The Wrong Problem

[http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/2562076344_e53da3499e_m.jpg|160x240px|Otaku and the pretty maid, Akihabara, Tokyo by isa_adsr on Flickr]

Roland Kelts, author of Animerica, recently posted a somewhat alarmist article called " 'Cool Japan' is no longer enough." His contention: Japanese creators don't market themselves well enough as brands to anime/manga fans, and now "it may be too late" (his words), because the anime market is shrinking. In other words, he's implying that the anime/manga market is shrinking because Shogakukan and Shueisha don't market their names to American fans.

I find this argument, erm, suspect. Somehow, Kelts suggests, if the average American otaku knew that Detective Conan is published in Weekly Shonen Sunday, which is published by Shogakukan, they'd, erm, buy more manga?

I understand the fundamental brand logic -- if I like something within a given brand, I'm more likely to buy from that brand -- but I don't think that logic applies here.

The anime/manga market is in decline because otaku don't buy the anime/manga they already like.

For example, I'm a big fan of Kyoto Animation's work. When a new KyoAni anime is released, I watch it. Fansubbed. (I do buy the DVDs once they're released, if I watch more than one episode of the show.)

Even if brand awareness would increase otaku consumption, they'd simply pirate more.

The sales of Haruhi and Lucky Star bear this out. These shows generated tremendous buzz and views when they were released as fansubs, then sold poorly on DVD.

How to fix the anime industry? That's a separate blog post. ;-)