Ask John: Will America’s Anime Industry Downsize or Disappear?

Question:
Call me crazy, but I think another company, one of the big ones, will follow Geneon into oblivion either this year or next, and that could possibly signal the death knell for the entire U.S. anime industry. With that in mind, wouldn’t it be better in the long run if the industry were to downsize in order to stem the bleeding and survive? I mean, wouldn’t a smaller, leaner industry be preferable to no industry at all, which is where things might well be headed, and perhaps sooner than anyone realizes?

Answer:
No one, myself included, knows what will happen to America’s anime industry in the future, but I think I can form some reliable suppositions based on my experience and familiarity with the industry. We’re already seeing AD Vision apparently downsize, and we may see one or more domestic anime distribution companies formally close within this year. However, I do think that the majority of America’s most active anime distributors will do everything in their power to downsize and economize rather than outright shut down. While anime is not as profitable in America as American made film, American comic books, or video games, anime has proven to have some profit potential in America. So there will always be some degree of official anime distribution in America. The highest profile titles will continue to see American release regardless of the condition of America’s core anime distribution industry. Examples of this effect include Warner Bros. distribution of the Appleseed Ex Machina movie, Sony Pictures’ distribution of Tekkonkinkreet and Blood+, and Disney’s continuing support of Studio Ghibli movies.

Already, at this point in time, the American anime distribution industry is quite lean. AN Entertainment, Arts Magic, Central Park Media, DiscoTek, Hirameki, Super Techno Arts, Synch-Point, and Urban Vision have all ceased actively acquiring and distributing new anime titles. Licensing, which seemed to be on a path to recovery last year, has almost entirely ceased in recent months. Domestic DVD releases are down. AD Vision has made three significant cut-backs within the first three weeks of this year and Viz has apparently canceled the continuing release of several of its anime DVD series. But there are still presently at least 8 active domestic anime licensor/distributors, and there have been recent signs of America’s anime industry making changes necessary to remain solvent, including Viz offering commercial digital downloads of an American premier series, AD Vision premiering sample episodes of a new anime series online, FUNimation and Media Blasters co-producing new anime productions, and FUNimation publicly announcing plans to move toward consumer friendly multi-disc DVD sets and away from traditional single volume DVD releases.

There’s certainly a lot of speculation and anxiety in America’s anime community about an imminent demise of the anime distribution industry, but I fully believe that the worst of this fear is unjustified. Streamlining and downsizing is vital to the survival of America’s anime distribution industry in the face of present market circumstances, and I fully believe that we will see effective streamlining and downsizing, but not an absolute, apocalyptic destitution of the anime industry. There are, and always will be enough devoted anime fans in America to support a small, core American distribution industry. And I think that the privately owned American anime companies that have survived ups and downs over the past decade or more will make the changes necessary to remain operational.