Senran Kagura Phone Straps And The Nature of Stigma

Earlier today, Anime News Network reportedthat Toy’sworks would release a line of mobile phone…

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[caption id=”attachment_3372” align=”alignright” width=”332”] See you, space cowboy…[/caption]

Earlier today, Bandai Entertainment announced that they will start winding down their distribution operations. The company plans to send its final manga and novel shipments to retailers by the end of October. They will discontinue their home video business by March 1, 2013, with a final deadline for orders occurring on November 15.

Bandai’s exit from the market was inevitable. When the company announced that they would cease all licensing in January, it felt like a sad inevitability for the troubled distributor. Bandai was plagued by misfortune as early as 2009, when a number of us began placing the company on the annual “death watch” radar. This began in January, when Bandai Entertainment restructured, laying off 19 full-time employees. In May 2010, Eric Sherman of Bang! Zoom noted that the company was facing severe difficulties, and was hoping for the Haruhi franchise to be the silver bullet that saves the company, as they threw underperforming title after underperforming title into retail channel. Release dates on key titles slipped, and Bandai continued to pay top dollar for incredibly niche offerings, like Lucky Star and K-On!.

While, at this point, we won’t see much of an impact on the greater market, Bandai’s presence will certainly be missed. They currently hold a number of strong titles with great sales potential, which include like Gurren Lagann, Cowboy Bebop, and the Gundam franchise. Given that Bandai is essentially retreating to the role that Geneon currently holds, I have little doubt that we’ll begin to see partnerships and distribution agreements arise between Bandai and western distributors. While not every title will be rescued, I have little doubt that the shows that make money, and resonate with a greater market will be given their second chance with a publisher like Sentai or FUNimation. As for who will release which titles? This will surely become the topic of speculation amongst fans and industry watchers alike.

More than anything, Bandai’s exit is a sad reminder of the changing market we currently reside within. While we are beginning to see some growth, some branching out into new territory by the major players, there is still an unmistakable sense of dread in the air. Uncertainty continues to linger, as former establishment figures fade to give way to rising new entities, and industry powerhouses continue to dominate the key blockbuster licenses. While the corrections are no longer as drastic as they were in 2008, or even 2010, we will continue to see some form of reach toward equilibrium, as the economy creeps out of its current slump.

Original Article

[caption id=”attachment_3729” align=”alignright” width=”300”] Bad Anime, Bad! - a great source of inspiration for Bad Anime Nights.[/caption]

Since moving into the new house, I’ve begun the tradition of hosting a “Bad Anime Night” at least once a month. It was something that was met with initial reluctance. Several regarded this as strange, and others feared as potentially cruel and unusual punishment. And while it is indeed cruel (words cannot describe some of the shows I find), the event has proven to be a hit among those who attend. Not everybody that arrives is an anime fan, but they all certainly enjoy the evening and entertainment.

Why is it such a hit? Frankly, it’s hard to say, but the social aspect can easily turn the most horrible of entertainment into something worth watching. Droning monologues get cut off by a snarky peanut gallery, cheesy jokes are met with biting wit, and bad acting is met with a collective face-palm. Uncomfortable facts about shows get shared, and collective groans are heard with every inevitable plot twist. What is normally a spectator event becomes something interactive. Instead of sitting on a couch in quiet conversation, it’s a more lively affair that welcomes, nay encourages everyone in attendance to enter the fray.

“This is sentimental bull!”

Hush, dear reader. I’m approaching my point now.

“But…”

I promise, I’m getting to it. Now, hush.

