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Forum - View topicNEWS: Research Firm: Anime Studios' Revenues Down for 2nd Year
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scchan
 Posts: 143 Location: Exeter, UK |
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As a comparison, the anime/manga industry is doing on par with the larger Japanese economy:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=JGDPAGDP:IND That is the GDP trend of Japan last couple of years, and the change of revenue of anime companies are comparable to the Japanese economy. Regardless, the Japanese economy has been stagnant for a long time. Anyway, in my opinion, the Japanese economy in long term is grim unless there are large changes about birth/immigration policies and business culture  . Of course, if you happen to be PRC politicians, a bad Japanese economy is a good thing for them  .
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GloriousMaximus
 Posts: 138 Location: North America |
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No kidding. Hasn't the Japanese economy been in a recession since the 1990's? To me, this is a good example of how a bad economy and a weak anime industry will translate into 'wonderful' pandering shows like Strike Witches and Chu-Bra. Economy goes bad, it means there isn't as much money to throw at the more experimental anime (I miss the 80's... lol), meaning they have to cater to the guaranteed demographics rather then branch out into the mainstream. IMO, while branching out is definitely a risk, increasing your audience is the only way to increase revenue. Also, didn't know TMS was around since 1947, that's pretty cool. I also didn't know Pierrot had been around for so long, but I remember reading about Toei releasing those anime movies in the 1960's. |
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Tratious
 Posts: 316 Location: Savannah, GA |
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are you sure about the foundation date of pierrot their official website says March 1979
http://pierrot.co.jp/company.html |
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scchan
Posts: 143 Location: Exeter, UK |
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The old school mainstream titles still exist (Doraemon), and so are there specialized titles as well. If the fans want something different, the creators will have to adapt. Fans want cats with magic gadgets in the pocket, cute girl doing cute things, singing virtual idols, and ninja boys, that is what the business will make, and that is what the fans will get. 
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GloriousMaximus
Posts: 138 Location: North America |
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The problem is the fans aren't enough to support the industry. Second year of straight losses? As much as the Japanese economy is in a recession, I don't think alienating a mainstream fanbase is going to help.
The only reason Doraemon and Sazae-san have lasted for so long is that they've been able to reach that adult and youth audience. I don't think most people would be caught dead watching a show about girls in middle school starting a club about black underwear appreciation (cough Chu-Bra! cough). Stuff like Monster can reach that mainstream audience. I'm hoping Pluto will be made into an anime and reach that same audience. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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There are so many holes in this "research", I could drive 16 trucks through it.
Why just 16? Because that's how many studios didn't have their data reported while this "research" screams a -3.9% drop... in a year. Oooh. Scary. I should point out, the rate of change in these 5 years isn't even -1%. The anime world's going to end now. 
I'd say that's pretty damn good when 92% of the studios surveyed are working out of THE most expensive city in the world*. *unless this research is crap too. |
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scchan
Posts: 143 Location: Exeter, UK |
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It is important to note the change of the revenues of industry are still on general consistent with the change of GDP of Japan.
Of course, it is chicken and egg: bad economy -> people get poorer -> people consume less, and some may go back door to get consumer goods -> more damage to the economy The underline is Japan has a housing bubble 20 years ago, aging population, inefficient business. Many things are going wrong the same time. It is wrong to single out one factor, nor it is right to say any single factor does not count. Anyway will be interesting to see what the numbers will be 2010, as the economy somewhat rebounded. Who knows?
