Does artstyle really affect Zelda sales?

[Samus Aran]

VanceIX said:

Samus Aran said:

VanceIX said:

Samus Aran said:

By the way, for anyone saying this is an anime style: I thought anime was popular in the West? ;)

Anime is niche in the west, it's just that that niche community is really vocal on the internet. Most of my friends don't care for anime, and have no interest in trying it. They don't see what the difference is between anime and western cartoons, other than the fact that anime is in Japanese. 

Dragonball, Pokémon, Naruto, One Piece, Digimon (in the past), Bleach are far from niche. Just look at how popular the Legend of Aang/Korra is. Yes, I know, it's not an anime because it is not made in Japan, but it takes a lot of inspiration from anime and is animated in South Korea if I remember correctly. 

Dragonball hasn't been popular for a while, and even when it was it wasn't as popular compared to western cartoons. Pokemon the anime is slanted towards children under ten, and thus tends to be out of Zelda's prospective audience. Naruto isn't even that popular anymore, that craze wore off soon after Shippuden started, and many of the Naruto fans never bothered with anime again. Digimon: See Pokemon. Bleach has also lost much of its audience, and wasn't really all that popular in the first place. Avatar TLA is anime style, yes, but still not as popular as you would think.

Even the animes that did the best in the west (Dragonball Z, Naruto, Avatar) paled in popularity compared to things like Spongebob, Fairly Odd Parents, etc. 

The first season of the Legend of Korra was the most watched cartoon in the USA during that period. ;) 

And my point is that all those animes were once popular in the West, so there's no reason why anime can't be popular right now. 

The fact that Dragonball has remained this popular, even though the series ended many years ago (not counting GT, that was shit), is a testimony to how well received animes are in the West.