In addition to Bad Anime Night being a night of, well, bad anime, I often like to use the event as a test bed for other titles. These are titles that I like to call “brain cleaners” of “palette cleansers,” as they’re often carefully chosen selections that are either fan favorites, popular sellers, or chart toppers from a bygone era. This is my chance to observe, and to learn which titles resonate with the group. In this social context, a number of interesting revelations begin to arise among the various viewers:

• Light-hearted, or action-oriented titles like Shinesman, Dirty Pair, and Hellsing: Ultimate get the strongest reaction
• Serious or dramatic titles like Shiki and Darker Than Black promote the mot discussion between viewers
• Supposed “shoe-ins” for a casual audience, like Panty & Stocking or Fruits Basket are more hit-or-miss. The anime fans find them fun, while the non-fans are often disinterested or outright bored.
• If a title is strong enough, it will encourage even a non-fan to buy it.
• The average person doesn’t notice the difference between anime on Blu-Ray versus anime on DVD.
• Trailers do little to sell shows to the average audience

The last point proves to be the important one. This is the moment in which the “third tier non-customer” we often speak of begins to move inward in the Ocean. This is the moment where the market itself expands, and a completely new demographic opens as a viable sales target. This is currently uncontested market-share that, if engaged enough, will gradually shift inward toward becoming a regular customer. Once these customers are engaged, it’s easy to point to Amazon or Right Stuf to seal a sale, or to point to Netflix for a series offered on streaming.

And how thrilled these people are to find out that Netflix carries a wide selection of anime! Since the barrier of entry is so low, they’ll gleefully pick and choose titles, and find new favorites. Returning visitors often gleefully chat about the new shows they’ve found, what they’ve liked and what they’ve disliked. This is often punctuated by a request for suggestions, which get shuffled into the next list of Bad Anime Night palette cleansers. And, as such the cycle begins anew in each month.

So, in a nutshell, a positive social experience can create a positive feedback loop. This will continue to feed positive aspects and create a more approving image of anime as a whole. Suddenly, it becomes less about neckbeards watching hentai in their parents’ basements, or geeks with no social lives that bitch ceaselessly on message boards. Instead, the focus turns to the content, the stories, adventures, and characters that fill every good show. And, slowly but surely, the image of the typical “otaku” begins to fade away in these people.

Original Article

On Tuesday, Media Blasters announced that they are once again listed as an active business by the New York Department of State. In April, Anime News Network reported that the company was listed as “dissolved by proclamation”, which meant that the Media Blasters faced stiff penalties that included the denial of the use of their own name in business affairs.

The original announcement prompted an incredible reaction from the greater subculture. It sparked a wave of speculation and doom-saying that spread like wildfire. Forums and social media ignited with conversations about whether this was the end for the company, and how their licenses would be divided in the worst case scenario.

The situation continued to spiral out of control, as ANN claimed that the company hadn’t replied, and Media Blasters CEO John Sirabella took to their forums to try and quell further discussions. In the midst of a number of passionate posts, where he expressed his frustration toward ANN’s handling of the issue, the impact of the decision on future licensing deals, and the carefree dismissal of the company’s situation by the greater public. It was a rare opportunity to see a normally calm and collected entrepreneur bare his rawest of emotions to the masses.

At the time, there were many skeptics about the company’s fortune, and many believed that Sirabella’s remarks were a feeble attempt to garner support for the weakened company. However, in retrospect, it appears that many of these accusations were indeed unwarranted. The baseless speculation, the death-watches, the cries that certain titles will never be finished were all for naught.

While it was unfortunate to see such a fate befall the company, it is encouraging to see Media Blasters beginning its return to normalcy. They do still face a number of challenges, including restoring the faith of the Japanese licensors, as well as obtaining new material that would have otherwise been acquired at events like Tokyo Anime Fair. Their next moves will be important, as the company needs to be able to regain the momentum it’s lost in the past few months. It’s not an impossible task, but it will be interesting to see if Media Blasters can successfully adapt to the current market norms.

Original Article

Yesterday, Anime News Network reported that Adult Swim is listing its replacement for Deadman Wonderland. Beginning August 19, Samurai 7 will run in the Toonami’s 12:30AM and 3:30AM time slots. Overall, the reaction to the news has been surprisingly muted. Due to the Persona 4 debacle, much of the emotion that seems to punctuate decisions like this was directed more squarely at Sentai Filmworks and Atlus. Still, the decision is one that warrants a closer look.

