Kyoto Animation explains that what underlies the success of K-ON! and its other top sellers is the company’s “passion,” and not the presence of moeblobs or popular novel and manga source material as some ignorant souls might think.
Kyoto Animation boss Hideaki Hatta gloats keenly over his company’s success with K-ON! in an address to the audiences assembled at Kyoto CMEX 2010:
I’m often asked why such hits are born in Kyoto. “Disappearance” only showed in 21 theatres nationally. But it grossed over ¥800,000,000. It’s even selling internationally.
In Kyoto you won’t get business unless you do the work yourself. We cooperate as we’re in Kyoto.
[…]
I don’t mean to criticise Tokyo, but they use a lot of freelancers so it can’t be helped. As for us, we do things together as company employees. This injects an energy into our products which just isn’t there in other works. We have passion. Maybe that’s why they sell.
Games can’t beat us with mere CG – character is what moves animation. Human feelings move characters.
We’d like to shift the stage to Kyoto some time, and make our characters move amidst the natural splendour of Kyoto. Please take care of Kyoto, and thank you for listening.
It should be noted that Kyoto residents have a certain reputation for taking their city, the traditional capital of Japan, rather seriously.
2ch is not impressed:
The sell if they’re being fawned over by moetards…
The best marketing spiel in the industry! They’re capturing the casual fanbase as well…
“We have a passion (for exploiting otaku), that’s why we sell.”
They’ve finished brainwashing their followers so it’s no wonder.
With such passion you make such a bland anime. Those creepy otaku are just fapping to it, that’s all…
I thought they were always making Kyoto the setting?
Certainly, watching a well animated anime is fun.
A passion for tricking moetards! Tell us if Munto sold!
What sells: K-ON! What they want to make: Munto.
K-ON! was godly, it really changed my outlook on life!
Nice animation isn’t all that makes a good anime.
Soon the KyoAni bubble will burst, make no mistake! Their believers aren’t otaku, but fashion-concious fans, so it’ll go out of fashion all the quicker!
JC > Shaft > KyoAni
I want to see Angle Beats made by KyoAni!
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
| 
Top 20 Anime That Boast The Best Battles
NieR: Automata Brings New Futa (?) To The Fray
Koutetsujou no Kabaneri Dead Sexy
Etrian Odyssey V Fences Furiously
Mushroom Lollipop CM Tastefully Phallic
Seitokai Yakuindomo OAD “The Perversion Continues!”
Puzzle & Dragons X OP – “For Kids!?”
Cheerful Yukari Yukata Figure
IdolMaster Nets Korean Live Action TV Drama
Top 20 Anime Deserving of a Second Season
Valkyrie Anatomia: The Origin Announced – But…
Strangers Fisting For Candy: “A Pretty Sweet Deal!”
Netoge no Yome Grinds Hard
King Of Fighters XIV Trailer Boasts Breasts & Brawn
Yuzuruha Figure Sexy & Sophisticated
IdolMaster: Platinum Stars Trailer Happier Than Ever
Top 10 Most Anticipated Anime of Spring 2016
Splendid Abuse Eden “A Heaven of Sorts”
Hatsune Miku Ero-MMD Fit & Tight
Dissidia Final Fantasy Arcade Recruits Garland
Marie Rose Cosplay by Mike Undeniably Sexy
Tasha Tracer Cosplay Truly Tantalizing
Witch Craft Works Cosplay by Kagune Intensely Seductive
Kaine Cosplay by Yuricha Flawless
Kasumigaoka Utaha Cosplay Pretty Pure
Goddess of 2ch “Another Bathing Beauty!”
Tantalizing Hestia Cosplay Busts Out
Kashiwazaki Sena Cosplay Pure & Innocent
Minami Kotori Casino Girl Cosplay Takes No Chances
Shimakaze Cosplay by Ema Sakura
Trust me KyoAni, it's not your passion why K-On! sells. It's the your otaku fanbase's passion for moeblobs and their sometimes creepy obsession that it is doing so well.
Moeblob and creepy otakus ... Funny how they react and complain but there still watching it.
KyoAni have been god-level trolls since Endless Eight... they can sell anything to fools.
Though they're not quite as good at it as Apple. Now them's marketing gods.
8 million dollars is a huge success for late night anime? in contrast pokemon made 85 million in the US alone. is late night anime really only watched by the scummiest neets and pedos? i always thought anime was a bit more mainstream than it is here. but i guess its solely for the super nerds in japan as well as the US.
@anon 13:57 Well, you can't really compare a regional, narrow target market based company with a leading international computer and electronics producer.
