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ICv2 Conference on Anime and Manga - Marketing to the Otaku Generation

In Al Kahn's view, fans monitor the success or failure of shows in Japan very carefully,

but American marketers have to remember how particular properties relate to specefic age groups in the U.S. For example, popular as it was with vocal fans, 4Kids had a very hard time localizing One Piece in a way that would satisfy fans on one side, and advertisers and television company executives on the other.

In Neves' experience, American companies that release Japanese popular culture products in the U.S. have to consider the much different geography of the U.S., in particular, the issue of regional differences. Something that may be considered perfectly innocuous when aired in New York or Los Angeles may cause significant problems for a Midwestern television station with a large rural viewership.

Answering the same question, Rich Johnson called it the "duty" of manga publishers to push the boundaries of what American audiences are comfortable with. His expectation is that the manga market will continue to mature and there will be more and more books out that expand the boundaries of manga.

Japanese television studios are actively looking for co-production partners. However, since these studios were frequently not interested in welcoming outside partnerships when the market was still doing well, many of the potential partners are now themselves not interested in again working with them.

At the same time, in his opinion, much of what is being produced is too derivative of major successes. There is little coming out of the Japanese anime studios that is truly innovative, and the most creative new animation is now coming out of South Korea and other countries in the region.

"I think it's over in Japan," says the 4Kids executive, and the problem is on a systemic level, as publishers and creators do not care about actual user demand. For their part, 4Kids itself is not interested in Japanese products, with the exception of Dinosaur King, nearly to the extent that they were at one point.

At this point, Viz's Coppola threw out her own opinion that ultimately, viewers are interested in content, not origin, and that viewers will buy and whatch whatever "makes sense", regardless of where it was produced.

Kahn says that the original anime hits, including Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragon Ball Z are all still sustaining sales, but since then, there has not been any Japanese import that has been as successful. There is a significant amount of anime available in the U.S., but there is little in the way of broad overall acceptance. For 4Kids, if there is little probability that the toys and other merchandise for a given series will sell well, there is no point in releasing the series itself,

since DVD sales alone are not likely to ever recoup costs.

Several of the panelists then agreed with the idea that generally, Japanese rights-holders themselves have offered American licensees little in the way of marketing help,

Al Kahn, however, again was not as optimistic, and cautioned that frequently, buyers are now looking not only at a particular toy's immediate sales potential, but also at its staying power on the shelves.

Many only want to stick to only buying products that they are already familiar with, and are not wiling to experiment or expand into new areas.

As the panel wound down, the moderators brought up the inevitable question of the risk that illegal downloads present to the American anime industry and the challenge that is posed by the often-lengthy delay between when an anime is licensed and when it is available for purchase. For 4Kids, this is actually largely a non-issue.

Most of their target audience does not have access to high-speed internet connections,

while their business model itself is based around extensive localization, rather than just speedy release.

To him, one of tthe greatest contributions of the popularity of anime in the West has been the fact that as Western animators and producers have been learning new techniques and honing their skills, Japan may be less and less relevant to the most cutting-edge popular culture products throughout the world.

Of the speakers on the panel, Funimation's Fukunaga was the one whose company is most affected by online distribution of fansubs. He argues that simultaneous Japan and US launches of new series would be the most ideal way to deal with this issue. However, the only way Japanese companies can be forced into accepting this strategy would be via co-production. Aggressively pursuing action against digital fansub distribution groups is the other viable solution to this issue.

As a media representative, Macdonald again was able to bring a different perspective to talking about this question. He argued that the only real way to stop piracy is to make it unnecessary by providing fans with quick access to free and accurately-translated anime. Even simultaneous releases will not entirely defeat bootlegs because the "core" fans of anime in the U.S. are now into split into one group that is interested in actually collecting physical products (DVDs), and another — which is actually the majority — that looks only to watch anime at the lowest possible price, and if at all feasible, for free.

Kahn tries so hard to come across as an experienced mentor in the industry, but it's obvious that most of the industry doesn't take him and his ideas seriously.

I predict in a couple years Al will be saying the same bad things about Korea that he is about Japan here since the problem is him, not them. The guy has clearly not learned anything and I'm glad a few of the panel members seemed to call him out on it. Does he really have a place on a panel like this any more for anything other than being an industry punching bag?

Emerje

Most of their target audience does not have access to high-speed internet connections,

In Al Kahn's view, fans monitor the success or failure of shows in Japan very carefully,

@first reply: Wow, people usually submit posts in the hopes that others will take the time to read and reply thoughtfully to them. When this is the poster's goal, it's usually a bad idea to quote an article sentence-by-sentence and deliver one's personal play-by-play criticisms. You're not the Al Madden of the anime industry -- none of us is. If you really want people to read what you write, try to be a little more concise; otherwise, this is just another flavor of spam.

Quote:

Most of their target audience does not have access to high-speed internet connections,

His credibility as an intelligent person just lowers more and more. I suppose 4Kid's target audience must be either newborns, redneck hicks who don't even have power, or old seniors on dialysis and all located in third world countries without any sort of basic accommodations at all. Cause if the above statement is true then their target audience is obviously not anyone between the ages of 5 and 50 living here in this country.

I actually agree with them on this. I do see anime/ manga becoming more adapted by others. The sheer fact that anime/manga has a desire to portray Japanese characters who look white while ignoring the large influence around the world of Latinos, middle eastern and of course the very powerful influence of hip hop/black culture on everything from music to fashion..is just an aspect that I think is going to harm their business as we move more towards a global economy..the next great anime/manga could be from a Brazilian kid.