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My video interview with German TV (DW Deutsch / Deutsche Welle): How AI could save Anime

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<<1:54 AI can help maintain the anime boom, says Roland Kelts, Professor and 1:58 Japanese culture expert. 1:59 He has written a book about anime. 2:02 "They call it 'in-betweener work,' when you draw frames in 2:07 between the keyframes. 2:09 And that kind of work can be done by AI very effectively and save the 2:13 studios money and time. 2:16 A lot of people think of anime as these big hits, etc. 2:20 But there are thousands of anime produced every year. 2:23 And many of them are just for late-night TV. 2:25 They are pretty cheap, so those can probably easily be produced by AI." 2:33 Technology isn’t seen as a threat in Japan, says Kelts. 2:37 This openness is rooted in the country’s indigenous 2:40 religion, Shinto. 2:41 Shinto is centered on worshipping kami, or spiritual entities. 2:45 They inhabit all kinds of objects, manmade or not, and everything is 2:49 accepted to be part of nature. 2:52 "Japanese creativity is quite fluid. 2:54 The very first a...
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New Video of Live Event: Behind the scenes of the anime industry w/Geoffrey Wexler (Ghibli, Ponoc), Shuzo Shiota (Polygon Pictures) and Roland Kelts (Japanamerica)

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Shot live at International House of Japan , here's the live event video from Asia Society Japan of my presentation with veteran anime industry pros Geoffrey Wexler, formerly of Studio Ghibli and now with Studio Ponoc, and Shuzo Shiota of Polygon Pictures.  The Financial Times says that the export value of Japan's content industry now exceeds its steel, petrochemicals and semiconductor sectors . Leading the content industry is Anime, Japanese-created animation that is both unique and outrageously popular. Overseas sales tripled during the last decade and are beginning to dwarf the domestic market. Financial analysts predict that its market size will grow at 9.8% CGR and surpass $30 billion by 2033. But what exactly is Anime, creatively and culturally? And why are its series and features booming abroad while the Anime industry in Japan is weathering a series of severe crises, including labor shortages, overworked and underpaid staffers, and antiquated technologies? Join us at A...
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My in-depth interview with Bloomberg TV

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"Jam Session at the Strange Library," July 30th: Jason Moran, Motoyuki Shibata, Roland Kelts

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 Like Haruki Murakami? Love Jazz? I'm thrilled to be part of this special one-off event at the Haruki Murakami Library at Waseda University on Wednesday, July 30th, with award-winning jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran and genius literary translator/scholar/author Motoyuki Shibata (MONKEY magazine). Amazing music and bilingual readings in Murakamiland: https://www.waseda.jp/culture/wihl/other/10033 Tix are via lottery only so please toss your name in our hat ASAP if you'll be in Tokyo and want to join us for a unique and brilliant evening.
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Live Gig for The Asia Society Japan at I-HOUSE Tokyo, July 7

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  Anime is now booming everywhere, driving streaming platform profits, filling cinemas. Yet Japanese animators remain underpaid, overworked, and harder and harder to find and keep.  We'll talk about the answers on JULY 7th at this very special event Live in Tokyo . I'll be joined by executives from Studio Ghibli, Polygon Pictures and Studio Ponoc for this unique presentation for Asia Society Japan at International House of Japan.  This will be in-person only and exclusive, confidential material will be edited out of the video to be posted later.   So: Who's making the money? And how should you and your partners invest? Featuring Geoffrey Wexler, Shuzo John Shiota and hosted by Japan economics expert Jesper Koll. Register to join us here .
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My print interview with Deutsche Welle (DW) on AI and ANIME

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In my interview with Deutsche Welle (DW) I explain why and how Japan’s Anime industry is embracing AI . Miyazaki and many fans may not like it but the industry needs AI—especially if it hopes to retain the aesthetic properties that are essential to its appeal: the “hand drawn” 2D look, stylized key frames, and cool choreography requiring hours of hard labor by so-called “in-betweeners,” many of whom are already working outside Japan for long hours and low wages. Even more important: Japan’s relatively loose copyright laws make AI a realistic legal option. <<The use of AI in anime can therefore be seen as a solution to fill in the gap, points out Roland Kelts, an anime expert and visiting professor at Japan's Waseda University School of Culture, Media and Society. "The population is shrinking, so there are not many young artists, and they are paid very poorly to do a lot of hard labor," he told DW.>> *video forthcoming. Thanks to Chermaine Lee.
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My latest interview for The Financial Times on Anime's lost profits

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I was interviewed by the Financial Times about the global Anime Boom and domestic Anime Bust, and how the Trump tariffs could kill the golden goose: https://archive.ph/NA572 <The global market for anime is now expected to almost double from $31.2bn in 2023 to $60.1bn by 2030, the investment bank Jefferies wrote in a 2024 report.  But as the popularity of anime and manga — the comic books from which many anime characters and stories are derived — grow, Japanese studios and the country’s government are increasingly concerned that financial value is disappearing overseas. “What we are starting to see from the anime companies is an awareness that the production and distribution side of the industry is inefficient,” says Roland Kelts, the author of JAPANAMERICA: How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US . “The middle men are making a lot of money, but that isn’t trickling down.”> *My thanks to ace reporter Leo Lewis. Again.
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