WSJ on the Japanese anime industry...

[GymLeaderMisty]

https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703819904574551834260925714.html

TOKYO—Anime, Japan's stylized animation that has become hugely popular around the world, helped reshape the country's image as a cultural trend-setter. But behind the scenes, things aren't so rosy.

Japan's animation industry is struggling. Anime workers are unhappy, toiling long hours at low pay. Sales have been declining. On top of that, there is fast-growing competition from across Asia. Studios in China and South Korea now churn out high-quality anime-style programs, helped by cheaper labor and, in some cases, government subsidies.

Government subsidies... I doubt the WTO would intervene. Oh well, the Asian mechantilists aren't so well-known for following the Washington Consensus, free-trade dogma that has pervaded Western policy makers. Gotta use the government to make your industries more "competitive," and the central bank to keep your currency "competitive" against the falling dollar, and the renminbi which is pegged to the dollar.

A shrinking population of children in Japan has discouraged toy makers, television networks and other traditional sponsors from funding new programs. That has driven many anime studios—most of which are small shops—toward making animated soft porn and violent movies targeted at adult audiences. At the same time, YouTube and other free Internet services have hurt sales of DVDs. Sales of Japanese-made anime DVDs slid 18% from a year earlier to 72.8 billion yen (about $800 million) in 2008, after peaking at 93.7 billion yen in 2006, according to the Japan Video Software Association, a trade group.

Morale is low. Industry executives estimate nine out of 10 new workers quit within three years, with the many talented employees leaving for better-paying jobs in areas like videogames. A survey conducted this year for industry executives showed that animators in their 20s made just 1.1 million yen ($11,000) a year on average, while those in their 30s earned 2.1 million yen.

Japan, as most people know, is a very old population, with Italy and Germany trailing behind. I wonder why Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! was allowed to be on YouTube if YouTube causes lower DVD revenues. Perhaps, most of the audience would be in the US anyway, or maybe they expect to get more money by selling merchandise. $800 million is not a lot in absolute terms. A single brand name drug have much more revenue than the entire industry. I know a hedge fund that controls about $2 billion worth in assets, and leverages it 3 to 1 (usually in bond and currency trades.)

https://s734.photobucket.com/albums/ww350/KyosukeKiryu/?action=view&current=a1.png

Even the president of Telecom Animation expresses some dismay about the state of the anime world. "The industry has become decadent and fatigued," says Koji Takeuchi, president of Telecom Animation, which is housed in an aging suburban building above a grocery store. "So many pieces are dark and oppressive, and the message of hope and fun is no longer there."

I wonder how Pokémon was able to break this trend.

The Japanese government says it is trying to support the industry, with plans to increase spending on education and training young animators and allocating more funds toward film marketing. But nurturing home-grown talent has become more difficult as Japanese companies increasingly outsource anime drawing to studios in China, South Korea and Vietnam, where labor costs are lower.

 

[Esper]

And despite all these problems most of what gets made and continues to be made is moderate to low quality and rather uninteresting.

This is mere speculation, but I think, with the exception of Ghibli, Gainax, and maybe a few others, we're going to see most animation start coming from companies that aren't centered around animation, such as video game makers, and then mostly to promote their main products. That, or quality will drop even further to save costs.