It’s the sales of the DVD/BD, stupid, and with the way “consumer” works now for 90% of the shows (download HD raws, fansubs and BD rips, then buy butt loads of merchandise and figures) then no – it’s not going to change, because the money is going to the merchandise, and that’s where the focus would be, capitalism at its best. Doesn’t take a genius or an insider to point this out.

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Reno Yanuar, Brandi Gonzales, Ritsu Tainaka, Konata Izumi, Project Haruhi and others. Project Haruhi said: NEW POST: Is Anime Doomed? http://ritsu.me/9GySYA [...]

I do find myself downloading/buying older series. There’s also less shows for children, but that was predicted by Newtype years ago. People are growing more interested in other media forms and there’s more penalty for risk with the economy.

[...] here to read the rest: Is Anime Doomed? « Project Haruhi No [...]

Anime is like any consumer product and you have to put it in the consumer’s face to make money

K-ON! is a example of anime merchandising done right and you can see the care Kyoani takes in not killing the market ability of the series

K-ON! isn’t a endless looped plot line as suggested, it’s actually a series that most people can relate to and enjoy without endless pantsu and bewb shots which itself limits market ability

I think they are pessimists =.=;
Anime is not doomed, its more its losing its uniqueness as ideas and story plots get exhausted by years and years of recycling plot structure.

It doesn’t have a plot, period.

Nice post, Shami. The amount of K-on merchandise out there just boggles the mind. I don’t think this type of market saturation is going to last at all. There has to be a crest to the hill, perhaps we are already on it and tipping down the other side…

Nice post, Shami. The amount of K-on merchandise out there just boggles the mind. I don’t think this type of market saturation is going to last at all. There has to be a crest to the hill, perhaps we are already on it and tipping down the other side…

Well i didn’t see anime get doomed in the years of constant monster of the week anime eg sailor moon, nor the years of harem anime, eg Tenchi Muyo or even sabre marionette

Series like Cowboy Bebop are by their own quality rare. Other series like Lain lose viewers from too much required thinking. Sure its great but lets be real about it, the audience for a series like that is small. The difference between the two is the stupid proof and easily understood plotlines in Bebop. Sure those who look deeper at Bebop, see it references more ideas and depth but just understanding the surface is sufficient to attract the general viewer.

Anime is on a decline but that is because it is much like any labour intensive sector in a developed economy. It just gets too expensive.

The thing you understand about people when you look at anime over the years is that people get sick of something when there is too much of it. Then someone comes along with a new idea and everyone follows, then everyone gets sick again and again things change (heck we could loop back to the older anime types we were sick of earlier)

*sigh* Wouldn’t we all want to see a plethora of new anime which has the integrity, quality and sophistication of the likes of Clannad, Cowboy Bebop & Lain to name but-a-few and less of the smut and dross similar to the likes of Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan (in my opinion the WORST anime to grace my eyes thus far!).

I’m not a fan of fan service, so to me it’s just “service” >.>, but it has (with it’s Moe cousin) spread like a plague throughout the industry; even to shows that have a decent premise and story (TMHS & Chobits springs to mind although i’m willing to make exceptions). Much like 3D Cinema it’s the “in thing” at the moment. Hell. . . 3D first came out in the 50′s if i’m correct and has had countless revivals since.

Moe is 3D, people will get tired of it forcing the industry to bend to the demand much like it’s bending to the demand for more moe and f-service now. Although saying that, the lighthearted appeal of moanime has it’s place. Shows such as Lucky Star & K-ON I enjoy watching, especially after a hard days work to wind down ^^

As for the merch I have no clue how bad as it’s not my domain =/ although. . . those sweat pants O.O jk.

Each episode seems to be independant, mostly, from the rest. More akin to western animation like Dexter’s Lab, Spongebob, Courage the Cowardly Dog etc. It’s main overarching plot has become the Slice O’ Life story line; essentially another Lucky Star but less random. At least that’s the impression I got from the second season.

