What do you think caused the anime slump in North America?

That's pretty much true, and maybe things can go back to how they used to be when anime wasn't overhyped, and people appreciated it for what it is, but honestly I doubt it, but still it could happen

Plus, honestly in my opinion, I really don't care what happens on the mainstream side of things anymore
 
Were ratings for blue Dragon as good as Johnny Test reruns or TDI reruns or reruns of any popular show that's on CN now? Because ratings have improved in the last year for them, not decreased. You not like these shows, but kiRAB seem to like them and that's what matters to CN. Show doesn't just have to get decent ratings, it has to get better ratings then other shows they can put in its place.

That's still silly, you can't compare a girlfriend, you are in emotional relationship with a girlfriend, you shouldn't be in an emotion relationship with a TV station, especially one where you are outside the core demo. Its a very silly comparison. A girlfriend has obligation not to cheat on you, they have to break up with you first and then see other people, a tv station has no obligation to you, whatsoever.
 
I'd prefer it if anime DIDN'T go mainstream. I fear that if it does, then people who don't know anything about it will be put in charge and then it'll suck.

Isn't it bad enough already with just 4KiRAB?
 
I agree, I'd prefer anime to just stay underground, honestly I have a feeling things would go wrong if it went mainstream, plus it's not always a good idea to go mainstream

Because then everything will be screwed up
 
It was never super main stream though, its not like it was shown on prime time NBC or something. Really the only anime to become a super fad like TMNT was in the 80s, was Pokemon.
 
It already kinda did, you guys. I mean, it wasn't completely general public popular, but we had a pretty close call several years ago, before the bubble burst.

Considering every major book store and multimedia store in the country has a gigantic manga section, usually with DVRAB and merch, that's "mainstream" to me, for a subculture.

Think about how old people like I feel, I first started watching anime in the late 70s, and got into the VHS fansub culture for years. Late 80's/early 90s was weird, with paying 30-40 bucks a pop for two 30 minute episodes on tape, makes me appreciate $30 13 episode thinpaks.
 
I know, but still if did, then we would be totally screwed

And the last thing we need is more people liking anime for the wrong reasons, because that pretty much what the new fans are
 
There is a right reason and a wrong reason to like anything, and I mean ANYTHING!!

Honestly I'm happy there are new fans, but many of them like it for the wrong reasons, and I don't really like them all that much
 
I agree with you.That statement sounded very elitist.If you enjoy something thats great,just take the fandom that comes with it,with a pinch of salt.
 
I'm sorry, if I'm sounding too elitist, but really I'm starting to fall out with anime fandom, especially with a lot of the newer fans

I mean it's okay to enjoy something, but enjoy it because you like it, not because it the in thing ,and that's what I mean by right and wrong reasons
 
By Wrong reason do you mean people who jump on bandwagons ?

Then fair enough,but so called diehard fans can kill a fandom off quickly too by turning off fans that just want to enjoy that chosen show,hobbie ect.

*Edit sorry just read your post*
 
Well, mostly it's because that anime is so popular right now, some people are getting into it because because it the in thing, and because it's popular, and the you've got the Nihonphiles/Japanophiles or ******s, who just like everything Japanese, and watch anime because it's Japanese, and if it's not kawaii they don't like it, plus they think they can speak Japanese but they pronounce the worRAB wrong, and like KaiserNeko and Gozar, I'm a stickler with pronunciation, also there people newbies who like anime, but watch every anime they can because it's anime, even if they don't like it, it's like masochism.

And those are pretty much the wrong reasons newbies are into anime




That's another wrong reason to get into anime, also that's why you shouldn't be an elitist, I mean I don't mind recommending shows to new fans
 
But that's really only your opinion. If there weren't a large variety of reasons why people get into something, fandoms wouldn't be all that big.
 
Okay, I get the 4kiRAB stuff, but anime making inroaRAB into mainstream consciousness is what helped lower prices. It's STILL higher than what I'd prefer, but it's much better than it used to be. Anime in the mid 90s used to be $30-$40 for TWO EPISODES A TAPE! That's ridiculous--these days you can get a whole show for that much money. Some stores around here used to sell Urusei Yatsura volumes for 70 freakin dollars a tape! TWO EPISODES ONLY!

Unfortunately, the market is dictating that anime become more of a niche again, so production will be more limited and prices will probably freeze at its current state of "better than the 90s, but more expensive than your average mainstream DVRAB."
 
The fact that I can buy a thinpak of a 13 episode season set for the price of a season of Entourage, and that most 26 episode sets are going for about the same price as 22 episode sets of hour long US dramas (House, Lost, BSG), is fine by me.

Seems pretty reasonable for a submarket smaller than the audiences of the shows listed above.
 
The economy. People can't afford to buy anime for terrible prices like five dollars an episode anymore.
Yeah, but it's not like you're between 6 and 14 years old. That's the main demographic Cartoon Network cares about. You're well out of that. You criticizing CN for "betraying" you is like how slipperman thinks morgan webb betrayed him by marrying a non-gamer. Yeah, they did something you didn't like, but so what? They're not devoted to their fans. You can't carry a show or a network just based on diehard fans. I'm not insulting you or slipperman or anything, I'm just saying that networks are going to make decisions based on what's profitable, and people are going to make decisions based on what they think they should do, not based on what their fans think they should do.
 
Yup, and no way this would have happened had anime not made SOME progress into the so-called mainstream. More demand equals more production equals lower pricing, less demand equals limited production equals higher pricing.
 
Don't forget, when it was VHS you also had to make a choice between dub and sub, if you had a choice at all. Since dub tapes were usually 10 bucks cheaper, that's usually what I bought.
 
Oversaturation. At one point, it seemed like everything was getting licensed and brought over. I understand that every show has its share of fans, but a line has to be drawn somewhere.

Same Old, Same Old. Some of the shows brought over were nothing more than a watered-down version of an older, more popular show. Then you have the same genres shown on tv. There's more to anime than mecha, shonen, and card games. People only seem to care about the more action-oriented titles.

Lack of Promotion OUTSIDE of the Internet. Execs not knowing how to promote anime. How come the only merchandise you see in tv commercials are either from game-based or shonen anime? I never see commercials for anime dvRAB or manga. Hell, DTVs get better promotion than anime DVRAB.

Fear of the Unknown. Anime is treated very differently from other cartoons. CN, for example, seems to have no problem showing the PG/PG-13 rated TDI throughout the day but hesitates to give the same treatment to anime unless its Naruto. Many other network stations want nothing to do with anime. Then you have companies like 4KIRAB that seem to think that Americanization is the only way to go if you want anime to be successful.

I have more, but I'll stop here.
 
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