6 votes

Anime Studio Production IMS Files for Bankruptcy (Studio behind Date A Live II, Inari Kon Kon, High School Fleet, Takunomi. was founded in 2013)

10 comments

  1. [10]
    talklittle
    Link
    I've heard of Date A Live II (Spring 2014) and High School Fleet (Spring 2016) and thought those shows were generally liked. I guess the bankruptcy is another symptom of how saturated the...

    I've heard of Date A Live II (Spring 2014) and High School Fleet (Spring 2016) and thought those shows were generally liked. I guess the bankruptcy is another symptom of how saturated the anime/games industry is.

    1 vote
    1. [9]
      Akir
      Link Parent
      We may be living in the golden age of anime. Sure, this studio couldn't make it, but in any other point in time new studios like Trigger and Troyca would not be nearly as successful as they have been.

      We may be living in the golden age of anime. Sure, this studio couldn't make it, but in any other point in time new studios like Trigger and Troyca would not be nearly as successful as they have been.

      3 votes
      1. [4]
        talklittle
        Link Parent
        I am glad that the nature of the product means that there will always be studios that try to stand apart from the crowd and innovate. So it's impossible for giant megastudios to take over the...

        I am glad that the nature of the product means that there will always be studios that try to stand apart from the crowd and innovate. So it's impossible for giant megastudios to take over the anime industry for long periods of time. Consumers get bored of tried-and-true recipes and want to see new things.

        1 vote
        1. [3]
          Whom
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Anime studios also splinter off and do their own thing all the time (here's a cool visualization of that), which leads to a lot having their own character and signature styles. I think I somewhat...

          Anime studios also splinter off and do their own thing all the time (here's a cool visualization of that), which leads to a lot having their own character and signature styles.

          I think I somewhat disagree about anime being something where the fans are demanding new things all the time, but I do think it's an interesting case that allows for new things to pop up. Ever since the OVA market stopped being so dominant, a huge part of what determines the success or failure of a specific show is how much it moves merchandise, rather than being reliant on sales of the show itself. This has mostly been driven by cute girls and cool robots / spaceships, and gives a lot of flexibility.

          Ever since Tezuka, anime's been defined by being insanely cheap to make. When you combine that low risk with the actual revenue stream being relatively disconnected from anything to do with the actual content of the shows, you have a great environment for the staff to just try things and play around. Of course, it's also a good environment to pump out generic trash with pretty faces on the front, do lazy adaptations, and such...luckily we get plenty of both.

          5 votes
          1. [2]
            talklittle
            Link Parent
            That's a really awesome visualization. Now I really want to see an animated overlay on top of it, showing how individual creators moved around between those studios over the years, and with some...

            That's a really awesome visualization. Now I really want to see an animated overlay on top of it, showing how individual creators moved around between those studios over the years, and with some kind of flashy explosion to indicate blockbuster successes. Do certain combinations of individuals guarantee a lightning strike, I wonder?

            1 vote
            1. Whom
              Link Parent
              If you start digging into individual directors, animators, etc., you'll quickly find that it's very difficult to actually tell from who particular stylistic elements or whatever else people might...

              If you start digging into individual directors, animators, etc., you'll quickly find that it's very difficult to actually tell from who particular stylistic elements or whatever else people might value actually come from. It's easy to fall into only paying attention to directors and writers and attributing all successes to them like we do with Hollywood films (and this can be useful: there's no doubting that there's something brought in by someone like Hideaki Anno or Tatsuya Ishihara that can't be pinned on other staff), but there are so many different animators and staff involved all bringing their own touches in a way that makes tracing anything really fucking hard.

              This is actually a pretty big problem that people who want to do serious anime content on youtube or something run into. There just aren't that many resources (at least, not in English or with translations you can rely on being accurate) so there's a lot of guesswork that goes into it.

              You can find out who the superstars are and try to work from there, but it's always gonna be some level of mythology building more than it is reliable research.

              2 votes
      2. [4]
        Whom
        Link Parent
        I don't disagree that we're living in a great time for anime, but what do you mean by this? The example of Trigger in particular is strange to me, given that their staff and approach to their work...

        I don't disagree that we're living in a great time for anime, but what do you mean by this? The example of Trigger in particular is strange to me, given that their staff and approach to their work pretty much comes directly from Gainax, which came up out of nowhere and was much more successful in its prime.

        1 vote
        1. [3]
          Akir
          Link Parent
          Animation is very labor intensive. Any given show is produced with the help of multiple studios. In the past most animation studios would make a good amount of their money based on their contract...

          Animation is very labor intensive. Any given show is produced with the help of multiple studios. In the past most animation studios would make a good amount of their money based on their contract work doing small scenes and tweening.

          Now a lot of animation is outsourced to Korea and China. That means that the main value of a modern studio is their ability to orchestrate and produce the show as a whole. The people attracting the sponsors are no longer the large swaths of animators, but the writers, voice actors, musicians, producers, directors, etc. that can be attached to a project.

          Gainax is kind of the perfect foil to demonstrate what I mean. Gainax has been around for a while and had done a lot of contract work, but doesn't have that many series that they have produced. Then there are studios like Madhouse who have produced scores of series because of their use of overseas outsourcing - to the point that they partially own a major Korean animation studio.

          3 votes
          1. [2]
            Whom
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            Sorry, I don't understand how the fact that studios do more outsourcing than they used to (which I thought happened mostly in the Philippines, but I guess my impression is wrong there) means we're...

            Sorry, I don't understand how the fact that studios do more outsourcing than they used to (which I thought happened mostly in the Philippines, but I guess my impression is wrong there) means we're in a golden age or that studios like Trigger can exist (mostly meaning that I don't see what you're saying about Trigger that wouldn't also apply to Gainax). That's undoubtedly what is happening but I don't understand the connection you're making.

            Or do you just mean that because of this increased cost efficiency, there's more TV anime in general and that makes this a golden age? Because that's definitely the case and I think sorting through all the bullshit that gets pumped out is part of what makes current anime interesting.

            1 vote
            1. Akir
              Link Parent
              I'm pretty sure animation gets outsourced to the Philippines, too; I just don't have any info on it. I was mostly focused on answering why studios like Trigger wouldn't work out so well if they...

              I'm pretty sure animation gets outsourced to the Philippines, too; I just don't have any info on it. I was mostly focused on answering why studios like Trigger wouldn't work out so well if they were founded in the past. But my comment about it being a golden age is largely a result of the increasing use of outsourcing. TV anime has the highest quality it ever has. Even cheaply produced shonen anime has seen massive improvements in quality. The best part of this is that it is opening the door for other workers to produce their own brand of work. Now even new talents are getting more chances to show off their work.

              1 vote