The ONtaku is a new arts and culture column that is published on a bi-weekly schedule. The column will feature news and reviews related to anime, manga and video games.
A common question that is asked amongst people with no prior knowledge or exposure to anime: what is it and why is it so popular?
Anime often refers to the Japanese method of animation and the shows or movies that are made using this method. These animated shows are often mistakenly lumped under the same category as cartoons created solely with children in mind, and while this is true of some anime, there are a multitude of different genres that feature subject matter better suited to a mature audience. The potential to showcase heavier themes is what sets anime apart from America’s child-friendly TV programs like Nickelodeon’s Rugrats. From comedy shows like Shokugeki no Souma—which follows the silly, overdramatized adventures of a boy attending a fictional culinary school—to action packed science fiction shows like Fullmetal Alchemist—which tackles social problems such as discrimination, political greed, familial sacrifice, and war—the target market for anime can easily be said to have a great number of audience members spread throughout the globe. This can be attributed to the fact that anime is multi-faceted in nature and boasts a variety of genres and subgenres that appeal to a variety of people, regardless of age, sex, or social status.
On May 27, 2015, Good E-Reader, a multi-media blog, published an article reviewing an interview with Hideaki Anno—the creator of the classic 90s anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion—that was conducted by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti. Thi Chao, the author of the article, wrote that “[Anno] believes the anime industry will begin declining within the next five to twenty years, saying that the ‘death’ of the industry is inevitable. [He] believes the industry needs to become more flexible in creating new environments such as introducing more computer graphics in shows because the way things are currently working, the current business model just won’t be maintainable.”
It is implied here that, alongside a lack of acceptance for technological advancements in the animation process (even though Japan is arguably one of the world’s forerunners in a variety of technological fields), the production companies and subsidiary studios which create animated shows are not seeing an equitable profit for the amount of work that goes into the creation of anime. This could be due to the decline in Japan’s birthrate in coordination with unsustainable wages, the rampant nature of piracy, or an amalgamation of both.
In addition to the eventual dethroning of Japan as the epicenter of the animation industry, Anno reportedly believes that other Asian countries, such as Taiwan, will become the centre of the animation world. He revealed that the continuation of economic success in these other Asian countries would equate to the ability to access better resources for the creation and production of animated shows.
While Hideaki Anno believes that today’s Japanese anime industry is headed for an eventual – if not drawn out—death, the general opinion of the public doesn’t quite seem to agree that this is the end. The anime industry may be changing, but, in an online poll created earlier this year by GoBoiano, 84 percent of those who voted believe that the popularity of anime around the world is on the rise. With the ease of accessing both free and subscription based anime streaming sites increasing, it shouldn’t be too surprising to find that more and more people are tuning into an anime series or two. So while the animation industry is long over-due for a ‘phoenix-esque’ moment of collapse and rebirth, fanatics shouldn’t worry too much over the actual death of anime.