Deadman Wonderland, for the most part, is a dark show with a fairly simple premise. Delinquent kids are sent to a private prison, where they fight in a twisted modern version of the Roman collosseum. Some political intrigue occurs, and a fair amount of blood is spilled. It’s gritty, it’s twisted, and it’s incredibly appealing to both anime fans and curious onlookers alike.

The show is currently one of the few bright spots for Toonami, as it consistently rates in the network’s top 125 titles. Aside from Bleach, it is the only anime title to chart within the top 100 for the network. A title that hopes to continue the momentum that Deadman is generating will need to have a similar appeal.

Unfortunately, Samurai 7 certainly won’t fill that niche. It’s a Japan-centric title that adapts Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai to a sci-fi setting. It lacks a lot of the visceral “oomph” that Deadman delivers, and the pace slows to a crawl shortly after the opening act. Since the show is eight years old, much of the CG stands out as both ugly and primitive. While there’s a fantastic story buried under the show’s baggage, many of those in the TV audience won’t have the patience to find it.

The big question at this point, though, is “why?” Why would Adult Swim pick up a series with such limited potential?

In this case, it might be wise to look at the obvious answer. Due to its age, Samurai 7 would be a fairly inexpensive license to acquire. Toonami is currently operating on a shoe-string budget, partly due to its status as an “experimental” block, and partly due to the fact that it continually rounds out the bottom of the network’s ratings. Since we can presume that the show had to cost less than a similar, newer title, the idea of a decent show with twice the content would be enticing to a network buyer seeking content.

While Samurai 7 won’t have the same impact on Toonami’s ratings at Deadman Wonderland, it will be interesting to see just how well it performs. Since it is “new” content in the context of the network, there should be some initial buzz generated among viewers, which may soften the impact of the overall genre-shock.

At this point, all we can really do is speculate. How much of a drop-off, and whether there will be a drop-off are all hypotheses at this point. While we do have some foresight based on the show’s IFC performance, we will need to observe, to see whether the show becomes a decent performer or yet another dodo that plummets to the bottom of the charts.

Original Article

Over the past weekend, we saw thousands descend upon Baltimore to attend Otakon. As always, the event was met with much pomp and celebration by enthusiasts that were eager to fill and explore every square inch of the Baltimore Convention Center. Tens of thousands of tweets and Facebook updates were posted, cosplay photos flooded social media timelines, and every detail was lain bare for the world to see.

Amid the glee and chatter, we saw the industry trot out their major announcements and acquisitions, as they tried to close off convention season with a bang. FUNimation threw out one heavy hitter after another, with their announcements of titles like Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine and Akira. We saw Sentai Filmworks reveal Nakaimo, while NIS America made a somewhat baffling announcement in acquisition of Umineko: When They Cry.

Sometimes, though, the most interesting chatter comes about after the lights go out and the masses begin their long trips home. on Sunday evening, FUNimation Marketing Director Lance Heiskell posted the following to Twitter:

“That’s nice, but what does that matter?”

Well, dear reader, take a seat. Heiskell’s comments reveal a bit more about the inner workings of the industry as a whole. Specifically, they show that a multi-tiered structure has appeared within the market itself.

With the current distribution structure, we can place the industry players into two distinct classes: The larger, mainstream organizations, and the smaller boutique sellers. The smaller organizations, which include entities like NIS America, Sentai Filmworks, and Media Blasters are the veritable cottage industry that is romanticized through popular conversation. These are the companies that work from title to title, constantly picking and choosing the titles within their budgets, with the hope that it’ll be the one to help them grow further. They hope for a title that can reach 5,000 sales, and see 3,000 as a high water mark.

“Boring… what does this have to do with the comment?”

Well, dear reader, it explains the conditions under which these companies must operate.

