With the new fiscal year approaching, the lineup for terrestrial television has been released, and one of the most notable features is the growth of the anime genre. With anime almost completely disappearing from prime time, and anime becoming widely popular on video streaming services, we have interviewed people involved to explore the significance of programming anime on terrestrial television again.
In April's programming, TV Asahi and Fuji TV added anime slots at 11pm, while other stations are also making anime more prominent, such as Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (Nippon TV), whose theatrical advance screening drew 2 million viewers. Anime has disappeared one after another from prime time on major stations except for TV Tokyo, and late-night anime has also started to struggle due to declining DVD sales, which makes it seem like a different era from the late 2010s, when anime people were desperately trying to secure broadcasting slots.
It is well known that the background to this is that the popularity of video streaming services matched the demand for staying at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result, the explosive hit of "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" made the "anime" genre more widely accepted than ever before. Of course, the strong affinity with social media also played a major role.
However, while it was thought that the anime genre would simply transfer to video streaming services, this was not the case. While original dramas such as NETFLIX's "The Tokyo Swindlers" and "The Evil Queen" and Disney Plus's "SHOGUN" were exclusively and pre-released on each service, some of these hits became social phenomena, but no original anime has been produced to that extent.
Perhaps due to this situation, the number of exclusive anime broadcasts has decreased. Yusuke Muranaka, COO of DMM.com, which operates "DMM TV," analyzed in a press conference last November that "We used to broadcast early, but users at DMM TV don't want that." Due to the rising costs, they prioritize comprehensiveness as much as possible. Considering that the smash hit "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kimetsu no Yaiba" has become a national hit by being distributed on numerous video streaming services, anime may be a genre that is well suited to terrestrial broadcasting, where it can reach a large audience.
There is also great business appeal for TV stations. Although advertising revenue from commercials and the like is declining, anime, which is highly regarded internationally, can expect to generate non-broadcast revenue from overseas expansion via video streaming services and merchandising. A person involved in the program said, "Merchandising hasn't changed that much, but with the recent depreciation of the yen, revenue from overseas sales has exploded."
However, while it can be said that the situation surrounding anime has changed significantly compared to five years ago, anime as a genre also has many weaknesses. First of all, it is much more expensive than variety shows or dramas. Late-night variety shows are often produced for less than 10 million yen per episode (1 hour), but for anime, even 20 million yen per episode (30 minutes) is difficult in terms of quality, and it costs 30 to 50 million yen, with some works costing nearly 80 million yen per episode, and many people in the industry believe that production costs will continue to rise in the future.
Another weakness is that it takes more than twice as long to produce as other genres. Dramas can be produced in four to six months per season, and variety shows even shorter, but most current anime productions begin two to three years in advance. It is difficult to adapt to the TV industry's programming situation, which changes every three months, and inevitably the handling is led by the programming. Also, due to a labor shortage, there are an increasing number of staff members who are given heavy responsibilities despite being inexperienced, making it difficult to balance quality and production time.
The business side of things is not all good either. In particular, censorship has become stricter in China, where stable profits were expected, making it difficult to make a living. According to a source, "Stories about overthrowing the government and works depicting middle school romance are now no longer allowed." Even within Japan, there are fewer national clients who will sponsor shows compared to dramas and variety shows, so it seems difficult to broadcast them during prime time.
As an anime fan, it is safe to say that we should welcome the current situation in which a wide variety of works can now be enjoyed on terrestrial TV, and at times that are more convenient than before. There are various issues, including the boom in the theatrical anime market, which we did not mention here, but there is no doubt that the anime industry is in a better state than it was five years ago. We hope to see further excitement and a virtuous cycle on the business side. (MANTAN/Tateyama Natsuyuki)
