15 March 2008, 7:04 AM
It seems to me that despite my earlier lack of clarity in my statements re games, we pretty much agree on a lot of this.
I think that the sort of contraction we could see in the anime industry in North America could end up making it look like the mid-nineties anime industry, though larger. By this, I mean we'll still have the big-name shows like Bleach and Naruto (and whatever replaces them), and the niche shows that western distributors can sell. We'll also have that big gap in the middle between those two of shows that can't sell to the networks or the fans. That's where fansubs will come in again.
The one big difference I can see is the Japanese production houses getting involved in direct distribution to the fans. Gonzo is apparently in negotiations with a well-known fansub distro site to do just this:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/200...video-site
It's a weird time right now, so things need to shake out a bit so that we can see what'll happen.
I think that the sort of contraction we could see in the anime industry in North America could end up making it look like the mid-nineties anime industry, though larger. By this, I mean we'll still have the big-name shows like Bleach and Naruto (and whatever replaces them), and the niche shows that western distributors can sell. We'll also have that big gap in the middle between those two of shows that can't sell to the networks or the fans. That's where fansubs will come in again.
The one big difference I can see is the Japanese production houses getting involved in direct distribution to the fans. Gonzo is apparently in negotiations with a well-known fansub distro site to do just this:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/200...video-site
It's a weird time right now, so things need to shake out a bit so that we can see what'll happen.