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Originally Posted by Tokkan
Who says I mean it for movies? Movies are more often than not sold internationally with no foreign dubs to speak of, only subtitles.
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I wasn't sure what you meant by "directors". In anime terms it's certainly a much more dubious question, but given that there are countries where anime is quite popular (such as France) in subtitled form, I wouldn't necessarily assume directors (and writers) are automatically assuming no one will watch their work that way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kuromitsu
I think we're talking past each other. Nobody is arguing that the current state of the industry is good. What I'm saying is that relying on foreign audiences won't help; and that the situation is too complex for a "viable alternative" that magically solves the issues, but that in the current state of the industry (and it's not even just anime, manga magazine readership is dropping, individual volumes are getting more expensive), it's no wonder companies aren't trying harder but rather focus on the needs of the consumer groups that they can make a profit off. As I said, I see nothing of long-lasting importance happening unless the industry is willing to do some soul-searching and face the problems on their side.
And in the meanwhile it's not like every anime is the same drivel, every season still has series that aren't the usual "clown car." Even if they don't always do well they're still there.
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But that number is getting smaller every year, I'd argue. And even among the really good series we're seeing less diversity in terms of content.
I agree, certainly, that there are no easy solutions, but I applaud BONES for at least trying a different model. I don't see some kind of soul-searching meeting of the minds in the industry happening, so the only thing that's going to change this situation is when the current economic model no longer works, as far as I'm concerned.
For better or worse, I think that's going to happen and maybe soon. Effectively, the anime industry as it currently stands (apart from the weekend-morning and dinnertime kids and family shows) is almost exclusively producing work for the 30-40K people who buy the Monogotari discs and - separately - to the 15-20K people who buy KuroBas discs. It's like a wild population of an endangered species that's too small to sustain genetic vigour - it's doomed. That tiny group can't sustain the industry forever, but by targeting them exclusively the industry is alienating everyone outside that tiny group. Once in a great while a show like Shingeki comes along that reaches large amounts of people outside those isolated population groups, almost by accident. It can only help, but it doesn't happen often enough to make a real difference.