Ask John: Will the Simulcast of Space Dandy Spur More TV Simulcasts?

Question:
With the simultaneous dub broadcast of Space Dandy, coming in January on Toonami, will we see more dub simulcasts in the North American market?

Answer:
Personally, I doubt it. The American premiere and English dubbed simulcast of next year’s Space Dandy television series is an exception in multiple regards. The show is an original creation from Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe, and two of the three screenwriters behind Space Dandy also scripted Cowboy Bebop. So the precedence of the show’s staff undoubtedly paves the way for his new show to get a major American distribution push. Moreover, Space Dandy is an unusual anime in the regard that it’s not thematically or narratively tied to Japan. The show isn’t set in Japan and doesn’t star distinctly Japanese characters. Furthermore, it’s not a slice-of-life or historical drama that depicts a familiar reality though a Japanese perspective. The fact that the show is a futuristic sci-fi adventure set entirely off-world makes it significantly more accessible to average international viewers than the majority of anime that’s distinctly relevant to Japanese viewers. The last anime to get an American dubbed television simulcast was Afro Samurai: Resurrection, broadcast over four years ago. Despite Afro Samurai becoming a massive hit, it didn’t break open doors for further television simulcasts because in order to get an American television simulcast, an anime must have the potential to appeal to a much bigger domestic audience than strictly hardcore anime fans. Very few anime productions have that innate potential.

Space Dandy has a unique combination of behind-the-scenes talent and international accessibility that most anime don’t have. Unlike most anime that are immediately “Japanese,” Space Dandy has the inherent potential to sustain the interest of mainstream American viewers that enjoy animated fantasy entertainment but feel alienated by or adverse to conventional anime because of its foreign-ness. The success of the very Western-flavored Tiger & Bunny has not convinced the Japanese production industry to begin making more anime that’s “less-Japanese.” Likewise, Space Dandy is very likely an exception project ushered into existence through the influence and wrangling of its singular creator. So I don’t expect to see any immediate groundswell of globally-oriented anime productions, and the absence of such productions will minimize the potential for additional American broadcast simulcasts. But even if Japan did begin suddenly producing more anime that were less obviously “Japanese,” those shows wouldn’t immediately have a pathway to American television broadcast. For mainstream Americans, anime is no longer new & novel. Without a massively successful mainstream title presently driving interest, like Pokemon or Dragon Ball, anime has receded back into a very niche market. Any title broadcast on American television today has to have an inherent market accessibility because just being “anime” is not enough to draw viewer interest these days. The American anime distribution industry has recovered from its 2008 crash, but today’s American anime industry still isn’t as big nor as profitable as it was in 2004. Significantly fewer Americans purchase anime now compared to a decade ago. Anime had trouble supporting mainstream television viewership even during its early 2000s heyday. Today, broadcast anime on domestic television is particularly risky, which explains why so few new shows reach American television broadcast.