The Fans
At the end of the previous part, I briefly mentioned that the fans also play an important role in the anime industry. After all, we are the consumers of the medium, and are the ones that support the anime medium and love everything about it. The anime and the otaku community in general are some of most passionate people that I have ever seen and dedicate literally years of their lives on their hobbies. It may be a small community, but the people are very passionate about it. However, even though the rise of the Internet has allowed many people, including myself, to get into anime and discover and learn more about it, which is always a good thing, there are quite a few consequences that come with it. Even though we have a very passionate and wonderful community of people who love anime, many anime fans don’t support the anime industry. But is the recent decline of anime really the fault of anime fans that don’t support the industry? Let’s find out.
Let’s start by going to the domestic market of anime: Japan. The cost of entertainment in Japan is high, because entertainment is seen as something that is as something that enough people would be inclined to pay high prices for to support the show. Anyway, you can read more about it here. Since DVDs in Japan sell for such a high, and sometimes considered ludicrous price, piracy is a big problem in Japan and around the world. The high price is to help make recuperate the costs spent on the anime, since the concept is even though the price is high, if enough dedicated fans buy it, then even if sales are low, they would still make back their money. But that, I think, just promotes more people to pirate. People in Japan are arrested just by posting pirated anime online or even pirating DVDs, because it is a big problem. Also, many Japanese fans are also importing localized copies of anime sold in western countries due to the fact that they are not only much cheaper even with shipping, but they are also available in the Japanese language with only English subtitles, so of course people will get it because it is technically “legal.” Though it may help somewhat with the sales of anime over there, it definitely doesn’t help with the sales in Japan.
In addition, due to the advancement of technology, watching anime on the internet is much easier and more affordable than before. I personally think that DVD’s as a medium is starting to become outdated. Just like with old cassettes and VHS tapes, I think the internet will, and in fact has already, replaced TV and DVD as a way to view and enjoy anime and movies. TV is already outdated because no one will want to wait every week for a new episode to come out when you can watch whole series online and for free. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, the only way to watch anime is to buy it or watch it on TV, which is how the market sustained itself. Now, through the internet, an unlimited amount of anime is available for you to enjoy. DVDs, however, will still be around because people still would like to watch their shows on a big screen and in high quality. There is still a market of dedicated people who buy DVD’s to support the industry. Even so, DVDs will still be pirated because they would still be too expensive, or at least considered to be by many. Reducing the price of DVDs in Japan and elsewhere doesn’t automatically mean that people will buy it. Factors such as whether people will still pirate, whether the lower price can increase sales or not, and whether or not the anime is actually good or not will directly affect sales of the anime. If an anime is only so-so, people may not think it’s worth buying despite it being at a lower price, and would prefer to watch it online on illegal streaming sites instead.
This problem is not only in Japan, but also worldwide as many people, including me, watch their anime illegally online. This is not because we don’t want to support the industry by at least watching it on legal streaming sites, but because the anime is simply not available legally to watch in many parts of the world. The legal online streaming sites, such as Crunchyroll and Netflix, are only available for western countries, so the only option for people not from the west is to watch it on illegal streaming websites. Some people in the west don’t even know the difference between a legal streaming site and an illegal one, and will most likely watch their anime on illegal websites. Also, there is no chance of getting legal DVDs in Asia or anywhere else either because they’re overpriced or they aren’t available at all, and for most countries, like Vietnam and Malaysia (my home country), only pirated versions are available for sale. Anime is much more popular in Asia than in the western countries. However, the sales of anime are lower than the west simply because western countries have strict rules regarding illegal and legal products, whereas Asia doesn’t have it, and thus pirated DVDs and illegal streaming websites are the only way to watch anime.
Finally, there other way to support anime is for the anime studios to sell the rights to figure and toy companies, which is a popular way for many anime to make their back their money. In fact, there are entire anime franchises, such as the Gundam franchise, that completely relies on merchandise to support itself. While many fans, including myself, buy quite a bit of merchandise to support the industry, it’s not always easy for many fans to go out and buy something. Most people are willing to buy cheaper merchandise, such as keychains and shirts, and even things like the original manga. However, there are also more expensive items such as figures and Gunpla (Gundam Plastic Models). It really depends on how much you like the anime, and not only how much you like the figure, but also how much you are willing to pay for it. For me, even though I love Gunpla, and I am very interested in figures, their high price just don’t justify the purchase for me. For me, my thoughts are: “since they have such as a high price, I might as well just buy Gunpla.” Plus, they are not easy to find, so the best way is to order online. But, in the future, I will definitely buy a figure just to see how it is and display it in my room alongside my Gunpla.
The world is always changing, and the anime industry has to change. The systems that have been set in place for the industry are outdated and ineffective. While the fans want to support the anime industry, there aren’t many ways for them to support them. Buying merchandise can only help so much, and the DVD market is a niche market, as only few anime fans would buy DVDs on a regular basis. Anime studios can’t only rely on DVDs sales, which are already expensive, to make back the money. There needs to be a new way for fans to be able to give back to the industry. Perhaps through direct means like Kickstarter, or maybe some other way. It’s quite difficult for the people in the industry to think of a new and better outlet for fans to contribute to it, and no matter what they try, there will be failures and successes. Not to mention the other problems internally with the industry which they have to deal with. The whole anime industry is a give-and-take. The creators have to provide the best content they can for the fans, and the fans have to give back to the creators. It’s not easy, but with the popularity of anime around the world and with the passion for anime from both the creators and the fans, I think the anime industry can move forward.
Bibliography:
Sevakis, Justin. “The Anime Economy – Part 2: Shiny Discs.” Anime News Network. Anime News Network, 7 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2012-03-07>.
Li Zhang's Anime Blog 