Quote:
Originally Posted by ultimatemegax
I imagine being told "We're working on something else" over and over again began to get frustrating and as such, they decided to go with a new production committee with Warner Brothers/J.C. Staff. Perhaps KyoAni/TBS/Pony Canyon would be free next year if no more K-On! were to be animated, or perhaps those three have decided on another title that wasn't Little Busters, but Key chose not to wait and hear "we're working on something else" again.
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Well, yeah. I mean, if you want to be a bit cynical, if a company keeps putting you off and putting you off (for something that ostensibly stands to make them money too), it means two things: 1. they have other priorities, and 2. they're not too worried about losing you as a customer (either they don't figure you'll leave, or they don't mind if you do). So from a business negotiation standpoint, it was a perfect time for someone like Warner to come in and make them a good offer.
If you read through the lines of the bits quoted (by Mura) above, it paints a pretty clear picture: back in the day, Key didn't know what it took to make a good anime, so they had to give their trust to the top experts in the business. (Keep in mind that even Toei was one of the most-respected anime studios at that time; they never went "small fry".) And now, having been through that experience many times, sat through all those meetings, and seen first-hand what works and what doesn't, they're now in the position where
they can be the experts and tell others how they want things done. So this is why they feel they no longer need to depend on KyoAni's help (and other studios can handle it), because they have a pretty good idea of what KyoAni would do by now and can apply a little more force from their end to make sure things get done the way they want.
This is all actually good for the industry, because it means that, gradually, KyoAni's techniques for adapting stories get spread to others, and the overall capability of the industry goes up.