Western Industry Insider Warns “Anime Content Bubble Is Probably Gonna Burst Soon”, Says “Merch Sales Have Fallen Off A Cliff”
In the opinion of one noted veteran of the Western anime industry, the booming “anime content bubble” seen in recent years is, unfortunately, very much on the verge of popping.
This troubling warning regarding the industry’s supposedly impending future was first leveled to the public courtesy of Anime News Network and MediaOCD (a disc production company best known for their work on Discotek’s various releases) founder Justin Sevakis.
Taking to his personal Twitter account on July 7th, Sevakis asserted, “I still have two meetings to go this AX, but so far my takeaways are 1. Anime content bubble is probably gonna burst soon, way too many shows and nobody can handle it, not fans, nor industry 2. Anime merch sales have fallen off a cliff, especially figures”.
“Everyone’s kinda [neutral face emoji]” he added, the emoji meant to communicate that his peers are currently feeling tense and uneasy towards the whole situation.
Pressed by a fellow anime fan as to whether or not “we’re heading towards another 2007” – a reference to the infamous anime industry crash that resulted from the 2008 global financial crisis and led to a drastic dip in both the number of series produced in Japan and the amount licensed in the West – Sevakis further opined, “This looks very different, although both were heavily caused by macroeconomic conditions tbh.”
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As to just which specific ‘macroeconomic conditions’ were causing the industry’s current predicament, when later asked by another user as to just why merch sales were dying, Sevakis would reveal, “High inflation and less time spent at home post-COVID.”
Finally, pressed as to what just what ‘the bursting’ of the anime bubble would entail, Sevakis speculated, “Probably halving the number of new shows each season…WHICH IS STILL 50, we might not even notice.”
Though dire, Sevakis’ prediction is not entirely out of left field, especially in light of the very real fact that there are currently far more series being produced then most audiences could ever hope to watch.
For example, in the Summer 2024 season, there are a total of 51 proper series currently airing, with a total of 45 of them being brand new productions.
Looking ahead, the calendar doesn’t get any lighter, as 50 anime are currently scheduled to premiere in the Fall 2024 season.
Suffice to say, with so many series vying for a limited amount of audience attention, only a handful at best will even have a hope of becoming a financial or reputational success.
Ultimately, whether or not Sevakis is actually on to something will only be proven with time.
Let’s just hope that, should the anime industry actually crash, it’ll have little to no effect on the recent tokusatsu boom – at the very least not before the West gets a proper Blu-ray release of Kamen Rider Kabuto.
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