anime's continued decline

[peterv20]

i'll always be an anime fan.yet i think the popularity of anime has continued to decline here in the u.s.especially among the mainstream.i stiil buy dvds,and there,s less and less titles to choose from.many stores have closed even nearby in little tokyo.how are things in your part of the world?

[seiki]

I find that anime is as popular as it has ever been here.

[Umihito]

I'm in the UK, and I'd say anime has never really been a HUGE thing here to begin with.

In the HMV stores in the city there's only ever about 1 person standing around the anime rack. But that could be because of internet sgopping though so who knows.

I do know about 5 people in my college who are anime fans, and there's probably more I don't know about. But no anime (unless it's Miyazaki's film work) is shown on any TV channels here.

So I'd guess that its on a little bit of a decline.

[RobinMask]

Originally Posted by Umihito

I'm in the UK, and I'd say anime has never really been a HUGE thing here to begin with.

In the HMV stores in the city there's only ever about 1 person standing around the anime rack. But that could be because of internet sgopping though so who knows.

I do know about 5 people in my college who are anime fans, and there's probably more I don't know about. But no anime (unless it's Miyazaki's film work) is shown on any TV channels here.

So I'd guess that its on a little bit of a decline.

I kind of agree and disagree with you on that.

I disagree that it isn't a huge thing, because I think it is. . . Here everyone I know pretty much is into Japanese culture, anime and manga, and those who aren't at least know what it is. When the students in my classes at college went into town during their dinner hour they would always come back with manga and anime, and even the teachers sometimes commented on certain shows or talkd about it. The manga rack in Waterstones and the DVD rack in HMV is always full too and always has people milling about.

That said, I do agree it's in decline, but not because people don't want it. The manga is only sold in Waterstones, and it's never up to date, so eventually people stop buying because there's nothing new to buy, and HMV only stocks the most popular anime, so if you're not into Naruto or Bleach you again can't really get a hold on anything. Amazon is great, but it only does manga or anime, so if you want any other merchandise you're stuck! And I agree it's never on television, which drives me mad! We used to have Fox Kids and Toonami and an Anime channel too, but now literally the only show on television is Pokemon. . .

So yeah, I agree it's in decline, but I also think there's a huge demand for it here. . . if only someone would tap into the market they would make a fortune!

[Umihito]

Originally Posted by RobinMask

I disagree that it isn't a huge thing, because I think it is. . . Here everyone I know pretty much is into Japanese culture, anime and manga, and those who aren't at least know what it is. When the students in my classes at college went into town during their dinner hour they would always come back with manga and anime, and even the teachers sometimes commented on certain shows or talkd about it.

Just out of curiosity, which part of the UK do you live in? If you were a Londoner or there abouts then I'd understand because there's a ton of Japanese shops etc there so the culture could easily rub off on lots of people. Here in Wales (I don't mean to go against other Welsh people when I say this) people are more interested in buying beer and cigarettes than indulging in any type of culture. And there's not really much Japanese culture in Wales anyway apart from a few Japanese restaurants near Cardiff.

Originally Posted by RobinMask

The manga rack in Waterstones and the DVD rack in HMV is always full too and always has people milling about.

I know this may sound way too analytical of me, but I always think that if the racks are always full, then it's not really a good thing because it means no one's buying them. XD
And the anime rack in Cardiff HMV isn't the biggest thing in the world... its only like... one block of shelves! XD So there's not really many people browsing it.

And Waterstones annoys me! I have one that's in a city closer to me than Cardiff, but it's a city none the less. Yet, all they have for their manga is two spinner things! I think Waterstones in Cardiff has more, but still only one block of shelves.

Originally Posted by RobinMask

That said, I do agree it's in decline, but not because people don't want it. The manga is only sold in Waterstones, and it's never up to date, so eventually people stop buying because there's nothing new to buy, and HMV only stocks the most popular anime, so if you're not into Naruto or Bleach you again can't really get a hold on anything. Amazon is great, but it only does manga or anime, so if you want any other merchandise you're stuck! And I agree it's never on television, which drives me mad! We used to have Fox Kids and Toonami and an Anime channel too, but now literally the only show on television is Pokemon. . .

But then there's got to be a reason why more places don't stock anime and manga. As big as it's gotten, I believe companies here still consider it a niche market so they're scared to take the risk.

Yeah! When I went to America last year I was literally gobsmacked when Bleach was playing on TV!
Oh! I admit I forgot about Pokemon, so that's the only exception. XD

Originally Posted by RobinMask

So yeah, I agree it's in decline, but I also think there's a huge demand for it here. . . if only someone would tap into the market they would make a fortune!

Yeah, it'd be interesting to see how well (or not) the companies would do if more of them stocked anime and manga. We can't forget how easy it is to get things illegally on the internet these days though, so I guess we'd have to factor that in too. XD

[WingsToDiscovery]

There's a lot of weird trending going on in the past couple of years.
When I was in middle school (so like 11-13 years old), I used to be as close to a gamer as one could be at that age. I had my Game Boy, I had multiple consoles, I had a PC running some sweet games. But during this time, if anyone were ever to call themselves self proclaimed gamers, they'd get lashed for it. Being a gamer was looked down upon as dorky/nerdy whatever.

