Ask John: How Can America’s Big Three Save the Anime Industry?

Question:
Who is the Big 3 of the anime industry and how can they come together to do something about the slowing industry?


Answer:
Unlike America’s “big 3” automobile manufacturers that are universally recognized as General Motors, Ford, and Daimler Chrysler, the “big 3” of America’s anime distribution industry vary depending on the perceived constitution of the anime industry. From a traditional perspective, meaning anime DVD producers, America’s three most influential companies would be FUNimation, Viz Media, and Bandai Entertainment. However, with a prospective perspective, America’s “big 3” would be FUNimation, Viz Media, and Crunchyroll. These groupings reflect the condition of America’s anime distribution industry, and also hint at the answer to the question of what must be done to sustain America’s anime distribution industry.

As a long time supporter of America’s anime industry, it’s a bit harrowing to realize that AN Entertainment, AnimEigo, ArtsMagic, Bandai Visual, Central Park Media, DiscoTek, Geneon, Pathfinder, Super Techno Arts, Synch Point, and Urban Vision have all ceased licensing new anime. With only about one new title a year, Manga Entertainment’s activity in new domestic anime licensing and distribution is practically insignificant. So the core active American anime DVD distribution industry now consists of only ADV Films (which only distributes anime on behalf of other companies), Bandai Entertainment, FUNimation, Media Blasters, Nozomi Entertainment, and Viz Media. I don’t like to be negative, but it’s an obvious fact that America’s established industry dealing in anime packaged media is shrinking, and may be on ain irreversible path toward extinction. But that’s not to say that anime distribution in America is in jeapordy of vanishing. It’s simply evolving from packaged media to digital distribution.

The era of anime distribution on physical media in America may be unavoidably entering its twilight years due to a combination of evolving technology and short sighted domestic marketing. Advances in digital technology and the proliferation of broadband intenet has made online anime distribution cheap, easy, and convenient. Domestic marketing that has promoted Japanese animation as a commercial product to the exclusion of promoting it as an intrinsically valuable art form has conditioned consumers to perceive anime as a product lacking in worth. Anime DVD sales in Japan are down, but not remotely as depressed as American anime DVD sales. More than half of all Blu-ray discs purchased in Japan are anime releases because Japanese otaku are still willing and eager to support the anime industry and purchase anime at prices that sustain the distribution industry. That’s not the case in America. American consumers have developed a presumption that anime should be cheap or free, and isn’t worth the prices that distributors charge for commercial anime DVDs. As a result of being unable to continue selling anime DVDs for an amount necessary to sustain viability, more than half of America’s anime distributors have ceased licensing and distributing new anime.

Today’s three most assertive and progressive domestic distributors have all launched initiatives to distribute new anime online, forgoing traditional physical media releases. FUNimation and Viz do still release supplemental physical media, but so far all of the new titles made available through Crunchyroll, including Tower of Druaga, Blassreiter, Strike Witches, Linebarrels of Iron, Skip Beat, Shugo Chara, Catblue Dynamite, and Time of Eve, have no announced American DVD or Blu-ray releases. It may be already too late to reinvigorate America’s anime DVD distribution. Contemporary American consumers are now largely unwilling to pay DVD prices that can sustain the American anime industry. Domestic anime on Blu-ray doesn’t seem to be taking off, and a large portion of domestic packaged anime media sales may not be able to hang on until Blu-ray becomes widely affordable and adopted.

In effect, the American “big 3” consisting of Crunchyroll, FUNimation, and Viz are already doing what’s necessary to sustain American anime distribution; they’re beginning to prioritize digital distribution, and even eliminate physical media distribution entirely. In order to survive, distributors have to provide what consumers want, and market trends have proven that American consumers want anime cheap and quick. Anime on DVD or Blu-ray is neither cheap nor quick. As more and more Japanese content owners begin distributing their anime internationally online, I think we’ll either see America’s anime distributors increasingly move into digital distribution – as FUNimation and Viz Media have done – or we’ll see them attrition out of domestic distribution.

Update: Since this article was originally written, AD Vision has continued to license anime titles in addition to serving as a distributor on behalf of other companies.

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