Could anime ever become mainstream?
back in 2013 I posed this question in a video Inspired by the overwhelming reach of shows like Attack on Titan
that had never quite been achieved before,
along with other key events like the unexpected revival of Toonami
and the success of The Little Witch Academia 2 Kickstarter campaign that signalled a possible change for the Industry
Within just these four years since then a lot has happened
Anime has seen unprecedented growth and recent events have come to light that I feel makes this question more relevant than ever
the medium has never been so close to mainstream as it is now so I thought it'd be the perfect time to revive this discussion,
and explore just exactly what has changed in just a few short years
Where the Industry is now and where it could possibly go in the future
Because, in my opinion that question has never been so exciting
Could anime actually be becoming mainstream?
Now, I know four Years Didn't Seem like too long time to re-evaluate this discussion, so to get an idea of just exactly how much has changed,
for those of you that don't remember, let me paint the picture of what it was like back then
The Year is 2013
The eighth console generation had just started, Harlem Shake fever was taking over the internet and streaming services were just starting to pick up steam
Crunchyroll were leading the pack in a big way but along with them we saw sites like
Daisuki, Animax, and Viewster trying to get their foot into the market to varying success
See, before this the only real ways to consume media
Legally, came from waiting however many months or years it'd take for a show to get released on physical media
Which hardly anyone did. There was a gap, and the streaming industry was more than happy to fill this gap, being just on the cusp
of booming as a whole. but we didn't know that at the time, it was a widely agreed sentiment that If anime were to ever
have the chance of bleeding into the mainstream, a television presence would have to play a big part in it
As stupid and outdated as that thought is now. But that was the climate's only four years ago
Mainstream hits were unheard of with a big three carrying the majority of that weight for years even with big hits within the community like
Madoka, Steins;Gate and Fate/Zero
Nothing looked even close to touching the popularity they had gained before, but with two of them coming to an end it was this period
Where Sword Art Online and Attack on Titan made their presence known in a way nobody saw coming
Having shows get close to the level of popularity that Naruto and One Piece held was unheard of,
but managing to do that with a concise and easily digestible 25 episode package
just made them so much more accessible to larger audiences
Before this the whole seasonal anime culture was just starting to take shape
and i'd argue that it was these two shows, coupled with that ease of accessibility through streaming services
that had a few good years to put their foot on the ground, that got the ball rolling overall
Streaming, as it seems, was the way forward
There is no question how big a part streaming has played within these past few years for anime
if the boom in the early 2000s was due to the internet's giving increased accessibility
Leading to the rise of fansubs and torrents this era of streaming and simulcasting is where that accessibility reached critical mass
The one to most obviously benefit from this was of course, Crunchyroll
especially when you consider just how massive they've become at this point
and in turn how rapidly they have ascended to the forefront of online anime distribution
to think that back in mid 2012 when Sword Art Online started airing,
Crunchyroll had less than a hundred thousand paid subscribers
and since then they've experienced exponential growth every single year
Doubling to hit 200k by March 2013, Doubling Again to hit 400k by November 2014
Jumping to 700k by October 2015, and managing to hit a full million by February of this year
That's a tenfold increase in less than five years, which is an astounding progress as far as raw numbers are concerned
Every other competitor always seems to be just a step or two behind them and it's only
just recently with the intervention of multi billion mega corporations that we've actually seen some competiton
One of them of course being Netflix
Now, netflix saw Its own massive growth these past few years but instead of being in the Anime sphere,
it pioneered the way the populace consume media shifting us over from TV to online on-Demand streaming
Remember that outdated mentality that anime had no chance of being mainstream without television?
Well without Netflix leading that charge in streaming It still would be that way, which is why the company taking an active interest in
Anime may be one of the best things to happen to the industry
Maybe. We'll get back to that.