[caption id=”attachment_4188” align=”alignright” width=”233”] Our hypothetical title: Samurai Girls.[/caption]

Let’s argue for a moment that wholesale price of a 13-episode series is about half of the suggested retail¹. So,with this logic, a series like Samurai Girls has a suggested retail price of $69.98. Wholesale pricing dictates that Sentai would see roughly $35 from selling the product to a retailer. Now, from this $35, we must discount costs of production, shipping, and warehousing of surplus. So, let’s say that’s about $5 per disc. Now, let’s argue that the original licensor takes a 10% royalty of each gross sale on top of this. This would be a total of $8.50 off the top of the gross profits from each disc sold. This leads to a net profit of roughly $26.48 for each set sold to retailers.

Now, let’s argue that Samurai Girls is a typical high-performing show, and say that it sold that estimated 3,000 copies. This would lead to net profits of $79,440 for the title as a whole. This money will likely go into operational costs, such as paying staff, paying rent, and licensing other titles. Depending on the cost of the license, this can be incredibly profitable, or a disappointment at market for the company.

Heiskell’s tweet mentions that 3,000 sales wouldn’t be enough to justify dubbing a title, which is entirely true. While I don’t have exact figures, industry quotes place the overall dub cost at roughly $10,000 per episode. So, for a 13 episode series, we’re looking at $130,000 for a full translation and dub. To recoup those costs alone, we’d need to see at roughly 6,000 sales with the current pay-scale. Now, let’s argue that the company (hypothetically) paid $30,000 for the license, and $5,000 to translate. This would add another 1,322 sales to the total, leading to 4,322 total sales required just to break even, let alone profit.

“So why can’t they let FUNimation do it, then?! They have a reputation!”

Patience, reader. I was just getting to that. Anime, as a medium, is incredibly elastic in its demand. Depending on the subject matter, the genre, and even the title, there are a multitude of factors that influence a show’s ability to generate revenues. While there are some who are conscious of who releases a title and base it as a reason for purchase, the greater market sees it as a non-factor.

With this in mind, FUNimation is a much larger company, which dubs everything it releases. Now, to dub everything, from Murder Princess to Eden of the East gets expensive. using ballpark quoted rates as an example, we’re looking at anywhere from $130,000 to $250,000 added to the average show’s² run, depending on length. On top of this, they consistently release a much higher overall volume of anime into the market than the boutique market. Also remember that FUNimation sells their titles with an MSRP of $49.98, leading FUNimation to take in roughly $24.99 per disc. Removing the $8.50 flat cost to cover royalties, manufacture, and shipping, this would leave us with $16.49 per disc in profits.

So, with this in mind, FUNimation needs to be able to carry a balanced ledger. To accomplish this, while being able to acquire new titles, we need to look at a specific profit point on the average title. At the same time, the company needs the ability to keep rolling forward in the case of a non-performing title (like Big Windup, for example). Let’s say this figure is a 20% margin, give or take. This means that, to have a title reach this given threshold, again assuming licensing, translation, and marketing are sunk, we’ll need a total of $156,000 to meet our thresholds. This would require 9,460 sales to achieve. Now, as with the ADV example, let’s argue that total base costs for the license and translation totaled $35,000. This would add another 2,123 sales to the goal point, which would give us a total of 11,583 sales to meet the goals set.

“But FUNimation keeps actors on the payroll!”

That’s a great point, reader. It’s one I had forgotten to account for in my initial modeling. So, let’s expand upon this.

Keeping actors on the payroll, assuming they’re consistently working, will see a large savings over a title-by-title contract. Let’s argue on a conservative end, that this will save 30% per title. So, this would bring dubbing cost down to $7,000 per episode. So, with this in mind, our hypothetical show would cost a mere $91,000 to dub. Add this to the hypothetical $35,000 in fees,and the total cost comes to $126,000. Assuming we still reach the same 11,583 sales, we would be seeing a revised profit of $65,003.67, a three-fold increase over our previous estimated profit margin.

