There’s an idea within marketing that’s
taken on many names. Some call them mixed media marketing campaigns, others call it
transmedia franchising and in Japan, they simply use the English term of media mix.
Now there’s been entire books written on this subject, some of which are referenced
in the description, but I’m only going to try and skim the surface. Essentially it’s
the idea that instead of producing one singular product, advertising it and then hoping it
becomes successful, a more effective idea is to produce a concept and then build around
it, establishing anime, toys, games and more all around the same time. The idea is that
each of these media can be used to promote each other. So let’s talk about Cygames, how, they tested
the waters and how they are now entering the anime industry in a big way. But before we talk about Cygames, let’s
discuss the current standard for a media mix because it can vary and nowadays it’s heavily
based on the production committee system. So basically, a group of companies come together,
agree to fund an anime and each of them have the rights to publish a certain thing based
on their ownership of the properly. For example, Sony Music Japan is a part of My Hero Academia,
so the singers involved in the openings and endings are all artists signed with Sony.
So the hopes are that fans of these artists will watch the series and fans of the series
will buy the singles. It’s pretty simple and you can expand this to a few more things,
like how Koei Tecmo were a part of the new Berserk anime so they could produce the Berserk
musou game and be a part of that media mix. So, that’s the idea. But ever since Cygames
first entered the anime industry along with anime adaptations of their works, they have
invested more and more into it. I should probably introduce them. Cygames is the mobile gaming
subsidiary of a big businessy business called CyberAgent. They made Rage of Bahamut in 2011
and then Idolmaster Cinderella Girls. After the popularity of those two, they started
to grow and started hiring more artists and they did this by enveloping the company Designation
run by former Final Fantasy artist Hideo Minaba, who then hired a load of other former Final
Fantasy artists. This became CyDesignation. As you’ll soon learn, when CyberAgent owns
a company, they essentially just put the word “Cy” at the start of it. So now Cygames wasn’t just a load of Cybusinessmen
and Cygame developers, they also had a load of Cyartists. And these artists could create
stunning designs and visuals for Cygames mobage, whilst working on other projects on the side.
For example, the Blade Runner inspired world of Sword Art Online II was designed by a CyDesignation
artist, as were the mirages from Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. Also, even though all these
guys left years ago, Square Enix continued to call back and ask for concept art, like
for Lightning Returns and Bravely Second. An anime typically takes around two to four
years to develop once it’s been greenlit. This is why you’ll generally find that adaptations
will come out a couple years after something’s become popular. That is, unless they are super
confident about it, which is when they go full media mix by planning everything at once.
Pokemon did it in the 90s and was rewarded by being an international sensation and Yokai
Watch did it in the 2010s which made it huge in Japan, but because it lagged behind on
an international release, it didn’t become the global success that many had hoped. That
said, the logic behind these media mix projects is a unique level of confidence. Akihiro Hino,
the CEO of Level-5 and creator of Yo-Kai Watch has expressed a lack of surprise in many interviews
he’s done about the series’ success. By planning a game, anime, manga, toys and a
movie all at once, he was able to boost sales for all of them at once. The game launched
in 2013, but most of the sales came in 2014, once the anime had debuted. High risk, high reward. Now with CyDesignation
established and famed character designer Akihiko Yoshida as one of its directors, they launched
a new project called Granblue Fantasy. Yoshida was the character designer for Final Fantasy
Tactics, 12, 14, Bravely Default and Nier Automata. He is and always has been a big
deal and is the most valuable artist at the company, so with his help, Granblue Fantasy
was able to become a mega success very early on. And although they approached Aniplex about
producing an anime after the game launched, they did so without a production committee,
funding it between themselves and Aniplex, predicting that by the time the anime came
out, the game would still be relevant. And it was. Cygames properties continued to be so relevant
that they’d set up a site called Cycomics where they were publishing manga of their
own properties. This eventually became the Cycomics publishing label, a collaboration
between Kadokawa and Cygames to control the media mix. They also flat out bought a background
company. It’s not entirely relevant, but it does demonstrate their need to keep things
in-house and demonstrates how goddamn rich they are. So to recap, Cygames was able to make a game
with in-house character and background art, promote it with their own in-house manga label
and get it adapted into an anime with their new animation production division. But, as
the title of this video states, they wanted to be everything. So that animation production
division was eventually turned into Cygames Pictures, their own anime studio. This studio
is run by Nobuhiro Takenaka, a producer who spent time at PA Works and helped build a
connection between Cygames and PA Works. And although the anime side of Cygames was
