Here's
the midwinter assessment of the anime industry from the view of some experts:
The industry might be in better shape in the U.S. than Japan, according
to the experts. Translator Dan Kanemitsu says anime fans "are the last
line of defense" in keeping Japanese anime studios working. The American
financial support, from sales and licensing, comes at a time when the Japanese
industry has been in a slump, according to David Williams of ADV Films.
However, Williams notes that "The industry in the U.S. is doing well."
It's so good that more series are being made with the U.S. in mind, either
with edited broadcast versions or by having American companies pay for
the shows' production.
There
are Americanized versions of anime shows - some fans might call them "censored"
because what's acceptable on Japanese TV goes to far for American TV.
Producer Hiroaki Inoue said there are projects where he makes the two versions,
but sometimes producers and directors don't want to make those changes.
"The reason we continue to produce OVA's is because we want to continue
to make material that doesn't fit the bill of network broadcasting. It
varies widely from company to company on how they want to release material
for the United States." Williams said that ADV deal with one Japanese company
that insisted that a series be shown uncut on U.S. television by a deadline,
but the show was too extreme to meet any broadcast standards. He discreetly
didn't identify the show or the company.
Inoue
said there are plenty of shows - 70 weekly titles and 4000 episodes a year
- but the 3000 workers who create the shows are so pressed for time that
there's little time to develop original stories, so they use manga stories.
"The manga industry is a wonderful source of ideas and material," said
Inoue. "For the moment we're not worried about running out of material,
but in five years you worry if there will be enough material to continue
the pace of production." More sales equals more series and more work for
animators, and Inoue encouraged American fans to keep buying those series
and keep the industry going.
Here's
the midwinter assessment of the anime industry from the view of some experts:
The industry might be in better shape in the U.S. than Japan, according
to the experts. Translator Dan Kanemitsu says anime fans "are the last
line of defense" in keeping Japanese anime studios working. The American
financial support, from sales and licensing, comes at a time when the Japanese
industry has been in a slump, according to David Williams of ADV Films.
However, Williams notes that "The industry in the U.S. is doing well."
It's so good that more series are being made with the U.S. in mind, either
with edited broadcast versions or by having American companies pay for
the shows' production.
There
are Americanized versions of anime shows - some fans might call them "censored"
because what's acceptable on Japanese TV goes to far for American TV.
Producer Hiroaki Inoue said there are projects where he makes the two versions,
but sometimes producers and directors don't want to make those changes.
"The reason we continue to produce OVA's is because we want to continue
to make material that doesn't fit the bill of network broadcasting. It
varies widely from company to company on how they want to release material
for the United States." Williams said that ADV deal with one Japanese company
that insisted that a series be shown uncut on U.S. television by a deadline,
but the show was too extreme to meet any broadcast standards. He discreetly
didn't identify the show or the company.
Inoue
said there are plenty of shows - 70 weekly titles and 4000 episodes a year
- but the 3000 workers who create the shows are so pressed for time that
there's little time to develop original stories, so they use manga stories.
"The manga industry is a wonderful source of ideas and material," said
Inoue. "For the moment we're not worried about running out of material,
but in five years you worry if there will be enough material to continue
the pace of production." More sales equals more series and more work for
animators, and Inoue encouraged American fans to keep buying those series
and keep the industry going.