Of course, this assumes that the actors work consistently. Without a steady flow of product, the in-house actors will eventually cost more per episode than outsourcing. Because of this, profits will need to be constantly rolled into new product acquisitions. On the plus side, this ensures that riders, titles added to a licensing contract as a requirement for more desirable shows, become somewhat less difficult to swallow. Since it ensures that the actors will be working, which in turn sees that their cost of utilization remains optimized, these titles will become more of an asset in the short run for the company.

A title that does 3,000 at Sentai or Media Blasters won’t do much more with FUNimation, due to the factors that influence elastic demand. Adding a dub doesn’t guarantee sales would reach a break-even point, let alone profitability, so the company does continually pass on these titles by virtue of forging ahead in the market. The trade-off, though, is that entities like FUNimation manage to amass the capital to get more new, high-performing titles due to their business model. And, while we see companies like Sentai and Media Blasters floating through the market, we rarely see them rise up with that same meteoric “oomph.” While they’ll sometimes acquire something that will print money, like Sentai with Persona 4 (Blu-Ray issues aside), the overall market seems to be comfortably settled into the dual-layer structure that’s formed in today’s market.

¹: For the sake of simplicity, we will be using a generalized model. We’re assuming that costs like translation, acquisition,and marketing are sunk costs that were already logged on another balance sheet.

²: This does not count long titles like One Piece or Fairy Tail, which will grow exponentially more expensive.

Original Article

Gather round, dear reader, for tonight we begin with Story Time! Before we delve into tonight’s discussion, we’re going to watch a short conversation from Anime Expo 2001, when an attendee asked Central Park Media Lead Editor Christopher Couch what type of animated title he would produce, given the proper financial resources. Couch quickly defers to CPM president John O’Donnell on the matter. O’Donnell, rather than give an answer that dances around the issue, cuts straight to the nuts and bolts, as he discusses the business side of anime in the west.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJDngyHpWAY’]

Now, before we begin, I’d like to established the following facts:

1. This discussion was held at the height of the Anime Bubble, so the market as a whole was steadily growing.
2. Economic conditions were vastly different from today
3. Central Park Media was still a moderate competitor in the industry, with a large “adult” line and numerous “must-haves” of the time that included Utena and Slayers.

Basically we were on the cusp of the era of irrational exuberance. This was before licensing costs imploded, before Musicland filed bankruptcy, and before players began folding left and right. Nobody had the faintest inkling that we would see such changes come to the industry in just a few short years. Still, the core concepts that O’Donnell speaks of are relevant even in today’s market.

It may seem like O’Donnell’s stating the obvious when he states that a company should strive to sell products that:

• contain content that people want to see, and
• cost less than they can earn at market

After all, these are comments we hear from representatives at conventions and in interviews! They’re what gets parroted every time a niche wish-list title gets shot down! Still, as we’ve seen in the period leading up to the bursting of the anime bubble, these are easy concepts to forget. While we’ve seen visible efforts for the players in today’s market to maintain financial stability, the boom era saw a general loosening of the purse-strings. We saw storied establishments in the industry step into vicious cycles of bidding wars, which led to deficits that would eventually be the undoing of these very institutions. We saw titles that would sell no more than 200 copies being licensed for top dollar, and huge performers barely squeaking by in the margins.

What’s particularly interesting, though, is O’Donnell’s assessment of the three tiers of the greater industry. His comments are certainly a period of the time in which they were made - we no longer have the same broad interest from Hollywood in anime outside of the occasional live-action adaptation. At the time, though, they were indeed the ones with the potential to move mountains and reshape the industry. They were seen as the ones with the money and the means to bring about real, lasting change within the industry.

But that didn’t happen.

Ironically, it was the smaller players that brought real change. Crunchyroll disrupted digital distribution with their low-cost streaming model, and FUNimation that would change the way physical media was presented with lower-priced sets and combo packs. These products, which many perceived as “crappy” at their release, would change how many would consume and purchase anime in today’s market. The companies that brought them about would become establishments in today’s industry.

