American & Japanese anime collaberations

Paul

Paul

Ghost of Animes
Administrator
Time Warner and Itochu Corp have announced a US/Japanese partnership which should see them producing, broadcasting and marketing anime for both the US and Japanese markets simultaneously. By April 2006, this venture is expected to be producing weekly episodes for three shows, at a budget of £100,000 per episode (with the majority of this money being spent on higher quality animation than the standard anime TV series).

This partnership is set to begin in June 2005 with an initial investment of £15 million and will then seek further investment from toy companies and other marketing outlets.

Given the size and influence of Time Warner and Itochu Corp, the anime they produce is guaranteed a place on relevant TV stations in the US and Japan. They also expect to market these shows to European and other Asian countries.
<span class=menu>Source: <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=6072">Anime News Network</a></span>
 
As pretty as the high budget animation will be, I can't help but assume the shows to come out of this partnership will be merchandise-driven, kid-friendly anime like Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh.

I hope Time Warner aren't just investing in Japanese animation for it's look and reputation. Most of us watch anime because of the quality and difference in story telling.

Let's not jump the gun, for all we know, this money could end up funding the next Satoshi Kon TV series (however unlikely that may be). I just hope it won't lead to a bunch of derivative shows that have been overly Americanized and simply cash-in on anime as a buzz word rather than concept.
 
Hmmm, I would guess its because Time Warner have woken up to the fact that anime is probably going to be the next big thing marketing-wise. Where there is money there'll be the big corporations. Much as I am a cynical bastard, it would be good to see something come out of this, as I doubt Time Warner would want to throw away that much money for nothing, or that Itochu Corp would side with an American Company for the hell of it. I expect that £100,000 per episode thing sounds pretty good to the producers/directors though, especially if more of it ends up going to the artists and production team.
 
If TimeWarner are getting into this off the back of the Animatrix' success, we can hope that the result won't only be merch friendly kiddy fare.
After all, whilst being a cash in they got some big names together and produced some very good short films.
What are Itochu Corp responsible for?
 
Paul said:
As pretty as the high budget animation will be, I can't help but assume the shows to come out of this partnership will be merchandise-driven, kid-friendly anime like Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh.
Click to expand...

This lept into my mind imediately. Having met with Warner's anime schedule in the US, which is basically just kid's anime in the mornings, I am certain that this is the root they'll take.

"Adult" anime is less popular than "kid" anime in the US because older viewers area anime fans, while kids just watch the show because they enjoy it and its on. A large percentage of American kids could watch Yu-gi-oh, but only anime fans will watch Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo or Evangelion, fans who will buy DVDs and read manga.

Still, I'll be interesting to see how the the "American" anime turns out, especially due to the butchering that lots of anime, such as One Piece, go through when it is transfered. Higher budget could just mean longer anime and more advertising.
 
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