Since the rise of anime during the 1980s and 1990s, we have not only seen the creation of some great series, but also have witness the growth of a very strong and united anime community. While we may not all agree on what is the best series ever created, we do share the love of great anime. The anime community plays a crucial role in success of the anime industries both here in America as well as in Japan.

While the American and Japanese anime industries share a lot of similarities, the advantage that the Japanese anime industry possesses is that they have had longer to mature. Anime has been on American shores long before the 1990s. However, it wasn’t till around that time till we saw the explosive growth that we are still witnessing today. The 1990s brought us many great anime series like Evangelion and the rise of Dragonball Z here in America. Japan on the other hand, had their anime surge almost 20 years earlier in the 1970s and 1980s. What this boils down to is that the Japanese anime community is not only larger, but also older. Fans have more disposable income to keep the anime industry strong, and have been doing so a lot longer. Sadly, America isn’t as lucky.

The 1990s also brought us the Internet. Fledging anime companies in America had a new tool to help advertise their stores and products. They were also presented with a very tough problem that no one could have predicted. While I am sure everyone is aware of the piracy problem that plagues the entire anime industry in the states and abroad, I don’t want to spend time debating that. What’s interesting about the problem is how it affects both America and Japan differently.

Japan’s maturity is their greatest asset when it comes to being able to buy time in order to research possible solutions. Japanese anime fans have always had to travel to a local shop to purchase their anime and manga. Fans not only were used to purchasing their anime from local shops, but it was easier for store owners to stay in business without the competition brought on by the Internet.

During the early boom of anime here in America, we too had our local anime shops. However, only business owners in larger cities could afford to keep their stores open. Smaller stores just didn’t have enough customers to stay afloat. So many business owners in America choose to start their company online because it just made better business sense.

As we now know, the Internet has made sharing anything easier than ever. The initial response to sharing anime online was resoundingly negative. However, I feel as though while anime companies still don’t condone the practice, they are willing to adapt their business to the changing times. I hope this brief history lesson gave you an idea about why the Japanese and American anime industries are slightly different. While both industries suffer, the American anime industry is hit hardest. There is no easy solution, but the anime community plays more of a role than you may think.

Online communities, just like the one you are reading this article on right now are the answer to saving the anime industry. That may sound like a pretty big claim. However, I feel it’s the best solution for not only the anime industry, but also for the anime fans. When you think of an anime community, you may instantly think of anime forums. Yes, there are a lot of them out there. I think it’s important to note what makes a community different than a forum. It’s actually quite simple. Communities are made up of forums. I think it’s important for every community to have some form of a forum. They are great places to foster discussion. Communities should also be a place to meet new people, find others with similar interests, along with discussing ideas. With so many different anime forums, the only thing you end up with is a very splintered anime community. Still confused about what the difference between a community and a forum is? Imagine having a place with as much flexibility as Myspace versus just a traditional forum. That’s a community.

How will companies and distributors take advantage of anime communities? At the most basic level, companies need to have customers. So, by anime companies working with community owners, they have the perfect audience delivered to them. I’m not just talking about sticking advertisements on websites. What those companies need to do is really open up a dialog with the community. You may have heard of companies holding focus groups of ten to twenty customers to figure out opinions on a product or service. By anime companies interacting with anime communities, they can potentially have access to thousands of opinions at the push of a button. Not only are they able to position their products in front of the people more effectively with advertising, they can find out what people actually will buy. We have begun to see this in action with partnerships between anime companies and sites like Crunchyroll.

One of the most heated debates in the anime community is whether or not the anime going main-stream will help or hurt the community as a whole. With the rise of movie studios such as 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers resurrecting anime titles and turning them into live action movies, we have seen a community backlash like no other. Out of the many complaints I have heard ranging from movie studios not doing a good job staying true to the original animator’s vision, to companies choosing the wrong movies to make into live action feature films, one of them stands out. Fans believe that these movie companies are ruining what they loved about the anime titles.

What’s the solution for Hollywood? You guessed it, the anime communities. Now, I realize that Hollywood’s ultimate goal is to make money. I can’t really blame them for that. The key element they seem to be forgetting is why the anime titles that they are turning into live action films were popular in the first place; the anime fans. If you want to turn a popular anime into a great live action movie, and don’t have the original fans behind you, your movie is destined to fail. You could choose one of the most iconic anime titles of all time, give it to some of the most innovative directors in the world, and it will still fail. You won’t generate positive buzz within the small groups of friends or the larger anime community. Taking the time to interact with the anime community to find out why they loved title should be a mandatory step in the movie studio’s agenda. If the anime community is already there, wouldn’t it be a bit foolish to not take advantage of it? Catering to the core fanbase isn’t necessarily a bad move. Just look at the success Japan has had with live action adaptations. I believe Japanese movie studios realize that once you have the core fans behind you, the positive buzz is enough to make the masses take note.

So while the American anime industry does have its share of unique problems, I believe that the solution is pretty obvious. The anime industry can’t fix itself on its own though. As anime fans, we not only need to support the anime stores, distributors, and events, but also support the communities that are bringing us together! Many years from now, you will wonder how you were able to function without sites like Ningin and the other communities still in their infancy. The anime industry as a whole needs to take note of the revolution happening right now, and put themselves directly in the middle of it!

Louis Ponder is Japanese pop culture blogger and web designer with an addiction to Japanese dramas, black black gum, and ecchi anime. You can find his blog and many other great postings at xorsyst.com.

Tags: america, anime, black black gum, blogger, dragon ball z, drama, ecchi, evangelion, japan, louis ponder, new york anime festival, ningin, nyaf, otome road, pop culture, solution, web designer, xorsyst