When I was first getting into the hobby of anime, one of the first series that I began watching was Naruto. I collected the Manga Entertainment releases and, whenever I was watching them, there was an interesting moment that occurred after the opening but before the episode actually began. There would be a faded still image from the opening while a section of the opening music played again. I didn’t give it much thought at the time but, as the years went by, I eventually discovered that this spot was where the sponsors would be listed, also known as the sponsor card. Given this information, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the interesting relationship between anime and sponsorship.
First off, I should give some details when it comes to the sponsor card itself. They’re typically removed for streaming and home video releases (I honestly have no idea why they remained in the Naruto releases) but they can occasionally slip through. Whenever they show up, they are blank with no sponsors listed. This is because the anime company themselves only provide the still image with the sponsorships being added by the TV network they’re playing on.
The history of the interesting relationship between anime and sponsorship can be traced, like many aspects of anime production, back to Osamu Tezuka and Astro Boy. When Osamu Tezuka originally developed the 1963 Astro Boy anime, he was competing with American animation which tended to earn back its costs during their American runs and was then sold cheaply worldwide. In order to counter this, he had to develop techniques to reduce the cost of each episode while, simultaneously, selling it for a loss to TV networks.
He was reliant on other sources of revenue such as merchandising and oversea sales in order to try to turn a profit. However, one avenue of revenue he found was partnering up with a snack company called “Meiji Seika” to sell a new snack food called “Marble Chocolates”. By sponsoring the show, they were able to sell their Marble Chocolates with Astro Boy stickers which helped drive up sales of the product dramatically.
This successful venture helped emphasise the importance of sponsorship in the anime industry. The economics of the anime can be quite complex and any form of guaranteed revenue in an industry where many series take years to break even and around 30% of all anime loses money is vital. Therefore, it cannot be understated how important sponsors are for the anime industry.
The story of how sponsors first got involved in the anime industry and how important they have remained in the present is quite fascinating. Let me know your thoughts on the interesting relationship between anime and sponsorship, whether you’re aware of any other fascinating stories of sponsors of anime, your thoughts on sponsorship in general and any additional information you might have on the topic.
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 or amazon.com for all of your needs!