Forum - View topicINTEREST: Film Critic Responds to Netflix's Rise in Japan
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psiho66
Posts: 23 |
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Well considering that Netflix Japan has only 2 million subscribers 1 million is a good number and yea they are funding Anime so they can grow their subscribers in Japan as well as bring content for the 9 million Anime watchers outside of Japan as well as bring more Anime watchers from around the world.Well 10 million is still 10% of their total subscriber base which is still a great number considering how they treat licensed Anime and hold on to it and most people who wanted to watch the show when Netflix releases it already have watch it on pirate sites. |
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jirg1901
Posts: 150 |
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I'm unclear how Netflix having large budgets for western live action converts into having large budgets for anime. From a content distributor's standpoint anime's most overwhelmingly appealing aspect is that it's cheap. You'd need to be seeing massive numbers compared to what niconico, bandai channel, bilibili, CR, etc. pull to justify significantly larger budgets. They have more money to invest in getting foreign marketed shows greenlit than any other player besides Amazon but while they were nice pay days for some studios I don't think The Animatrix or Halo Legends saved the anime industry.
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Nonaka Machine Gun B
 Posts: 819 |
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I would wager the budget for an entire single cour anime(staff, actors, marketing, etc.) cost less than Kevin Spacey's price for a single season of House of Cards. And that is just paying Spacey; factor in other actors, a crew, locations for filming, and anime is a much lower-risk endeavor, with the possibility of a greater reward when you factor in the collector market (Does Netflix get a cut of House of Cards DVD sets, I wonder?)
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Chrono1000
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L'Imperatore
 Posts: 835 |
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I mean, instead of having to listen to the demands of 4-5 (or even more) different companies forming the usual production committee, now that Netflix is (I assume) the largest (sole?) stakeholder in its "Netflix Originals", the anime production staff will only have to listen to one. That's one less hassle to deal with, I'd think. Then again, I do not know s* about what happens behind the screen. So... |
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partially
Posts: 702 Location: Oz |
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Do you seriously even need to ask that? It is obvious. Netflix may be bypassing the production committee and going direct to the animation studio, but they are not directly paying the animators. Now some animation studios will be getting cash flush, but should that mean they will pay their animators more than the norm? In an ideal world, sure. In business, hell no. However it does mean that Netflix is being a bit stupid. One would expect them to invest heavily in some animation studios to improve their quality. However if the studios are taking the money and then not using that to upskill and improve their animators it shows the difference is just being pocketed. So Netflix is wasting its money bigtime and may as well pay the animation studio at the same rate a production committee would. |
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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As noted in similar conversations elsewhere on twitter among animators and the like, and also as I stated in my previous comment, it seems that at least some of that money is going to longer production times. Which is, while not nearly as beneficial as more money in their pockets, has the potential to both give a little more stability to contractual animators, and reduce the amount of work-per-day, thus reducing pressure and some of the unhealthy aspects of the production pipeline. It's a step in the right direction, I think. |
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Crext
 Posts: 211 |
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I became a subscriber to Crunchyroll like 2 hears ago, dropped it then picked it up again in 2016 and has remained subbed since then. The one show which really got me into it was "Food Wars", then I started watching some of the other stuff afterwards. I think I'll probably do the same for Netflix if they manage to create a blockbuster worth watching. That initial "to actually bother to sub"-phase that's really hard to overcome (not really about the money), especially if you don't find much on the "known" menu that attractive initially.
I actually think this'll do it tbh. but I'll wait for some of those shows to premier first until I throw myself into it. If they end up paying their workers fairly that'll motivate them "to do their best yet", so I don't really see how this could go wrong, unless they start censoring heavily or something silly like that. |
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SWAnimefan
Posts: 634 |
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Depends on the costs of production vs the income from subscribers. But it's more viable than putting an anime series on TV with fixed broadcast times, since viewers can view when they want to. And opening it more on the internet, backed a company like Netflix, very well could reignite the Anime community and add more diversity. On the other end, it could hurt specialty channels like the Cartoon Network if they have a harder time getting licenses for new anime. Which means CN and Nickelodeon will be more dependent on their own creations.
I believe he was referring to the Live-Action shows costing 3 Million per episode, not the animation. |
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RubyRed
 Posts: 31 |
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Well, I think naming it as an "invasion" is pretty accurate. The way I see it, this is going to turn out a lot of watered-down 'anime' with westernised versions of the anime art style + storylines very similar to what we find in western animation. For example, I took a look at a couple episodes each of Castlevania and The Reflection, and apart from some vague hints in the animation, the storyline and characters are exactly like something made in the US or maybe western Europe. Perhaps a bit more mature re: themes than most cartoons, though - closer to animated comic books.