Having mainstream megahits: Sao, Attack on Titan, One Punch Man, all available on netflix
only increased their spread, and it had people like Bill Burr tweeting about how he watched One Punch Man on that platform
But i'd be hard-pressed to assess the impact of streaming services for anime without acknowledging the other side of the spectrum:
Illegal sites. in the wake of the rise of internet streaming the once go-to Way
to pirate anime through fansubs and torrents has drastically reduced in popularity
in its place took the staggering growth in traffic for illegal streaming sites
Currently, the top illegal anime streaming site, which I respectfully won't name, but we all know what it is
has an Alexa global rank of 287 with around double the traffic that Crunchyroll gets
Granted Crunchyroll is more focused in the US but to put things into perspective,
It ranks higher than the likes of IGN, GameFAQs and Hulu
That's right, the biggest illegal streaming service for anime gets more traffic than two of the highest ranked of video game media outlets
and one of the biggest streaming services in america and that is just one site
whatever your opinion on illegal services is a topic for another video
but it's hard to deny the reach that streaming has given anime over these past few years
And that's not even all that's been happening. One thing that's really caught my attention
recently Is the opportunity to experience anime more commonly in a place that I never really could before
Aside from big franchise films it was rare for anime films to ever get screened anywhere
and while screenings were slowly popping up here and there the demand exploded last year with the release of Your Name
This film took the anime world by storm obliterating every kind of record in its path eventually overthrowing Spirited Away as the highest grossing anime film,
And becoming the seventh highest grossing traditionally animated film of All Time
Beating out the likes of Disney classics like Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame
Within our community the buzz for it could not be higher, calling for one of the widest screenings i've seen here
in the west for a non franchise film, and in asia It was topping box offices left, right, and center
You couldn't jump in a London underground during that time without passing a good five Your Name posters before reaching your destination
And I hope what this really marks is the increased presence anime could have in theaters in the future
now there are more screenings than ever before If you live in populated areas
and even this is something I could never imagine just a few years ago and I hope
it's just a sign of things to come, but in the world of film, that's not all that's happening for anime
As it seems like Hollywood could also be taking interest. If you look at the comic book industry,
one thing that's catapulted comics into mainstream success is the current obsession Hollywood has with comic book films
and recently it seems like some of that attention has turned to anime with the continual announcements of,
love them or hate them
Live-Action Adaptations. Naruto, Cowboy Bebop,
Sword Art Online, even fucking One Piece, all these shows have western adaptations in the work whether you think it's a good idea or not
and this is ignoring Ghost In The Shell which came out earlier this year
It's a far cry from getting an Mcu mega hits just yet or even getting a single decent adaptation,
But surely one of these days Hollywood will learn how to do an anime adaptation done right
Don't quote me on that
Looking at things like Netflix's upcoming live-action Death Note
It may seem weird to have a foreign take on a Japanese IP, but this mix of culture could be something we'll be seeing more of in anime itself
Because more and more anime is becoming a Global Industry
Back in the day we could only speculate how much of an impact we had overseas
or how much shows like Cowboy Bebop were really made with an international market in mind
with It being a seemingly impossible idea that the west could ever be able to collaborate with japanese companies
Beyond big-budget high-profile projects such as The Animatrix
then on January 4th 2014 a certain show premiered in a fashion that nobody could have expected
The successful revival of Toonami was not only unexpected for the reignited interest of a dead timeslot,
But the premiere of Space Dandy on it set a landmark that had never been achieved before not only was it being broadcasted with a dub
Simultaneously to it's japanese release but the official premiere of the show was broadcasted in America before It was in Japan
This was unheard of, in a time when you'd usually have to wait almost a year to hear the dub release,
here was a show that premiered in the west before it did in Japan in a Foreign language no less
And while the show itself didn't leave a massive mark in the community that year
it was a small sign that Japanese companies were willing and interested to collaborate with outside markets
Fast-Forward to today and we now not only have concrete data of this but we're at a point where we can say that foreign companies
have an active involvement in the anime making process. The Canipa Effect has done a great
in-depth breakdown of just how global the medium of anime has become not only for companies involved
but also for individual staff members who work on anime
the days of anime being exclusively produced domestically in Japan,
only to be licensed and distributed down the line to other countries are slowly coming to a close
It's no secret that a lot of animation is outsourced to other asian countries like korea and China,