Fast forward to my high school days where the "next-gen" consoles were being launched and all that stuff. The next thing I know, everyone and their girlfriend who's ever picked up a 360 controller is not trying to call themselves a gamer. It's like the cool thing now to know a bit about gaming/tech stuff. You're seeing things like "Game Fuel" at stores and shows like Attack of the Show showcasing tech stuff with pop culture.

The point being, I don't think it will be too long before anime becomes a bit more mainstream. I don't think it will ever explode, but it will gain more acceptance as not just a weeaboo thing. Because "average" people are slowly getting into the gaming/ tech scene, I think there will be some residual side effects of accepting anime, as it's quite popular among the gaming scene. I mean, anime has come a long time since being introduced as "japanime." (I'm pretty sure MMM brought that up which made me lol because I hadn't heard that term in so long )

[RobinMask]

Originally Posted by Umihito

Just out of curiosity, which part of the UK do you live in? If you were a Londoner or there abouts then I'd understand because there's a ton of Japanese shops etc there so the culture could easily rub off on lots of people. Here in Wales (I don't mean to go against other Welsh people when I say this) people are more interested in buying beer and cigarettes than indulging in any type of culture. And there's not really much Japanese culture in Wales anyway apart from a few Japanese restaurants near Cardiff.

I'm actually in the middle of nowhere, but I studied in a medium-sized commuter town between Birmingham and Coventry. So that actually may explain it, we had people in our college from not only within the town, but from neighbouring towns and cities, and with everyone in the cities everyday (in the case of workers) or every weekend (in the case of students) I suppose it's easy to pick up different things from various cultures in the cities. I do envy the life in London! It must be a amazing to be surrounded by so many people, cultures, languages. . . and I can fully empathaise with your comments on Wales. Lol, I love the country so much, but certain parts seem rather dead. My friend is in a university in a city there, and despite being a city he lacks even the most basic amenities he has back home here, so I can imagine how hard and annoying it must be not to have the Japanese cuture so close to hand.

Originally Posted by Umihito

I know this may sound way too analytical of me, but I always think that if the racks are always full, then it's not really a good thing because it means no one's buying them. XD
And the anime rack in Cardiff HMV isn't the biggest thing in the world... its only like... one block of shelves! XD So there's not really many people browsing it.

Damn you, I didn't think of it that way until you mentioned it, lol Yeah, I suppose that's one way to look at it. I can't say the HMV here sounds that much bigger, it's certainly nothing like the one in the cities, but there is a decent selection (albeit, just the mainstream popular stuff), to be fair they might have quite a lot more than I remember, but the prices keep me well away! I only shop for anime online now - it's literally half the price!

Originally Posted by Umihito

And Waterstones annoys me! I have one that's in a city closer to me than Cardiff, but it's a city none the less. Yet, all they have for their manga is two spinner things! I think Waterstones in Cardiff has more, but still only one block of shelves.

I can fully empathise with that. Our Waterstones has a large-ish section to it, but in Coventry there's two or three Waterstones all within walking distance of each other, and they only have one or two spinny things as well! What drives me mad is say - take Yu-Gi-Oh for example - you collect a whole series and get to volume 19, and you're all excited as you want to see what happens to Marik in his past and his motives, and you get there and it's "sorry, we only stock up to volume three. . ." It drives me mad! It's like 'what's the point in stocking at all if you're not willing to stock the entire series?' I feel so bad for people who can't shop online, they must never get to see how anything ends XD

Originally Posted by Umihito

But then there's got to be a reason why more places don't stock anime and manga. As big as it's gotten, I believe companies here still consider it a niche market so they're scared to take the risk.

Yeah! When I went to America last year I was literally gobsmacked when Bleach was playing on TV!
Oh! I admit I forgot about Pokemon, so that's the only exception. XD

Yeah, it'd be interesting to see how well (or not) the companies would do if more of them stocked anime and manga. We can't forget how easy it is to get things illegally on the internet these days though, so I guess we'd have to factor that in too. XD

I totally agree. It would be really great if companies took notice and made things more readily avaliable! I don't know what it is. . . like you said the USA has a huge anime market, I mean just compare their TV stations to ours or their Amazon to ours, but for some reason the companies just assume no one else wants it. I don't condone it, but I understand why people go online and get it illegally. It's not even a matter of price, it's the fact that it's often downright impossible to even get anime/manga here :P

XD I think I've ranted enough, but thanks for replying, it's fascinating to compare the Welsh culture with the English, we're probably within driving distance and yet it's both so foriegn and so familiar! I just wish the UK as a whole would get more manga/anime avaliable to it.

[PockyMePink]

I wish the popularity would decline. But no, anime is still as popular as it's ever been, at least in my part of the world anyway.

[MMM]

There is no decline from the source...Japan.

[WingsToDiscovery]

Originally Posted by PockyMePink

I wish the popularity would decline. But no, anime is still as popular as it's ever been, at least in my part of the world anyway.

Why is that, out of curiosity? I think you're just one of the first people who I've heard say that.