2019 brought the anime decade to a close with a year that was, if nothing else, a little better than the one that came before.

Without any question the strength of 2019 was at the top of the table.  Historically speaking it was nothing exceptional, but it was a big step up from 2018 – which a year’s distance has done nothing to dissuade me from thinking was the worst anime year of the decade by a comfortable margin.  The math is pretty straightforward here – an average year should place roughly 2 series in the decade’s Top 20 list.  2019 got only one, but two more barely missed – so on the whole, about average.

Of course when one looks at a year, it’s not only the very best series that matter.  Depth was not a strength of 2019.  It goes about 12 deep in terms of really excellent shows, but after that it’s not an especially strong group.  We saw fewer series produced in 2019 than in any prior year of the 2010’s, and a higher percentage of them were pure production committee product.  It’s just the law of averages at work here.  It’s hard to see any reason to think the long-term trend of fewer good anime is going to change as long as the production committee system remains the norm, though early indications are the the decline in volume or series produced may be slowing or even levelling off.

That all begs the question – is there any reason to believe the production committee system’s iron-clad grip on anime will weaken?  Frankly, no – as with anything else, it’s the entities with the money who dominate the process and their vested interests which prevail.  And those interests, of course, are in preserving the status quo.  If international streaming rights and the involvement of Amazon and Netflix types as co-producers are going to have a major impact, we’ve yet to see it.  Big foreign companies do influence the production of a few series a year, but generally speaking studios are still struggling, animators are still exploited and barely paid, and risk-taking and creativity are strongly discouraged.

Here’s the breakdown on the Top 10 list:

By Season:

• Winter 2019: 3
• Spring 2019: 2
• Summer 2019: 3
• Fall 2019: 2

By Studio:

• Wit – 1
• MAPPA/Tezuka Productions- 1
• Bones – 1
• Platinum Vision – 1
• J.C. Staff – 1
• Orange – 1
• Zero-G – 1
• Lerche – 1
• MAPPA/Lapin Track – 1
• Shin-Ei – 1

That’s as even a seasonal distribution as I’ve had, and it more or less matches my recollections of the year (though I’d have pegged Fall as the best season overall).  What’s striking to me is the number of studios making their first-ever entry on the list – no less than 7 if you count the two co-producing with MAPPA (who themselves are making their first appearance, which really surprised me).  Only Wit, Bones, J.C. Staff and Lerche have been here before.  The industry is changing, no question.  It makes me happy to see lesser-known and younger studios providing quality content, though it does support the idea that studios are, broadly speaking, a less important part of the production process than they’ve ever been.

By Source Material:

• Manga: 9
• Original: 1

Manga dominating is nothing new, though if anything its dominance of the shrinking quality anime market is increasing.  The Top 20 had 16 manga, with 3 originals making the cut – along with a rare light-novel appearance in Boogiepop wa Warawanai (though let’s not kid ourselves – that series dates from an era when the term meant something very different).

As always I hope things will get better, though the evidence based on Winter 2020 and what’s been announced for Spring is not encouraging.  It all circles back to the system – as long as their supremacy goes unchallenged, anime’s steady creative decline is a certainty to continue.  We’ve seen direct evidence of it this year with the Hoshiai no Sora fiasco, and a few brave souls within the industry continue to speak out for change and on behalf of those who are hurt most by that system, the animators.

On the theatrical front, with neither Shinkai Makoto or Hosoda Mamoru releasing a film in 2020 there are no obvious landmarks on the calendar.  Ghibli has Miyazaki’s new film of course (and has recently and mysteriously noted that they have two films in production), but Kemushi no Boro is reportedly only 15% done so… who the hell knows when that will come out.  Anime still dominates the Japanese box office, with 6 of the top 10 domestic releases (two more were live-action films based on manga), but most of them these days are big-screen extensions of TV franchises.  That seems to represent an evolution similar to what we’ve seen with OVAs.

One more note, on the Top 10 contest: I suspected this year’s guessing might be easier than most, and the overall accuracy level was definitely up.  Several of you got 9 out of 10, so congrats on your excellent conjecture.  With no one getting all 10 the tiebreaker was the poster whose guesses came closest to the actual placements, and that was Eniid – way to go!  Very impressive, Eniid – you take the prize, which is to commission a “Top 5” ranking on any anime-themed topic you choose.  Congratulations again, and please post your request in the comments.

That’ll do it for the wrap-up post – the 2019 series poll and the LiA “Oscars” will be following along shortly. As always, my sincerest thanks to everyone who reads and comments here at LiA, and especially those of you that stepped up to become LiA supporters and those of you that were already supporting the site. You make all this possible, and you make it worth doing. May 2020 be a better year for all of us.

有難うございます!

Enzo