Anime: A Global Marketing Franchise

Are you into either J-Pop, and/or anything related to Japanese lifestyle/culture? If so, you are probably well aware of anime. Animation (a.k.a Anime) is a style of Japanese film and television animation (Grand View Research, 2019) that began roughly around 1917 in Japan (Wonderopolis, n.d). According to Grand View Research (2019), “nearly 622 animation studios are present in Japan that engage in the development of animation related content, and out of which 542 anime studios are located in Tokyo itself”.

This unique Japanese concept has slowly taken over the world, all while providing different genres of animation content such as: action, adventure, comedy, drama, horror, supernatural, romance, and magic (Cheeky Kid, 2018). Followed by sub genres: Hentai, Cyberpunk, Ecchi, Harem, and Mecha (to name a few) (Cheeky Kid, 2018). However, if many are not familiar with the genres, some of the most popular/common anime shows are: Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Pokémon, Cowboy Bebop, and Sailor Moon.

Over the years, the “global anime market size is being valued at 20.47 billion USD in 2018 and is expected to register a CAGR of 8.8% over the forecast period” (Grand View Research, 2019). With the great expansion/marketing of anime, it has lead to “developers, animators, publishers, other creative agencies and artists that are responsible for significant generation values in the market” (Grand View Research, 2019). Well enough, the anime industry has been steady on all distribution channels, and can be watched on “TV, movies, music videos, and pachinko machines among others” (Grand View Research, 2019).

Along with the marketing aspect of anime on a global scale, anime marketing insights consist of: “Bones Inc.; Kyoto Animation Co., Ltd.; Madhouse Inc.; Manglobe Inc.; P.A.Works, Inc.; Pierrot Co., Ltd.; Production I.G, Inc.; Studio Ghibli, Inc.; Sunrise Inc.; Toei Animation Co., Ltd; among others” (Grand View Research, 2019). While keeping in mind, the key purpose of anime marketing insights are to develop scripts, production, special effects, drawings and etc(Grand View Research, 2019).

Given the fact anime is being recognized more and more on a global scale, will its unique marketing continue to be popular in 10, 15, or even 20 years? Will it be able to connect with various generations, as there might be either a slight or large age gap between the generations?

What are your given thoughts on anime in future? And what are some of your favorite anime films (for those who are into anime)? Or even those who are interested in exploring a new film genre, is there a specific anime genre that grabs your attention?

(P.S. my favorite anime film(s)/cartoon(s) are Sailor Moon and Pokémon).

Thanks for viewing.

References

Kid, Cheeky. (2018) A Complete List of Anime Genres. Retrieved from: https://reelrundown.com/animation/Anime-Genre-List

Wonderopolis. (n.d). Retrieved from: http://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/when-did-anime-begin