I don't think it's a cut and dried "number of fans has decreased." For one thing, total awareness and total number of people watching anime has increased,
You are telling that how if it is a fact, not a guess. If you are not guessing then I have to ask how you know that and request that you provide numbers (unfortunately I don't regard random numbers and polls taken from random blogs or webpages like reliable data and trustworthy sources, so we can have a trouble with that).
If you are guessing (and I am sorry if you never meant that your words were anything other than your opinion) then both of us are going for what we believe, with no way to prove it other than tell our own experiences.
if for no other reason than the kids who watched pokemon ten years ago are branching out into new shows in their teens.
Again, how do you factually KNOW that all or most kids who watched Pokemon are still watching anime? Not everybody are like us. Other people outgrow stuff. My big sister watched Mazinger-Z, Alps no Shojo Heidi and Battle of the Planets when she was a child, but she lost interest in anime when she grew older.
Of course there are kids who were Pokemon fans and are still watching anime. The trouble is... How many of them are stilll watching? Are their numbers large enough to replace the older fans who have already left? And how many kids are now watching whatever new children show? Their numbers are large enough to replace the Pokemon fans when they outgrow anime?
I am afraid not.
To endure, entertainment depends on the public renewing. And that may not happen. A market can shrink. In the eighties, an American comic-book that ''only'' sold 100,000 monthly issues was failing and was cancelled. Nowadays, if an issue sells 100,000 copies, editors regard it like a resounding success.
And now that I think about it, you are telling total number of people watching anime has increased because grown kids are still watching anime. I detect a flaw in that reasoning. It would mean that the total number has kept, not increased. However, I doubt that total number has kept. Again, people outgrow stuff. I outgrew Pokemon. And yes, I keep watching anime, but I was already a fan long before Pokemon was born... that is my point.
I agree that awareness has increased. A lot of people is aware now of cartoons are made in Japan, too. But that is not exactly positive. Why? Because in the nineties, most people did not know what Japanese cartoons were about, but maybe they remembered having watched Battle of the Planets, Robotech or Voltron -or their parents did-, so they were curious and open-minded. And if they refused watching it, it was on grounds of it being cartoons, and thus kiddy. Now the general population knows what anime is, but due to the nature of the shows made in the last decade, a lot of people thinks that it is convoluted, boring, contrived, fanservice-y drivel.
At least that is my experience. Several years ago, when I visited comic-books or videogames forums, there were many people told that they watched -and liked- anime. Nowadays most people that I find in non-anime forums thinks that if it is anime, it is crap.
That is worst that being considered kiddy. You can convince to someone to give a pass and a fair chance to something that person thinks that is kiddy. But it is harder to convince that person to give a chance to something that he or she thinks that it is crap.
The difference is that the depth of fannish-ness and geekiness of individual fans is no longer so deep. They may be more of a general sci-fi fan.
But that is no different from what happened in the past. That always happens, since not every fans is interested in exploring his/her hobby in depth or give a fair try to the classics. From what I remember, many USA fans who became anime lovers in the late nineties were mainly interested in what was being aired back then, and few from them showed interest in classic shows on grounds of them seeming old, therefore being boring and unappealing.
Also, fans my age who first got into Toonami when I was in college have grown up and have kids, making doing stuff like going to a club regularly more difficult, turning anime from a group experience to a solitary experience.
I do not doubt that is the case with a good number of them, but I do not doubt either that a lot of them lost interest or outgrew anime.
Obviously I can not and shall not talk for someone else, but I keep to myself and I seldom visited anime forums -other than this-, because most newer series don't interest me, and that is all what is mostly talked about in other forums.
I guess that you can tell that that still proves your point, since I still am a fan. The question is how many older fans are doing the same thing that me, and how many have are watching anime no longer. We have no way to know, so we can not tell one way or another.
Honestly, I think you are being too optimistic, but both of us are going on what we see or want seeing: you think -or so I assume- that fans can not have possibly left and newer fans are coming in large numbers; I think that fandom has decreased based on I find way more people than hates anime than I did before and the decreasing of channels airing anime and other outlets. I guess that you think that is not representative of the feeling of general population... Since we have no data to back our reasonings, it looks like there is no much point on keeping arguing.
Anyway I hope not having offended you in some way or form.
I still find a few shows each season to be worth watching. Majestic Prince was the big surprise of the current season for me - a non-Gundam space opera that doesn't take itself seriously? Yes please! I haven't enjoyed an "alien invasion" space opera this much since The Irresponsible Captain Tyler (with whom it shares a not so subtle similarity in character design.) Last season we had Kotouru-san and Chihayafuru season two. Looking ahead to the summer, Silver Spoon is coming out in anime form, and there's rumors of a second season to Bunny Drop and another long overdue round of Full Metal Panic.
Frankly, I am glad for you and I wish I was able to do that. Believe me, I try being fair and open-minded, and remember there are many shows I was reluctant to give a chance and I finally liked (like Rurouni Kenshin or Naruto itself). However it is hard.
I heard that MP was a mecha show so I was midly curious. Now you have said it is a space opera that does not take itself seriously (Good Lord!), my interest has increased. Thank you.
A friend of mine who is also an older anime fan and also has trouble finding new shows to his liking said me that he watched Tiger and Bunny (I think) and it was good. Have you watched it? What did you think about it?
My husband, being the dork he is, stubbornly watches every single show that's released by the fansubbers each season, at least through the second of third episode, to give it a fair shake. He'll narrow it down to 5-6 shows he deems worth watching, and then let me know which 2-3 of those I might like as well. (No, I did not like High School DxD. )
Your husband is a saint. I do not think that I had so much patience or felt inclined to invest so much time.
Maybe I'm thinking more in terms of outlets. Maybe the online world has lead to this, but there just aren't as many outlets for anime anymore. Obviously on tv the only place to catch it is really on Saturday nights. Also, anime magazines have ceased being printed like Anime Insider and Newtype USA
I understand that the online aspect is there, but it just seems anime as a market in the states has gotten smaller.
I also think so. If, there are other outlets... but let's talk about sales and general acceptance. If data about them does not look good, then existence of online communities means nothing.
What? K-On was awesome. Especially if you played in a band before you can totally relate.
Different strokes. If, you thought it was awesome, but she has not reason to find it awesome as well, and she is not wrong for thinking that it is not good (I "might" check K-On, but I am not so interested to invest time on looking for episodes and watching it). It is better than you don't get focused on the examples than she uses because then you are missing the point of the article.
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