Quote:
Originally Posted by relentlessflame
I think some people would like anime to "grow along with them" -- to preserve the things they liked about anime, evolve in ways that build on that foundation, and keep abiding by the same familiar priorities and values that were present in "anime's golden era", whenever that was. And I'm sure that many would offer "objective reasons" why anime would be better off for this. But anime isn't evolving along a linear path (as an individual person might do); it's constantly re-inventing itself with every season. Even if shows build on familiar motifs, themes, or styles, it's always seeking to tap into that new fan just entering the scene and appeal to that segment of the ever-evolving market it feels it can corner. Every single year will be the best anime has ever been to someone. And five/ten/twenty years from now, someone will lament that anime has never been as good as it was in 2011.
I think that if people look hard enough, and are open-minded enough, they will find something to enjoy in every anime season. But it's a wide wide world out there; there's lots more than anime to enjoy. If the anime industry is indeed heading to hell in a handbasket and it's all because they didn't appeal to people like you, then I'll guess you'll have the last laugh... but in the meantime, there's not much we can do other than either accept that it is what it is and decide where to go from there.
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In spite of what you might say or think though, I think there's definite credence to the idea that the anime industry post 2007 has seen a massive recession back to shows that cater strictly to domestic markets and not just domestic, but also even more niche markets as well. Of course these are the people spending the money and so that industry will follow them and make shows that cater to the people who actually buy their products, but some people fell in love with anime in times where anime cared a little more about than just your everyday otaku in the audience, it can be a little jarring to see the bulk of the shows being made to suddenly fall out of one's interests.
I think the anime industry is back on the upswing again in 2011, but for me who has been an anime fan as far as i can remember, I've rarely seen a time like 2008-2010 where the industry was just so afraid to do anything other than tired out formulas and ideas, and they catered specifically to one type of market that was just so, so limited.
It's ok for ideas and things to change in an industry but what I think happened in these years in particular for me was not so much a shift in market to what tastes are getting catered to, but more so the market actually cutting down on who exactly they're catering to. Instead of catering to A, B, C, and D, they were choosing to only go for audience D. I didn't really view this as healthy for the industry personally, so I'm very glad to see in 2011 again shows that are starting to be able to appeal to more than just D.
Sure people can try to find good stuff out there no matter the season, and honestly I personally have seen an expansion of the types of shows I can enjoy over the years because I don't think I could've maintained myself as an anime fan otherwise this last few years, but there's definitely a case to be made about the industry simply receding into smaller markets more so than the markets just shifting over.