Ask John: How Much of Japan’s Anime Comes to America?

Question:
What percentage, as of 2005, of all anime titles that are aired each year in Japan or released through OAV format, would you say we actually receive (through means of a domestic DVD publishing company in the United States)? Being an avid anime fan and gamer, it has become quite apparent to me that even with the extensive increase in the amount of anime being published over the last five years especially, and through continuous research, there is still an overwhelming amount of anime that I know nothing about, even with such an extensive source of information as the internet. But I mean overall, how much of the general essence of anime makes its way overseas, meaning DVD, merchandise, and etc.?

Answer:
Primarily since I’m terrible at math, I’m not going to even attempt to calculate percentages of anime released in Japan that’s officially released in America. I can offer some rough statistics, and provide some insights which won’t precisely answer your question, but may give you a good impression. Consider that Japan’s anime industry has been releasing anime titles regularly since the early 1960s while the anime distribution industry in America has only existed in its present form since roughly 1990. Furthermore, I just don’t have knowledge of all the anime and anime related titles and merchandise available in Japan. There are as many as a dozen or more adult anime OVAs released each month in Japan. And if we include the literally hundreds of anime style computer games- both “bishojo gal games” and erotic games, released annually, the amount of anime available in Japan is staggering.

Based on very quickly compiled and not particularly academic or even highly accurate research, here are some enlightening statistics.

In 1985 there were around 46 anime titles released, meaning OAV series (excluding adult anime), motion pictures, and television series. Out of those 46 titles, 16 have been officially released or licensed for distribution in America.

Jumping ahead, there were an estimated 82 mainstream anime titles released in Japan in 1995. 47 of them have been exported to America.

In 2003, Japan released around 122 new titles. 77 of them have been licensed for American release.

In 2004 there were roughly 143 new anime titles. 63 of them have been licensed for American release.

So far this year, around 53 OAV & TV series, and motion pictures have premiered in Japan. 8 of them have already been licensed for American release.

Even though the American fan translation community and the internet keep American fans more familiar with current anime productions in Japan than ever before, there are still many anime titles in Japan that remain unheard of in America. For example, the majority of even America’s hardcore anime fans probably aren’t familiar with 2005 Japanese premiers including B-Densetsu! Battle Beadman Enkon, Witch Village Story, Gokiburi-chan, Kabutomushi Ouja Mushiking, Shinshaku Sengoku Eiyuu Densetsu Sanada Jyuu Yuushi, and Onegai My Melody.

American fans are definitely more familiar with anime than ever before, and there are now more resources available to American fans to discover new anime than ever before. But with the sheer amount of anime that’s been created and released in Japan, I don’t expect that all of it will ever be available in America. Furthermore, Japan is obviously the world’s most fertile and receptive culture for animation and illustrated fiction. Japan is simply more conducive to anime than any English speaking country is, so I don’t think that anime will ever be as widely successful and popular in any country outside of Japan as it is in Japan.

So far my response has dealt primarily with animation. If we include anime merchandise, manga, and anime related video games, America officially gets only a small fraction of what’s available in Japan. When you consider that Tokyo’s Akihabara district has turned into basically an entire small Japanese city devoted to anime and video games, it’s not difficult to extrapolate how much anime related merchandise is available in Japan. To provide another example, the manga section of Japanese bookstores like Kinokuniya are roughly the same size, or larger, than an entire American Waldenbooks store.