Aniplex of America within a short period of time has come a long way here in North America. With its beginnings traced back to 2010, they have brought us numerous hit titles from ROD TV, Fate/Zero, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Blue Exorcist, the Monogatari Series, Sword Art Online, Kill La Kill, more recently Your Lie in April, Erased and even more to look forward to in the near future. This includes a special event coming in October, focused on bringing the culture of Akihabara to the fans here in the US in Downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.
We had the opportunity to sit down with the President of Aniplex of America, Mr. Henry “Hideki” Goto to talk about Aniplex, the state of the industry, and how things have changed over the past decade when it comes to the industry as a whole and fandom here in North America. This interview was done at Anime Expo on July 1, 2016.
SP: Mr. Goto, thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview with The Fandom Post. To start off things, my first question is about the company itself. Aniplex of America has grown very rapidly over the past several years, and clearly you have a business model here in North America that’s been very successful. In your own words, what would you say is the operating philosophy that makes Aniplex of America unique versus the other companies?
Mr. Goto: Hmm, well what do you think makes us unique from your perspective?
SP: In my opinion, I think it’s the very popular, high profile titles that have definitely appealed to the fans here.
Mr. Goto: We feel that we have a lot of strong titles thanks to Aniplex Japan. Our aim is to increase the capability of the company. At first when we started in 2010, we could only release DVDs, but over time we been able to extend to streaming, TV, import merchandise, movie events, basically increasing our capabilities as a company one part at a time, and that has allowed us to better serve the American audience.
I would think that the other companies are thinking that way, but I think our goal is to be similar to Aniplex Japan with the same advantages that they have. Why can’t we do here what they do there? And if we can accomplish that, I feel that it is the best way to provide the best service to the audience here, and I feel that’s what our motivation is.
SP: My next question is about the state of the anime industry overall. Many years ago you were one of the Executive Producers and staff members over at Pioneer/Geneon Entertainment. Back then, there was a lot of concern about the overall health of the industry and that it was headed towards a state of collapse. Obviously, there were negative factors, piracy clearly being one of them impacting sales. As a result, we lost a couple of companies over a period of time including Geneon Entertainment, ADV Films, and Bandai Entertainment. Now we’ve noticed in the past few years that there’s been a big bounce back, and the industry has come back very strong. What do you feel were some of the factors that have played a part in bringing the industry back to where it is now? Also, in talking with Aniplex Japan, what were their opinions on the issue and what were their suggestions in helping with the state of the industry?
Mr. Goto: I think that with the legal Internet streaming such as the simulcasts played a key role in this. Aniplex first worked with Funimation to bring streaming with Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. That was the first challenge. At that time, the people in Japan were initially not convinced that this would be effective. What was needed to convince them was the ability to generate revenue via online streaming, because the piracy was existent. Therefore, why not try to create the opportunity ourselves to bring the content to fans online. Because the simulcast of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was so successful, simulcasts had proven to be critical, and has now become an industry standard.
Streaming market is clearly a hot commodity, and therefore there is competition. Companies want the opportunity to acquire strong titles, and even more so to have exclusive rights, so the streaming of anime titles by the companies is very popular now. I will say that it could be another industry bubble, because the companies may become very competitive when it comes to the exclusive rights for a particular property, or even a buyout of sorts, and could result in a bidding war per se in order to get these titles. From a salesman perspective, it’s a good thing, but if price is not based on real business it won’t stay forever, so we have to think about whether sales can be good.
The Internet is one way to do it, but we always have to think about more opportunities that be created to entertain people.
SP: My next question is about one of the most recent trends that has been increasing in North America over the past few years. There has been a wider exposure of anime including theatrical screenings such as Madoka Magica, anohana, and more recently Anthem of the Heart, Kizumonogatari and Dokuyusei Classmates in association with Eleven Arts as well as some of your series on Toonami. Given the fact that anime is more widely available now through more channels/entertainment outlets, do you feel that anime is considered mainstream trend in pop culture now in North America?
Mr. Goto: It’s not quite there yet. I will say for example I have a son who is in high school and is part of his anime club there. But right now, it is small. It’s possible that we may have many “silent” anime fans out there that we don’t know about, so it’s hard to tell. In terms of the US entertainment market, anime is still a small percentage of it. That just means we have more opportunities available to us to reach fans. You do notice however that there has been an increase in the number of conventions out there, though it may not necessarily consist of just anime fans. You have people who like Star Wars, American comics, games, etc., but if they have some interest in anime and our titles for example, it definitely makes us happy.
SP: Other companies here in the US have acquired some of the titles that were produced by Aniplex Japan. This includes for example Funimation Entertainment, Sentai Filmworks, and NIS America. A good example of this is Baccano, which was licensed to Funimation Entertainment, though you hold the rights to the title as well here in North America. Other noteworthy titles are Fullmetal Alchemist by Funimation, anohana and Wagnaria by NIS America, and Person 4 by Sentai Filmworks. Supposedly, the licenses for several of these series have lapsed. Is it likely that we will be seeing rereleases of these titles by Aniplex of America similar to what was done with Gurren Lagann the TV series, for which Bandai Entertainment was previously the license holder? Or is this something that is more up to the discretion of Aniplex Japan/Sony Entertainment?
