I’m sure that, if you’re an anime fan, the thought of “How does anime actually make money?” has crossed your mind. It’s an understandable question.
Starting with a fact that may surprise you, let’s take a look at a list of the TV ratings of animated TV series airing in Japan between October 21st and 27th 2019. If you examine this article, you’ll notice that, while some shows such as One Piece, Detective Conan and My Hero Academia are familiar to anime fans in the west, most of the shows on the list are unfamiliar to western fans. These mainstream shows are like most typical western shows where ratings and advertisements play a key part in the revenue of the show.
Instead most of the anime that we’d be familiar with is what’s called “Late Night Anime”. These anime air from 11pm to 4am and, the vast majority of the time, the production company pays the channel to air the show! Take a moment to let that fact sink in. In sharp contrast to mainstream anime and western shows, late night anime actively loses money during its broadcast! So how do they make their money?
Instead, the way the majority of anime make their income is through DVD and Blu-Ray sales. Anime DVDs and Blu-Rays are notorious for their high prices and the few episodes contained in them. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a box contain only 4 episodes and cost $60. However, at this price, only a few thousand people need to purchase these box sets in order for the show to become profitable.
For shows that manage to gain a following, merchandise can be a surprisingly profitable venture. Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a show that only ran for 12 episodes in 2011, was reported to have grossed $400 million in merchandising by 2013! Another example would be the Love Live! project which has grossed millions in the sales of music CDs.
There are other sources of revenue but generally they pale in comparison to these previous incomes. Despite this, it is estimated that most shows take several years to turn a profit and many shows will simply never manage to make any money. In order to try to be as profitable as possible, budgets are kept to a minimum, with many shows having budgets that a single episode of a western animated show would cost.
A major problem that the industry is facing is the poor working conditions for animators. In a video recently released by Asian Boss, they interviewed an animator who revealed that for her first year working as an animator, she was only making $500 a month for 15 hour days. These conditions have led to a declaration of a crisis in the anime industry as, understandably, there is a lack of young animators in the field now.
It is clear that this model of income is deeply flawed and I have no doubt that within the next few decades we will see some sharp changes in the way that anime is produced. In the meantime I would direct you to continue contributing to the industry as you have always done and, possibly, contribute some money to the Animator Dormitory Project which works to provide animators in Japan with cheap, affordable housing.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk, amazon.com or bookdepository.com for all of your needs!