and with heavy international involvement of recent productions coming to fruition on top of that,
it's clear that the global market for our beloved medium is booming
More and more we are seeing the gap closing between the Japanese and International industry
You have foreign animators given key positions in anime productions
Crunchyroll went from simply licensing anime to now becoming a part of the production committee to fund anime
Finally bearing fruit with the release of Masamune-kun's Revenge and Kemono Friends this year
Creator of The Boondocks LeSean Thomas has also led the charge with shows of truly international collaborations
Firstly would be Canon Busters which was animated by studio Satellite and more recently with Children of Ether,
The world's first Crunchyroll original anime, That Includes key star from big names who have worked in some massive titles
And animated by a studio with ties in both Japan and France
On top of this let's not forget that one sensation that blew through the internet's last year
Yes i'm sure Shelter is still very fresh in our memories
With it just coming out under a year ago, while also being the sole cause of death to an r/anime mod every time it's mentioned
Though Shelter was just a six minute animated Music video, it represented a lot more
Being the passion project of Porter Robinson, who, with help of Crunchyroll and A-1 pictures turned his vision into a reality
He showed us with the right amount of passion, funding, determination and connections,
A simple fan of anime could make their own anime
the unreachable dream many of us thought would be impossible had happened
Which leads us to the industry today
2017 seems to be the time when all these events have come together into overdrive,
and I get the feeling we could be on the cusp of something big
We've gotten to the point where the industry has garnered the attention of multinational media titans who are investing heavily in it
Amazon launched Anime Strike which while just a joke for a lot of the community when it first launched,
has continually acquired many of the best shows every season, to the dismay of many fans
Sony has acquired majority stakes in Funimation in a move that has left fans excited but cautious at the same time
And netflix most of all, seems to be interested in heavily investing in anime
after announcing that surprisingly 90% of anime viewed on that platform comes from outside Japan,
They announced ten new original anime series
Including Masaaki Yuasa Devil Man, a full series for Cannon Busters, Baki The Grappler, Saint Seiya,
Along with The Godzilla movies that were announced earlier this year and many more
This goes on top of the Death Note live-action movie, Blame, and Castlevania earlier this year,
a series which even though has no japanese involvement in its production at all,
was obviously anime inspired and marketed heavily towards the anime audience
being the Juggernaut of media streaming online,
Netflix having a significant interest in anime has already led to some great opportunities for the medium
and while I still have major problems with their policy on licensing and simulcasting,
if anime were to properly become mainstream in the future, I believe Netflix will have a major part to play
Would I be remiss if i talked about the influence of the international industry without mentioning...
China
Yes in terms of outside investment China has been the fastest growing market and possibly has the biggest audience outside of Japan
The chinese anime focus video sharing site Bili Bili actually draws in more traffic than any other anime related site on the internet, even the illegal ones
Hell even I have a significant following on Bili Bili with some videos that rival my views on YouTube
Which as an aside, hi Bili Bili I'm not gonna embarrass myself by trying to speak chinese, but thank you for all your support
谢谢(Thank you)
Fuck, i shouldn't have done that
This is more fruit with shows like Bloodivores and The King's Avatar just adding more fuel to this clusterfuck of a fire of what is and isn't anime
And whether we should even care about this discussion as we pave the way in the future for more international collaborations
Let's not forget that some of the major anime announcements this year weren't saved for Comiket or any other japanese convention,
But for Anime Expo and Japan Expo an American, and French convention respectively
The debate isn't if anime will become a global phenomenon or not anymore It already is
The real question is how far it will go, because the international growth of the industry within the past few years,
has been something we could have never imagined
Ten years ago if I walked on the street and asked a random passerby if they knew what anime was,
Chances are they'd have no idea what I was talking about, but today even if they'd never have seen anime in their life,
it's more likely that they would have heard the term. It's slowly seeping into the attention of mainstream pop culture
especially for more younger audiences who spend more time on social media Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram
We've all seen the memes and gifs that have started to float around,
not to mention these little tidbits that have spread into mainstream media and bigger YouTube channels
It almost feels like we're out where the gaming industry was a few years ago:
a niche nerd culture once looked down upon, slowly becoming accepted and slowly seeping into mainstream attention
With multi-billion mega-corporations stepping in to see if they can get a piece of that pie
The ball is rolling and there is a lot of momentum so what could this really mean?