I really think all this paranoia about the end of anime is pointless, moe isn’t going to kill the industry it’s just a fad. K-ON! managed to do something that garnered a lot of attention, KyoAni knew how to market that effectively enough and now the HTT girls print money. Obviously other people in the industry took notice and are trying to recapture that by producing other character-driven shows. Yeah it’s a shame that plot has more or less taken a backseat in a lot of anime series these days but that doesn’t make them all bad; personally I really enjoy K-ON! and Strike Witches and a couple other plotless shows, are they my favorites? No, and far from it, but I still enjoy tuning in every week to see what’s happening with the characters I love. If every series out there today was as structurally lacking story wise as nearly any given 4-panel then I’d be concerned as well, but as long as we still have good things being produced that manage to have good stories as well as engaging characters – like Angel Beats or Bakemonogatari for example, the latter of which’s DVD sales toppled K-ON!’s which is a good sign in terms of slowing down the moe – then anime isn’t going to die.

I’d give it at the very most a couple more years before everyone is sick of all the cute – from what it looks like a decent number of people are already getting behind this idea, including big name creators and writers as this and many articles around the net are saying – and something big with a complex story is gonna come out and end the moe craze.

As a semi serious musician with friends who were and still are serious musicians. The last episodes of K-ON!! have left me with the feeling I had at the end of last season, they’ll do anything except practice.Natural talent aside….Practice makes perfect. They’ve had trouble practicing since the middle of season one and now in Season 2 not only do they not practice but any attempt to coerce them into doing so is ignored Mio’s tried Azusa’s tried all in vain.Now its getting real close to the festival, lo and behold the music room is off limits (Eps17) a valiant effort is made to practice on campus but it doesn’t work.So Ritsu gets them a session in a recording studio… Do they practice??? … Tsumugi makes tea, the operator comes in and informs them no food or drink in the studio… so out they go to have tea and what not… They return to the studio in time to pick up their instruments and what do you know. Session over.. end of game.Endless loop of trying to but never practicing in earnest. it’s leaving me a little dishearten.

I disagree fluff and moe have already canceled several good anime series from continuing. Serious Sci-Fi hasn’t been produced in almost 10 years… Why??? Seriousness isn’t fluffy or Moe, trying to insert characters that meet that criteria into the series and it fails… So while we keep supporting this style I can see a future time where serious meaningful anime will not have any future… Unless it’s fluffy and Moe driven… Gad I hope I’m so wrong about all of that .. Cause that will be the day Anime Dies…

I am sorry if my votes for K-On!, Strike Witches, Angel Beats!, and related shows is contributing to the eventual demise of Anime. But when “serious anime” with “meaningful character development” can only be voted through DVDs, there is no way to compete with the moe/fan services series as fans can vote through countless type of merchandies, all of which gives a higher monentary return to the companies/creators that own the contents.

Well, I have to say this: I agree with Shamisen. However, I also agree that this goes in waves. There are high points and low points. (I'll let you decide on which one this is.)

Right now, anime is going through a slice of life phase. To make it perfectly clear: I hate slice of life shows. I like almost anything BUT slice of life shows. So, I have gone into a little hibernation when it comes to anime. But I know a time will come when I can find a show I really want to watch. I just have to wait until another Cowboy Bebop, Big O, Crest of the Stars (yes, I've seen it and it is AMAZING), Gundam (a GOOD Gundam series), etc comes out.

Alas, for now, I must crawl back into my hole… back to my games.

I think the moe craze is almost burned out. The question is, what will the next big thing be? Predictions, anyone?

Oh, and from what I've heard, Gundam Unicorn is supposed to be REALLY good. ^_^

[...] moe be the death of anime? Last week, Dai Sato claimed that anime will disappear within the next thirty years, due to a lack of creativity in the [...]

What was Dai Sato talking about? Anime has ALWAYS been about selling. It’s not this romanticized view that anime fans have that it’s meant to be an artistic piece, with a few exceptions. This guy’s just mad that his anime don’t sell well. Well, when your anime are meh like Ergo Proxy, that tends to happen.

[...] both in Japan itself and abroad. The question is, does this lull spell the doom of anime as some have predicted? Or is it just a temporary setback for an industry that's too mighty to perish? Well, to answer [...]