a record-breaking year in of earnings in 2023, a few of the biggest titles ever continued the momentum through 2024, leading to an even greater number of new eyes to anime productions. And while the ever-increasing popularity of the art form is undoubtedly a good thing for the industry and fans, it also comes with other consequences that many may not have foreseen.

In an interview with Business Insider, three prominent producers in the industry sat down to discuss the current state of anime, including Yuichi Fukushima, who works directly on the anime adaptation of Spy x Family with CloverWorks. Alongside Tetsuya Nakatake and Wakana Okamura, producers at Wit Studio and Toho respectively, the three producers expressed their gratitude and delight at the recent success of anime, while sharing plans for the future.

When discussing goals for the year, Fukushima, Nakatake, and Okamura all gave similar answers that shed some light on new challenges that have come along with mass popularity. As revenue grows, so do budgets and expectations, and while the overall quality of anime shows and films has increased, the need to consistently produce at a high level has prevented studios from taking on long-running projects.

Anime's Popularity Has Led to a Boom in Quality

Higher Revenue Has Led to Higher Production Costs and Higher Quality

In response to being asked what the turning point was for anime's rising popularity, Wakana Okamura pointed to the success of Demon Slayer - The Movie: Mugen Train, going on to say, "I have a sense that anime has become the main culture rather than a subculture." There is substance to that claim, seeing as Mugen Train is the highest grossing Japanese film in history. However, when the amount of money that anime makes increases, so too do the budgets awarded to certain projects, leading to higher quality productions.

Demon Slayer directly contributed to the boom in anime's popularity, and it's no wonder that the demand for higher-quality series has also increased, seeing as the series' defining trait is its breathtaking visuals. In the following years, fans have been treated to the likes of Jujutsu Kaisen and Dandadan, among other masterfully animated works that would once have been a rarity. Now, every highly anticipated release is expected to contain a similar level of visual quality.

Though producers like Fukushima, Nakatake, and Okamura are all happy to spearhead such productions, especially given the revenue that they generate, there are certain traditions of the past that simply no longer work with such high-quality anime. One that Spy x Family producer, Fukushima, hopes to see return in some capacity, is the long-running two-cour anime series, which is slowly becoming more difficult to create as the resources going into production rise.

Spy x Family's Producer Wants to Return to Making Long Series

Increased Quality Has Made Longer Anime Seasons a Thing of the Past

When asked about his goals for 2025, Yuichi Fukushima said, "Personally, I would like to prepare a system that can properly schedule and produce works a few years ahead, not works that can be released next year. Two-cour, it's getting harder to make." One-cour is an anime season that consists of 12 episodes, which has become the norm nowadays for the most popular series. Two-cour would be approximately 24 episodes, which was far more common even as recently as the 2010s.

Because anime's popularity has risen to such a degree, budgets have become far bigger than they ever were. And along with higher budgets comes an expectation of a higher quality product. Though the flashy and incredibly animated shows that have been released in recent years are a sign of growth in the industry, they simply cannot work over a two-cour length. The strain that would be put on those producing the anime would be far too great, and shows would take far too long to release if a staff went about working on them in a healthy way.

The amount of effort it would take to stretch something of the quality of Jujutsu Kaisen's second season over the length of 24 episodes is too great to produce over the course of a year or two. Fukushima's goal that is being discussed in the interview will attempt to go back to the two-cour formula by planning future works several years in advance, so an audience will not have to wait several years for continuations of their favorite series.

An example would be MAPPA's Chainsaw Man, an absurdly popular series which ended in 2022, only to release its follow-up film nearly three years later. By putting a plan like Fukushima's into action, an anime like Chainsaw Man could have begun production years in advance, eliminating the long waiting period between entries into the franchise. Of course, a series' source material would need to allow for that to happen, but if done successfully, the production method could eventually provide much longer seasons of anime.

Demand For Higher Quality Can Lead to Worsened Work Conditions

A Solution Must Be Found That Keeps Healthy Working Conditions

While finding a way to produce high-quality anime over a longer season may sound great to fans, it is important to that human beings are the ones producing it. Working in the anime industry is not easy, as shown in the infamous struggles of animators working on the most popular series at MAPPA. Many of the people responsible for producing anime fans' favorite shows are overworked and undercompensated, all while working on strict deadlines.

If Yuichi Fukushima can put a sort of plan in motion that can also relieve the stress of those involved in creating the anime, then the return of the two-cour standard might become a reality. Anime's meteoric rise in popularity has given way to higher-quality work on a consistent basis, though in the process, has slowed the rate at which it can be produced. Fortunately for fans of the art form, it seems Spy x Family's producer is hard at work on a solution to the problem.

Source: Business Insider