Anime Full Circle

Hello and greetings fellow otaku,

As most of you readers out there know, last year I did a post in which I made 5 predictions for the anime industry for the coming year (2009). Unfortunately, only one of my predictions was correct which was that anime companies would become mainstream on the net.

Now I know that this has been a tough year for the anime industry as a whole in which we seen the collapse of one of the most successful anime company of the decade ADV Films close their doors and the loss of Anime Insider a very popular magazine that covered the latest news from the anime industry ceased publication. Overall, it has been one tough year for the anime industry. But I feel that 2010 will not only be a great year for the anime industry as a whole, but also a great decade as well. So with that said, here are my five predictions for the anime industry for the coming year.

1) Anime Companies Will Be More Upfront With Their Release Dates

My first prediction focuses on a little pet peeve that I have with the anime industry (Specifically with one company in particular). And that pet peeve is that I hate when anime companies such as Media Blasters keep flip-flopping when it comes to release dates for anime series on DVD. One such example can be seen with the release of Vol. 1 of Genshiken season two in which they originally announced one release date but they kept pushing the date back further and further until it was actually released. This I feel is an complete outrage to not only myself but other fans as well. Therefore I hope that the anime industry will become more upfront with release dates for new series. This way we can have a better idea of when we expect new series to come out.

2) Anime And Manga Companies Will Have More Content Available For Multimedia Devices

Now I know that this is not a totally new concept, but for over the past year some anime companies have released their content for multiple multimedia devices such as PSP, Xbox 360, PS3 among others. This makes more accessible for those who have these devices to watch their favorite anime series anywhere they want without having to spend a fortune on buying individual DVD’s. I feel that this is the year in which we can see more content being released on these devices in which I feel it may catch on very quickly.

3) Anime Companies Will Crack Down On Illegal Fan-Subs  

Now more than ever, their are people out there who post up illegal fan-subs of popular anime series on the internet. This unfortunately hurts the domestic anime industry as a whole by raising prices for box sets and individual DVD’s and it also prevents new series from coming to the states. I feel that this will be the year in which the major anime companies will get tougher and start cracking down on illegal fan-subs more frequently. This will not only help with reducing costs, but it may also get the ball rolling on bringing new series to the states.

4) Their Will Be More Communities For Anime And Manga Fans To Share Their Opinions About The Industry

In over the year and 4 months that I have been running Anime Full Circle, I have seen more and more sites pop up in which they share their thoughts about the anime industry as a whole. And while some of these sites have been around longer than others, I have come to enjoy reading what my fellow bloggers think about the industry and how they see it growing in the future. Therefore I feel that their will be more sites popping up in the coming year in which we can see a wealth of information about the industry and how fellow fans feel about it.

5) The Future Of The Anime And Manga Industry For 2010

In closing, this past year has been a tough one for the anime industry. While we have seen the collapse of one of the largest anime companies of the decade and other things that has caused the industry to go into a downward spiral. However while their has been a few ups and down’s, I feel that the industry will have a major turn around in which we can see a better future for the industry as a whole.

And those are my five predictions for the anime industry. Hopefully these predictions will go better than what I did last year LOL. So until next time, remember that their is a ton of great anime and manga out there. All you have to do is find it. Ltrs.