The Disappearance of Shiki

How Japan’s Economic Collapse Reshaped The Anime Industry | ANIMECONOMICS

 

 

 
Economies follow a pattern: booms and busts. And if we’re coming out of the golden age of anime and
a period of substantial economic growth in the 1980s, you can guess what’s about to come next. The 
1990s kick off what has come to be known as the “lost decade,” or “decades,” in Japan–a prolonged 
period of economic stagnation that stands in stark contrast to growth that it had recently experienced. 
Considering the large, positive, impact that a prosperous economy appeared to have on the anime
industry in the 80s, it would make sense that the inverse would hold true as well. However, as
counterintuitive as it may seem, things weren’t all bad for the anime industry in the 1990s, despite 
Japan’s struggling economy. And there were still some incredibly popular, and successful, projects that
were released during this period. Today, we’ll be taking a look at how Japan’s economic collapse
reshaped the anime industry.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:00 Japan's Economic Decline

01:30 Creating an Asset Bubble

05:57 The Bubble Pops & The Fallout

07:05 What Made This Collapse Different?

09:20 How did this Affect the Anime Industry?

12:04 Did Lower Budgets Decrease Quality?

12:54 How Did Studios Adjust?

16:43 Rise of the Otaku

18:05 Growth of Anime in Western Markets

22:57 Akira

24:28 The Impact of Western Growth

27:20 Conclusion

 

Sources:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decades
  2. World Bank - World Development Indicators 
  3. The asset price bubble in Japan in the 1980s: lessons for financial and macroeconomic stability, Shigenori Shiratsuka, 2003
  4. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/quantitative-easing-qe/
  5. Nikkei 225 Loses 73% Since Reaching Peak 20 Years Ago: Video
  6. https://hbr.org/1990/05/power-from-the-ground-up-japans-land-bubble
  7. The Economy of Japan: how a Superpower FELL from Grace in Four Decades
  8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_asset_price_bubble
  9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikkei_225
  10. The Asset Price Bubble and Monetary Policy: Japan’s Experience in the Late 1980s and the Lessons, Okina Et al., 2001
  11. THE CAUSES OF JAPAN’S ‘LOST DECADE’: THE ROLE OF HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION, Charles Yuji Horioka, NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, 2006
  12. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2019-01-16/.142132
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_(1988_film)

 

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