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Interview: Aniplex of America President Henry Goto

I had no idea SAO was that big, I remember it getting a lot of buzz when it came out, but that seemed to of died down.

Polycell wrote:

SouthPacific wrote: This will never happen, so no need to worry . The concern some have is that they'll try to at least try to pander to a more global audience and drain away everything that's good about anime(think Hollywood). Goto's absolutely right that anime needs to stay Japanese or else it'll stop being anime.

So, if I follow your logic, Hollywood stole cinema from the poor French, and made it into a soulless profiteering machine, forever denying any creator from inside or outside the studio system from breaking their code, while ensuring that India and China will continue to blindly gobble the stuff, is that correct? I am sure Spielberg and Scorsese are having a good laugh from that in Cannes. Meanwhile, Japan does not care.

Please, can somebody explain to me how anime becoming mainstream (scoop: it already is, that is why Hollywood has taken an interest, and certainly not the other way around) has ever had damaging consequences on the medium? Because that is not what recent scholarship (surprise, the humanities and social sciences are not useless) supports.

If people who purchase extremely niche products for a premium price are "monsters" then what do you call ACTUAL monsters like child predators, murderer's etc...? Do these same feelings extend to people who purchase luxury cars that sell for tens of thousands more then regular consumer models or people who spend $1000+ on a night of alcohol? Or how about the actual Japanese market whose prices are easily more then double anything AoA charges for pretty much every single anime and is the market that actually matters to Japan aka the one keeping anime alive all these years, are every single one of those Japanese fans who has ever bought an anime in Japan "monsters" as well?

I don't think the problem is with anime being less Japanese but that anime needs to maintain its organic and natural feeling to it. Cowboy Bebop is one of the most popular anime series of all time and I don't know many fans who complain it's not Japanese enough even though it has virtually zero Japanese elements in the series. But it worked for Bebop because the creators weren't intentionally trying to make it appeal to a Western audience. They were just trying to tell a good story and happened to get lucky that Bebop appealed to so many Western fans. In contrast, you have something like Space Dandy where it seemed like Watanabe was intentionally trying to make it appeal to Western fans. And while it did get a pretty decent amount of positive buzz and was enjoyable enough, it failed to reach the Bebop level of quality. Mainstream anime resonates with so many Western fans because they're not intentionally trying to "save anime" but are just telling a great story that's coming from their heart and anime fans can sense when that natural quality storytelling instinct is genuine whether it's being made with distinctive Japanese qualities or not.

he Japanese shouldn't have to pay those prices, either. That extra chunk of change certainly isn't going back into the product. Animators make almost nothing and that's because industry fat cats are padding their own pockets. A top-heavy industry with no respect for its workers or its customers. The greed of these companies are to blame, and it's the people who buy these prestige releases who are enabling them.

I have zero compunction calling these people out for their ludicrous spending habits which are ruining things for everyone else.

Cowboy Bebop and Space Dandy don't have much success except in North America, so anime like that will only have success there.

In Japan Cowboy Bebop win some VA and character prizes but the TV ratings was low and Space Dandy was even worse..

Jonny Mendes wrote:

Cowboy Bebop and Space Dandy don't have much success except in North America, so anime like that will only have success there. In Japan Cowboy Bebop win some VA and character prizes but the TV ratings was low and Space Dandy was even worse..

Bebop did well after show was re-broadcast in its original order. And it did sell 48k copies(source:http://www.someanithing.com/312), it just didn't last, which seems to be a thing over there, and maybe over here as well in the future now we have simulcast. No one expected Dandy to do well, but it was surprising how badly it did.

and it's the people who buy these prestige releases who are enabling them.

I have zero compunction calling these people out for their ludicrous spending habits which are ruining things for everyone else.

Yes because god forbid fans actually want to buy product from the shows they like and are willing to pay those prices because that's the only main option they have. What a horrible attitude right? Totally their fault.

I'm glad to hear that that the anime fan community is growing, but I cannot help but entertain some serious doubts about the likelihood of anime becoming a mainstream cultural keystone in the U.S. IMHO, if anime were to somehow attain mainstream status/popularity, it could only do so by transforming into something that it isn't right now.

