The president of Studio Bones , Masahiko Minami, stated in an interview for the 'Anime Studio Chronicle' segment on Comic Natalie that "a company will die if it doesn't create original works .
In the interview, Minami acknowledged the value of adaptations, recalling how Studio Bones achieved success with the adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood . However, he emphasized that nurturing the creativity and imagination of the team is a crucial element for the studio's survival.
“I believe a company will die if it doesn’t create original works. Simply creating adaptations can make an anime production company grow significantly. However, at Bones, we understand the need to foster creativity and imagination within our team. We approach animation as a visual medium and consider the types of works we can create. This creative aspect is crucial.”
What is an original anime and how important are they to the studios?
Basically, an original anime is one that doesn't have source material; that is, it wasn't based on a manga, game, light novel, etc.
In these cases, the animation studio develops (or helps an author develop) a concept for an anime and, when it's ready, approaches producers to help them finance it.
Funding can be the most difficult part, because if the studio doesn't have the resources to produce the anime, it needs sponsorship. For an idea to be sponsored, it needs to be commercially attractive and "safe," so sponsors usually choose to invest in anime of already existing genres, such as shonen and isekai. This way, they are less likely to have a complete failure.
An original anime is also, in a way, like a "promotion" for the studio, showcasing everything that studio is capable of in terms of animation and storytelling, and often displaying the studio's own style, which is clear in studios with a strong signature like Trigger (Kill la Kill) and Shaft (Bakemonogatari).
Thus, when a work (manga, game, light novel, etc.) is going to be adapted into an anime, a production committee responsible for the work will look for Studio X to invest in an adaptation, so the studio will be paid to make an anime. This was the case with Studio Trigger and the adaptation of the game Cyberpunk 2077 into the anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners .
Does this mean that original anime are just advertisements for studios and adaptations are just advertisements for manga, games, and light novels? No!
In an interview with the president of Bones studio, he recounts that sometimes the team asks, “Why did we decide to create 'Space☆Dandy'?”, to which he replied, “Why wouldn’t it be fun?”
Minami explains that both the creators and the audience wanted something fun. “Everyone agrees that it was an extremely enjoyable experience. To a certain extent, 'Dandy' was a project that Director Watanabe and I were eager to embrace with enthusiasm. Both the creators involved in the production and the audience shared the desire to create and witness something genuinely fun.”
The success of an original anime brings substantial profits to the studio, but a failure can have devastating financial impacts. Since producing an original anime is a crucial undertaking for the studio, they often stretch themselves to the limit, both physically and financially, to make it happen.
Failure at this point can lead to the closure of studios. Like Manglobe, which reportedly closed in 2015 after failing to recover from the failure of the original anime Samurai Flamenco in 2013. This despite the studio having some iconic original anime in its catalog such as Samurai Champloo, Ergo Proxy, and Michiko to Hatchin.
Certain studios focus primarily on creating original works. Sunrise , for example, has a significant proportion of its anime being original productions, including famous titles such as Gundam , Cowboy Bebop , and Tiger and Bunny . However, most other studios currently tend to rely on commissioned adaptation projects. These projects are abundant, less demanding on the staff, and more financially secure.
Sources: Comic Natalie , ANN
