Anime Insider Magazine Goes the Way of the Dodo...

In another sign of the times, ANN Reports tonight that Anime Insider Magazine, which started out 8 years ago as Anime Invasion, will cease publication and has laid off all editorial staff. Anime Insider was the last US Anime themed magazine still in print being published as a monthly. From ANN:

Rob Bricken, a former editor of Anime Insider magazine, reports that Wizard Entertainment is ending publication of the North American anime and manga periodical. The editorial staff has been laid off. The magazine began in 2001 as a one-shot special publication under the name Anime Invasion, but soon changed its name to avoid trademark infringement with another company's brand. Anime Insider was a quarterly magazine during its early years, and it eventually turned into a monthly magazine and remained on that schedule for the last half of its eight-year history. Wizard touted the magazine as the "#1 anime and manga magazine in America" in circulation. The 67th issue shipped earlier this month.

This honestly should come as no surprise since it's been clear that the publisher Wizard Entertainment has been having financial trouble for some months. Between the Anime market shrinkage over the past couple of years and the shift to Internet content the demand for Anime print publications has been waining - especially in the ranks of the more 'mainstream' fans.

Insider, unlike the two remaining Anime publications (Otaku USA and Protoculture Addicts), had an editorial slant more towards mainstream or mass market (perhaps 'casual' would be the better term) type Anime fans, which is why it was the only Anime publication RACS never cut an ad deal with. Noemi never felt that Insider was targeted enough towards core Anime fans to justify the high ad rates, and of course, studio ad revenue can't be looking great right now either. That said, Insider was a very high quality publication and though it's content quality probably peaked around 2006, it will still be missed by many.

For our part we will continue to support both Otaku USA and Protoculture Addicts for as long as they find a viable market for Anime print publications. I'd probably have more to say regarding this but it's late and I'm pretty tired. Perhaps in the newsletter tomorrow...