Anime News Network quotes several reports painting CG animation studio Imagi in a very precarious financial position. The maker of the modest hit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, box-office dud Astroboy, and I believe a regular outsource company for CG cinematics in video games, Imagi laid off 300 of its employees this week, in addition to a prior layoff that saw its LA offices shuttered. Before the layoffs, the company totaled 400 employees… this means there’s barely anyone left to switch off the lights at the office.
The survival of its next project, purportedly an adaptation of the classic anime Gatchaman, and the company itself, depends on whether it can secure additional investments to stave off liquidation.
It’s a shame Imagi is in its current position. While they were not up to the standards set by CG pioneers Pixar and Dreamworks, they churned out competitive productions on much smaller budgets. Imagi made a bad gamble on Astroboy, but I get the feeling that their underlying strategy of hiring western directors and licensing existing IP, doing the grunt work of animating themselves, betrays a lack of confidence in the talent at the studio. They still worked with the mentality of someone doing outsource work, and that’s a shame. I think it’s that higher level of personal involvement at Pixar that sets its films apart from everyone else; however subtle, audiences can pick up on that. In any case, even if the financing does come through, I’m not so confident Gatchaman would outdo even Astroboy’s disappointing numbers. But I still wish them luck in riding out this tough spot.
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The 37th Annie Awards concluded last Saturday, and you can see the complete list of winners on their website. Up won Best Animated Feature, while personal favorite Coraline picked up 3, including Production Design for Tadahiro Uesugi. Other notables… Bruce Timm received the Winsor McCay award, Robot Chicken beat out Plymptoons’ Santa: The Fascist Years for Best Short (booo!), Futurama got the nod for Best Home Entertainment Production (yay!), while Penguins of Madagascar won for best children’s show (over both Flapjack and Mighty B!? Booooooo!) Astroboy had two nominations, while Ponyo received one, but they picked up no wins.
Still say Coraline is going to get the Oscar. All the CG movies are going to split the vote.
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Retailer Anime Jungle will be holding a special store-wide “Hentai Event” on February 12th. What is a Hentai Event? I’m not sure. Probably involves a lot of looking down on the floor to avoid awkward eye contact. Wear a helmet.
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Someone has trolled the entire nation of Poland.
Fine work, sir.
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Deb Aoki notes that nearly one third of all book on this year’s YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels list for readers ages 12~18 are manga or manhwa. Head over for the complete list.
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Idol and known cheezing enthusiast Shokotan is apparently getting her own manga, which will debut in the April edition of Kodansha’s Nakayoshi magazine. As a TV talent, anime voice actress, and cosplayer, Shokotan commands a somewhat loyal following among otaku.
Semi-related… The Guardian profiles Beckii Cruel, the Brit schoolgirl-cum-anime dance idol. I’d read her manga, if you know what I mean… uh huh huh.
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Sankaku Complex translates another dire interview with a manager of a Japanese anime production company on the state of the industry, along with responses from the posters at 2ch. “Just stop making anime” is actually a pretty good idea.
One aspect that is often overlooked in arguments against the saturation of “moe” anime, aside from the fact that their proliferation is somewhat exaggerated, is that an anime property’s value isn’t just measured in ad revenue or DVD/BD sales. In an environment where videos, manga, and software are easily pirated, the amount of profit from licensed tangible goods a property can generate becomes increasingly important. A casual (or mainstream, if you prefer) anime viewer does not go out and buy $150 vinyl sculptures or $50 full-body pillow cases, but a certain type of otaku does. In fact, they do so so reliably, it allows even small licensors and manufacturers to profit by reducing the amount of risk involved (previously, things were the other way around… anime were developed to promote big new toy lines with huge investments that may or may not take off). There’s a huge potential downside to this for the creative fan community – if licensed goods become the sole source of income for anime producers, then they would adopt a much stricter view of fan-made goods like doujinshi and garage kits.
If people want better anime, then anime itself has to be valued once again.
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Speaking of fan-made figures, Anime Vice has a collection of pictures and links to Wonderfest, the largest figure/garage kit expo in Japan.
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Amusing story of the day… Rocket Bomber gives advice to a company hoping to promote their “audio dramas” with comic books. The company has been in contact with several publishers about creating the comic.
Notice that, as a work-for-hire, comic companies wanted an average of $500 per page up front. See, even comic publishers refuse to work with back end deals.





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