In this last part, I will explain how the current anime industry as well as its past holds a significant impact on my life today.
In all honesty, my interest slowed to a crawl by the time one of the biggest distributors stateside - ADV Films - fell under, forcing a split between the workforce in lesser companies, such as Sentai Filmworks and Section23 Films. Even so, anime still looked promising with the likes of Code Geass and Blood +. That is, until the Moe Nation attacked...
Enter K-On!. One of many moe-centric anime whose influences would swamp the masses in the following years. It was one thing when Love Hina and Azumanga Daioh were popularizing slice-of-life anime in the U.S., but by 2010, moe fever was everywhere, dramatically changing the course of the industry, and thus making us forget the simpler joys of how we got into anime in the first place. It's not to say all moe / slice-of-life anime was bad (Lucky Star is considered a Seinfeld of sorts, and Oreimo, while controversial, brought something experimental to the plate), but it seemed for the most part that it was saturating the market, something was missing and nearly lost. At this particular time, the anime that held my interest was Queen's Blade, a fantasy/ecchi series based on a tabletop RPG loosely based on Lost World's format, but featuring (you guessed it!) various moe types guaranteed to make the intended target audience hella thirsty. There was a sequel series - Rebellion - that would also get an anime adaptation, but as yet, this hasn't gone anywhere as far as completion goes. However, the game books have been successful, branching out to yet another series, Grimoire.
The Big Three around this era were Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece in particular, and piracy was on the rise. As a result, many local distributors were losing money, and Bandai was searching other means of distribution to their IPs, such as digital distribution through YouTube. Although there were a handful of diamonds in the rough that broke this trend of moe-centric anime, it wasn't until around 2013 when there would be a breakout anime that would see the spotlight and help to turn things around... Attack on Titan, an anime based on an ongoing manga that existed four years earlier.
Meanwhile, another resurgence was on the rise. As early as July 2012 - around the same weekend as the Evolution Fighting Game Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada - Kodansha announced that an anime phenomenon of the 90s, Sailor Moon, would be returning with an all-new anime series to commemorate the franchise's 20th anniversary. It was met with worldwide anticipation, and though delayed twice from its original summer 2013 release window, the enthusiasm and hopes hardly wavered. Then, close to the summer of 2014, another unexpected announcement was made.
Viz Media - of all companies - acquired the rights to the assets of the Sailor Moon franchise, and for the second time in 12 years was seeing yet another return to form in the U.S. in its original, uncut glory. While ADV Films and Pioneer's efforts were admirable, Viz has succeeded where they haven't: Not only were the previously released 4 seasons going to come back again, but they would be remastered both in video AND audio quality, re-translated, AND re-dubbed in a way most faithful to the original source material as possible, personally supervised and approved by the author Naoko Takeuchi herself. Finally, for the first time EVER, the final season of the 90s anime - Sailor Stars - would also be officially released in the U.S. translated, remastered, and re-dubbed with the same quality care.
In addition to this, the promised new anime series turned out to be Sailor Moon Crystal, a direct adaptation from the manga that is purely going by the manga's storyline, which is completely different from the original anime series (and faster paced too!). The feats this anime undertook from a marketing perspective was unprecedented and at the same time phenomenal. Unlike most anime which would undergo production through a TV network, this particular anime was exclusively being made for official online streaming mainly via NicoNicoDouga (which Viz would eventually branch out for Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Neon Alley) in an attempt to break away from the creative restrictions Japanese TV stations have put into law some time in 2011. Either way, I haven't been more excited about getting back into anime seriously ever since.
So how does all this impact my life today? It's simple. In an era where traditional TV is slowly dying and shows can be accessed by many alternative formats such as a PC, a smartphone, or even a gaming console, certain online streaming companies have taken notice to the anime market, offering us sweet deals to watch large libraries of anime anytime we wish. While I would still prefer to collect some anime on DVD should things go offline in a big way, this was nonetheless a smart move. Today, there are lots and lots of older anime that I still enjoy watching, but newer ones such as Psycho Pass, Attack on Titan, HunterxHunter, Lucky Star, Queen's Blade, Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam Unicorn, and more recently, a satire of common action anime tropes spanning 15+ years called Kill La Kill, have held my interest in the modern era. With the resurgence of Sailor Moon, I can't help but wonder if we'll be seeing other classics return to form to bring life back to the industry, or even revolutionize it. Either way, my body is ready for a remake of Ronin Warriors in particular... or better yet, a crossover with Sailor Moon, which is something I have long dreamed about (and went out of my way to do thoughtful fanfiction on) for nearly 2 decades, even though I'm aware there's a high chance it may never happen. *sigh*
Anyway, this is it, these are my thoughts on my anime retrospective. We've come a long way from limited VHS fansubs, and it seems we have nowhere to go but up from here. Maybe this era of anime will capture the magic of the 80s and 90s once again, maybe it won't. But one thing is certain... I wouldn't take back an opportunity to watch all the anime I want on a premium streaming channel under a sweet monthly deal, much less for free on an underground streaming channel through my PC. I just hope the market wises up about BD/DVD media sales in the process.
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