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What is Anime: -
The entertainment industry has been seeing yet another global phenomenon for a while now and it is only getting better with time. Anime – the term given to any animation originating from Japan. Anime has been around for a while now. It can be traced back to the early 1900s, but it ramped up in popularity in the 1970s along with a lot of other animated content and it is safe to say that it has dominated the entertainment industry.
Be warned, you will read the word “Anime” A LOT in this blog.
Why is it so popular?
If you ask Anime fans, who are very easy to find nowadays, why they enjoy it, the most common answer you would get is, “it is different”. So, what is so unique and special about Anime?
Tremendous amounts of time go into making an anime. A single 25 to 30-minute episode can contain up to 15,000 drawn pictures. Besides the production time, most Anime explore long-running storylines. All of this gives a unique advantage to Anime to grow with its viewers. If you watched shows like Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, Naruto, Yu-gi-oh or Bleach, then congratulations! You have been in the Anime culture longer than you realize.
With increased accessibility to content via the internet, anime is literally a few clicks away. It has also evolved to accommodate adults, enabling them to relive their childhood through more age-appropriate titles such as Death Note and Attack on Titan. Anime also has a very different approach to storytelling. You can expect to see side characters get as much, if not more, importance and depth as the main characters.
Anime takes a concept and builds a whole universe around it. It has set itself apart from almost every other storytelling medium out there through constant innovation. It also has its own genre system.
While there are way too many genres to go over, here are the most unique ones: -
· Shounen Anime: - These are focused on young boys and their journey of growing up and achieving their goals. This is, by far, the most mainstream Anime genre.
· Shojo Anime: - These are focused on young girls and their journeys to achieve their goals.
· Isekai Anime: - These are particularly interesting as it involves the protagonist getting transported from the normal world to a magic/sci-fi/ adventure land with dragons and other cool stuff.
· Mecha Anime: - Mecha Anime involves the use of robots, usually giant ones, which are the equivalent of tanks and planes in the real world.
· Slice of life Anime: - If you like watching regular people dealing with regular problems without yelling the names of their super moves, this is the genre for you!!
Anime has become wildly popular overseas due to the shrinkage of the population in Japan, which has led to a more export-minded approach to the whole process.
How is an Anime made?
Another big difference that sets apart Anime from most animated shows across the world is that almost all Anime shows are adapted from “Manga”, which is Japanese for comic books. Manga refers to Japanese comics or graphic novels. Most Manga conforms to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art.
Manga is made without color. Following is an overview of how a Manga becomes an Anime.
1. Selection of the Manga: - A studio first must sign a contract with the creator of the Manga. The creator of the Manga is then on-boarded as the scriptwriter for the Anime as well.
2. Storyboard making: - A storyboard is made with supervision from the Manga creator.
3. Colouring: - As the Manga is made without color, that’s what is done next. Characters, objects, clothes, are given specific color palettes.
4. Animation: - The animation process is what takes up most of the time and budget at studios. Anime artists usually go for hand-drawn methods as well as digital tools. Only opting for fully Computer-Generated models in dire cases.
5. Music and voice-over: - To finish up the process, music and voice-over are added. The original Japanese voice acting is done first and English dubbing takes longer to complete.
Considering all the hard work and resources used in producing an Anime, one episode which is typically 25 minutes long, can cost between US$100,000 and US$300,000.
Anime industry: -
According to Wikipedia, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in 2005 valued the domestic Anime market of Japan at 2.4 trillion Yen, which is 24 billion USD, since then it has only increased. According to recent data from Netflix, between October 2019 and September 2020, more than 100-million-member households worldwide had watched at least one Anime title on the platform.
According to a market analysis report done by GVR, the global Anime market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1% from 2020 to 2025 to reach USD 36.26 billion by 2025. We weren’t kidding when we called this a global phenomenon.
Some of the key market players are Bones Inc., Kyoto Animation Co. Ltd., Madhouse Inc., Manglobe Inc., P.A. Works, Inc., Pierrot Co., Ltd., Production I.G, Inc., Studio Ghibli, Inc., Sunrise Inc., Toei Animation Co. Ltd. New names keep emerging to keep up with the ever-growing demand for Anime.
Science SARU is a relatively young studio that has already produced 2 very successful Anime in association with Netflix. These are Japan Sinks 2020 and Devilman Crybaby
Another relatively young studio that has global attention right now is MAPPA Studios. It has released some excellent Anime, including fan favorites like Jujutsu Kaisen, God of Highschool, Kakegurui, and Yuri on Ice. MAPPA made headlines by entering into licensing deals with Netflix. Netflix has already licensed some of MAPPA’s Anime as originals outside Japan. Besides that, MAPPA is halfway through animating the final season of the critically acclaimed series, Attack on Titan.
The current condition of Anime is sparkling. Sadly, the same can’t be said about the hardworking people who go beyond their limits to bring this art form to us. According to the Japanese Animation Creators Association, an animator in Japan earns on average ¥1.1 million per year in their 20s, ¥2.1 million in their 30s, and a liveable but still meager ¥3.5 million (~$31,000) in their 40s and 50s. The poverty line in Japan is ¥2.2 million.
Due to this situation coming to light via social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, there are organizations that have the sole purpose of providing a safety net to the animators and help reduce burn-out. The New Anime Making System Project is a good example. It is an NPO that acquires funding to help animators live a bit more easily.
Conclusion: -
Anime is an art form and a culture with unique properties which allow it to stand the test of time. It is always fresh, and always has something to offer to everyone. Each Anime, whether it’s a tv show or a movie is uniform, but somehow still unique enough to stand out on its own.
As the numbers suggest, the Anime industry is only going to grow. Like any industry, it has its own fair share of issues. But the future is looking SUGOI !!!! for Anime.
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