Mr. Goto: In regards to that, in the case that we get back the license it will be looked in to more carefully, since most people may already own the Blu-Ray and DVD released by the other companies in the US. Taking that into consideration, we may have more of the opportunities to bring attention back to a particular title franchise such as through streaming, events, merchandising. We are continuously thinking about how we can revitalize a franchise.
SP: Very good answer
SP: If I’m not mistaken, I believe that Aniplex of America started in 2010 and is coming up on their 6th year here in North America. Your early releases included Kannagi, ROD TV, and also the first release of The Garden of Sinners. What can fans be expecting in the future for the company?
Mr. Goto: We would like to be a 360-degree company, in other words, to have a bolder and broader connection with the audience.
SP: And final question. This is in regards to the special event AkibaFest for North America. Tell us a little bit about this project and how it can appeal to the fans here in North America? Also, what was the reason for wanting to do this event?
Mr. Goto: Currently, simulcasts are popular. Peoples’ needs are the desire for more communication about anime. The idea of meeting people with live entertainment… With these in mind, we would like to take on the challenge of providing a new atmosphere with the help of Little Tokyo and its business partners.
(During this interview, I also had the opportunity to talk with John Inada, Director of Business Development for Aniplex of America)
JI: The whole idea is to bring Akiba subculture here. We are looking for a good place to do it, and Little Tokyo is the perfect setting. This is probably the closest thing to Akiba on the West Coast, hence why we are calling it AkibaFest. We have this big vision over time to incorporate as much as Akiba has to offer. We don’t know how it will take, but you need to start somewhere. This is planned for Oct. 2016. What we plan to do as part of the event is a special screening of anime films in two of the theaters that we have reserved as part of the event. Sat and Sun, as well as back-to-back various films throughout the day. We already have plans for a Premiere on one of the two nights of the event. That’s one of the main parts of the event.
Also, we are looking to have fairly large exhibition area, inviting Japanese Game publishers that are launching anime based video games. Attendees will have the opportunity to play demos and be exposed to upcoming games. This includes an Android 4K TV app that features a couple of our popular anime characters in an immersive experience. Once you’ve had the chance to experience this, you’ll definitely feel really close to the character. This has been demonstrated already in Japan, but this will be the first time that this will be brought over to America for fans to experience here.
In terms of merchandisers, we are looking to bring a handful of big names to the event. We also will be looking to cater to cosplayers with a cosplay contest, lounge, changing booth, and more since we want them to feel welcome at this event. This will be a 2-day weekend event. There will be entertainment throughout the day, filled with everything that anime fans dream of. This is a shared vision that we have with the Little Tokyo community that we definitely want the anime fans to be part of, the most important partner of this project. And we will have frequent updates via email and the website as the dates of the event approaches.
Mr. Goto: Aniplex respects the relationships with anime conventions because we’ve grown with them. This is not to compete with anime conventions, as they are a big part of anime fandom here in North America. As there are many types of events in Japan such as Comiket and voice actor promotional fan events for example, this is just one type of event. We mainly want the opportunity to bring more options of anime fan events to North America. Plus, this gives fans something to look forward to anime related in the October timeframe in Southern California, especially for cosplayers to enjoy right before Halloween.
SP: As far as I know, around the October timeframe, there aren’t too many big anime events here in Southern California, so this is a good thing. This is because with more opportunities to enjoy anime culture year around, the better. Because of how devoted the fandom is, this gives fans the chance to enjoy it with fellow otaku.
JI: This is an Industry oriented event. With the vendors, we want to bring names to this event that are familiar to fans.
Mr. Goto: Since the dealers’ hall has become very large now, when it comes to products that are available, there seems to be a “mix” of sorts. We also want to respect fan art and passion, but sometimes the new audience may not be able to distinguish between fan art and official products. For example, a customer had purchased a piece of fan art and later asked for the autograph of the original character designer. And it does happen from time to time. But the point is that people may not understand what the difference is between the two, the new audience especially.
SP: I think that’s one big challenge of the industry at times, is that when you have new fans that are coming in to anime, that they may not be well informed about the legitimacy of certain things. They’re fans, and they’re passionate, and there is a strong negative reaction when they feel they’ve been cheated on something they feel very passionate about. And it’s hard for them I agree to distinguish between what is legitimate and what is not. I’ve witnessed this, as I am a vendor myself. That’s not the way things should be done. People should be happy about their fandom, especially if they are collectors, for which these things will have an intrinsic value to them.
JI: This is why our business partners for AkibaFest will be by invitation only, approved by us.
Mr. Goto: Since this is our first year, we want to start small and build from there.
SP: Did you have any questions for us at the Fandom Post?
Mr. Goto: Not at the moment but definitely say hello to Chris. I really appreciate all of his reviews that he does for our titles.
SP: I definitely will. Thank you very much for taking the time for this interview.
Mr. Goto and JI: Thank you very much!
As of Sept. 2, AkibaFest has updated their site with new details about the event, including the official exhibitors list and the premiere of Kizumoogatari Part II: Nekketsu, one of the big highlights of the event.
http://www.akibafest.com
Los Angeles – Little Tokyo
Oct 15-16, 2016
Look. Play. Feel
