TranceformerFX said:
Mainstream Japanese anime is diverse? No offense, but you're talking out of your ass. Anime isn't "diverse", nor has it evolved since it entered pop culture in the late 80's/early 90's. Infact, the "anime" business has been in decline for years now...
https://kotaku.com/evangelion-creator-predicts-the-death-of-anime-1706738732
http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/miyazaki-blames-otaku-animators-for-anime-decline/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124894486860193163
https://kotaku.com/5966163/japanese-anime-fans-are-growing-tired-of-these-tropes
I don't know about Manga - but the animation industry has a cloud of doom lingering over it's head, and Japan only has itself to blame. When you cater to one audience (Japanese viewers) and capitalize on tropey cliche'd bullshit material year after year - oversaturation and disinterest is bound to happen. Which it clearly is.
Diverse? Don't make me laugh - Japan has largely been making the same shit since anime caught fire in the early 90's. |
One of your links is from 2009, another is an old man grumbling about animators, and another actually begins with the line, "The anime industry, while not as strong as it was back in 2004-2006, is still booming."
The simple fact is that anime is growing, mainly due to overseas interest.
"Total revenue from overseas sales, which includes broadcast rights, box office, DVD/Blu-ray sales and merchandising, jumped almost a third to $6.79 billion (￥768 billion) over the previous year. Sales to China increased, an AJA spokesperson confirmed, but figures for individual countries aren't compiled for the report."
The decline you're talking about doesn't exist. There certainly are problems but there have always been problems. The outlook, however, is positive.
As far as your idea that Japan needs to change anime to suit the rest of the world, we've already seen that with the gaming industry and it was a failure. The Japanese gaming industry only began to recover when they stopped trying to copy western trends and returned to doing what they knew best.
Regarding your remarks on diversity, I still get the impression that you're talking about a subject where you know little. Does anime have big name titles designed to appeal to key demographics? Of course. However, saying this means it lacks diversity would be like pointing to a select group of Hollywood movies and pretending nothing else was being produced by the film industry. Anime pulls from sources designed for little girls, little boys, teenage girls, teenages boy, mature women, and mature men.
Is anime anywhere close to being diverse as manga? No. Is it more diverse than western animation? Yeah. It typically hits several different genres that are intended for different demographics.
Let's take a look at some of the best anime of last year in visual form:
Not diverse enough for you? Okay, that's fine. "The same shit"? It would seem that you're talking about a subject where you know very little.
