FROM A NICHE MARKET TO MAINSTREAM MEDIA: THE RECENT TREND OF THE ANIME INDUSTRY

• Main Author: Darmawan, Rafli
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/68138
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

This research studies the recent trend in the anime industry that is consequently changing the social perception towards the fans or the audience of the anime industry since it was leaning more towards negative rather than positive as well as on the verge of turning into a mainstream media since the anime medium itself has always focused more on their local market which can be labelled as a niche market. The theoretical foundations that have been written will first give a better understanding of the terms that are relevant to the phenomena, other than that, it will also provide context implicitly as it goes on. With descriptive and qualitative methods to find the answer to the questions that have been raised as well as the objectives that are identified. Depending on secondary data from various media on the Internet and previous research that is similar to this research to describe the phenomena that are contributing to the trend, the researcher found several factors have an impact and these are: the declining population and low birth rate of Japan thus forcing the industry to make more appealing content to Western culture and globally subsequently making the distribution more accessible throughout the world, globally known personas such as Elon Musk publicly showing love towards the medium via social media which lessens the negative stereotype that is present, well-known fashion and shoe brands collaborating with shows from the medium such as Coach, Jordan, and Asics as well as the Fortnite video game collaborating with Naruto, local small and medium enterprises dedicating their brand towards the medium creating an unofficial merchandise store. In short, the medium is in this position because of its passionate and dedicated fans.