initially about producing and eventually creating anime versions of Cygames properties, they’ve
also helped produce other unrelated projects as part of the production committee. They
helped fund Yuri on Ice, The Eccentric Family Season 2 and most recently, Maquia: When the
Promised Flower Blooms, the debut film of Mari Okada. Maquia was a unique one because Akihiko Yoshida,
who we mentioned earlier was actually involved as character designer. And although I haven’t
found a direct source for this, it’s not a stretch to say that Cygames’ involvement
built the connections that brought such a talented artist onto the film. Additionally,
Cygames promoted the game with an event in Granblue Fantasy and are publishing a manga
version at Cycomics. So they don’t even have to create these properties to be able
to benefit from the media mix. Cygames Pictures isn’t yet at a point where
they can release a full length anime, so far only assisting in other anime and producing
the stunning Blade Runner special. So to help them launch these properties, they collaborate
with trusted studios. And now they’re at a point where they can confidently release
a proper media mix project. Remember, these are the sort of projects where everything
is planned to release at once and demonstrates a huge amount of confidence. And Cygames had
total confidence in… this. Yeah, Cygames is staking all its bets on horse
girls. Cycomics is serialising a manga version, P.A. Works is producing the anime and Cygames
is creating a game to be released this year. All of these will be released within a year
of each other. Yeah, we live in a world where a group of experienced entertainment professionals
sat around a table and decided to invest millions into a franchise about horse girl idols. And
if it does becomes a hit, Cygames benefits massively and it’ll allow them to continue
being one of Japan’s most successful media producers. With this, Cygames has done many things for
the artists involved. It’s allowed a team of talented Final Fantasy artists the opportunity
to work on many different projects whilst receiving a reliable salary, it’s opened
up an anime studio that aims to not overwork animators and pay them a fair wage and they’ve
been signing up new mangaka at Cycomics. And this is all good, but the thing that I have
to question is: is treating animators and artists well something that’s exclusive
to huge successful companies? Cygames Pictures director Nobuhiro Takenaka talks about wanting
to set up loads of studios in regional areas and says that by raising the unit price for
animation, he aims to change the anime industry as a whole, but the question is, how? Takenaka seems to believe that his company’s
success would provide a successful model for other studios, but Kyoto Animation already
exists and although many producers aspire to be able to provide the conditions that
KyoAni does, it doesn’t change the systematic issue of studios as a whole being vastly underpaid
for their work. So, Cygames’ success is great for their own staff, for fans of their
brands and fans of great Final Fantasy-esque character art, like myself. But if they’re
going to promise to fix problems in the anime industry as a whole, they’re going to have
to do a lot more than just be successful. Thanks for watching The Canipa Effect! And
if you’re concerned about conditions for animators and animator wages, Animator Supporters
have launched a new crowdfunding campaign. I’ve visited them myself and they do so
much for talented animators who wouldn’t be able to continue to work in the industry
otherwise. But before I go, I’d like to thank these super people for supporting the
channel: In particular I’d like to thank CyLittleCrow,
CyHamad, CyAustin Hardwicke, CyShannon Shoffner, CySaly(ee)ma, CyBashnekk, CyCappyBro, CyOsama,
CyChariot, CyFaux Wizard, CyChristopher Wade, CyJakob Gadhe, CyFrogkun, CyMikeTamburelli,
literally my own Cymother and CyIsaac Woo.
Fun fact: Today Cygames just announced a new music production company named….. CyMusic. Never change :')
You totally should do a spotlight on Mari Okada. I find all of the projects she's worked on [that I've seen, amounting 11 anime] to be pretty good overall, but something about every one of them rubs me the wrong way; however, I'm not sure if that would be her doing or the directors'.
Grindblue the best
wow i didn't know about this before you talk about but i always spend my time on Granblue Fantasy so this is a valuable information and thanks for you good work 😀 i'm definitely gonna check out UmaMusume XD
I enjoyed Rage of Bahamut through and through. The amount of eye candy in it! And the story wasn't bad!
I didn't know "Rage of bahamut" was a game first until this video. Also, no wonder the aesthetic is very final fantasy-ish. Cygames Pictures studio is definitely one of the recent "new" anime studio with great portfolio. Solid animation & story, almost on par with Ufotable imo.
Horse girls is the new waifu's trend in 2018, so it's definitely a total success for Cygames, LOL.
horse girls is really the dark horse winner of the season.
better than it has any right to be.
Haven't play the Uma musume PD game but seems fun to play haha
Umamusume got no failure series like kancolle so…. Yeah that game will be good…. And look like you miss one anime by cy it call monster strike….. And it has 3 season anime worthy also that game has lot crazy collaboration like goku, superman, kenshiro, saint seiya and so on….. It got all jump and dc superpower it call monster strike!!! Sponsor by cygames
Playing a card game as Saber from FATE against Ryu from Street fighter while using the Juventus logo as a cardback. Thanks papa cygames
This is what i say : KMR Power
OK what's next?