There's gotta be a serious reason why one's only bragging about it but the other's actually making billions.
@14:43
you cant compare pokemon with K-ON!
pokemon has several season (how many was it 10? 11? somethingh around that)it is directed at the myjority of kids around the world(although not initially i guess)
and alsomt every two years comes a new game
so it is safe to call it an moneymachine
K-ON! has what? 2 seasons and maybe some merchandise that only sells too hardcore fans or to some more for the lol`s (not that big of a market)
If you divide all pokemon episodes by 26, you get at least 20 seasons... and if you add all the movies, the number would be over 30.
Taking that into account - plus the fact that most pokemon episodes have probably cost less than half of each of K-ON's, thanks to the target audience who doesn't really care about quality - pokemon's larger success is easy to explain.
It's definitely the Moe element.
Without it, people would notice the average story and lack of new music within the show. Scooby Do had different songs in every episode for crying out loud, and K-on is supposed to be about music!
It's satan's porn collection. You just can't look away. ^_^
Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life:
4.67 billion yen = US$50.2 million
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
4.0 billion yen = US$43 million
Weva managed plenty as well, however you can't really compete with something that involves a mother or father buying 2 tickets, one for themselves and one for their child(ren).
@23:24: i can see your point, ticket income from parents and children > ticket income from creepy shit otaku that decay from the touch of fresh air and decides to stay at home instead :P
Pretty much
This will come to an end, and KyoAni will be gridlocked.
Reading those comments made feel like it's 4chan-esque or ala-/a/ comments. There seems to be not much different except that people over there support the industry financially.
I guess learning to read moonrunes will expose me to such reality.
Ah whatever.
As much as I love KyoAni's style of animation they shouldn't gloat...
Arrogance/Gloating invites bad luck....
Just look at Sony now and the Playstation brand....
When you mess up it's gonna be painful to look at yourselves that you got told pretty bad.
"What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?
What was Endless Eight all about then?"
Put in a nutshell. ^_^
I thought everybody knew it. Listen very carefully, i shall tell this only once: It was about the 2 weeks of time repeating itself over 670 years. Got it?
I see no need to show all 670 years of it.
yeah, that's why you people should watch the movie
you will know why endless eight is needed.
I know the move is awesome.
That still doesn't justify it...twice would have been enough.
They got passion alright,the passion to ignite a frenzy of rabid fans to fawn over and spend frivolously at the goods/merchandise that is.
Could be that "injection" of over zealous energy affecting countless fans to go apeshit, leading them to post series sales.
Either that, or I could just be ignorant and enjoy whatever comes my way....
Kyon-kun denwa
Hai...
Kyonkun~
Hai?
We have entered an endless recursion of time...
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-
"We have entered an endless recursion of trolls..."
-udge...
Im Haruhi Suzumiya from Austria, Chief of the SOS Brigade and i say..!
Im love Endless Eight and its a epic arc. Kyon-kun Denwa! Endless Eight forever! ♥
Hm.. im just a fool while i love so the 8 Endless Eight Eps? Can and have i not the right to love and like what i would? No we NOT have entered the recursion of trolls! What was Endless Eight all about then? E8... ones of great anime arc's!!! I will buy the season 2 hundert procently, but im not foolish.
I think they're right, you must have passion for what you do to make it the best possible!
And like a big fan of K-On that i am i can say they did a awesome work with animation, dialogue, music, characters, etc.
Another example is Gantz, Hiroya Oku said he loves to draw every volume of the manga and you can tell by reading the manga, its full of detail, draw almost perfectly every character and cenario!
I guess he wouldnt do it so good without the passion...
a true believer!!! thank you!!
@Abel
I'd have to agree with you there.
Just looking at how great the latest OP is, "Utauyo MIRACLE", You can already tell they put a lot of effort into it. I just can't get enough of watching the OP.
My initial thought about it was "meh, catchy and fun". But as I kept watching it, I notice all the details, notice the lyrics, notice how the characters act naturally, just being themselves, until I fell inlove with it, the OP i mean.
Although for the series itself, I'd have to give the credit to kakifly for the clever humor. But for animation/art/style & music, any other company definitely couldn't have done a better job KyoAni has done.
"No, Thank you" is also awesome. Music was perfect. The way the rhythm guitar flows~~ hahhhh~~~~~
I know right, seyuu, soundtrack, animation, characters, everything perfectly mixed togheter!
I love good animated sequences and I have to say that K-ON was full of them. If you check the credits there are plenty of amazing animators who worked on the project. That's my number one reason for watching the show.
I wasn't really into the story but I'm guessing most who watch K-ON don't watch it for the story anyways.
