Is the anime Industry dying?

[Kage Kisaragi]

I still read mangas. However I can at least point out that before I gained access to the internet and before it became so easy to read the small handful of mangas I do read now, I supported the industry. During Junior Highschool and all through highschool and in part after I started working a real job. I gave what I could to the industry, I bought videos, merchandise, video games (usually anime related ones). I got my friends into them and so on. However time and interest do take their toll on people. A lot of the anime that is popular now just doesn't click with him like order stuff did, or the magic of just seeing a new anime isn't there like it used to be when I was young. I can't say that he newer stuff is bad, or boring.. a lot of it just doesn't interest me as a whole. I can even remember the last time, I saw a anime that wasn't a manga I've been reading for awhile and actually watched it.

Back in my teens before anime became so prominent in the west, just seeing that non-cable stations would air dubbed anime blew my mind. It was like this thing, that you knew was going to be great and blow up into something fantastic, and it sort of did but with all that attention and more and more anime becoming localized, it was bound to happen that like any trend or fade, its crazy would fade. Kids would eventually discover new things that interest them, older fans would cling to older franchises or simply not want to embarrass themselves by continuing to support a genre of animation that at times can be some what childish, or seem perverse.

I think i said it already but i dont watch anime anymore. Not a lot of it seems aimed at older audiences and the ones that air aren't exactly my niche. Is the Industry dying? I doubt it, it might be going through a low its only because it was always a small niche here in the US to begin with. This is a niche market, parents are handing their kids mangas of One Piece or Naruto, and these shows aren't always presented on easily accessible stations. Kids in general drive in kind of market that is aimed at them, and anime for the most part is aimed at kids and teens.

[sunofdarkchild]

The loss of Toonami is huge for American anime.

[davidn15]

The loss of Toonami is huge for American anime.

I really don't think it was. Anime is still finding new fans en masse. Piracy is a much bigger threat.

[Siriel]

I'd really appreciate it if people could stop going out of their way to say that they're committing crimes.

Discussing the impact and lack thereof of such actions is fine, but please stop going on about how you're doing it yourself - not only is it not particularly needed for the conversation, but it's depressing for anyone working in the industry who shows up here.

[sunofdarkchild]

I really don't think it was. Anime is still finding new fans en masse. Piracy is a much bigger threat.

And I think with Toonami there wouldn't be close to as many pirates.

[davidn15]

And I think with Toonami there wouldn't be close to as many pirates.

Please elaborate on the connection because i don't see it.

And actually if you look at the sales data I posted on page 2, the anime industry peaked in 2002. Toonami was on the air until 2008.

[Hazard]

I'd really appreciate it if people could stop going out of their way to say that they're committing crimes.

But... villainous gloating feels so good!

[Kage Kisaragi]

I'd really appreciate it if people could stop going out of their way to say that they're committing crimes.

Discussing the impact and lack thereof of such actions is fine, but please stop going on about how you're doing it yourself - not only is it not particularly needed for the conversation, but it's depressing for anyone working in the industry who shows up here.

I'm pretty sure they enjoy living in the clouds as to why their industry is supposedly failing/dying without any given reason as well. Wait, no that wouldn't make sense. Then show me where it says that the act of using the internet to view or listen to material presented for public review is illegal. Don't get upset with the user, get made at the provider. Also I don't see how ignoring the fact that other options exist, helps the conversation, since its about whether or not one believes the industry is dying. This is a lot like what I said about the comics. The way people enjoy their past times is changing, it used to be you had to go to the stadium in order to watch the game now with television, and mobile devices you can see the game anywhere, sometimes with better access than what you could at the stadium and guess what it's practically free or cheaper.

same difference with anime, if your primary form of making revenue off it is by selling DVD's, then your in for a world of hurt since that isn't even the fast way to get your product out. Either anime/manga changes with the time or it gets left behind.

[Siriel]

Way to completely miss the point. Our opinion are irrelevant, because Comic Book Resources' stand on the matter of fansubs and fan translations is that they're not the way to go, which is why linking to them isn't allowed.

I won't stop you guys from discussing the impact of the existence of such things on the industry, but stop going out of your way to say that you're doing it yourself when it adds nothing to the discussion.

[sunofdarkchild]

Please elaborate on the connection because i don't see it.

And actually if you look at the sales data I posted on page 2, the anime industry peaked in 2002. Toonami was on the air until 2008.

Toonami has little to do with sales. Programs on sindication bring in advertising revenue, not sales. Toonami was a place for people to watch anime for free (if they already had cable/satelite while the creators made money from advertisements. With that gone more people are turning to the internet and thereby nor even contributing advertising revenue anymore.

It also doesn't help that there hasn't been a repeat of the big three of the 90s, Pokemon, DBZ, and Sailor Moon. I think today's anime are better, but those three were so huge back in the day. How many viewers does Pokemon get compared to what it used to?

[davidn15]

Toonami has little to do with sales. Programs on sindication bring in advertising revenue, not sales. Toonami was a place for people to watch anime for free (if they already had cable/satelite while the creators made money from advertisements. With that gone more people are turning to the internet and thereby nor even contributing advertising revenue anymore.

It also doesn't help that there hasn't been a repeat of the big three of the 90s, Pokemon, DBZ, and Sailor Moon. I think today's anime are better, but those three were so huge back in the day. How many viewers does Pokemon get compared to what it used to?

I never said Toonami had anything to do with sales. I'm saying your point that Toonami's absence is the cause of increasing anime piracy is completely off because revenue started declining well before Toonami went off the air. People were already turning to other sources for anime years before Toonami's cancellation

[Manga4life]

Way to completely miss the point. Our opinion are irrelevant, because Comic Book Resources' stand on the matter of fansubs and fan translations is that they're not the way to go, which is why linking to them isn't allowed.

I won't stop you guys from discussing the impact of the existence of such things on the industry, but stop going out of your way to say that you're doing it yourself when it adds nothing to the discussion.

Well, the existence of piracy and fan subs is very real, overlooking them and trying to come up with another reason as to why the industry is dying would be downright silly. I would say a solid 90% of why the industry is suffering and licensing companies are struggling is because of the existence of torrents, illegal streams, fan subs, and other means of watching these shows without the licensing companies seeing any profit, ignoring the facts doesn't help the argument in the least.

Also, as far as that Toonami argument goes....

Toonami didn't just air Japanese anime, it aired U.S based action shows too and was considered an action/adventure animation block, NOT an anime block. Toonami's ratings dipped somewhere in 2005/2006 and it's absence or existence has never proven to increase or decrease anime DVD sales in the least.

[Siriel]

Well, the existence of piracy and fan subs is very real, overlooking them and trying to come up with another reason as to why the industry is dying would be downright silly.

I'm asking you guys to not go out of your way to say that you're using them yourselves, not to pretend that fansubs don't exist.