Japan’s Adult Anime Industry in Danger of Collapse?

Murakami Kouichi, the producer behind adult anime titles including Mahou Shoujo Ai, The Guts!, and Taimanin Asagi, has posted a public letter warning that erotic anime production studio Pixy (site is open to adults only), and even Japan’s entire adult anime production industry, is in danger of financial collapse within the year due to decreasing sales and profits caused by illegal file sharing.

The Pixy animation studio launched in 2006, producing high quality adult anime titles including Taimanin Asagi, Shion, Himekishi Lilia, Ane Hara Mix, and Uchu Kaizoku Sara, and selling its anime at revolutionary low prices ranging from 2,940 to 3,990 yen – half of the retail price of adult anime from other major distributors. Murakami claims that Pixy was initially able to survive on narrow profit margins, but now Pixy’s adult anime titles are so widely pirated that profits from decreased DVD sales are no longer enough to sustain the company’s continued operation. Murakami continues to warn that continued rampant video piracy threatens to cripple Japan’s entire adult anime production industry within the year.

Source: Heisei Democracy