AI-translated anime news podcast debuts
Plus: Top business lobby urges ¥200b investment in content promotion; Japan airports see higher anime toy sales; New book details manga's winning formula; and more
This is your weekly Animenomics briefing, covering the business of anime and manga. Today is Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
Programming note: Animenomics is taking a break for the next two weeks. The next newsletter issue will be in inboxes on Wednesday, November 13, 2024.
Radio station trials AI-translated anime news program
Radio broadcaster Nippon Broadcasting System (JOLF) is experimenting with an AI speech synthesis tool that translates an anime news podcast from Japanese into other languages using the program host’s own voice.
Why it matters: Japanese radio stations produce and broadcast dozens of anime-related programs and podcasts, but these programs have largely been accessible only to domestic listeners.
JOLF said in a statement that the company plans to leverage the AI tool enter the overseas podcast market.
The details: Japan Anime News, a weekly podcast show hosted by radio personality Hisanori Yoshida, has been broadcasting in Japanese, English, and Mandarin Chinese since the beginning of October.
Yoshida only speaks Japanese, but the proprietary tool called Lingueene! converts his voice into other languages.
JOLF says it’s seeking a patent for the program, which supports AI translations in 28 languages.
Backgrounder: Anime radio programs became a mainstay in the 1980s thanks to an anime boom that began with Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato.
Radio stations also began adding anime voice actor programs in the 1990s with the growing popularity of voice actors who also performed as pop idols.
A 2021 survey by the Nippon Cultural Broadcasting (JOQR) found that nearly 30 percent of Japanese university students listen to voice actor radio programs.
The intrigue: Kadokawa’s flagship anime magazine Newtype is partnering with JOLF to produce the stories for Japan Anime News.
Newtype published English-language booklets this year at Anime Expo and New York Comic Con, the first time the magazine has released English-language print editions since Newtype USA ended publication in 2008.
Our thought bubble: AI translation of anime radio programs opens a new pathway for the anime industry to reach audiences directly after long relying on fan outlets, but only if the accuracy of translations can be improved.
Keidanren: Gov’t ‘must not repeat Cool Japan strategy’
Japan’s top business lobby published a policy proposal document last week urging the government to make entertainment content promotion a top priority as countries like Saudi Arabia and South Korea take steps to increase content production.
Why it matters: Keidanren’s proposals come as Japan prepares for a parliamentary election next week, which could see the ruling coalition lose its majority in the lower house of the National Diet.
“With entertainment content growing, evolving, and diversifying at an exponential rate, there’s no time sit back,” says the 1,600-member federation of businesses and trade groups.
By the numbers: ¥200 billion (US$1.32 billion) is what Keidanren proposes in annual spending by ministries and agencies to promote anime, manga, video games, live-action media, and music abroad.
That’s nearly eight times what the government is projected to spend promoting content this fiscal year – ¥26.3 billion (US$174 million).
The bigger picture: Keidanren says it’s the level of spending needed to achieve the goal of ¥20 trillion (US$132 billion) in entertainment exports by 2033.
Zoom in: Artists’ income stability in anime and manga continues to remain a concern for the group even as it acknowledges improvements in animator salaries.
Keidanren wants to see more support for the development of public and private housing facilities as incubators for young manga artists.
It also calls for more audience research in burgeoning anime export markets like Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and India.
What’s missing: While the document endorses research and use of AI technologies in a way that respects intellectual property rights, it doesn’t address concerns about their potential impact on entertainment workers.
Clippings: Anime, game IP toy sales up at Japan airports
Toy wholesaler Happinet has seen sales of anime and video game IP toys like Super Mario and Pokémon to Japan’s airport stores climb 60 percent year-over-year for the period between April and September. (Press release)
Japanese IP toys are popular with foreign tourists, and visitor arrivals this year are on pace to break the record total of 31.9 million arrivals in 2019.
Weekly Shonen Jump’s Kagurabachi has become the manga magazine’s next title with worldwide IP popularity after the conclusions of My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen in recent weeks. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)
Rewind: As previously reported by Animenomics, Kagurabachi generated more searches online than currently popular manga like Spy × Family did at their debut.
Mobile phone operator NTT Docomo has acquired MUGENUP, a digital illustration and webtoon studio that supplied the company’s d-book digital manga platform with manga content. (The Nikkei)
The acquisition follows a partnership between NTT Docomo, digital manga app developer Akatsuki, e-book distributor Media Do, and fan community website MyAnimeList to distribute digital manga in the United States.
Saudi Arabia’s Manga Productions is within a few years of being able to produce and release its own anime title, says CEO Essam Bukhary, after years of partnering with anime studios like Toei Animation to train Saudi animators. (The Nikkei)
Tokyo-based startup AiHUB has received funding from the Japanese government’s Generative AI Accelerator Challenge to develop an image generation AI model specific to the anime industry. (Press release)
Director reports confirmed anime projects through 2030
“Anime production usually starts 2–3 years in advance, so I’m currently working on projects for 2026 and 2027. Projects after that have also been decided, and in my case, including projects with loose ends, it’s already been decided which works I’ll be in charge of until around 2030.”
— Yuzuru Tachikawa, Death Parade and Mob Psycho 100 anime director
Context: Tachikawa told entertainment researcher Atsuo Nakayama that production pipelines are at full capacity because the anime industry hasn’t seen any growth in the number of working animators. The three-part interview about Tachikawa’s career is published on the web magazine ONE.
Privately held companies anchor manga publishing biz
Private ownership of publishing companies plays a key role in the success of Japan’s manga industry, says Takeshi Kikuchi, a manga industry expert who helped found the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair, in a new book about the manga business.
Why it matters: Japan’s top manga publishers are among the biggest beneficiaries of anime’s current global boom, and they’re all privately held companies.
Household name businesses like Shueisha, Shogakukan, Kodansha, Hakusensha, and Akita Shoten are all private companies.
What he’s saying: Manga editorial departments need to maintain independence from shareholders who have little knowledge of the publishing business, Kikuchi argues.
“Manga isn’t something that can be mass-produced using a reproducible production process like that of industrial products,” he writes in the book.
Kikuchi says manga editors play the role of curator and must have the patience to develop artists during serialization rather than solely prioritizing sales.
The other side: Kadokawa, the only major publicly listed manga publisher, is unique as a manga publisher because it also operates businesses that adapt manga IPs into anime, film, and video games.
Kadokawa relies on thousands of intellectual properties in order to support its strategy of growth through mixed media projects.
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While AI in its nascent form is abused in ethically dubious ways, I think regulation can lead to endeavors like these that will open up the medium an untapped audience benefiting everyone in the process. Great write-up, and I look forward to what you have next to report on after your break.
I've seen tools like Lingueene that content creators can use. Haven't used it myself, but saw a demonstration of their translation, and it is really good.