“Is Anime Dying?” This is quite an interesting question. And its answer is also rather simple, yet complicated at the same time. And Why I’m saying that I would like to explain it.
Storytelling
Before anything else, in your opinion, what is anime? In my opinion, anime is storytelling but in a different style. To be more precise, it is a super tool that enables a writer to be infinitely creative without restricting themselves with the fear of not being able to visualize their thoughts to the public, which is the core problem with movies.
As the majority of movies stick to the realm of reality, anime enables the writer to be as creative as they can be with their story. This was the major reason why anime became popular in the first place.
As more and more same-theme-based anime are released, it will make it more difficult for anime to persist because people don’t want to hear the same story repeatedly, year after year.
If the anime industry wants to persist in the future, they have to produce more unique, out-of-this-world stories, or they will perish and become a thing of the past.
Let me give you a good example: Bollywood, which used to produce remake, love-based movies repeatedly for many years, with almost the same storyline—one hero, one heroine, and one villain. Sometimes the villain would be rich, sometimes a politician, etc. I think you get it.
But the main point I want to make is that after producing the same junk for many years, during the lockdown, people came in contact with OTT platforms and experienced many good stories written all around the world.
Post-lockdown, Bollywood has been struggling to generate good revenue from their movies.
In the same way, if anime wants to persist, they have to move beyond the overused themes of reincarnation and other same-theme-based anime and take risks with new and unique storylines. Let me know what you think of this point I made. Do you agree with me or not?
Movies
Not movies in general but those movies which are based on superheroes and uses CGI and VFX, etc. Cause these technologies allow the movies to bypass their limitation of transcending reality and make those things real that physically aren’t.
And the rise of superhero movies, especially Marvel, is the prime example of this. And these movies can become rivals of anime. But anime, in my opinion, would have the upper hand in this case cause they are released in seasons based on episodes.
Which makes them express more things in general than movies. But that doesn’t reduce the threat these movies have over the revenue of anime.
Current Popularity of Anime
Global Reach:
It is a well-known fact that anime has seen a significant rise in global popularity over the years. This is all thanks to the availability of Streaming platforms like Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Funimation to many people.
According to pogger.com almost 5.5% of people across the globe are consuming anime and this number is increasing year by year. From this, we can conclude that for the next few years, anime will still exist and will keep on growing.
Diverse Audience:
Many people think that only Otaku watch anime. But let me tell you, Otaku are only a small percentage of those who watch anime. The rest are normal people who enjoy anime for its good storylines.
This audience consists of not only teenagers but also children and adults equally. For those who might be wondering, Otaku are a group of people who exclusively consume anime movies, games, series, etc. They are hardcore anime lovers.
Looking at the statistics and the increasing popularity of anime among a wide variety of people around the globe, I can infer only one conclusion: anime will persist.
History
If we want to talk about the future of Anime we must look into the history of anime which I have covered entirely in one of my Blog. You can check it out if you want to.
But just in case, let me briefly talk about what exactly happened in the past. Many times, the anime industry was on the verge of extinction, but it evolved and today it is a billion-dollar industry.
Be it the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923) or the Second World War, animators were tested again and again, but they took on the challenge, evolved, and kept writing and producing great stories.
This leads to only one conclusion: anime will persist in the future if and only if it continues to evolve after facing challenges time after time.
Rise of Western Animation-
One reason many people talk about is the rise of Western animation, which, in my opinion, is a valid point. The animation industry in Japan has to look out for Western animation, as they will become their rivals if they keep ignoring them.
A majority of the views and revenue for Japanese animation come from America or the West. So, if the storyline and animation are good enough, then why would they prefer shows from other countries over their own?
At the same time, it is to be noted that Western animation is far from being a challenge to the Japanese animation industry due to many reasons, one being the storyline.
The storylines produced in Japan have depth, melodrama, philosophies, advice, or basically, you can say they contain a slice of life. This is lacking in Western writing in general, which gives Japan the upper hand.
Conclusion
With all these talks and points I as a fan and even as a neutral bystander would say that anime will not die anytime soon. Yes, it might evolve into different forms, like you can see more mix of culture in anime to make it appealing to a major population.
Like it is happening in anime for example you can look at Record of Ragnarok, I think it is a perfect example of evolving and making a unique storyline. This anime beautifully utilizes the Gods from various civilizations, puts them in one basket, and serves its global audience.
It has Shiva from Hindu or Indian Civilization at the same time it has Thor and Zeus from Greek Mythology. And like this, I think if the anime industry keeps on evolving slowly and steadily it will persist for centuries to come.
Finally, I would like to know your thoughts on this topic what do you think will anime exist in the future or not?
