[Digikoto]

A few factors that I consider are these:

1.) If I'm not mistaken, Anime consumers are a niche market even in their home country. That said, it goes without saying that the same would be true and even moreso in the states.

2.) Piracy and the 50/11 sites you can view Anime online with have to severely hinder Anime rental revenue as well as DVD purchase. A friend of mine owned an Anime shop here in the DC area and it struggled due to this convention.

3.) There is a double edged sword with Anime in the states. Fans want to be able to purchase Anime at Best Buy Chappelle Show prices. It's not really feasible given the cost of production and localization and the ratio of popularity. So fans won't pay higher prices and thus publishers cannot drop DVDs because they can't recoup their publishing/licensing costs. Catch 22 of the century.

4.) Best Buy alone probably had the buying power of the entire Prefecture of Osaka. Given that fact, they can get highly discounted rates on the Anime they purchase to resell. When they drop the price of Bleach Season 2 box set to $29 here in the near future, they will create a fiercely competitive situation with local Anime retailers in that area. (especially in this economy) As much as I love local mom & pop run establishments... You'd be hard pressed to get me to purchase it for the full $69 when I can go to Best Buy and get it for less than half of that. A local retailer can't afford to go that low.

So, to answer the original question, yes, I think that Anime is dying in a sense in the states. There will always be a loyal fanbase, but many of them aren't willing to spend the money to truly make Anime thrive.

On the other side of the coin, I think more studios need to follow the DBZ/Pokemon formula. Each studio needs to market a specific work to kids that can fit into a "Saturday Morning Cartoon" slot. Something that kids ages 8-13 can really get into. They could then use the loot from that production to invest in the shows that the "hardcore" fans would be more into watching.