Ask John: Why is so Little Older Anime Licensed in America?

Question:
Why do anime companies just license the newer stuff in Japan instead of the old vintage anime that needs a license?

Answer:
There are two primary influences that determine why vintage anime is relatively infrequently licensed for American release. American distributors are hesitant to invest in older titles, and Japanese distributors aren’t interested in supporting older properties. The number one reason, though, why so little older anime gets licensed for American release is because American consumers aren’t interested in older anime.

Although there are nearly 300 million people living in the United States, it’s not uncommon for domestic anime DVDs to sell only a few thousand copies. In fact, it’s not uncommon for many American anime DVDs to sell fewer than 10,000 copies. Based on educated speculation, I think it’s accurate to say that outright domestic failures may sell literally only a few hundred DVDs. Many of America’s anime distribution companies are staffed by people who know and love anime, and want to bring anime to wider recognition. But anime distribution companies are also businesses that can’t afford to license, translate and distribute titles that don’t generate profit or even recover their licensing and production costs. A good example is AD Vision’s release of Prefectural Earth Defense Force. There’s presumably not enough interest in the title in America to support a retail price higher than $12.95, but selling the anime for less than $12.95 won’t recover the show’s expenses. So ADV has been forced to release the show with very limited availability.

I often encounter fans who wish for domestic DVD releases of vintage shows like Rose of Versailles, Dirty Pair, Candy Candy, Tiger Mask, Ideon, and so forth. But the relatively miniscule sales of older domestic releases like Ariel, Outlanders, Iczer-One, Prefectural Earth Defense Force, Sherlock Hound, St. Seiya, Animal Treasure Island, and Taro the Dragon Boy prove that there are very few American consumers that actually do buy vintage anime DVDs. Distribution rights to older anime may not be as expensive as current programs, but even a smaller investment can still result in a loss if only a handful of consumers buy the domestic DVDs. Simply put, old anime just doesn’t sell well in America.

But the absence of vintage anime in America isn’t entirely the fault of American distributors who avoid licensing older programs. Japanese distributors are more eager to license out current productions than old catalog titles. Naturally Japanese distributors want to concentrate all of their marketing and effort onto their current projects. Distributors want to fuel international attention and demand for profitable new works rather than dust off relics from storage. Japanese distributors show off their latest products at trade shows, and offer their latest products to potential buyers much more frequently than they attempt to sell older works.

In fact, an unusual number of vintage anime titles actually have been licensed and/or released in America relatively recently, among them: Astro Boy, Tekkaman Blade, Go Lion, Dairugger XV, Puss ‘n Boots, Gatchaman, the Area 88 OAV series, and Barefoot Gen. I suspect that this increase is a result of domestic licensors being unable to afford expensive contemporary titles, but that doesn’t change the fact that shows are now available on domestic DVD, or will be soon. Fans that want to see more classic anime officially released in America have to show distributors that such releases are commercially viable. Asking a studio representative for Rose of Versailles, or expressing interest in the show on an internet forum show interest, but nothing serves as convincing evidence better than proving that vintage anime DVD releases can be profitable.