The market is decling in Japan while making not much money on the international markets.. For every 100 anime fans you must be lucky to find one who pays for anime, so they should find a way to make money from those who watch it but don't give anything back. Maybe launch something like netflix but then for anime while shutting down more sites who have anime episodes for free.

I've definetely seen a drop in quality over the last few years. I honestly don't really find any anime interesting anymore. Outside of Ghibli of course. But the Japanese linear media has been having issues for years, both televised and at the box office.

He's effectively declaring that his customers are stupid ("He feels the general audience is losing its ability to understand the meaning behind narratives that they experience.") and don't appreciate his 'creativity' ("the Japanese audience lacks a certain respect for storytelling").

This happens all the time to creators of movies, music, books and video games, and it signals only the end of his career (not the medium's viability) because anime production is a business; you have to produce what the customers want to buy, not what YOU want to make as a creator. There have been plenty of 'art' books, 'art' albums and even 'art' video games that have been the latter and failed to sell well.

Quality is determined by the customer. If the creators diverge from that, it is their fault alone that sales don't hold up. No matter how talented they are. If the artist produces something that is both quality and appeals to the mass market, it will sell amazingly (Wii Sports, Star Wars, Harry Potter).

I'd definitely pay for that as long as they have the option to have subtitles for the native language.

Anime is considered an art form.  I think the problem is that many anime productions are obviously being made by anime otakus.  The medium's purpose is to make money but also to let people have creative expression.

I think if they got rid of the underage girls in miniskirts, anime would get 10x better. More shows should be like Ghost in the Shell...

I agree anime is an art form. But if it's going to be done commercially, it should not be surprising to Sato that he has to make what the customer wants in order for it to sell. Conversely, if he sets out to make only what he wants, he should expect it not to sell well.

Blaming the audience for not appreciating your work is a diversion from fixing the actual problem that he's not making what the customers want to purchase.

If he was funding it entirely himself, in order to have his creative expression, there wouldn't be a problem.

I'd rather watch "brainless" shonen anime than watch ones with underage girls getting undressed.  And I would be lying if I said Fullmetal Alchemist is anything short of excellent.

I know that anime has to be done commercially.  But does Sato have to put underage girls getting undressed to make successful anime?

I think it's more a case of finding out hy are people who don't currently buy anime aren't buying it, and creating a series based on that. A 'Wii' of anime.

I agree, you shouldn't have to do that in anime to make it successful. I don't know about the Japanese market, but there are plenty of Western films and books that don't have that and are still hugely successful.