Before starting TOKYOPOP, Levy started another company that was related to the anime and manga industry named Japan Online. “This company existed for a few years then eventually merged into TOKYOPOP.” It produced CD-ROMs, which “were the precursors to the Internet.” For example, the company had holiday card software products that were only available in Japan. These were based on anime titles such as Macross, Gatchaman, and Sailor Moon. In the mid-1990’s, Levy was the Japan correspondent for EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly). “That was a blast!” With his variety of experiences, there probably are some similarities and differences between all of it. He did learn quite a bit about the industry in Japan and the U.S., specifically about video games and software. Plus, he made connections with many professionals in the industry. However, “I was just starting out and still very “green” so of course I learned the basics back then and applied them when I started TOKYOPOP.”
With so many lessons learned and experiences that Levy went through, I decided to ask for his opinions about anime and manga in the American market and society. The genre’s cultural influences can be seen in variety of places and media. One area that it has influenced is the American business. “At least within the entertainment industry, I think anime and manga culture has affected the creatives.” Along with the Western comics industry, there are many Americans working in animation and video games companies that are “big fans of anime and manga.” Because of this, “the influence of visionaries such as Miyazaki has made their way into American entertainment, especially in animation and video games.” Another area that anime and manga has influenced is the American culture. Here is what Levy had to say about that: “As we all know, we’ve seen anime and manga influence everywhere. Whether it be in fashion or advertising or even the “how-to draw manga” products at Aaron Bros or Target, it’s quite amazing how widespread anime and manga influence is.”
Even though the genre can be seen anywhere and everywhere, there are ups and downs that will come along and probably continue to happen. (cough) scanlations (cough) unofficial downloads (cough)
This is certainly well-documented on the Web, so I’m not sure if I would be adding much here, but I do think that we are at a low point currently. Anime reached this low point a couple of years ago and has continued to remain there. Piracy and the collapse of the anime DVD market combined with the television networks’ loss of interest in anime programming has really harmed the market. There is a resurgence on the Web but as everyone knows, there is not a viable business model quite yet, although some are trying. Manga has not yet reached the same fate, mainly because reading a book is still attractive to many people compared to reading online. However, there are many pirate sites for manga and this of course hurts the business. The recession has hurt the retailers as well, which has hurt the publishers. All-around, the manga market is down compared with previous years.© 2010 Linda Thai
Stay tune for Part 11 of the Stuart Levy interview!
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