My 2¢

Anime have a unique Japanese taste, Japanese way if telling a story and Japanese humor. Trying to become something else to appeal to a mainstream audience will only alienate the main anime fan-base and become like any other animation.

Psycho 101 wrote:

Yes because god forbid fans actually want to buy product from the shows they like and are willing to pay those prices because that's the only main option they have. What a horrible attitude right? Totally their fault.

Let's see how this idiotic comment fares when you walk up to the people who actually make the anime and tell them how much the overpriced goods are making their way to their paycheck all the while Goto's worth has continued to increase over the years.

There's a fine line between supporting the industry and supporting the incessant greed that's been growing in it the past few years.

Don't pretend the increased licensing fees is to cover these artists' salaries, which is precisely what this idiotic comment just stated.

nobahn wrote:

I'm glad to hear that that the anime fan community is growing, but I cannot help but entertain some serious doubts about the likelihood of anime becoming a mainstream cultural keystone in the U.S. IMHO, if anime were to somehow attain mainstream status/popularity, it could only do so by transforming into something that it isn't right now. My 2¢

Quote:

Anime have a unique Japanese taste, Japanese way if telling a story and Japanese humor. Trying to become something else to appeal to a mainstream audience will only alienate the main anime fan-base and become like any other animation.

So anime needs to avoid being mainstream because live action movies and americanization? Those are awful thinkings that people have. Some american remakes of foreign properties have worked pretty well.

With the live action case, people need to know that so far Hollywood has 6 released adaptations:
-Crying Freeman, which is decent
-Two Guyver Movies, one of them with Luke Skywalker but it is bad, but the second somehow is better
-Fist of the North Star, obviously bad
-Dragon Ball Evolution
-Speed Racer, either you appreciate the efforts in CGI and Racing Scenes, or you don´t watch it because obvious reason
-Kite
-Edge of Tomorrow, based on the light novel All you Need is Kill, the best product so far

But people are still saying that Americans must not touch something as if there are like 50 released products. I just think that we overreact over things

Psycho 101 wrote:

Yes because god forbid fans actually want to buy product from the shows they like and are willing to pay those prices because that's the only main option they have. What a horrible attitude right? Totally their fault.

Let's see how this idiotic comment fares when you walk up to the people who actually make the anime and tell them how much the overpriced goods are making their way to their paycheck all the while Goto's worth has continued to increase over the years.

There's a fine line between supporting the industry and supporting the incessant greed that's been growing in it the past few years.

Don't pretend the increased licensing fees is to cover these artists' salaries, which is precisely what this idiotic comment just stated.

Violynne wrote:

Let's see how this idiotic comment fares when you walk up to the people who actually make the anime and tell them how much the overpriced goods are making their way to their paycheck all the while Goto's worth has continued to increase over the years. There's a fine line between supporting the industry and supporting the incessant greed that's been growing in it the past few years. Don't pretend the increased licensing fees is to cover these artists' salaries, which is precisely what this idiotic comment just stated.

Psycho 101 never said anything like that. Where the money goes after the purchase wasn't mentioned even once. Though some of it does end up back with the creators, directly, or indirectly. Economics sure doesn't seem to be a strength of many anime fans.
The simple fact is that, if you want to own a show AoA has the license for, you have to pay the price they are selling it for. It's certainly not ideal, but that is how it is. Blaming the fans, or calling them "monsters", because they bought one of those shows is ridiculous on many levels..

Some american remakes of foreign properties have worked pretty well.

SkerllyF wrote:

Some american remakes of foreign properties have worked pretty well.

Everything you mentioned spits on the original, ESPECIALLY Speed Racer and Dragon Ball Evolution. We don't want to see more. Those six are bad enough.

So at least for me the conclusion is let anime/manga stay true to the Japanese source and try not to ruin it when doing Hollywood adaptations.
If the mainstream audience like anime/manga the way it is, that's great, but anime/manga don't need to change just to become mainstream.