Cyfood? Cyscience? Cymath? Cycountry?
They also have collab promotion for a bank a internet provider and oh yeah mcdonal ( twice) for granblue fantasy alone
Good(?) games, good shows, I have no problems with Cygames mobage mess.
Cygames = Disney
Great video, +1 subscriber.
Granblue Fantasy staying relevant? Why yes, relevant enough to get a spinoff on a freaking console, a mobile browser game's spinoff on the PS4, that's how relevant it stays so far, it's almost ridiculous…
I really love cygames, Granblue fantasy was really my fave and I still play it even now and then it was Shadowverse and then Princess Connect Re:dive the amount of freebies they give to their loyal players is probably the biggest reason why I like cygames.
I didn't even know a lot of details mention in this video so thx but Cygames pictures? when they launched Princess Connect R they said they worked with Wit Studio for the animations becuz its an Anime RPG. I wonder why they didn't use Cygames pictures.
Well I look forward to playing the UmaMusume game, the anime is very enjoyable.
so supporting the cygames will help animator as well change how anime future to be more bright?
You are inspiring me to make a video about the original Cinderella Girls game.
I've been playing a lot of their game Shadowverse lately, it's pretty fun and I don't typically care for card battler games.
They are becoming the next Takeshi. Just dabble in EVERYTHING and see where you get traction
great video!
They are also all Cy borgs.
All i need is more of Mushimaro's artworks. Give it to me Cygames >.<
Sooooo… Basically, Bioniclelization.
What?! It was the one who popularized the whole goddamn phenomena, right before Star Wars picks up steam again with their games and expanded universe material!
When the pretty derby game does come out, I look forward to thrashing everyone with my Manhattan Cafe.
CykaGame blyat blyat blyat vodka pidar idinahui
I just hope that cygames doesn't go all neish with thier stuff especially with thier horse girl idol. I really like thier fantasy stuff they put out so hopefully they keep up the good work. To be honest the rage of Bahamut anime series was a ballsy move on thier part considering the art design and the main characters not being moe girls.
Cy is to anime and anime games what i is to cellphones and tablets. slap it in front and watch the magic happen.
Let's be honest with ourselves. The horse girl anime will take off. Japan is weird.
How about talk about Highschool DXD's new art style
Cygames is yet the only one who has convinced me that an anime from a videogame ican be as good or better than the game per se.
Horse girls… isn't this basically just My Little Pony Japanese style?
Cykagame
Joke aside, I like them
what the name of the anime at 2:33
lets just say they werent wrong about Uma Musume LOL
This was really… "skimming" the topic, you can do better.
I love the art for their games.
I like Cygames.
Yay! More generic media being shit out everyday…
thought that art style looked familiar
So… He single handedly convinced me to watch an Idol Derby anime -_-…
Cygames has some pretty interesting IP .. they look like they are headed the right way to be bought out by sega 😂😂😂 .. im awaiting all the new seasons of their anime … i loved Granblue .. the artwork is just nomnomnom
Rage of bahamut was the shit and I missed it. The art in that game is fucking amazing
Good Channel.
vertical integration done right
They have low quality animation and the characters should have been 3D because of the detail and want for more animated scenes. Otherwise, they should have simplified it.
I was wondering if you could detail on exactly how they find these animators and which animators they fund, as you have seen it and can testify to their claims. I'm just worried that it is like with other funding campaigns where they only fund the people in the credits.
Wow, I will have to look more into this channel, seems promising! A very interesting topic as well, caught my eye since I told a friend some time ago about cygames and what they do.
Uma Musume is going to be a big hit. i can tell. lol
They made alot of Cy project
So… Horse girls.
Fucking horse girls.
Wait, no, don't actually start fucking female horses, that'll get you locked up in like 49 states in the USA.
Hmm intriguing. A rebooted Macross the First manga is published by Cycomics. I hope one day they'll do a collaboration with Satellite Studio for an anime adaptation of Macross the First.
There’s another big player in Umamusume: Dire1, the original executive behind IDOLMASTER. Horse racing is a personal hobby of his, and when he announced his retirement from THE IDOLMASTER Cygames picked him up for Umamusume.
Marvel: hold my beer
I've watched 90% of the Cygames anime released and played a few of the games because of them. I've never had a bad experience with their anime. Shingeki No Bahamut, Granblue Fantasy are real stand outs for me, as their art styles are so freakin good and the stories writing is solid. Also the sound design and OST is ALWAYS on point.
