While I agree that Geneon's fall seemingly caused a domino effect in the US anime industry, it was something I'd sensed was coming quite sometime before it happened. And although a poor economy certainly had a huge impact on the US anime biz, it really never had a chance to be genuinely profitable for one primary reason: far too many anime fans would rather download free torrents than pay for overpriced imports.
And with the crappy economy and falling sales, distributors/vendors have been forced to lower their prices as a result. At cons this year, dealer prices on anime DVDs were almost normal retail, and I've never seen that across-the-board before. (You'd think a $5 new anime DVD table at a con would be a joke, but I saw it myself at Anime Weekend Atlanta.)
So the US anime industry seemed doomed even as it was reaching unprecedented mainstream popularity and acceptance in the US.
But when your core demographic for retail sales is not buying, you're screwed.
And for me, Cartoon Network's shift to feature live-action programming and the announcement of "CN Real" in their attempt to rebrand themselves to appeal to the tween/teen market with live-action shows was one of the top 5 headlines of this decade involving animation.
I also think that digital downloads -- while not a headline -- is already having a major impact on the way media is distributed and viewed by audiences. (The days of hard copy retail media product in stores are nearing extinction). But I'm sure that will likely be covered in the last "Next Decade Speculation".
