Ask John: How is the Decision to Make Anime Sequels Made?

Question:
How do they decide whether an anime series should be continued or not? Is it due to costs to produce the anime? I read somewhere that the anime series Fushigi Yugi was continued due to popular demand.

Answer:
The exact and complete circumstances that affect the decision to continue anime series are doubtlessly complicated and almost certainly vary from title to title. Honestly, I don’t think that anyone outside of employees in Japan’s anime industry know all of the factors that affect these decisions, but some likely considerations seem obvious. It’s probably safe to assume that profitable series are most likely to get extended in new seasons or series. Anime that have a significant television viewing audience attract a lot of commercial advertising revenue and sell a lot of merchandise. Series that spawn especially popular characters may encourage sales of merchandise and character goods. For example, mainstream anime series like Pretty Cure and Naruto get multiple series because the shows are highly successful and popular. Likewise, a major hit in the fan community like Shakugan no Shana got an OVA, motion picture, and a second TV series because the franchise was very popular with viewers and hardcore fans that purchase lots of Shakugan no Shana merchandise.

In other cases, an anime may be continued because its creators want to continue the series. For example, the Tenchi Muyo franchise was revived with the Galaxy Police GXP series and the third Tenchi Muyo OVA series because creator Masaki Kajishima wanted to return to creating new Tenchi Muyo anime. The revival wasn’t primarily motivated by fan demand. In fact, Kajishima even stated that he wasn’t even aware that there was a massive demand for new Tenchi Muyo anime among American fans.

Finally, sometimes anime series are extended for mysterious reasons I can’t fathom. For example, the Sousei no Aquarion television series has been extended with an OVA and two upcoming movies. But as far as I can tell, the Aquarion anime series has never been an especially big hit in Japan or America. So I honestly don’t know why it continues to get new anime.

Fan demand does certainly have an influence on which titles get extended, but it’s vital to keep in mind that “fan demand” usually refers only to Japanese fan demand. American fans have wished for more Berserk anime for nearly ten years, but it’s never happened. FUNimation organized a formal nationwide effort to coalesce the American fan demand for more Fruits Basket anime, but that effort never bore fruit. Japanese producers and production studios may be hesitant to create new anime titles that have little market potential in Japan, regardless of potential market in America, because Japan remains the primary viewing audience and commercial market for anime. (The market for anime may be growing globally, and examples like Afro Samurai illustrate the increasing recognition of America as a second, instead of secondary audience for anime, but Japan will always be the primary and largest market for Japanese animation.)

Countless influences including the agreement of original concept creators, the availability of appropriate animation staff, the receptiveness of the audience, the profitability of prior anime series and anticipated profit potential of additional animation, the willingness of animators to work on new installments of old anime, the willingness of sponsors to invest in production of new installments of old anime, and probably countless other conditions all impact the decision about which anime become franchises and which don’t.