The larger companies would be restrained by a general conservatism that stifles entrepreneurial investment. While they did bring films like Cowboy Bebop and Millennium Actress to western shores, the general enthusiasm began to die with the downturn of the greater market.

Original Article

At this year’s Anime Expo, Right Stuf announced that they would launch a new brand. The label, known as Lucky Penny, will focus on “high-quality and budget-friendly” releases, as Nozomi is elevated to a brand for higher-end products and limited edition releases.

Launching a new brand offers a number of potentially large benefits that may be reaped are quite large. With an effective launch and a consistent message, a company can grow its presence in the marketplace among its core market and the greater population. A strong brand demands mindshare, and encourages conversation among customers. It attracts attention, while also telling the story of the company that bore it. Likewise, there area number of challenges and potential pitfalls that can be fallen into, from poor storytelling to mediocre product offerings, that can cause disinterest to grow, and excitement to fizzle.

To get a better understanding of Lucky Penny as a whole, I reached out to Director of Marketing Alison Roberts with a few inquiries about the brand, its goals, and its ability to attact customers both old and new.

I began with a simple inquiry: “What led to the creation of the Lucky Penny brand?” Why did the company choose to to elevate the Nozomi brand from its current status, rather than introduce a new premium line? Roberts responded, stating that, “[f]or a while, internally, we had discussed shifting the focus of the Nozomi label to the limited editions that we (and the fans) consider its signature releases.” She elaborated on this, noting that not every title the company acquires has enough content, art assets, or even market demand to receive a limited edition release. “Rather than establishing a new premium line,” Roberts added, “we instead chose to build upon Nozomi’s reputation among the fans and create a new label to publish these additional shows.”

Through Lucky Penny, the company aims to gain more flexibility to release a wider variety of shows, which wouldn’t be possible through Nozomi’s emerging high-end model. Rather than try to forge into new demographics, though, Right Stuf views Lucky Penny as a way to supplement their current line-up. According to Roberts, Right Stuf sees the linea as “an opportunity to release more of the titles fans are already (frequently) asking us about — but for one reason or another can’t be released under the Nozomi label.” She admits that, like Nozomi’s releases, “the target audience for Lucky Penny’s titles will vary widely from release to release, but it’s fair to say most of the fans who purchase these titles value the accessibility and convenience of physical media, appreciate high-quality releases, and don’t mind the extra savings we’re able to pass along.”

[caption id=”attachment_4123” align=”alignright” width=”213”] Lucky Penny titles will share a similar visual style to Nozomi’s releases, like Boogiepop and Dirty Pair Flash.[/caption]

The savings are derived from other sources, which Roberts noted in stating that “Lucky Penny’s releases will feature more standard packaging and resemble our El-Hazard: The Wanderers and Gasaraki DVD sets, with keepcase/litebox-style packaging.” Through such decisions, the company will be able to reduce overall costs, which will allow the company to release a title to market for a lower price than the typical Nozomi release. Regardless of the price difference, though, Roberts was keen to stress that titles “will receive the same quality video presentation, translation and subtitle treatments fans have come to expect from us.” Shifting to a smaller, less expensive footprint doesn’t necessarily imply that the overall presentation would be shockingly different than what many expect from the company. Roberts assures that the “The same designers responsible for the Nozomi releases… will also be handling these duties for Lucky Penny’s titles,” which ensures that there will be a visual consistency across the two lines.

“But this sounds so basic!”

Well, dear, reader, it is. However, to learn the basics of a brand roll-out is to learn how a company will approach a market. In particular, these are the questions that must be asked to learn how a company will build its presence and garner customers before the first product hits store shelves. It also explains the “why” and “how” of why Right Stuf selected its brand.

