BusinessWeek Magazines Examines Japan’s Anime Industry

BusinessWeek Magazine has published an extensive article about the condition of Japan’s anime industry. The theme of the article is that from a businessman’s perspective, Japan’s anime industry is poorly managed and failing to maximize is exposure and protit potential because the industry consists mainly of “sensitive artistes” who still do much of the work of animation by hand. The article suggests that Japan’s anime industry could become far more marketable internationally if production methods were more streamlined and anime became more similar to highly profitable Hollywood movies.

The article also reveals that North American licensing costs for anime average $10,000 to $20,000 per episode, but can go as high as $100,000 per episode.

Source: Anime on DVD