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I've come across many forums and fan-sites of various anime. It seems that of
the 300 million people in America, there's a huge market for anime,
specifically in the gaming and streaming industries (as evidenced by the JRPGs
and Hulu/Netflix having specific anime sections).

Why aren't more anime that aren't renewed for second seasons in Japan sent
over to America for investment and continuation?

Note: I understand when an anime is cut off because the Manga is not being
written. At the same time, could the IP of an author not be bought and turned
into an American anime?


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2016-04-29T21:51:43.193
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anime-production anime-history
Why not export to America?


Let's start by constraining the adjectives "many" and "huge" in context. Yes,
there are a lot of fansites out there that feature discussions around anime
and manga, and streaming services are definitely picking more of them up.

However, that does _not_ mean that the market for this is large. To my
knowledge, the streaming anime business is still relatively novel; it wasn't
until around 2009 before Crunchyroll [straightened up and flew
right](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crunchyroll#History), starting to remove
illegal copies of anime off of its site and getting proper licenses for its
content.

(If you want a list of those places, [this will help
you.](https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/q/922/102))

Most other services in the 2000s suffered from similar issues in attaining
legal licenses to distribute content, or from the networks of the consumers
being far too slow to reliably stream. Heck, in 2001 most people still ran a
copy of Windows 2000. In 2008-2009 there was more prevalence of better
networks in key markets, but the chances of them having decent broadband with
which to stream on was still not as high.

Now, we should start talking about the difference in markets between America
and Japan. [There's a **_lot_** more expense that has to go into a series for
foreign distribution](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/4175/102), **and**
there has to be a viable and encouraging market to bring a series over. If a
series receives a cold domestic reception [like
Nichijou](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichijou#Sales_and_reception), the
chances of it being exported are close to nil.

Simply put, it has to be a good investment for all parties involved. If it
isn't, you won't be able to see it translated to your locale anytime soon.


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2016-04-29T23:18:22.493
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It may come to a surprise for you, but the anime you typically watch is not
what is considered mainstream in its country of origin, unless of course you
watch shows made for children and families.

In fact, most of the anime that the international community consumes are what
is called "late night anime." The overall ratings on these TV series are so
low that the average Japanese person is likely never to have seen them. In
other words, they are _very_ niche. To compensate for low rating and
viewership, these types of anime typically make money from Blu-ray, DVD, and
other merchandise sales.

Since viewership is low, the budget for creating anime is pretty low as well.
It's been mentioned by industry insiders that the average budget for a 1-cour,
13 episode series is about [$2 million
USD](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-08-13/anime-insiders-share-
how-much-producing-a-season-costs/.91536).

Low viewership of these anime is the result of a number of factors, the most
prominent one being cultural. If you're not aware of how things works in
Japan, office workers tend be expected to work [12
hour](https://thisjapaneselife.org/2011/03/09/japan-work-ethic/) shifts
[regularly](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/22/japan-long-hours-
work-culture-overwork-paid-holiday-law); students are also assigned large
amounts of work (on top of [any club
commitments](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/06/22/issues/consuming-
school-clubs-worry-foreign-parents/)) and only get holidays and Sundays off.
With all this work, who has time to stay up late to watch late night anime?

You're probably right, surely foreign investments in these productions can
breathe new life into these productions. Unfortunately, the truth is a bit of
a complicated one. As you may or may not be aware, all anime (with exceptions
such as the Noitamina block) are glorified infomercials to promote not only
manga, games, and light novel publishers, but also music production companies
(who do you think profits off of those OP and EDs?), and general product
advertisers such as Pizza Hut, and Lawsons. Product advertisers such as these
don't care about sales, they're trying to sell themselves to you as opposed to
the anime.

Such promotion and advertising deals don't usually pan out when it comes to
international markets. If you recall the Pizza Hut references in Code Geass,
the US versions blurred them out. The exact reason was never explicitly
stated, but seeing that Pizza Hut Japan was such an overbearing sponsor
domestically (as in within Japan), it's possible the negotiations fell through
when Bandai was negotiating with the US entity of Pizza Hut. Despite sharing
the same name and brand, Pizza Hut in Japan and Pizza Hut in the US are
separate and distinct entities with their own ideals on doing business.

