Anime’smeteoric rise in popularity among Pan-Asian cinematics brings a surge of expectations to the medium that may exceed the industry’s capabilities. Year after year, the once-scorned stylistic media features hit shows that rival and occasionally overwhelm Western counterparts in unexpected ways. However, it seems that these positive advancements are double-edged swords, with the possibility of compromising the medium’s novelty.
In a forebodinginterview featuring Kenji Horikawa, the founder of Studio P.A. Works, he describes a gnawing problem the industry faces in creating anime that brings a fresh narrative to the fold. According to the founder, industry workers are overstrained, and investors are wary, auguring a brooding crisis that may water down thequality of future anime originals.
Kenji Horikawa, Studio P.A. Founder, Laments The Industry’s Looming Problems That May Curb Anime’s Progress
Anime’s skyrocketing appeal breeds a hunger among audiences for more quality shows with smudges of originality that lurch away from the medium’s typical approaches. However, beyond the screens, creating original anime comes with ultra-expensive costs that the industry is hesitant to undertake.
“It’s definitely true that it’s hard to make original projects these days. Anime production costs are rising quickly, so from the perspective of investors, original works are seen as high risk. I do understand that to a degree.
However, on the other hand, the huge volume of anime [being released is] becoming overwhelming. It has exhausted [workers] who are trying to keep up with the demand, as so I feel like the desire [to create original works] is weakening.
With original titles, the story, the world, and the characters are all crafted by the creators themselves, so production effort is high. It’s important to ask whether there’s something in the original work worth the effort to create it. But, should the current path continue, I feel a crisis coming as we may forget how to make original works even if we all want to."
— Kenji Horikawa, Studio P.A. Founder.
In an interview highlighting the anime industry’s modern challenges, Kenji Horikawa, P.A. Works’ creator, foretells the medium’s imminent decline in the production of original works. Horikawa explained theplight of the anime industry:investors are unwilling to finance original projects, the cost of anime production is skyrocketing, and industry professionals are overwhelmed by the volume of anime production requirements.
To Horikawa, original projects are a big gamble: when they pay off, the gains are immense; when they flop, the losses are destabilizing. In keeping up with the accelerating global demand for anime, the industry is being stretched to its very limits, and it’s only a matter of time before it caves under the weight of fans’ expectations.
The Anime Industry’s Current Problems Are Significant Hurdles, and It Would Be Hard For The Medium to Surpass Them
Horikawa is a founding member of P.A. Works, a widely revered studio with a 25-year-long history, and is behind anime successes like:Ya Boy Kongming!, Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms, Skip And Loafer, Angel Beats!, and many more hits. Thus, his words carry a lot of weight, hinting at a possible portentous future for the genre.
Despite these gloomy predictions of the medium’s issues, much faith is still placed in anime, and the genre’s future still shines bright withDemon Slayer’s: Infinity Castle Arcon its way to breaking film records. However, will it be bright enough to dispel the darkening clouds looming over it? Only time will tell.