I honestly am not too enthusiastic about this. If this takes off, what's gonna happen is that Netflix originals will offer more money --> Japanese animators/writers/voice actors will be drawn to that (and why not? this might be fun for us but it's their daily bread) --> Japan-owned studios will be forced to close down/decrease production --> less and less original Japanese stories/manga/LN's will get animated --> we'll just have more and more stories suited to the western market and the anime industry in its original form will decline. I think something similar has happened to a lot of European countries' film/TV industries because Hollywood can offer more money and is therefore pulling all the actors and scriptwriters in, leaving their original countries with zero talent. Like all those BBC series that get one season out every three years because the actors are too busy doing American shows. I'm here because I like anime, not Americanised anime. It's not like anime is flawless, but up until now, if you didn't like them, you could go watch Avatar or Steven Universe or, I dunno, Adventure Time. If you were in the (tiny) minority that can't stomach western shows like those, then you could always watch anime. If anime is going to become like them (or worse, like American comic books, which I loathe), then where are we non-cartoon-fans gonna turn to? But it's pretty obvious that there's very little money in the anime industry as-is. They want to make more money, they're gonna have to 'globalise.' Unfortunately, that's not gonna suit my tastes, but I'm obviously outnumbered about 30-to-1, even on this forum, which I honestly didn't expect 
Also, for those hoping this will get more niche titles animated: Huh? Doesn't globalisation usually entail becoming more mainstream, rather than less? "Something that appeals to the whole world" is pretty much an antonym of "niche." |
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Beatdigga
 Posts: 4385 Location: New York |
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Netflix, if nothing else, knows you can't show the same thing if you want to broaden your audience. That's why their catalogs are so broad.
Do you really think without Netflix we would get a 1:1 Devilman adaptation, or a Godzilla anime? Doubtful. |
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Kraz
Posts: 23 |
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Netflix is not working well at all in France... You mention our law that make them wait 3 years to show a film, but that's not the only handicap they have, in France all of our internet provider uses TV+Internet box with an easy access to their own VOD services, and it works very well for the average consumer. I don't think Machiyama is grossly misinformed, if you look at it from afar, it do look like this law was made to kill services like Netflix, even if it was not its original purpose at all... @RubyRed : I don't understand, Castlevania is not an anime, as far as I know it was animated in the US (well, and I guess korea as usual) and I consider it as a niche cartoon, The Reflection is an anime with a 'cartoon' look, but it has nothing to do with Netflix 
Hollywood was not able to kill european film/TV unlike you said, so Netflix killing anime is very far fetched. You're talking like the anime industry is doing great right now, but how many niche anime do you see these days ? I don't think production committee are better than Netflix, and when you have a service like Netflix, you have far more reason to produce niche shows than something produced for TV. |
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relyat08
Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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I think you're outnumbered because your complaints are silly. Anime has been an international product for decades and still maintains its weirdness. This isn't going to change that. Take a look at the most popular anime of this season according to MAL. Someone at Netflix thought that was worth getting! If they are okay with that level of weirdness, you shouldn't be worried. Also, even if they want to, Netflix is not going to "buy" the entire industry. There are a lot of companies with a lot of interests and anime will be made to satisfy those.
That's not how globalization actually works. When creative people are automatically given a larger audience, they take advantage of it by actually being able to bring to life projects that wouldn't have been possible before. Because NOW it has the opportunity to reach more people and actually make money even if it's weird and would've been unlikely to resonate with the smaller audience that previously existed. Not everything in a globalized world is made to appeal to everyone. If that were the case the internet would be a singular blob of only the most popular things in the world. It is, unsurprisingly, not. You can find almost anything here. Because THAT'S how globalization works. It facilitates the creation of anything and everything because finding an audience is so much easier. If Weird-Ass-Project-A needs to be seen by 2 million eyeballs to break even, it needs to find 2 million eyeballs. The size and scale of many streaming services in this age, not just Netflix, has finally made shows like that financially viable. The last few years within anime have seen an unprecedented increase in the variety within anime, not the reverse. Streaming to the global audience has given creative people an incredible outlet and much more financial opportunities than ever before. That's not something to resent. |
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CheezcakeMe
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Well for the price on one episode of Sense 8 they could probably make 10 anime shows so like, why not throw a few bucks into the animation market? Cheap entertainment with a small but very rabid fanbase.
Oh man, off-topic but I know people who worked on these shows. Basically it was a giant clusterf*ck of incompetent idiocy from the production committee behind the scenes, and their failures trickled down through the whole system, which resulted in the writers and animators crapping out below average products for a quick paycheck. |
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Chrono1000
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