On top of that, localization rights to [license a
show](http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115579-Court-Documents-Reveal-
Anime-Licensing-Costs) don't come cheap and often times these don't include a
[mechnical license](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_license) to use
the music. Most of these licensing costs are paid upfront and if a series is
successful enough, royalties must be paid to the original production
committees (which can range from [20 to
30%](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2012-03-07)). This makes things
bit cost prohibitive to just bring whatever over, so localization companies
need to be picky so they can pull off a product or at least pull even.

Without actual products to sell, the profit making possibilities of investing
in new anime are slim. In 2013, the anime industry in Japan brought in over
[$2.03 billion USD](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-01-01/report-
japan-animation-industry-reached-record-high-in-2013/.82767) from Japanese
_and_ international markets combined. In 2014, the Japanese manga industry
made more than [$2.3 billion
USD](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-01-23/japanese-manga-book-
market-rises-to-record-282-billion-yen/.83614) just in Japan. In Japan, the
symbiotic relationship of anime and manga works because of the existing
infrastructure and relationships. However, in the US, everything is
fragmented, making coordination between distributors all the more difficult.

As for the studio, they don't sell the distribution and merchandising rights
of a IP that no longer is in distribution. Why would they? If you do, you're
essentially telling the fans that you're abandoning this product, which could
diminish their respect for the company and its products. Similar things have
happened in the past such as with [Macross and
Robotech](http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/?showtopic=36541). While there were
some good things to come out of such an affair (such as making the US audience
aware of the type of animation known as anime), there were some downsides as
well (Macross can never officially be released in the US as long as Harmony
Gold hold the rights). What's to say the owner of the IP won't reboot the
series later, like they did with _Sailor Moon Crystal_ , _Dragonball Super_ ,
or _Osomatsu-san_? For better or for worse the respective IP owners hold on to
the rights of their respective IPs to preserve the integrity of the series for
for themselves, it's creators, and for the fans. Why sell off something your
people toiled for months and years to make to some strangers oversees to do
with as they like? You don't have a say once you sell off the right to your
IP. Who's to say American companies will respect the visions and idea of the
original creators and fans?

However, not all is grim. There have been talks of joint ventures with
Japanese companies to [invest in anime for the international
market](http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1441465).

> Streaming video distributor Crunchyroll and Japanese trading company
> Sumitomo Corporation announced on Thursday that the two companies are
> establishing a joint venture which will invest in the production of anime
> for the international market.
>
> That joint venture, whose entity name and size of investment have not been
> revealed, will take part in the production committees of anime titles which
> will then be distributed by Crunchyroll.
>
> Sumitomo Corporation is one of Japan's largest general trading companies
> (sougou shousha). Its media division distributes content for cable
> television, terrestrial broadcasters, and cinemas. In recent years, it has
> increased investments in the business of creative content.
>
> In February, Sumitomo partnered with Japanese media company Imagica Robot
> Holdings and the public-private Cool Japan Fund to acquire SDI Media, a
> U.S.-based provider of subtitling, translation, and language dubbing
> services.
>
> According to the press release, Crunchyroll boasts 700,000 paying
> subscribers and more than 10 million monthly viewers. The report notes that
> international distributors such as Daisuki and Crunchyroll, as well as a
> number of Chinese companies, are increasingly taking part in production
> committees.
>
> With the rising cost of licensing content for overseas distribution, content
> providers can ensure that they win distribution rights by investing in
> production instead of competing and paying high license fees. However,
> Anime! Anime! Biz also notes that Crunchyroll's aim is not merely rights
> acquisition.
>
> Crunchyroll co-founder and CEO Kun Gao cites the increasing importance of
> overseas markets in the anime industry. In establishing the joint venture,
> the company aims to connect fans to the production of anime from the time of
> its inception. With the joint venture, Crunchyroll, which is traditionally
> strong in North America and Europe, can also expand its distribution network
> with Sumitomo, which is traditionally strong in Asia.

This is not to say only Crunchyroll is pursuing such a venue.
[Funimation](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2015-07-10/.90197) and
[Netflix](https://www.yahoo.com/tech/netflix-producing-original-anime-
series-224742972.html) are doing the same. How well these new ventures will
turn out is any one's guess. How well will these companies be able to reach
international fans of anime, how well do these companies understand the
current international market of anime and what fans want? Only time will
tell...


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