Ask John: Why do American Anime Companies Only Search for Adult Titles?

Question:
When I say “adult” I don’t necessarily mean hentai anime. Pioneer gave us “Catnapped,” and recently Tokyopop gave us “Spring and Chaos,” but that’s about it. Why don’t companies like CPM, ADV and Manga ever acquire any “family-friendly” anime? I don’t mean shows that have already aired on TV, I mean original direct-to-video acquisitions. I know that it’s usually about the hardcore anime fan community, but would it kill the fans to watch a little Hello Kitty every once in a while?

Answer:
As you’ve already mentioned, a major factor in determining what anime gets brought to America is the target audience for anime. Domestic translating companies often choose their titles based on their perceived consumer market. For example, you wouldn’t expect to see Geneon or Viz release hardcore pornographic anime, nor would you expect to see Urban Vision releasing shoujo because these companies have a comfortable niche that they reside within. While most anime companies are staffed by fans of the genre who want to encourage the growth and expansion of anime, all anime releases are distributed with the hopes of earning a profit. So the most intelligent licensing strategy for distributors is to distribute shows that have an established audience, or which are likely to appeal to consumers. “Adult oriented” anime for hardcore fans is generally a safer investment because distributors know, with relative certainty, that these types of shows appeal to an established consumer market.

The most profitable anime in America are those that air on television. Programs like Dragonball, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Cowboy Bebop, Gundam, and Rurouni Kenshin have become tremendously successful in America because their television exposure has brought them to the attention of American consumers. But many of the family friendly anime brought to America for television broadcast, including Mushrambo, Moncolle Knight, Groove Adventure Rave, Ojamajo Doremi, Detective Conan, and Tokyo Mew Mew, have not become breakout hits while more mature and fan oriented shows like The Big O, Fullmetal Alchemist, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Naruto have become very successful. Simply looking closely at market conditions in America reveals that there’s just not much support for family oriented anime among American consumers.

American home video releases of childlike or family friendly anime including Monster Farmer, Power Stone, Ganbare! Goemon, Hello Kitty, Tenshi ni Narumon, and Risky Safety consistently under perform. Anime series targeted at teen and young adult anime fans, including Trigun, Hellsing, Berserk, Ghost in the Shell, Love Hina, Samurai Champloo, Evangelion, and countless other similar programs consistently sell well in America because these are the types of programs that American consumers are most interested in paying to watch. So domestic distributors naturally want to profit by filling demand.

As long as there’s an American anime fan community that includes consumers who are interested in variety, and as long as America’s anime industry remains staffed largely by fans, we’ll continue to see a trickle of family friendly titles released in America. And the precedent established by the breakout success of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh means that domestic distributors will always be interested in trying to recreate that breakthrough mainstream success. But based on market conditions in America, licensing and releasing anime that falls within a narrow thematic style is less risky and more profitable for American distributors than releasing family friendly fare.

Article revised February 2, 2006.