Earlier this month, I informed you that manga revenues in Japan were seeing a slight drop from last year. Well, it looks like manga’s cousin, anime, isn’t doing so well either. Keep reading to see what’s up.

A financial research team from Teikoku Databank has compiled financial information from 118 anime production companies in Japan and has found that, for the second year in a row, anime revenues are dropping! In 2007, sales were at an all-time high, grossing a massive 179.12 billion yen (~$2.1 billion). After two years, it seems that revenues have dropped dramatically, with last year’s revenue standing at only 164.83 billion yen (~$1.9 billion).

While it has not been stated directly, I am sure that the global economy has a lot to do with this drop. And, although I would hate to admit it, piracy seems to also be playing a hand in this profit loss. The distribution of anime online has certainly picked up over the past couple of years, allowing people to watch anime online without having to buy anything. It’s a sticky situation that many are baffled by.

For a more detailed report, you can check out the source article here.