With the anime industry becoming a part of the mainstream entertainment with projects like One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen, every major studio and streaming service wants a piece of it. The industry is experiencing growth on a scale that has never been seen before, and while this is a clear indication of the community’s rising reputation and popularity, it may not necessarily be a positive development after all.
In fact, it might lead to the eventual downfall of the anime world, something that no anime fan wants at all. The most recent example of this is Amazon’s announcement about expanding its hand in the anime industry and taking on more anime projects for the future. This strategy was recently discussed by the officials of Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video.
The company is hellbent on expanding its market in Asia, and the best way to do this is by taking a deeper dive into the world of anime. But it is only going to make matters worse, as their plan for growth involves elements like using artificial intelligence, which is the biggest enemy of the anime creators right now.
Amazon’s plan to expand in the world of anime
In a recent interview with Variety, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, and Kelly Day, VP of international for Prime Video, discussed their expansion of Asian content and their focus on Japanese markets by taking it to the next level, especially with anime content. Salke revealed that they have multiple teams working on this strategy and thus have a lot of exciting stuff in the works.
Salke stated;
We have a big commitment to an anime slate that we’re pulling together, and the teams are all working on it. There’s a lot of exciting stuff in the works that we’re looking forward to sharing, and that’s an ongoing commitment.
According to Amazon officials, the company wants to maintain an edge in Asian countries, especially in Japan, considering it is one of the most valuable territories for Prime Video. This is why they are ramping up their content strategy in Japan for the next few years.
With projects like Look Back, which is already a global sensation, Amazon is ready to stretch itself even more by creating original anime series and movies that are not affiliated with other production studios and streaming services.
Amazon’s expansion in anime could lead to its downfall
While Amazon’s expansion in the anime industry is certainly understandable in terms of the company’s growth, it is not at all good for the community as a whole. One of the biggest problems with this is the thinning out of the anime world as more and more streaming services get involved and buy the rights to the many anime movies and series.
The more streaming services get involved, the more difficult it becomes to keep track of our favorite anime series or movies. Plus, the issue of different regions offering different plans and projects depending on the regulations is also something that gets more complicated with the expansion. These problems will divide the industry even more instead of connecting it.
Also, anime fans might not know this, but Amazon recently announced on their official website that they have launched their pilot program for AI-assisted dubbing, which will use artificial intelligence to dub international projects. If this initiative expands to the world of anime, it will cause a major disruption among creators and fans.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