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Almaz
Posts: 134 |
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We cannot use the chicken or egg argument any more. Chicken wins! http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/14/tech/main6676542.shtml A drop in revenue just shows a drop in revenue. Anime studios are one cog in the system. Sony, NIS, and others (quite a long list) are reporting drops in profit, even losses. Nintendo has been the only one doing well, until recently. There are too many variables (lack of interest, people having less money, bad marketing.) Some of these drops have started slowly over a course of several years. Businesses do use colorful ways in make things look better than they are. |
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ArsenicSteel
 Posts: 2370 |
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Where in the report did the subject of losses come up? All those numbers represent profit. Having 4% less profit is not losing money. I don't really see what you mean by mainstream. Doraemon and Sazaesan have been going on for how many years, they seem very mainstream as is. The Japanese anime industry is making a mix of products the fans want. |
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matrixdude
Posts: 71 |
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This doesn't change the fact that outsourcing the grunt work and paying domestic animators terribly and no benefits isn't working anymore. It doesn't matter if they are working out of the most expensive city in the world when they pay their actual works completely UNLIVABLE wages and no benefits. The amount of fans haven't changed, they will still buy all the moe stuff made, just look at the stuff they have reanimated from the depths of the gutter. To-Love-Ru is getting another season after it was canceled due to poor ratings. The new stuff getting churned out is becoming more and more of the same old same old stuff with new names and different colors. Things like Deadman Wonderland were supposed to get anime, and that show is as far from mainstream as it can get right now, seemed to have disappeared from the anime scene. They even have turned to Korean manwha for stories because they can't make any good ideas anymore, see the anime announcement for Freezing. You can't compare this industry to the video game industry because nintendo oversaturated their market and didn't make good games, hence less product bought. Too much moe, and not enough good stories that don't already exist in other formats, ex: Haruhi, Freezing, To-Love-Ru. They need to be original anime, not copypasta from somewhere else.
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Yeah, that whole Anime no Chikara block has really done wonders with "original anime". |
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Strike Freedom Meister
 Posts: 28 |
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The reason why anime studios revenues are down is really quite simple. Unlike many of the TV studios that are jumping on the digital bandwagon, a lot of the really good anime titles are still not available for digital distribution. Just recently has iTunes and Zune gained some anime. However, many of the legit "streaming" services don't have the content. Or the pull the bullpuckey of "limited" time streaming. In the digital era, "limited" runs translate to increase in piracy and illegal streams. The biggest problem is many of the most profitable and popular anime's such as Gundam, Ghost in the Shell movies, Cowboy Bebop, Hellsing (TV and Ultimate), Vampire Hunter D, and many others are still not available. That's leaving valuable money on the table.
Imagine if many of these very popular titles were available on iTunes, Hulu, Crunchyroll, YouTube, & others on a permanent basis. They could charge a "Zune" style subscription pass or per episode download. Instead of making zero profit, fans would jump in and support the art. But it's up to the certain Japanese studios and artist to get past their cultural or technological bias and get with the program. Either you allow the pirates to have their way or you step in and fill the void with your content with a legal way to pay. Right now, the pirates are winning. That's why I support my local anime store with buy Gunpla's, magazines, & other memorabilia through a legit source. I do my best to buy legit titles. We want the titles. But it's up to the studios to step up with acurate dubbing, faster and efficient distribution, & not giving any reason for fans to turn to piracy. It's as simple as that. |
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agila61
 Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
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Oh no, Sora no Woto and Occult Academy hat3rz out in force. The same market environment that turned what in the 90's would have been a dark series of life on the edge into Canticle for Leobowitz's Extremely Adorable Nieces also drive which manga get picked up for anime. If Revenues are down by 3.9% or $79m, this gives a good idea of the level of contribution that international streaming would have to make to stabilize the production capacity of the industry as a whole. One thing to note is that this is not a measure of the Japanese anime market as a whole ... its the amount of money being put into the production of anime in return for rights, combined with the revenue from the rights held by the production studios. While 118 Animation production companies seems like a sound base for making that measurement, as with all metrics, it would be a mistake taking it as standing in for more than it actually measures. A second qualifier would normally be required about these being nominal rather than corrected for inflation, but with inflation in Japan hovering around 0%, that's not likely a major issue here. |
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IZEROII
 Posts: 3 |
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Straight up. The amount of time it takes to go through the processes of releasing a title in the U.S. is a joke. I do my best to support the industry as well but it is at times hard when you have to wait months and months and months to buy a title legit. And ya, until that process gets streamed lined pirating will always be the go to option. |
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bayoab
Posts: 831 |
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Soranowoto and Nightraid especially sold so terribly* that "Anime no chikara" has almost become an ironic naming on 2ch sales threads. *With respect to other series for Woto. Nightraid is just a failure no matter how you look at it. |
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