geekosystem

At the Cultural Typhoon conference at Komazawa University this month, anime writer Dai Satō had ominous words to say during a round table discussion. Joined by film director Tomita Katsuya and music journalist Futasugi Shin to discuss "Living in the City: Hip Hop, Anime, Housing Projects," Satō—whose esteemed oeuvre includes Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Wolf's Rain, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex—believes anime will die out in Japan in a few decades, Otaku2 reports. "No one wants to hear about NEET [the unemployed]," he said, expressing his frustrations with the Japanese anime industry. "They’d rather watch a group of high school girls in a band asking, ‘How do I play this note?’”