Ask John: What Future Events Could Resurrect the American Anime Industry?

Question:
What lies in the future that will bring more anime sales to the US or do you believe that the current market trends will only continue until very little is released?

Answer:
When examining the current state of American anime distribution and means of future potential growth, I think that there are two events which may have a significant impact, and they aren’t the events that have been previously considered possible harbingers of change.

Two years ago, digital distribution was perceived as the next evolution in home entertainment delivery. However, last year Wal-Mart ceased its digital delivery amid widespread entertainment industry disappointment by lukewarm consumer reaction. The anime industry continues to experiment with commercial digital distribution, but increasingly digital distribution is looking like a publicity mechanism more than a retail one.

ImaginAsian’s Anime Classics releases have clearly proven that DVD on demand makes anime releases viable for American release which wouldn’t be possible via conventional production and distribution. But DVD on demand has also illustrated its weakness. The absence of physical product on store shelves limits consumer awareness and purchases.

Logically the way to attract customers is to give them exactly what they want. The American anime industry may be poised to begin doing exactly that. Media Blasters has begun releasing many of its new titles at lower price points. Viz is presently releasing Prince of Tennis and Naruto in affordable boxed sets, and will release Busou Renkin in boxed set form. FUNimation has likewise begun releasing anime in inexpensive multi-disc sets, and has announced tentative plans to concentrate on this distribution method with future titles. According to FUNimation president Gen Fukunaga, Japan’s licensing industry is begining to warm to this American release strategy by lowering title acquisition costs or eliminating licensing fees in favor of royalties.

Relatively quick turn around from Japanese release to American release, and affordable quantities of new anime will legitimately, commercially rival unlicensed distribution. And inexpensive multi-disc DVD releases encourage consumer adoption because they provide compelling and satisfying value. When many American consumers have stopped buying anime DVDs because they believe that they’re too expensive, or they’re waiting for inexpensive complete series sets, addressing both of those concerns should give American consumers a reason to begin buying anime again.

The second event that could possibly turn around the malaise of the American anime market is a repeat of the situation that caused the American anime boom in the first place; in other words, another Pokemon. There’s no telling when of if another anime series will capture the attention of American mainstream society and generate a massive new wave of interest in anime. Even when Pokemon itself debuted, no one expected it to become one of the most successful anime franchises of all time. Likewise, there’s no telling when a new anime franchise may hit America and single-handedly pull consumer interest in anime up from the pits to a new pinnacle.

It’s certainly possible that one or neither of these eventualities will have a significant impact on the future of the anime industry in America. It’s also possible that the domestic anime industry will develop new strategies to adapt to the changing domestic anime consumer market. At the present time, from my perspective, it’s primarily a movement away from single DVD volume releases to attractively priced multi-disc DVD sets that has the most potential to reverse the downward purchasing trend affecting the American anime industry.