Dragon Ball Is Changing, And One Executive Admits Streaming Is to Blame

While it is undeniable that streaming has changed the entertainment and anime world very drastically, one Dragon Ball executive explained how and why this shift happened, as well as what it meant for the franchise and the medium in general. It was an insightful discussion, and it makes sense that the industry changed ways to take full advantage of this.

In an interview with Akio Iyoku, a member of the Dragon Ball committee and the one in charge of planning, he talked about the production of the anime, the 40th anniversary, the target demographic, and more. He then dived deep into how streaming made them change their approach to making anime and how they could make it more appealing. Furthermore, it allowed for more efficient data collection that would help them make better decisions and make it easier for viewers to watch anime on their own time. While almost every anime production is adjusting its strategy in light of streaming becoming more popular, Dragon Ball in particular has become better because of these changes.

Dragon Ball Has Never Been More Accessible

The Legendary Franchise’s Popularity Is Only Increasing

Akio Iyoku revealed they didn’t have a particular demographic of people they aimed Dragon Ball DAIMA at, instead he wanted everyone to enjoy it. He is still very happy that streaming has allowed the committee to gauge its popularity with children. Data collection, in general, has become much more reliable in the age of streaming. Whereas anime would usually be renewed for future installments based on the sales of Blu-rays, streaming has removed the need for that and allowed many more anime that didn’t perform well to get more content, most notably Chainsaw Man’s poor sales before season 2.

In the past, fans of anime series typically had only one opportunity to watch episodes during their scheduled broadcast times. This was often inconvenient because if viewers were to miss an episode, they had to wait for reruns to catch up. However, streaming has made things much more convenient, allowing fans to watch shows at their own pace and on their own schedules. This flexibility also allows them to catch up on series they may have missed. Moreover, streaming enhances marketing and promotion efforts. Akio pointed out, that viewership tends to increase during the holidays. As a result, committees can ramp up promotions during these peak times and make the anime more accessible to viewers.

One strategy employed for Dragon Ball DAIMA is that episode #1 contained a summary of past events that allowed new viewers to understand what was happening, and thus keep watching. The Dragon Ball franchise is huge and very intimidating due to the amount of content that one should watch first. The recap eliminated the need for people to be familiar with the series and hooked them enough to keep up with the new series. This, in turn, would familiarize them with the franchise and get them to go back to watch the previous installments.

DAIMA Is Topping The Charts Effortlessly

While a good deal of anime has been preserved for the next generation thanks to streaming, Dragon Ball has become even more mainstream and popular due to networks re-platforming the series. It is available on many sites and is one of the easiest anime to discover. Dragon Ball Super being on hiatus for years didn’t make the anime any less popular, as the success of DAIMA proves that the franchise is still going strong four decades later.

Source: @Venixys.