Ask John: Why Doesn’t America Support Older Anime?

Question:
Why is so much classic anime no longer in print? Animego has discontinued many titles. All the old Pioneer titles I know got bought by a company that went under, but why hasn’t anyone picked them up. None of the classics have merchendise available. No Ranma. No Evangelion. And where is all the Lum stuff? I guess the basic question is why is there so little support for the great older animes?

Answer:
The relationship between the anime industry and its consumers is closer and more intertwined than is the case in many other industries. Fans don’t often talk to the executives of Hollywood film studios, or directly encourage the release of certain models of cars. Yet even with the conjoined nature of the anime distribution industry and its audience, it’s still common for many anime fans to be unconscious of the circumstances and technicalities that affect commercial anime licensing and distribution. As fans, we know what we like and want, so it may seem confusing not to see those things represented in the market. Comprehending the reason for the presence, or lack thereof, of certain anime requires understanding the processes of anime distribution and looking beyond personal interest. Many older anime titles, including ones that were once very popular, aren’t as prevalent as they once were because of changes in licensing situations and consumer demand.

American distributors acquire the rights to market certain anime titles in America for a finite length of time. A typical licensing agreement may grant American distribution rights for five years. At the end of those five years, an extension can possibly be negotiated if the Japanese licensor and the American distributor are both willing and able to negotiate an extension. In many cases anime series that have been in American circulation for five years have already sold nearly as many copies as they’re likely to ever sell. FUNimation, for example, stated that it acquired the distribution rights to the Slayers TV series for posterity, because of a belief that the three Slayers TV series ought to remain available to American viewers. Media Blasters, on the other hand, has publicly stated an aversion to “license rescues” because most titles that have had a full American retail lifetime have exhausted most of their American commercial potential. After several years, most of the Americans interested in owning a particular anime series have already bought it. That doesn’t account for new viewers, but precedent has firmly established that new American viewers typically don’t look back.

A lot of older anime series are very entertaining. Japanese fans, who appreciate the inherent qualities of anime, support the contemporary DVD release of vintage anime. A combination of nostalgia, respect, and interest keeps many vintage anime series commercially viable in Japan years and even decades after their original release. The American consumer audience for anime, however, is different. Anime is very much dominated by trend here in America. With a handful of exceptions – Dragon Ball chief among them – American anime viewers are primarily interested in contemporary anime. American anime fans are drawn to what’s new, popular, and cool. Older anime, regardless of their intrinsic quality, aren’t appealing because they’re not modern or cutting edge. There may be new American viewers discovering anime all the time, but the majority of these new viewers are only interested in today and tomorrow’s anime, not the anime of ten or twenty years ago.

Obviously there are American otaku interested in the anime of yesterday. Shows like Ranma and Urusei Yatsura didn’t get over a hundred episodes because they were bad. Evangelion is still viable and influential today because its original series was, and is, so powerful. But the number of Americans interested in these older titles is too small to justify the expense of re-licensing, re-distributing, and re-marketing these shows. Releasing new Lum toys in America today might generate a few hundred sales. But releasing new Bleach, Naruto, Soul Eater, or Fairy Tail toys will generate thousands, or even millions of sales. Domestic distributors sometimes “license rescue” older titles because the shows are inexpensive to acquire and re-release. Even distributing a title with little market potential generates more notice and activity than licensing and distributing nothing at all. American commercial entities don’t want to invest heavily in older anime because older anime don’t sell well in America. American anime fans generally don’t want to invest – either their money or their interest – in older anime because concentrating on older anime doesn’t feel exciting, progressive, trendy, or alternative.