Ask John: What Should a Potential Licensor Consider?

Question:
I am a giant fan of anime. In fact, I would love to be a part of the industry one day to help bring over more anime. But let’s say I was to start up a company whose focus was to license and release anime in North America. What would be the best kinds of titles to start with? Would it better to start with OVAs and movies instead of longer TV series? Should license rescues be more of a focus, as they already have subtitling and potentially dubbing work already done, or should first-time licenses be better? Would it be better to tread caution by starting off with sub-only releases or should the titles be dubbed right away? And, finally, would it be easier to start off with older titles, since they are potentially cheaper to license than more recent titles, or are they just too risky to make a start with? It is a lot to consider, but having some advice from someone who actually was a part of that world in the past would be infinitely helpful.

Answer:
I feel responsible to state from the outset that advice I provide should be taken strictly as informal observation rather than professional guidance. While I have been marginally involved in domestic anime licensing, my participation was limited and occurred several years ago when the business was different than it is now. As much as I can provide some suggestion, I think that observation of the present industry can be equally, if not more so, helpful. American consumers seem to prefer self-contained releases. Manga Entertainment, these days, survives almost solely on single volume or single movie acquisitions and releases. Three years ago New Galaxy Anime announced plans to release the Fantastic Adventures of Unico movie. The release never happened. However, Discotek launched with a selection of vintage anime movies and has continued to expand by concentrating primarily on OVAs and features. Illumitoon tried to ambitiously launch with a selection of TV series and failed. Artsmagic tried to launch with the obscure (in America) and older Salaryman Kintaro anime TV series and failed. Anime Midstream has launched with the Raijin-Oh TV series and hasn’t gained much traction. NIS America has launched with contemporary TV shows (and plenty of investment capital) but releases them in only one or two volumes with limited distribution. NIS America’s cautious and selective approach may enable the company to gather more success than other domestic distributors that also launched with lesser known multi-volume TV series. Single volume releases are easier to place on store shelves, and consumers like the idea of getting a complete entertainment package in one disc rather than getting only part of the story from a single purchase and committing to either purchasing future volumes or getting stuck with an incomplete series or story.

Age matters only in relation to content. American otaku tend to disregard vintage anime, but titles with nostalgia remain viable. Voltron, Robotech, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Sea Prince & the Fire Child, and other anime that American consumers grew up with defy their age. Anime licenses including Belle and Sebastian (Meiken Jolly), Samurai Pizza Cats (Cat Ninden Tyandee), Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest), and Wee Wendy (Tongari Boushi no Memoru) remain unavailable on American DVD. Titles targeted at children or families also defy aging, as children aren’t picky about animation quality or contemporary stylish art design the way otaku are. Discotek was able to mortgage acquisitions including Animal Treasure Island, Taro the Dragon Boy, and Puss in Boots into more niche and contemporary acquisitions like Lupin III, Crying Freeman, and Fist of the North Star. However, older titles without a pre-established American audience have very little chance for success. At the height of America’s anime DVD boom, vintage anime was a tough sell. Now with DVD sales at a low ebb, obscure vintage releases are even tougher to move.

Present distributors including Discotek, FUNimation, Nozomi, and Sentai Filmworks make up a portion of their catalogs with “license rescues” for two reasons. As already mentioned, titles with an existing audience are always easier to sell. Furthermore, titles with existing translations make the localization process faster and cheaper for the new distributor. While experienced and comprehensive collectors may dismiss license rescues, the market will always include many potential consumers that have only heard of but never watched or owned the titles which veteran fans refer to as standards. Particularly certain older American releases like Robot Carnival, Tank Police Dominion, Variable Geo, Kimagure Orange Road, Card Captor Sakura, Sailor Moon, Samurai Troopers, Night on the Galactic Railroad, Angel Cop, and Gunsmith Cats are now relatively sought after titles due to their combination of nostalgia and name recognition.

While single volume releases are easier to place on store shelves, bilingual releases are also easier to move at wholesale. However, such concern may not be as relevant now as it once was since fewer brick & mortar chains are carrying anime, and those that are carry fewer releases. While the domestic fan community may complain about subtitled-only releases, subtitled-only release is tremendously more affordable than bilingual release and can easily make the difference between a profitable release and going out of business. Sentai Filmworks launched by concentrating on subtitled-only releases until it established market presence and credibility to support added dubbing. The studio then retroactively began adding dubs to its titles, re-releasing select ones in bilingual editions. Bilingual releases will always have greater market potential than subtitled only releases, but in present market conditions, distributors have to first examine their own financial and practical abilities before considering the demands of the vocal consumer minority.

The ideal anime acquisition is a tentpole title. A single feature release that sustains regular sales serves as a foundation to build upon. The Studio Ghibli titles are Disney’s only anime licenses, and the only anime licenses the company needs. Urban Vision thrived on Vampire Hunter D. Afro Samurai has been a tremendous success for FUNimation while it was originally Dragon Ball which put the company on the map (and continues to generate profit for them). FLCL was a breadwinner title for Synch Point. Pioneer/Geneon could count on extended sales of Akira. Manga has earned revenue from Ninja Scroll for years. Evangelion served as ADV’s signature title. Rurouni Kenshin propelled Media Blasters into a higher teir. The Fist of the North Star movie has been a boon for Discotek. Acquiring a personal favorite or a title that “deserves” North American distribution is an admirable pursuit but likely one which won’t generate sustainable income. Anime distribution should be an investment of love, but in reality it must be approached as a sterile commercial decision. What can be acquired at manageable cost that will recoup its expenses and generate profit? Older titles may be cheaper, but they’re not necessarily easier to acquire, nor are they likely to attract much domestic consumer interest unless they have a nostalgic audience or can appeal to consumers outside of the anime otaku niche. Contemporary TV shows seem popular on the fansub circuit, but shows distributed for free naturally attract the curious. And many of the contemporary TV anime that are popular now will be forgotten as quickly as next season.