Anime and Manga On A Downturn?
Sunday August 3, 2008
As the demand for anime and manga increases here in the West, the question becomes are we sacrificing quality in order to satisfy quantity?
In her article at IGN - The Fall of Manga and Anime - Jessica Chobot addresses this very question.
Citing the recent low profile of the various anime and manga companies (i.e., TokyoPop, Geneon, ADV) and the concurrent clamoring of non-anime companies deciding to jump on the anime bandwagon (Harlequin Pink), the result she says is an industry where "everyone gets a little bit of something but none of it is very good."
Which raises an interesting point: while no one can deny that anime and manga's popularity has grown, it is worth considering whether or not that demand is being adequately met from the perspective of the fans. As a die-hard DBZ fan myself, I have to say I've been a little disenchanted with some of the anime that's been released as of late. Granted, a number of the new shows are really good but they're also really short. I found Black Blood Brothers for example, to be highly entertaining but its only 12 episodes in total, way less than even one saga of my favorite Dragon Ball Z (291) or some of the other classics such as Yu Yu Hakusho (112), Card Captor Sakura (70) and Magic Knight Rayearth (49).
Of course, not all the classics were long enough to be sagas and no, I don't expect every new anime that hits the shelves to stretch the story out just for the sake of having more eps. But it is nice when the series is long enough that you have time to sink your teeth into it and get vested in the characters' well-being before the show is over.
Add to this the attempts by big-name box offices to cash in on the anime craze with low-budget live-action spin offs and I can see where Chobot is coming from. I won't name names here but you and I both know that Hollywood has made a very obvious decision to revisit any and all comic and cartoon characters, American, Japanese and otherwise, as an alternative to creating something brand new. This isn't the rule of course, but it is a very definite trend.
And this in itself wouldn't be so bad if the movies were created with the same blood, sweat and tears that used to go into the animes themselves. Which brings us back to Chobot's question: is the anime of today just a watered down version of what we use to have?
I won't say that I'm not enjoying the new releases because for the most part, I am but I do agree with Chobot that the anime industry itself is changing and as the players continue in their race for a bigger piece of the pie, we're likely to see quite a few more of the less-than-stellar titles hit the shelves before - as always happens when a passion turns into a craze - it finally blows up.
And perhaps then, the dust will settle and we can all start really enjoying our anime again :)
Now its your turn:
What do you think - is anime and manga headed for a fall?
In her article at IGN - The Fall of Manga and Anime - Jessica Chobot addresses this very question.
Citing the recent low profile of the various anime and manga companies (i.e., TokyoPop, Geneon, ADV) and the concurrent clamoring of non-anime companies deciding to jump on the anime bandwagon (Harlequin Pink), the result she says is an industry where "everyone gets a little bit of something but none of it is very good."
Which raises an interesting point: while no one can deny that anime and manga's popularity has grown, it is worth considering whether or not that demand is being adequately met from the perspective of the fans. As a die-hard DBZ fan myself, I have to say I've been a little disenchanted with some of the anime that's been released as of late. Granted, a number of the new shows are really good but they're also really short. I found Black Blood Brothers for example, to be highly entertaining but its only 12 episodes in total, way less than even one saga of my favorite Dragon Ball Z (291) or some of the other classics such as Yu Yu Hakusho (112), Card Captor Sakura (70) and Magic Knight Rayearth (49).
Of course, not all the classics were long enough to be sagas and no, I don't expect every new anime that hits the shelves to stretch the story out just for the sake of having more eps. But it is nice when the series is long enough that you have time to sink your teeth into it and get vested in the characters' well-being before the show is over.
Add to this the attempts by big-name box offices to cash in on the anime craze with low-budget live-action spin offs and I can see where Chobot is coming from. I won't name names here but you and I both know that Hollywood has made a very obvious decision to revisit any and all comic and cartoon characters, American, Japanese and otherwise, as an alternative to creating something brand new. This isn't the rule of course, but it is a very definite trend.
And this in itself wouldn't be so bad if the movies were created with the same blood, sweat and tears that used to go into the animes themselves. Which brings us back to Chobot's question: is the anime of today just a watered down version of what we use to have?
I won't say that I'm not enjoying the new releases because for the most part, I am but I do agree with Chobot that the anime industry itself is changing and as the players continue in their race for a bigger piece of the pie, we're likely to see quite a few more of the less-than-stellar titles hit the shelves before - as always happens when a passion turns into a craze - it finally blows up.
And perhaps then, the dust will settle and we can all start really enjoying our anime again :)
Now its your turn:
What do you think - is anime and manga headed for a fall?
Comments
Yes I think its on a downturn, Alot of stuff doesnt really capture my attention. I would have liked to more quality anime, alot of the stories are good but the acting is bad, like what they call a “B” movie. I would have liked to seen a series to Akira liken to the Manga series.
yea its not capturing my attention they should slow down on makeing them get more mind capturing ideas in there
some anime are so short that they leave wanting more, but don’t have it. I fell
in love with Yami no Matsuei. I watched 13 episodes and couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Then someone told me there
are only 13 episodes. It didn’t end with a definite ending.
I think that anime will stay on a high level in the fan community. It is like love it or hate it.
well… the series has been cut short but i guess that’s the trend today… not even in manga or anime but also in most television series nowadays…
but anyway i still love anime!