Ask John: What Will the Future Format for Anime Be?

Question:
I read somewhere that fewer OVAs are produced now than in the VHS days because of all the satellite channels that are willing to air 12-13 episode series in the wee hours of the morning. Would independent animators and independent-style animation studios be willing to produce longer series? As far as I know, Makoto Shinkai and even Studio Ghibli’s next projects are shorts. I am ignorant of any series produced by Studio 4C which is longer than Trava Fist Planet or its shorts compilations. And with the advent of ONA (Original Net Animation) with Lingerie Soldier Papillon Rose, I am curious as to which format anime will predominantly adopt in the next few years.

Answer:
I don’t know exactly why there seem to be fewer OVAs made and released now than there were in the late 1980s and 1990s. I suspect that changes in the Japanese economy are one contributing factor. The expansion of Japanese satellite TV is probably another contributing factor. In any case, the majority of new anime produced in Japan now is produced for television broadcast, and I think that’s where the foreseeable future of anime production lies.

The 1980s and early 1990s were indeed the heyday of the OVA format. A tremendous number of anime were created for direct to video release during that time, I think, because the Japanese economy had enough money to spend to support niche market, minor anime productions. OAV productions including 1+2=Paradise, Cosmic Fantasy, Game Paradise, Space Family Carlvinson, Antique Heart, California Crisis, Ninja Ryukenden, Hagane no Oni, Joker, Legaicam, Urban Square, Fuuma no Kojiro, Bavi Stock, Hoshineko Fullhouse, and countless others were common in the 80s and 90s but have become virtually forgotten today. I think that one of the primary reasons for the slow extinction of the OVA format has to do with the expense of creating anime.

Most contemporary anime productions are funded by corporate sponsors. Businesses invest in anime production in hopes of getting their investment back, or getting advertising by being associated with the anime. The most efficient means of maximizing exposure through anime is by having it broadcast on television, rather than selling it directly on expensive home video. I think that most contemporary anime is made for television because that’s the most profitable means of distributing anime. I suspect that independent animators like Makoto Shinkai don’t produce long series because they’re unable to do so. Producing a long work or long anime series requires too much money, time, and effort for a single person or small group of fans to accomplish. There are very few “ONA” because there’s very little reason to make original internet anime. Generally online anime are free, so most independent animators can’t afford to create anime and give it away for free.

Studio 4C is often thought of as an “independent” production studio because 4C typically creates unusual, niche market anime like Mindgame (Trava: Fist Planet was produced by Madhouse, not 4C), but fans often forget that Studio 4C has also worked on major, mainstream productions including The Animatrix, Spriggan, and Steamboy. 4C has also produced the internet anime series Kimagure Robot for Yahoo, and has produced the relatively long, mainstream anime TV series Mahou Shoujo Tai (also known as “Tweeny Witches”). The variety of Studio 4C’s work should clearly answer in the affirmative the question of whether studios known for short works will also produce longer anime.

Japanese satellite and cable television networks that broadcast anime series targeted at small audiences seem to have eliminated much of the need for OVA releases. The necessity of creating profitable anime instead of creating anime first, then hoping that it sells, has also probably fueled the emphasis on television anime over OVA productions. Straight to video anime is still fairly common. I don’t foresee the format disappearing entirely in the foreseeable future. But I also don’t envision the OVA format returning to the prevalence it had a decade ago. Productions for TV have a bigger market than OVAs, and have greater international sales potential because they’re designed for TV broadcast. Present circumstances suggest that TV anime is and will continue to be the format of choice for Japan’s anime industry for at least the next few years. Independent animators like Makoto Shinkai have merged into Japan’s mainstream production industry. Relatively small and new production studios like Kyoto Animation and Yumeta may have started out small, but have likewise expanded and become more influential and prominent in Japan’s established anime industry. (Kyoto Animation started out by producing the Munto OVA then continued on to animate the second and third Full Metal Panic TV series and the Air TV series. Yumeta produced the two Animation Runner Kuromi OVAs and is now working on the Harukanaru Toki No Naka De motion picture.)

Anime studios seem to continue to produce short anime for specific purposes. Ghibli creates shorts for the Ghibli Museum. Toei produces short anime films in order to release several anime movies as a combined screening. A few years ago Madhouse produced the Andalusia no Natsu movie as a pet project which was never intended to be a mainstream release. OVA productions from just this year include Iriya no Sora UFO no Natsu, Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, Ichigo 100%, Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru, and Kirameki Project. (And the adult anime industry has been consistently releasing hentai OVAs steadily since the early 1980s.) But the vast majority of contemporary anime is made for television, and I expect that trend to continue.