Yuka Hayashi at the Wall Street Journal is reporting about "Anime Workers" in Japan that are Struggling to Stay Afloat in a Declining Industry. We could have some fun with that headline by inserting 'R1 Anime Retailers in America' in place of 'Anime Workers in Japan'. -_^ Hey, we've been toughing out this recession now for going on 2 years while the whole biz in North America has been busy resetting itself to the place it was maybe 7 or 8 years ago (i.e. - a LOT smaller) - and if we want to stay, there is nothing that we can do except ride the wave. Kowabunga.Many of us who have been around in the scene for longer than 3 or 4 years can't help but notice the decline in the quality of Anime productions in recent years. I probably don't need to say more. While there are still good shows coming out of Japan, the creative well seems to be running dry more often than not. In the WSJ article Koji Takeuchi, who is the president of Telecom Animation, says about the state of the anime world:
"The industry has become decadent and fatigued - so many pieces are dark
and oppressive, and the message of hope and fun is no longer there."
Indeed, the magic is certainly harder to find in the newer material. Maybe I'm just getting older. I'll be 40 in January, and I find myself becoming more and more reflective these days, especially as the holidays approach. I look ahead, and I'm having a harder time seeing where the future will be in this, what form it will take, and what our role will/should be. But we'll figure it out, one way or another. :-)
And you know, this is second Anime article I've seen in the WSJ this month -the first being the one by Sarah Needlemen on Nov 3rd who interviewed Adam Sheehan (who is an events manager and producer for Funimation). Hey Adam, why are we ALL losing our hair!?? I think when someone at the Journal starts paying attention to the Anime biz, it's a sign we've probably come full circle...
Posted by a very tired Robert signing off at the end of a 19 hour Cyber Monday...
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