Burden of Choice (Part 2)

What, exactly, is "oversaturation?" Well, Timmy/Kelly, I'm glad you asked!

Oversaturation is described as "saturation to excess". Excess. That will be a key word here. In business, companies know that it is within their best interest to keep a steady supply of product coming to the market. Supply and demand! The consumer demands and the companies supply! It's as tried and true a way to make money as any business professional will tell you.

Sometimes, however, companies will supply too much. A very simple example is, say... producing too many DVDs of a property than the consumer base was willing to purchase. 15,000 copies produced, 10,000 copies sold. That company has now produced 5,000 more copies than it will actually move, forcing retailers to put them on sale or just move them to clearance. Depending on how they'll sell on sale or clearance, both the company and the retailers could end up at a loss.

This happens all the time in business, of course. An overestimation can occur in any company. Some companies even safeguard themselves by pricing their product at a point where, even if they do overproduce, the sale price will still gain them a profit. They even bank on the product going on sale a certain amount of time post release; catch the more eager customer base right at the beginning, those most willing to spend their money, then clean up with the more frugal base waiting for the prices to come down.

Let's explore and look at a more complicated "example".

During the 90s, there were a handful of licensing companies in the US all releasing different properties. For the sake of simplifying it, let's say there were four. These four companies weren't huge operations, either. They were small companies often outsourcing the ADR to groups such as Ocean Productions, though sometimes using in-house actors as well. These companies also focused on properties that had either seen significant success overseas or they believed would have an outstanding appeal to western audiences, carefully marketing properties they knew would sell well. As anime really started to catch on in the states in part thanks to an ever growing exposure on television and the internet informing more and more curious newbies, these companies would have to grow!

With that growth, these companies would find more diverse markets as well. While the action genre and more male oriented properties had once dominated the scene (with differing genres sprinkled throughout), more women were watching than ever before! Demand for more obscure properties were on the rise, as well, with the world wide web supplying examples of the variety just waiting for audiences to explore... and companies to exploit.

Exploit them they would, of course, providing audiences with a wider selection of genres and themes than ever before! Not only that, but genres already big with US anime fans would be expanded upon as more obscure and less high-profile properties were licensed and released in the states. Any taste could be satiated and then some as the selection grew to staggering levels.

This would prove to be a double edged sword, however.

Sturgeon's revelation, commonly referred to as Sturgeon's law, dictates that "90 percent of everything is crap." This is by no means to be held as a true statistic, but as an adage, it rings with a sharp note of truth. In any medium, the likelihood of a majority of productions even being decent is shoddy at best. So one is left to assume that choice properties are few and far between, as is with most of life's pleasures, and that a sea of varying quality surrounds it.

Unfortunately, many of these companies had become expectant of their properties to succeed regardless of quality or even the size of a certain properties target audience. After half a decade of successful business, they'd grown comfortable and unassuming. This would leave them unprepared for a very harsh shift in the market, one almost all of these companies would end up stumbling on for years to come.

It's worth noting here that, during this period, other companies would also arise. More competition, more money, more properties. One of these companies, of course, was FUNimation. A company once known for a soul property that need not be named, they found themselves dominating the market in merely a few years, outpacing any other company by far. I'll go into further details in a bit, but for now, let's really focus on that adage from earlier.

"90 percent of everything is crap." Whether or not you consider this to be realistic or just flat out pessimistic, the truth of the matter is that fans were very quickly beginning to believe it. Remember in Part 1, when I talked about the passionate newbie, hungry for new titles? The newbie who would, sooner or later, taste bitter disappointment and, from then on out, reassess not only their buying habits, but tastes in general? Just consider the kind of environment companies were providing, presenting them everything, with no readily available manner of dictating the good from the bad, besides (at the time) the rare review online.

Of course, this wouldn't be quite as bad of an issue if their business model hadn't been... well, as some would say, exploitative of their consumer base. Without going into too much detail, the actual price of anime at the time was considerably more expensive than what most companies price their properties at now. This would prove to be doubly damaging as the recession began, making excess spending lower and lower priority. 4 episodes for $26.99 wasn't going to fly anymore.

These companies were left sitting on an excess of titles... and no one wanting to buy them. Between the economy, the varying quality of the products themselves, and a lack of a proper way to sample these products, combined with an aging consumer base and, unfortunately, a growth in online piracy, they would find themselves with more properties and product than they would know what to do with.

To cut to the chase, fat needed to be cut and the entire industry's business model completely revamped. As mentioned before, some companies would not survive, some would cut back heavily, and others would be absorbed. Probably the biggest example of success in this climate would be...

FUNimation.

Of course you saw that coming. They're the biggest, most successful anime licensing company in the country, employing hundreds of actors, holding hundreds of properties, and still managing to grow in a climate where others are barely holding water. In a market where consumers have become as shrewd as they've ever been, where the Internet can provide many of these properties free of charge, they've managed to revamp and evolve.

This isn't necessarily because FUNimation knew all the right moves to make. It also required a lot of money, which certain properties of theirs left them with quite the abundance. Furthermore, their outreach to the US anime community was so forthright and sincere, they grew an unbelievably strong, supportive, and fierce consumer base that they've managed to, for the most part, treat well and continue to support in turn.

One of the most revolutionary steps the company took was pushing for online streaming. Where Hulu and other online video sites had already begun dipping their toes, FUNimation knew that their biggest bet would be supporting themselves with online ad revenue, combined with the exposure that it would provide their properties that would finally allow gunshy, unsure anime fans a chance to sample and experience a show before putting their money down on it.

Another step was nearly killing off single DVD releases and switching solely to boxsets at reasonable prices. Gone were the days of spending upwards of $120 on a 26 episode series; you could now own it for $60 at the most, likely on sale on many online retailers. Combined with dirt cheap re-releases of properties from defunct or absorbed companies and a prime cable station, their releases have had nearly no trouble moving.

Other companies have followed suit in kind, trying to work their way back up and out of the quagmire. Crunchyroll is providing it's services to companies both domestic and overseas, while Shounen Jump, on the Manga front, has gone totally digital, providing it's manga two weeks after their print in Japan.

However, the problem isn't quite conquered yet. US companies continue to license indiscriminately in hopes of capitalizing on whatever sales or ad revenue they can get from these properties and in hopes to beat online pirates to the punch. Furthermore, they want to make sure they're serving their customer base; no company wants to hear, "WHY HASN'T THIS BEEN LICENSED!?" That often seems like money just asking to be given.

Personally? I'd rather see these companies only putting out physical releases of properties that showed particular success in previews/screenings online. Focusing on properties that are critically and financial successful rather than trying to please every single niche audience with full physical releases. A more focused market, releasing quality properties. For other, less popular properties, stream them online, most likely subtitled. In this, you would cut down on excess production costs and, simultaneously, build bigger and more supportive consumer bases for major properties.

I probably have some more in me, but it's 4:30 in the morning again and I feel like I'm about to pass out. I hope this was at least an interesting read, even if it wasn't quite as tight as Part 1!