Ask John: Is It Wise for Companies to License Series that are 100+ Episodes?

Question:
Recently some U.S. distributors have been licensing some anime series that are 100+ episodes and are still being aired in Japan with no end in site. Companies like Funimation have licensed One Piece, Detective Conan, Keroro Gunso, and Crayon Shin Chan. Viz will be releasing Naruto Shippuden in September. While I have no problem with companies licensing long series that are still in production, I worry because these shows have almost no way of gaining a wider exposure in the US anime market, outside of people who were already fans of the series before it became licensed, mainly relying on word of mouth. With no televised broadcast of these series, it could mean slower release dates for these series. While Naruto may have been Cartoon Network’s ratings juggernaut in the past, it has been taken off of CN’s schedule and there seems to be no plans to air it in the near future. Series like Dragonball that have had a full run on US TV can be guaranteed to have good sales, even if the series have been off of TV for years. I was wondering what your opinions are on distributors that license series that are 100+ episodes.

Answer:
Highly successful, long-running Japanese TV anime are something of a double-edged sword for American distributors. There’s good reason to want to acquire these sort of titles, but distributing these titles comes with its own specific difficulties. Logically, the very reason why certain anime series are so long is because they’re enjoyable and entertaining. Long running shows have a large and loyal audience, which suggests that whatever has made the show so popular in Japan may also make the show accessible and enjoyable for American viewers. Furthermore, any anime that’s lasted for over a hundred episodes is probably a fairly well known title. So serving as the American distributor for such a show brings not only the potential for a long period of lucrative income, but also the recognition of being associated with a high profile title. Despite having vast catalogs, FUNimation is still widely thought of as the “Dragon Ball” company. It’s difficult to think of Naruto, Bleach, and Inuyasha without also thinking of Viz Media. A single tentpole title can sustain an American anime distributor and make the difference between being being a niche distributor and being a high profile distributor.

But lengthy series also have unique requirements and difficulties. With One Piece being one of Toei Animation’s premiere properties, Americans have already seen catastrophic situations that have occured due to botched American distribution. 4Kids’ failed domestic release was reassigned to FUNimation. FUNimation’s goof that allowed an episode to leak into public circulation a day early resulted in all One Piece official streaming in America evaporating. AD Vision’s highly touted acquisition of Keroro Gunso never saw light of day, instead resurfacing with FUNimation. Localizing a lengthy series requires a lengthy and expensive commitment. Consumers tend to be hesitant to committing to the purchase of a DVD release that will take years and countless volumes to finish. There’s also the ever present uncertainty that lengthy series will ever be fully released in America. AnimEigo has released 40 episodes of Yawara, but there’s no confirmation that they’ll release the remaining 84. FUNimation seems to have regrettably dropped plans for an American release of the second 51 episodes of Kodomo no Omocha. Likewise, America is getting more Detective Conan movies from FUNimation, but not necessarily more TV episodes.

Licenses for lengthy TV anime are ongoing negotiations. Naturally an American licensor can’t acquire distribution rights to “all” of a continuing series because no one knows exactly how many episodes “all” will ultimately be. Domestic licensors acquire rights to blocks of episodes with the right to license more, or negotiate agreements to distribute shows domestically on behalf of Japanese distributors for as long as the Japanese distributor wants to maintain the partnership. In either case, the future of these lengthy shows in America depends on the strength of the show’s domestic DVD sales and revenue generated by licensing and spin-off merchandise. With many of these titles, American release isn’t entirely a matter of the ability of an American distributor. Japanese licensors want their highest profile franchises in international circulation, even if that requires doing it themselves. For example, Toei manufacturing its own American DVDs of Slam Dunk, and distributing Digimon, Hokuto no Ken, and Pretty Cure online when conventional American distribution ceased or didn’t work out as Toei desired. Lengthy shows may have their own, unique difficulties to deal with, but American distributors can’t ignore these shows because the most popular, high profile anime series are going to reach America with or without their involvement. And the distributors with aspirations of reaching the upper echelons of American anime distribution have to covet these lengthy, high profile, tentpole franchises. Just as Naruto has transitioned from Cartoon Network broadcast to internet broadcast, the high profile shows will get American audience exposure. Niche market shows may not get TV broadcast or a heavy mainstream marketing push. But the shows that are big enough to have sailed well past 100 episodes are juggernauts that both Japanese and American companies will heavily promote and get into public vision, if not through TV broadcast, than by other means like internet broadcast or AnimEigo distributing free sampler DVDs.