之子蒙面超人Black RX
http://tcwenterprise.com/wordpress/
I'm in my mid 30s but I am still watching anime.. BUT, a Big BUT, anime that lack actual story is not going to keep me interested. I rather go back and re-watch old classics than to be forced to watch "moe" anime that doesn't cater to a more mature audience that desire real content and progression (progression here means character progression). I want my story back, thank you.
Student
While I am disheartened to hear about the decline of the anime industry, I think anime studios needs to realize that animators, seiyuu's, etc, cannot make a decent living in their respective fields. Yet ,many of them must work long suffering hours. If I have learned anything in my psychology class, more sleep means better results and proficiency. Osamu Tezuka, known as the god of manga/anime, was notoriously known for underpaying his staff and only concentrated on maximizing profits; if someone can be kind enough to google this as I no longer remember the link. Either they start paying seiyuus and animators a decent wage or they can continue to see a decrease in quality and a rehash of moe anime.
About that......
like down here in australia where some of our groceries people buy in 2 of the biggest supermarkets are sourced overseas, mainly in china, and how your big name clothing such as the well named sports clothing name nike outsource their work at india where they make your 300 dollar shoes for instance. and all they work for is at least a few dollars a day... its a depressing thing hearing the japanese anime industry have to outsource their animation artwork in other countries to meet demands and shortage of work. hell down here i work for 10 hours and i get at least 1200 aud just packing cardboard. these guys work far more hours and get paid a fith what i get. this is a sad moment to think about
University Student
Ouch! I think I feel more for their workers as they only make 1.1 million yen a bit over $11,000 usd a year. That kind of pay really sucks, I for one will not work my butt off just to make that much a year even if it was my dream job. It seems anime DVD prices in Japan itself is a lot more expensive than those in the US with only 2 episodes worth of that 6000yen+ while over here we get 4 episodes for $20-$25 except for the ones with bonus goodies, though not really attractive goodies, which are usually seen around $50.
I think there needs to be a decrease in moe anime. Moe anime usually have no content that will satisfy long time anime fans who know the true meaning of a good story and character development. I mean I only have 4 episodes on my watch list this season and only consider 1 of them to be the best for fall09, Kimi ni Todoke, the other three are meh so so. Most anime I consider really good story driven are less popular among moe fans as of course there are no fan service for them at all.
I believe the low pay is a problem but I also believe the fans need to buy anime as well at least the ones they enjoy watching, it does make a difference. The price also needs to be reconsidered as 6000yen+ is too much for only 2 episodes, pretty much you'll be spending A LOT just to complete a series.
http://msgeek.insanejournal.com/
This is beginning to feel like what happened to American animation in the mid-'90s. The whole industry is a shadow of its former self now. I know some great talents who have had to really hustle to get steady work. And others have been struggling just to get by.
I would like to see more cross-Pacific collaborations, more people with great ideas on both sides of the Pacific joining forces and doing kick-butt stories again. And yeah, more content for grownups. I don't mean ADULT "woo, ecchi" content: I mean strong content, mature themes, intelligent storylines, and taking advantage of the fact that there are NO LIMITS in animation...anything can happen on screen.
Actually Europe and even Israel have come out with interesting stuff in the past few years:
Persepolis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNMekgoCCVY
Renaissance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FqW6h2VDTI
Waltz With Bashir
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylzO9vbEpPg
Actually if movies like "A Scanner Darkly" had been done as real animation rather than that really crappy rotoscope process...yeah "Renaissance" was also rotoscoped but they really did it with style rather than just throw paint at the video if you know what I mean, it would have been cool. Oh yeah...someone other than Keanu as the lead would have been helpful too.
student
it really feels sad and outsourcing jobs to china? you gotta be kidding me, i'm chinese and i kinda despise the methods they have there. pretty sad that the industry is gonna go down, it'll prolly ruin my future career too(game designer) since the two industries are pretty closely knit in japan. my future! T_T
http://www.alternatesam.com
It is also important to note that Japan is due for a population crash in the next 20-30 years. IIRC, the population will halve itself by 2040 if it continues at the current decline