Article on Japanese anime industry in Businessweek magazine

M

Mangaminx

Stand User
The magazine Businessweek have written a very in-depth article entitled "The Anime Biz" about the current state of the Japanese anime industry. The article (which is written from the perspective of a businessman) suggests that the industry isn't being run as well as it could be. The article states that certain changes throughout the industry could maximise its potential to make money, as well as making anime more marketable abroad.

While the article does not cover much information on the western market it does mention that American companies who licence anime (such as ADV, Geneon etc.) can pay up to $100,000 per episode for the best anime shows.
<span class="menu">Source: AnimeOnDvd
 
Poor Animator-san

I feel sorry for animators who must draw like mass production. I guess its the only way to get cartoons done thou. Dude, I would die if I had to do that.

Anyway, I guess it could be run better, but its better than nothing! :p
 
It's a shame the industry, both in Japan and the west, doesn't listen to that.
Also i can't believe it's as much as $100,000 for just one episode, i thought that sentence was going to read per series not episode. I wonder how much it costs to buy a series for a television channel
 
Of course, from a buisness perspective, anime isn't achieving what it could but if that success requires the sacrifice of everything I love about it i.e. mature and fantastical stories told in intelligent ways, then I say bugger the money.

To expand anime's global reach, producers may have to rethink the kind of projects they make for the foreign market. "There are still gaps between Japanese anime and Hollywood animation, and we need to fill them,"
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That worries me.
 
Good point there, i don't care really care if they lose a few pounds along the way, as long as we don't lose the variety, and stories that are actually a little different and told in an intelligent way
 
it's the difference in stories and styles from Western film that makes anime so appealing to me, so i'd hate to see anime producers making 'West-friendly' anime that loses some off what makes it so interesting, just to make it sell better abroad. i agree with Paul: it's worrying.
 
Concrete badger said:
it's the difference in stories and styles from Western film that makes anime so appealing to me, so i'd hate to see anime producers making 'West-friendly' anime that loses some off what makes it so interesting, just to make it sell better abroad. i agree with Paul: it's worrying.
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I agree with that 100%. While I think its cool if a anime creator puts western
influences in a anime because their like them. I am totally against just them
making a anime ''westernised'' just because they feel they need more sales.

Its a bit like when a band get good sales on there merit own but doesn't 'water down ' their sound , thats cool , but when you get these manufactured bands just made for chart sucess that certainly is not.


I want anime to get more popular in the u.k and outside of Japan but on its own merit, not buy turning them into western cartoons with no soull!!!
 
Concrete badger said:
it's the difference in stories and styles from Western film that makes anime so appealing to me, so i'd hate to see anime producers making 'West-friendly' anime that loses some off what makes it so interesting, just to make it sell better abroad. i agree with Paul: it's worrying.
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Exactly, thats exactly one of the things that makes anime so appealing to me, i find westen animation boring and alot of other things too, it's the fact it's not like that, repetitive and unimaginative, that makes anime so good
 
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