I kinda felt that the President was a prick for only acknowledging the success of K-ON because of KyoAni.
Yes, i enjoy the excellent animation quality and cute chara designs also, but like me there is many who play or have played in rock groups watching K-On! also for it`s story. Even in groups consisting of guys there is some airheads which at same time are good as musicians, so we can easily relate.
I say look more closely to backgrounds, the rooms & corridors of school building are unbelievably well done. The animation really shows that worn, run-down old school building in super detail!
Same goes to views in the town and other surroundings, and how seasons are depicted.
come on kyoani do more drama,
little buster is ready for you
I don’t mean to criticise Kyo-Ani, but moe sells so it can’t be helped.
That may be so, but you have to admit: KyoAni sells like hot cakes, even if they produce dumb shit like Endless Eight.
Obviously they are doing it right.
Perhaps KyoAni was too successful powerful, they needed to air the Endless Eight to bring back balance to the universe.
Yet Endless Eight still sold.
@ Anonymous 1#
The reason why "K-ON" is their "passion" is because its bring them money$$$. It has no story. Unless your in it for the characters(obvious), it has stort-term entertainment value. Don't expect talking/discussing/bragging about it for so long as fans of DBZ, Full Metal Alchamest, heck, even Naruto, and Bleach would do.
While K-ON! has some great characters(Azusa, Ritsu,Nodoka,Tsumugi), and nice animation, its doesn't have enough "passion" in its story to merit all the sales its obtained.
If you want girl-centric or an Anime with great female leads/main character, watch "Kaliedo Star, and Jigoku Shōjo: Girl from Hell." I assure you Enma AI is far more interesting than a girl who sits around and does nothing.
If you want an Anime with yuri in it, watch "Maria Watches Over Us", "Kashimashi", and "Strawberry Panic."
If you want an Anime with high-quality animation, and story, watch "Angel Beats!" and "Beckomogatari"; its 200% better than K-ON!
You just lost me at Jigoku Shoujo. That was 10 times Terribad IMO.
The interaction and reaction of the people's problems were so awkward and seemingly TOO exaggerated and turns into a "LOLGO2HELL" fest without making any sense. Only thing I liked about it was in S1 where they gave focus to the Shibata family.
Sorry.. No.. But I'd have to pass on that. Also about quality.. It's a bit subjective.
Performances of Angel Beats and Haruhi(Ever so popular God knows) were done through rotoscoping. Lost the link to prove this but seems about right.
What separates K-ON!'s concerts is that it was done by people with probably not much experience with musical instruments. So basically pure visualization is coming at hand or just capturing the essence of it.
But you can be sure that some or majority of the sequences involving the instruments in the ED and OP of K-ON! are rotoscoped.
Ditto on the Jigoku Shoujo notion. It was barely anymore watchable the K-ON!. Actually, it wasn't. Also, yuri is win. Actual yuri anime tends not to be.
Your list of examples for yuri content could use some work, but I'll leave it at that. <.<
"JC > Shaft > KyoAni"
That made me BELLY LAUGH.
Shaft can be nice at times, but the quality of animation is so low, Japanese/anime fans in general just bash the hell out of it. Also, too much Shinbo shenanigans to the point it gets tiresome.
JC STAFF? Christ. Do they mean the studio that almost never puts in enough effort to background animation? I rather like JC Staff shows, but as an animation studio, they could be a lot more solid.
How nice of them to give so much credit to the awesome source material(and it's overflow of moeblobs) that made their success possible....
Also what passion? moeblobs with the same face pallet the only change is the hair and on one of the characters overly huge eyebrows.
== i bet you don't even like anime
But it's not doing well and Angel Beats clobbered it so BADLY in sales rankings..
Popularity polls and merchandise/sales numbers are 2 different stories..
Sorry k-on fanboys, it's ENDING and DIEING at the same time..
"But it's not doing well and Angel Beats clobbered it so BADLY in sales rankings.."
[citation needed]
Lol you are fucking retarded. Why don't you do some research before you spout crap?
K-ON!! first volume has sold 10,000 more BD's than Angel Beats first volume. And it has sold more discs overall because, unlike Angel Beats, K-ON!! has staying power and has charted on Oricon's BD chart for 8 weeks compared to AB's two or three weeks.
Oh ya, and let's not forget that K-ON CD sales have crossed 1.8 million discs sold. AB? Not even close to half of that.
Your counting the manga and the stupid merchandising? Pffft lol......
You forgot, angel beats doesn't even have fake vaginas to fuck, they're getting beat in that category also!!
Fucking retarded man, you really are, hahah..