While Right Stuf isn’t breaking into blue oceans, they do have a clear goal for the customers they wish to reach. In particular, they are aiming for the dedicated core market, which they’ve already established ties with via the Nozomi Entertainment line. The new label will allow the company to grow its library without By extending the line via titles that wouldn’t necessarily fit into Nozomi’s mold, be it due to a lack of materials or prestige. This would allow Right Stuf to expand their offerings while also protecting the Nozomi brand from dilution.

Since both Lucky Penny and Nozomi will be important pillars of Right Stuf’s distribution, it will be interesting to see how the two branches perform in the market post-launch. The company has a specific interest in seeing both brands grow and thrive, as it continues to carve its niche in the industry. In the lead-up to launch, the company plans to “continue to focus on maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the fans (and prospective fans) of our titles,” via social media, forums, and other outlets. If everything goes well, and reception is strong, this will translate into word of mouth publicity that will ideally be converted into sales.

While there is some risk in Right Stuf’s strategy, there are numerous rewards that can be reaped if the gambit pays off. Initial reactions to the chosen titles are strong, which is an encouraging sign for the company. If the company can maintain the excitement that is buzzing at the moment, the ideal of a strong launch will become a reality.

A huge thanks to Right Stuf Director of Marketing Alison Roberts for her input.

Original Article

Toonami launched atop a wave of support and elation. In the days leading to its launch, we saw anime viewers, websites, and organizations chatting up the block. Reminders to tune in and watch could be found on scores of forums and blogs, as the days continued to tick down. On the big day, the #Toonami hash-tag trended on Twitter, as thousands happily chatted about Casshern, Deadman Wonderland, and Bleach. After the launch, though, we began to see fatigue set in amongst viewers. Each passing week saw ratings decling further, as fewer and fewer viewrs began to turn to the network.

While we were able to make a few projections in our previous analysis, it was difficult to make definitive projections. One month of data works well for sampling, but it may not always allow for accurate tracking of trends. Tonight, we’ll be revisiting this topic, with the benefit of two more weeks’ worth of data (via Sons of the Bronx) with the intent of obtaining a more definite analysis of Toonami’s market performance.

For tonight’s analysis, I’ll present two charts: the first (Figure 1), is the viewership data as presented in our previous analysis.

The latter (Figure 2) will be new data for the previous two weeks.

While it may seem like we saw major leaps in overall positioning, the numbers in this case are a bit misleading. Many titles were pushed up by default, as other shows, such as Loiter Squad were pulled from the lineup. Relatively speaking, many of the titles saw zero real movement, as a result. For the sake of accuracy, the total items ranked by Nielson for these periods were as follows;

• Week Ending 6/24: 150
• Week Ending 7/1: 144

So, with this in mind, we can safely state the following:

• For the past six weeks, anime has consumed six or more of the bottom ten shows were taken by anime.
• The majority of the bottom ten spots were specifically held by the post-3:00 Toonami re-airings
• There is little movement between shows from week-to-week. Much of the general movement is a temporary “shuffling” between similarly-ranked shows.
• Viewers drop off in a linear progression: As the time from midnight increases, viewership decreases.

The trend that we previously predicted shows no signs of deviations. We can confirm that the ratings collapse in week three can be attributed to the market settling to its natural performance pattern, where equilibrium between demand and performance is met.

“And? What does that have to do with anything?”

Dear reader, this is important, as it shows that there is little increased demand for Toonami over the previous anime block. To be fair, this isn’t even entirely accurate to say. Viewers hunger for newer, less stale content. This is is evidenced by the strong performance of new shows Deadman Wonderland and Casshern, as well as the fact that Bleach still manages to consistently nail an above-105 rank every week.

And, there is of course, the element of time. As the hours tick by, more and more people find themselves seeking the refuge of a warm bed, so a drop-off is indeed expected. However, as I’ve previously mentioned, this is somewhat of a poor excuse, as we see re-runs of other programs in the same blocks on non-peak nights pulling in top-50 rankings.

