How can non-Japanese fans encourage continued anime or sequels?


What steps can non-Japanese fans take to support their favorite anime and
encourage the studios to keep making the title (or make a sequel), assuming
that there is more manga or light novel source material available?

I've heard it said that Blu-Rays are highly profitable, but I think it takes
more than just profit to encourage sequels, follow-ups, additional cours,
OVAs, etc.

For example, if I want there to be more Goblin Slayer, KonoSuba, Full Metal
Panic, Log Horizon, etc. what could I buy or who could I write to [ask for
more](https://youtu.be/K4iEdMMjqdA?t=50)?




I am not entirely sure that there is much we can do. One of the largest
deteriminants is likely continued interest in the series, and if japanese
viewership dwindles then the show might be canceled irrespective of what the
western fanbase thinks, because japanese television networks need to satisfy
their sponsors.

However, there are a few things we can try:

## Buying Original Media

First of all, most anime is adapted from a different medium: there are visual
novels such as Clannad and Fate/Stay Night, light novels like Slayers or Sword
Art Online, and perhaps most significantly manga, like Sailor Moon, Dragonball
z or Chobits. If the source material runs dry, the animated series might go
alongside it, so you might want to take an interest in it. However, even an
ongoing series might come to an end if the source material runs dry before the
start of the next season. This is what happened with the original Fruits
Basket anime for instance.

Secondly, if you can, purchasing Original Video Animation releases might help
safeguard against a premature ending at studio whims, since those can allow a
company to operate independently from television stations, and are often used
as a way to continue producing shows that have stopped broadcast, as noted in
[The Anime Encyclopedia 3rd Revised Edition: A century of Japanese
Animation](https://books.google.com/books?id=E03KBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT187&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi08LyXhoPiAhUgJDQIHcKFAQsQ6AEINDAC#v=onepage&q&f=false)
by Jonathan Clements and Helan Mcarthy:

> The anime historian Yoshiharu Tokugi suggests a slight semantic distinction
> between O.A.V. and O.V.A., in the sense that the former is a _new_ work made
> specifically for video, while the latter may also refer to a continuation on
> video of a pre-existing TV show or movie franchise--such spin-offs were also
> known in Japanese in the 1990s as _after-mono_

This will be easier for people who share Blu Ray Region A with Japan, such as
people in North America, since they can purchase blu-ray discs directly from
Japan through importation services such as
[jbox](https://www.jbox.com/category/games-computers/anime), although it
should be noted that anime is more expensive in Japan due to a different
retailing structure.

## Take Surveys

Another is to take customer participation surveys. One of the questions they
often ask is "What your favorite series?". These can be from a checklist, or a
write in option. Writing in the series you want to see most demonstrates
interest that directs what the company decides to license next, and it seems
likely that feedback regarding which type of shows a distributor would like to
publish.

Sometimes these are available online, such as the [Fall 2012 Funimation
Survey](https://www.funimation.com/blog/2012/11/09/please-take-our-
fall-2012-funimation-survey/). Other times you might find them in a postcard
bundled with the physical video. Here are a couple of survey cards from A.D.V.
and Sentai Filmworks.

[![These are customer survey cards that you find packaged with some
videos](https://i.postimg.cc/7PdyD0M0/surveycards.jpg)](https://postimg.cc/c6RzBKzL)

The A.D.V. card came packaged with Noir Volume 5: Rage of Angels (I.S.B.N.
1578132703), and two of the questions on it are "What are your favorite
manga?" and "What are your favorite anime?", and most other such surveys have
similar questions. However, you might not always see such a survey in the
package: My copy of _The Disapearance of Haruhi Suzumya_ from Funimation
didn't come with one for instance, and even if you do get one the exact
questions might vary. The Sentai Filmworks one only asks what you purchased
for instance, and sometimes these are offered in the form of checklists that
list the shows the company offers.

I suppose the reason they are there is to help distributors decide what to
license next, or relicense, and perhaps if a series is known to be in
especially high demand, it might come up during negotiations with the japanese
animation studios and manga publishers. When you see such a survey, it will
usually be like a postcard, with a marked place to put a postage stamp and a
preprinted mailing address on the other side of it.

## Show ongoing interest

Another thing you might try is to watching [licensed
streams](https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/a/923/32564), even if you own
the video in other static format. This allows you to be counted as a viewer
multiple times, and demonstrates a continuing interest in the series. This
adds to the number of people who are known to have watched a series from the
first episode in a season through to the last, which may merit creating
another season, if possible.

Besides having a pecuniary interest in showing their customers more of what
they want, I think much of the unique appeal of this particular profession is
showing the public something worth seeing or sending a message. When Miyazaki
made his adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, he did so with the intention of
sending the public an anti-war message, and naturally trying to send a message
is something you only do in anticipation of somebody receiving it. The wider
the authors perceives the audience they are reaching to be, the more inspired
they will be to create works for them.

Moreover, a series that does not fade from memory is one that is more likely
to get a continuation even after being long dormant. Slayers Try and Slayer
Next come to mind, and Dragonball Super does too.

## An Aside on Merchandising

Merchandising can also play a rather significant role. In [the Global History
of Anime Rightstuf](https://www.rightstufanime.com/anime-resources-global-
history-of-anime) notes that in 2006 the market was oversaturated with anime,
and that while series that had merchandising as an alternative revenue streams
did fine, those that relied on video sales suffered as a result. I vaguely
remember that [Geneon U.S.A. went out of business at around that
time.](https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/11/10/the-fall-of-geneon)

In terms of other merchandising you can purchase, I would probably recommend
buying premium merchandising, since that might engender an impression that you
have deeper and more sincere appreciation for the subject matter than somebody
who buys more cheap stuff on impulse, even if you are spending the same dollar
value. Major majufacturers of figurines such as [Good Smile
Company](https://www.goodsmile.info/en/) and
[kotobukiya](https://www.kotous.com/) make some nice stuff, and [Aniplex
U.S.A.](https://aniplexusa.com/aniplexplus/) also sells premium goods such as
canvas art.

You might also want to take interest in why an artist decided to start a
series in the first place and see if there are any goods related to that.
Touhou isn't quite anime, per se, but it is a closely related niche game
series and Zun actually started the series as a way to start making music. It
isn't unreasonable to suppose that he might value soundtrack sales more than
game sales.

