Ask John: Why Are Anime Trailers Often Just the Show’s Opening Animation?

Question:
Why are almost all anime trailers just the show opening? What more can people (especially people new to anime) get besides a showcase of the animation?

Answer:
While the former question seems rather simple, its answer is actually more complex than initially apparent. The characteristics of anime promotional trailers are affected by both legal requirements, and differences between the expectations and demands of American and Japanese viewers.

Anime series trailers promoted domestically are sometimes simply the show’s opening animation sequence for a number of reasons. In some cases, for example AN Entertainment’s own DVD release of Haré+Guu, the domestic distribution license prohibited the American distributor from creating and distributing excerpts or trailers for the title. This does seem counter-productive to effective marketing and retail, but that’s what the Japanese licensor insisted upon. Similar licensing contracts may limit the extent that other domestic anime distributors may promote certain anime titles with trailers or footage.

A second reason lies in the nature of America’s anime distribution companies. Video editing skills are not necessarily necessary for involvement in anime distribution. Producers, marketing designers, translators, video encoding technicians, voice acting specialists, and so forth may not have the experience or expertise to produce an effective, original trailer. In this case, simply using an opening animation sequence with minor revisions is a quick, easy, and efficient means of creating an advertising trailer. After all, an opening animation is specifically designed to be an eye catching introduction to an anime, so an opening animation sequence can serve as a highly effective trailer.

Differences between the interests of Japanese and American viewers also influence the way anime trailers are composed. American viewers typically expect anime trailers to resemble feature film trailers that provide a cursory summary of the film’s genre and plot. Japanese viewers seem to be often more interested in tone, visual design, and character rather than story. For example, the Macademy Washoi television series recently released three trailers that concentrated entirely on the series’ three primary girl characters. A recently released trailer for Vampire Knight Guilty included no dialogue and no hint of story – just visual impact and atmosphere. And a recently released trailer for Michiko to Hatchin focused on the series’ voice actresses rather than the anime’s plot. In effect, Japanese trailers are frequently shorter, and have a different focus than anime trailers for American audiences because American viewers expect to receive different information from a trailer than Japanese audiences want.

On the topic of locating an effective representative example of an anime, Americans do have a number of options in many cases. Many domestic anime releases do get promotional trailers. If a trailer is insufficient to inform or entice the viewer, these days many new anime get TV broadcast or promotional web release. Magazines like Otaku USA also include sample episodes on their bonus DVDs. Fans can also turn to borrowing DVDs from friends, anime fan clubs, and DVD rentals for free or inexpensive introductory access to anime. However, in some cases there are no adequate means to legally sample an anime title. In these cases a consumer may be forced to either make a blind investment or forgo the title. That seems like an undesirable choice of extremes, but ultimately anime fans should always be mindful of the fact that anime is not a free or inexpensive hobby (although it can be, for viewers with moderate demands). For Americans, anime is an imported luxury good, not a right or a cheap, common domestic product. Domestic distributors that wish to sell anime to American consumers do have an obligation to effectively advertise and distribute their products, but distributors are sometimes limited in their ability to promote via trailers, either by contractual stipulations, or practical limitations. Anime consumers should be aware that international anime distribution has yet to reach a state of perfection, so sometimes inadequate or ineffective advertising has to be accepted as all you’re going to get.