This
large group of business leaders represented most of the American anime
and manga industry's major players. Representatives from companies such
as ADV Films, Bandai, Funimation, The Right Stuf, TokyoPop and Viz
gathered to discusss the state of the industry. The leaders agreed:
that's a good state for those who are ready to deal with the changing
and competitive $500 million market. Matt Greenfield of ADV Films said
the market continues to grow, and like the rest of the home video
world, it has expanded far beyond the ability of any single fan to buy all
of any company's video releases. Also, those releases appeal to a wider
group of fans, not just the sci-fi releases of the industry's early
days. Female fans are a major factor now, noted a representative from
TokyoPop, who said her company has worked to appeal to men and women
with their translated manga releases. That's a strategy that sounds
just like the way that manga is sold in Japan, and it's a major
difference from what's left of the American comics industry, which has
been aimed for a quarter-century at the shrinking number of superhero
fans. TokyoPop has been the leader in getting manga into mainstream
book stores, and others have been scrambling to catch up; a
representative of the smaller Go Comi noted that companies such as his
are having a harder time reaching an audience. It was mentioned that
only two percent of translated manga releases in the U.S. sell more
than 10,000 copies, but there also was talk of how that was a higher
percentage than the rest of the comics industry.
Shawn
Kleckner (left) of The Right Stuf said that gasoline prices are hitting
anime sales as hard as the rest of the economy. When the fuel prices
went beyond $3 per gallon, that took away the income that some use to
buy anime and manga, and slowed the growth of new customers on which
the industry depends. Ken Iyadomi (right) of Bandai noted that college
students have been that company's target customers, but those students
have to watch their wallets with increasing tuition and housing costs.
Using most colleges' high-speed Internet links, many of those students
have been downloading anime for free, and Iyadomi is concerned. "I
think we need to do more education to show that downloading is
illegal," he said. "Rules and regulations are different between the
countries. There have to be some sort of global standards to protect
the companies. It's getting tougher to recoup the production costs -
the niche is getting tougher."
This
large group of business leaders represented most of the American anime
and manga industry's major players. Representatives from companies such
as ADV Films, Bandai, Funimation, The Right Stuf, TokyoPop and Viz
gathered to discusss the state of the industry. The leaders agreed:
that's a good state for those who are ready to deal with the changing
and competitive $500 million market. Matt Greenfield of ADV Films said
the market continues to grow, and like the rest of the home video
world, it has expanded far beyond the ability of any single fan to buy all
of any company's video releases. Also, those releases appeal to a wider
group of fans, not just the sci-fi releases of the industry's early
days. Female fans are a major factor now, noted a representative from
TokyoPop, who said her company has worked to appeal to men and women
with their translated manga releases. That's a strategy that sounds
just like the way that manga is sold in Japan, and it's a major
difference from what's left of the American comics industry, which has
been aimed for a quarter-century at the shrinking number of superhero
fans. TokyoPop has been the leader in getting manga into mainstream
book stores, and others have been scrambling to catch up; a
representative of the smaller Go Comi noted that companies such as his
are having a harder time reaching an audience. It was mentioned that
only two percent of translated manga releases in the U.S. sell more
than 10,000 copies, but there also was talk of how that was a higher
percentage than the rest of the comics industry.
Shawn
Kleckner (left) of The Right Stuf said that gasoline prices are hitting
anime sales as hard as the rest of the economy. When the fuel prices
went beyond $3 per gallon, that took away the income that some use to
buy anime and manga, and slowed the growth of new customers on which
the industry depends. Ken Iyadomi (right) of Bandai noted that college
students have been that company's target customers, but those students
have to watch their wallets with increasing tuition and housing costs.
Using most colleges' high-speed Internet links, many of those students
have been downloading anime for free, and Iyadomi is concerned. "I
think we need to do more education to show that downloading is
illegal," he said. "Rules and regulations are different between the
countries. There have to be some sort of global standards to protect
the companies. It's getting tougher to recoup the production costs -
the niche is getting tougher."