I love Cygames and TBH if the anime industry gets more funding and stories from them, the better. I'm praying their new Granblue Fantasy hack n slash game, with combat designed by Platinum Games, gets a western release… and that we get more Granblue Fantasy anime in the future. As The world and character art and design is fucking astoundingly beautiful. Gran x Lyria FTW.
Man I love Cygames. Always have since playing rage when I first got a smartphone. I hope they have more plans for involving the west in the future because as it stands, I think they are in a better position to do so then they were back in 2011.
Just everything I wish I could be. Great channel and even better video. Very informative and well researched. You work hard man.
“We live in a world where a group of entertainment professionals sat around a table and decided to invest millions in horse girl idols.”
I want to have been at that meeting.
So that's why there's so many events introducing characters from different series…
Ummm, just FYI, Uma-Musume's REALLY bizarre twist is also the fact that it has the blessing of the National Horse Racing Association in Japan.
FK KMR GIBE ME SUNLIGHTS THIS META SUCK
We are witnessing another Disney raising up
Knowing that ff artists helped design gbf makes a lot of since to me now. The artwork feels so familiar
Not only all Media
Cygames even invading my wallet
Whoa, didn't know this side of Cygames. Cool, subbed
Their anime look absolutely stunning.
you never mentioned the new granblue game coming up
I'm all in on Spe-chan!!!! GOOD CALL CYGAMES!!!!!!
I have no idea how you managed to talk about multi-media projects like this and not once even mention .hack. Bandai tried this a while back and ended up becoming successful enough that it was able to purchase Namco. Literally the precursor to Cygames here.
Pretty damn cool that some top tiers character designers manage to build a whole multi media empire just from their art skills.
You know Kanipa is egoistic when he putts his patreon ahead of the fund raiser in the description. lol
I may be the only one who actually loved them, but I'm still obsessed with Rage of Bahamut and Virgin Soul.
Subbed
Not called CyBackgrounds? Awwwww
I would've loved for Megalo Box to me a media mix success. That wish sprang into my head when I saw "Uma Musume Project" in the trailer. Megalo box was also called "Project Megalo" apparently but I couldnt find any source besides the anime credits.
sooo they kinda like UFOtable/Type-Moon?
I've always liked many of their works but I didn't know they are connected to the same studio. I only got interested enough to search about them because of how much I love Shadowverse. O_O
1:23, That's definitely not the Love Live movie, that's the Snow Halation music video that came out half a decade earlier (late 2010). Sorry, just a nitpick. Great video still.
You now a company's rich when their games throw free rolls at you almost every month like they're nothing.
Where did you get that juutenshu shadowverse style animation?
What's impressive is that everything they do, they do WELL. Maybe not always perfect, but their brand is instantly associated with quality. Look at Dragalia Lost, it's better than any mobile game has any right to be with a ton of character interaction and loads of customization. Gacha elements are… ehhh… but comes with the territory I guess.
Oh yeah, just gonna put this here: Dragalia Lost, latest Cygames/Nintendo title, is amazing. It seems to start small for now, but it has massive potential.
On a side note, take that, Fire Emblem Heroes, you sucked.(technically not relevant, but since DL is related to Nintendo as well, gotta shove it here too. Sorry.)
What's next!, CyManga!
Nintendo bought Cygames lol
And now there is a fighting game collaboration with Arc System Works.
Cygames must be sitting on several boatloads of cash if they plan to franchise Granblue Fantasy. We've got Re:Link, Versus, and a second season for the anime was confirmed! I'm hyped af~
2018 Zombie land saga
Nobuhiro Takenaka
I loved the final fantasy tactics and ff12, I loved maquia, I've just watched bahamut season 2 and loved it. I guess gran blue fantasy and the blade runner one are next.
BASED games
Even cygames became sponsor of juventus and helped ronaldo's transfer from madrid
Now Priconne & Manaria Friends Animation :3
Project awaking game is from cygames
long live cygames! they have gave us many fun things
Sadly I'm waiting on the Umamusume game even today.
great everything. the only thing I'd do is add an F to pay respects…mentioning Kyoto Animations after what happened…may the artists be comfortable drawing with God.
神は彼らを見守っています。
That sadness aside, thank you for the information. I had no idea Cygames did the sensible thing and cooperated with studios, till they hit it big enough to make their own studio for..literally anything they need. I'm glad…what was their name, Cyber Agents? I'm happy they are smart people. No idea if they're trustworthy, but they're smart, so I respect it.
May studio anime favorite
1- orange
2- p. A works
3- mappa
4- Cygames
5- ufotable
D: That explains the beautiful animation intro, and some of the art in Dragalia Lost.