Welcome, everyone, to another edition of This Week in Anime, where I talk about the most important stories from the week. This week, however, will be a little bit different. Because of time constraints and because of the importance of one story, in particular, I have decided to cover this particular story a bit more in depth.
YouTuber The Anime Man and The Flying Colors Foundations Team Up to Promote Anime Census
In a video released on Wednesday, Joey Byzinger, also known on YouTube as The Anime Man, talked about a new project being released through the non-profit organization called The Flying Colors Foundation. The project is called The 2018 Anime Census and is designed to gather information from the international anime community about their involvement in the community.
The Census features a detailed list of questions, starting with how fans first experienced anime to fans favorite shows and which platform they prefer to view anime on. The Census also asks fans about how much money they spend on anime as well as how likely they are to visit Japan.
The purpose of the survey, as described by The Flying Colors Foundation website, is also to “…send genuine feedback to the people who produce and create our favorite anime.” The stated purpose of The Flying Colors Foundation overall is to “inspire change through dialogue” in the anime community.
The Foundation also faced backlash on Thursday after confusion about their status as a non-profit spread misinformation social media sites like Twitter, leading to the organization clarifying through a series of tweets:
https://twitter.com/FlyingColorsFdn/status/976602348490403840
https://twitter.com/FlyingColorsFdn/status/976602349891284992
https://twitter.com/FlyingColorsFdn/status/976602352261087232
https://twitter.com/FlyingColorsFdn/status/976602356841246720
And Now, discussion:
So, I think there are a couple of things to talk about in relation to this story.
One, which I think has been a common theme on This Week in Anime, has been that there is always room for improvement in the industry. Whether it be paying animators a fair wage, or the overall quality of certain anime, things can and should be improved. Essentially what this census will do is give anime studios, and the anime industry in general, a better grasp on what it is consumers want and how best to get what they want to them. Overall, it’s a win-win.
Two, just in general, I think its a lot better to have information like this available to companies and people who want to make a living with a job involved in anime. If an independent artist wants to find out whats trending currently, then they can look at a survey like this and get a good idea.
Really, as long as those in power actually pay attention to things like this instead of just doing the same old same old, I think we can slowly change the anime industry for the better, without having to wait around and hope things will improve.
What do you guys think about this story? Do you think the survey is a good idea? Do you think it will actually help? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support me, or you just want to show some appreciation for a specific post, then you can buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!
Animated Observations 
I think that if they follow what people say it will work
LikeLike
I think the survey is a wonderful idea but I’m not sure how useful it will be in reshaping the industry. There an odd imperative that whether on purpose or not – people tend to lie on surveys. Also the ultimate goal of the production company isn’t always to make good anime – it’s to make a profit.
This said, we as a community taking a little time to reflect on what we want to see is great for us fans. The free flow of information is always a good thing if you ask me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I would certainly agree with you that profit is the concern of the company overall, but I the survey is anonymous, so I think that will eliminate a large amount of lying on the survey. Not all, but a lot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
WEll studies find that people do it subconsciously so I guess lying isn’t the right word. It’s more that we have an idea of ourselves and our priorities that doesn’t match up with who we actually are.
It’s why coffee is marketed as rich and full bodied because that’s what people think and say they like even though in taste tests on average 90% of people prefer mild…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, that certainly makes sense. I guess it’s one of those things that happens growing up in a consumer culture.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would be so surprised if it made even a slight difference. Their goal seems noble, though. And, It’s still fun to take surveys about anime…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I would agree. Surveys are pretty fun.
LikeLike
Yeah a bunch of nobodies with no visible connections are going to change the industry. Or most likely not.
And that’s setting aside how personal and unrelated to “improving anime” some of the questions are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think anybody has the expectation that anything is going to change significantly right away. Although, I think at least a few of their members did work at anime related companies.
LikeLike