So, discounting this excuse, we can argue that Toonami’s plight amounts to growing disinterest. Viewers are consuming the fresh content, but drop off after they are finished. there is still a hunger for these new products, as a consistent audience gathers week over week. this audience isn’t excited, though - we’re seeing few gains in the shows that do perform, which indicates that new viewers aren’t tuning in, or that new viewers are merely replacing those that drop off.

While it would be fantastic to say that this would become some form of Cinderella story, the truth of the matter is that it won’t. Until we see a break from the very tethers that pull the block down, it will be doomed to linger in the bottom of the charts until its inevitable cancellation from the network.

At this point, Adult Swim can gain or lose with Toonami. However, with its lower funding and unclear expectations, it’s difficult to say whether they’ll be able to make the changes needed to kick general performance up another notch.

Original Article

Nearly a month has passed since Toonami hit the airwaves for the first time in almost half a decade. At the time of the announcement, many were elated. It appeared to be a clear sign of the industry listening to the demands of the smallest voices. Since the block’s debut, the “new attraction” sheen has begun to wear thin, and it is now time for Toonami to stand on its own two feet.

In the weeks that followed, the general focus on the block’s ratings have fallen by the wayside. People were, and still are quick to chime in that the block did well in its first week. However, there have been few discussions about how things have fared in the weeks that followed. Since that day, though, hard data made its way through the channels, courtesty of stat-trackers Son of the Bronx. If we take inspect the figures, we can see a trend forming as we get further away from the premiere week.

As expected, week-one viewership was fairly high. Viewership showed a clear downward trend from the beginning of the block, with the shows that came earliest in the block performing the strongest. In particular, the midnight airing of Bleach out-performing numerous regulars in the Adult Swim lineup, including the two episodes of The Boondocks that preceded it, while the Deadman Wonderland premiere beat out the week’s Metalocalypse airing. After the 1:00 point, though, the ratings begin to drop sharply, to the point that the 2:00 showing of Ghost in the Shell barely escapes the bottom 10. None of the post 3:00 re-airs were able to climb out of the bottom of the network’s overall ratings, and seemed to serve as a reminder that the network’s key audience would rather spend hours watching Family Guy reruns, of which every 3:00AM re-air broke the network’s top 50 watched programs.

What is most interesting is the truly impressive bump in viewership the block received on week two. Bleach managed to claw its way up twenty places alone, not to mention the general gains in viewership across the board. While it’s difficult to pinpoint just where the jump came from, we would be remiss to ignore the general buzz that pervaded a number of sources, from social media to Variety. People talked about Toonami which, in turn, got people interested. On top of this, we must account for comments by figures within the industry, which further galvanized the core market. They certainly weren’t the only factors in such a large bump, though we would be foolish to believe that they didn’t have even a minimal impact on the overall ratings.

After this point, though, the ratings just collapsed. In general, we saw all Toonami shows drop to a point below the two prior weeks. There was little movement between weeks 3 & 4, which suggests that the ratings may have finally settled into their “natural” ranks in the market. While this may be a good thing in general, as it implies that a true measure of demand may have finally been reached, the numbers are certainly troubling. In particular, the bottom-ten ratings for the network are postiively dominated by Toonami’s shows.

“What does this mean?”

Well, dear reader, it means that much of the bluster and begging for Toonami may have been little more than the voices of an extremely vocal minority. And, upon getting what they wanted, this group paid attention to their latest prize, until the latest distraction came their way. Once the greater community fell apart, the core market was all that remained to sustain the product. And, unfortunately, the core market is an infinitesimally small slice of Adult Swim’s overall viewer-base.

Since the network can’t seem to retain a large enough base outside of the core, I wouldn’t be surprised to start hearing the conversations of an under-performing Toonami arise once again in the coming weeks. How they will surface or if they will surface is unknown at this point, but I don’t doubt that there are conversations about what to do in the very likely possibility that Toonami fails as an experiment. How the block is marketed and received going forward will be key to its overall survival. We can only hope that both the viewer and the network are willing to do their part to ensure its survival, if that is what they truly desire.

Original Article