Production I.G and WIT Studio President George Wada has called for a Japanese anime awards in recent comments made at a conference on the sustainable development of Japan’s anime industry.
Sharing what he felt would strengthen the anime industry’s sustainability, Wada called for improvements in human resources development and working conditions, as well as a skills certification system, and a Japanese version of anime awards. These comments were made on April 16 and published on May 25. Other comments from leading industry figures are below.
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- Nippon Animation representative director Kazuko Ishikawa spoke about the need to train new animators, develop human resources, digitize animation production, strengthen overseas collaboration, and create more regional bases (most anime studios are in Tokyo).
- MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka spoke about growth strategies, such as in-house IP management (MAPPA self-funds the Chainsaw Man anime, whereas most anime are funded by a committee of companies).
- A-1 Pictures CEO Akira Shimizu spoke about the differences in business structures, such as companies that are part of a broader group (like A-1 Pictures is to Aniplex/the Sony Group) and share back-office infrastructure.
- Toei Animation senior director Kiichiro Yamada said Japan needs to target global audiences with its works (the company is developing the film Hypergalactic to reach international audiences), address piracy, and develop further touchpoints with children and international audiences.
- Bandai Namco Filmworks operating officer Ai Takai spoke of the importance of marketing and establishing legitimate anime distribution infrastructure in areas where anime isn’t as popular.
- Avex Pictures CEO Hideo Katsumata said that while overseas expansion is competitive, Japan needed to come together to build a joint foundation. (Katsumata is also the representative director of the Anime Times distribution company, of which several major Japanese companies are shareholders).
- LDP (current governing Japanese party) chairman Fumiaki Kobayashi said that Japan could explore public-private partnerships for growth.
- You can read further comments and full summaries here.
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Criticism Returns Again This Year for Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards as Wada Calls for Japanese Awards
Amid calls for a Japanese anime awards, the elephant in the room for some is the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, by far the biggest anime-centric award show in the world. The latest edition pulled a reported 73 million votes.
Nevertheless, it came under criticism from various angles, some somewhat inherent to the nature of many award shows and others unique to Crunchyroll’s awards format and position in the industry.
In the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, panellists first determine the nominees. Many noted that the panellists featured barely any professionals working in the anime industry. (This is compared to, say, the still-often-criticized Academy Awards, where voting is largely decided by people who have worked in the industry.)
While not universal, the nature of journalism, blogging, and content creation (particularly in the modern day), the fields of many of the panellists, incentivises mainstream opinions, risking the nominations reflecting those tastes. Crunchyroll also selects the panellists; its opaque selection process leaves the decision-making rationale up to the imagination. It also maintains relationships with many of the panellists by virtue of its general marketing to these media (which Japanese production companies and organizations generally don’t do much of).
As much of Crunchyroll’s marketing power goes to titles with arguably more mainstream appeal, and as Crunchyroll has by far the loudest voice of any overseas anime licensee, nominations may be biased to titles that Crunchyroll has particularly pushed (without even mentioning titles that it doesn’t license).
Not all of this is necessarily Crunchyroll’s “fault” or concern. Overseas anime promotion and the responsibility of celebrating Japanese excellence globally have been nearly entirely left to Crunchyroll and other overseas licensees and organizations, by choice. Anime has been around in Japan for decades, with decades worth of opportunities to pool resources to set competing tones of what a celebration of excellence looks like. The Crunchyroll Anime Awards also undeniably brings attention to anime and draws newer generations.
Nevertheless, it’s also undeniable that its awards show, through intentional marketing to mega media outlets and audiences, is becoming the face of celebrating excellence annually. Through M&A, media positioning, and aggressive licensing (aided by various Japanese companies), Crunchyroll achieved its current stature while inheriting the seemingly obvious expectation of the responsibility it would bear. Its outsized voice and branding ambitions clash with some people’s expectations of an awards show more grounded in Japan and with less of a singular face.
Source: Report on the Symposium for the Sustainable Development of Japan’s Anime Industry: A Growth Strategy Focused on Human Resource Development and Overseas Market Expansion (Page)
Image of George Wada from Ai Show YouTube Channel
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