Burden of Choice (Part 1)

It's 4 in the morning and I, for the life of me, cannot sleep. So, I decided to do what I often do when my body denies me the sweet embrace of slumber and put all those persistent apparitions within my head to writing. I believe people call them, "opinions."

Burden of Choice (Part 1)

Over the last couple of years, I find myself more and more reluctant to watch newer shows that come out. Often, my reasoning varies from total lack of interest in a certain genres that have become increasingly popular as of late (I.E. moe) and an overall sense of ennui that has arisen from being a part of one of the greatest booms that Anime had ever, and possibly will ever, seen.

But a dictator for me, as I sit back and study my buying habits, the industry as a whole, and a series of Astrological calculations, is the absolute abundance of shows I have to choose from. I find myself sifting through an ocean of possibilities, searching frantically for a decent show to latch onto knowing that my time, my precious, ever waning time, is to be sacrificed to whatever I so invest it.

In this, I waver. For as interesting as a series can look at first glance, as much as the synopsis can guarantee something intriguing, as much as the studio behind it was responsible for [enter favorite show here], there are 5 more series waiting just behind it, 26 episodes long at the very least, all beckoning me, offering to satiate my need for complex, animated storytelling.

This, my friends, is the "Burden of Choice": Where one measures the risks and benefits of their investment and finds themselves at odds due to the amount of selection before them, fretting and hesitating to focus their energy onto a single choice. For the casual consumer, this is a monster not easily overcome, as the backlog merely grows and saturates as time goes by. They find themselves uneasy not only in selecting a newer property, but even investing their time in classics!

Newbies often find that one show that brings them into the fold, that one show that introduces them to a universe of new worlds, deep characters, and complex storylines. Often, the next selection will be as simple as following the suggestion of a friend. This can continue to be the case, provided the material this person subjects themselves to is satisfactory. However, it can take only a single purchase, a single investment of time, that does not pay off. That single show that promised you all those things you wanted, all those things that made the $40 purchase of the boxset worthwhile, all those elements that made the hours of time that could have been better spent elsewhere... and then failed to deliver. At the very best? Lacking. Whether or not the material itself was bad or just not to the consumers taste, they will find themselves gun shy; afraid to take that risk again, whether it be by a miniscule amount or to a degree that could very well end their interest in the medium entirely.

How does this effect Anime as a whole? Well, to understand that, it's important to look at how it effects both the foreign market as well as the domestic market. For the domestic market (A.K.A Japan) they often have the benefit of television. Most shows out there are actually produced for television broadcast and thus far more available to the casual consumer. Thus, the consumer has the chance to sample the work they may have an interest in before investing both time and money. While this is not always the case, such as with movies, OVAs, etc., their advertisement structure for anime is much more robust. As such, it's easier to learn about the product without having to hear it from friends or having to do research online.

In the US, however, we find ourselves in a predicament.

During the 1990s, the selection of Anime available in US was much slimmer, with licensing companies often focusing on subjects that would be more suitable for western tastes and usually only acquiring properties that had, had evident success overseas. Furthermore, the appeal of animation with serial storytelling, mature subject matter, and an undeniable ethnic flare helped start a boom among geek culture. Shows geared toward adolescents such as Sailor Moon and DragonBall secured a younger market while Akira, Ninja Scroll, Evangelion and Slayers targeted older audiences. When Pokemon and Cowboy Bebop came around, a new high was hit and companies like Pioneer, Media Blasters, Bandai, ADV and Viz were hitting it big.

However, this would not plateau. No, this would prove to be an arch and the industry is still weathering the downward slope. Some companies have not survived, or have been absorbed by bigger companies, I.E. ADV with FUNimation or Pioneer/Geneon with FUNimation. Really, any failing anime company and FUNimation. Anime sales have scaled back to the point where brick and mortar retailers have cut their selections by halves and licensing companies have had to severely reassess their business models.

What brought upon this contraction? What so effectively cut down what was once a booming industry? Piracy? Considerable and it's effects are not to be denied. Loss of interest in the medium? People -are- always looking for something new. The economy? Well, let's just say that plays well into my point.

I don't think it's any one factor that has harmed the industry, but I do find myself returning to an issue that has still yet been effectively dealt with, though not entirely due to lack of trying:

Over-saturation.

(End of Part 1)