Well, what I mentioned four years ago with more money equalling more shows is already happening
As aside from what netflix announced the sheer number of anime coming out today is around double that of in 2007
And in 2015 around 35 percent of anime's revenue came from overseas markets
But aside from this something else I find interesting is what anime could come to represent
with more and more international collaborations and multinational Staff members working on anime coming about,
we may get to the point where this debate in what counts as anime and what doesn't
becomes moot as the only ones who actually cared about this debate originally was our community outside of Japan
The word anime and this whole perceived aesthetic may become more akin to a marketing tool,
because with the rise of 3d animation in Hollywood, investing in a 2d animation that can be marketed
towards The anime audience seems like a profitable venture for that route, in fact, Netflix's Castlevania is this exact concept
Our community has been shouting for years about how diverse a storytelling medium anime is for 2d animation
So I wouldn't be surprised if this typical anime aesthetic was used as a way to get projects greenlit,
for animations that might not have seen the light of day otherwise,
simply because our community is a proven profitable market for 2d animation
Like Castlevania, the influence of anime could be seen in animated shows globally,
and you also have many new animators taking inspiration from anime
So I wouldn't be surprised if the whole anime aesthetic at the very least finds it's roots in a lot of international animation
This is all just speculation on my part because, after all this i'd like to end it on a personal anecdote
it's been over 10 years since I started making anime videos on YouTube,
and over 15 since I became an anime fan I was one of the first in the YouTube anime community, and probably the only one that's still around
and the growth of the industry, and the audience behind it it's not only something that i've seen, but something that i've felt
Five years ago I was at the top of the anime YouTube viewership with a whopping
12,000 subscribers
And today we have several people with well over a million
When I started it wasn't even a thought that I could ever make money from this,
let alone become a full-time job, and now i'm in a community full of people who are able to do this,
and it has never been so exciting. You have companies whom we grew up fans of actively working with us,
our peers collaborating with voice actors we admired, the anime man getting to interview the author of Konosuba and Spice and Wolf,
and team Four Star going beyond parody dubs to actually being able to dub officially-licensed anime
Many of my peers are getting opportunities I'm sure we can only have dreamed of when we started
And this would have never been possible without the increased audience and the passion behind anime
So here we are back at the question I posed all those years ago: Could anime become Mainstream?
Well the industry still has a ways to go, many things could still go wrong and a few things certainly have to change within the industry before it does
There's no way that the Industry is sustainable right now with the common knowledge of how overworked and underpaid animators are
Some even passing away due to overwork. one way or another, the industry will have to reform and with the amounts being invested into it,
there's always a chance that the bubble will burst causing the industry to crash
All equally so the inclusion of mega-corporations getting greedy could cause the current growth and interest in anime to halt,
and we might never see the same momentum we are now
nothing is set quite in stone yet but no matter how you look at it the tides are changing, and whether you like it or not,
anime has never been as popular or as close to mainstream as It is now. for better or worse a lot is happening,
But if i could today take you on this journey on all the exciting things that have happened for anime in the last four years
Since I first posed that question come the next four or five years, who knows where we could be?
Hey guys hope you enjoyed that video, thank you very much this month to
Jared Cattel, Gigguk again
Vincent Mooney, Laioken and everyone else on Patreon for helping to support for me for this month and making this video possible
Which speaking of which hopefully this video will be up while i'm at Crunchyroll Expo or when i'm just back from it
anyway that's it for me, no big announcements today, but if you did like this video you can consider supporting me on Patreon by clicking on the button below
But aside from that that's it from me i've been Gigguk and i'll see you all next time