The coronavirus started around mid February 2020. Back then it was only in China and it hadn’t blown out of proportion yet.

Then in March – that’s when the coronavirus started travelling across the world in a dramatic way.

This manga/anime meme speaks volumes

This was the reality last month. Nobody cared and “coughing” and other symptoms wasn’t a second a thought.

Now it’s got everybody losing their damn minds, mass-panicking, and more than anything: confused.

All this drama with

People emptying supermarket isle’s

Buying out toilet paper

Fighting

People getting sick

And everything else is having an impact on the anime industry.

It’s impacting people within the anime industry, hence the business and everything connected to it.

Here’s what’s been happening since the Coronavirus outbreak started.

#coronavirus

How The Coronavirus Is Affecting Anime Industry:

1. Anime conventions being cancelled or postponed

The next Anime NYC is November 20-22, 2020, and it is too soon for us to comment on if or how coronavirus could affect the convention. 🏥 https://t.co/VWExMlmsh9 pic.twitter.com/ePIm5ulWEs — Anime NYC (@animenyc) March 13, 2020

“The next Anime NYC is November 20-22, 2020, and it is too soon for us to comment on if or how coronavirus could affect the convention. The health and safety of our attendees is our top priority, but we cannot predict future conditions in NYC or Japan eight months away.”

Thank you for everyone’s patience as #AnimeBoston processed the latest information about the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Here is the official statement from our Convention Chairman regarding the latest development. #AnimeBoston2020 https://t.co/5kZa9rwjwY pic.twitter.com/M0B0j2NS4M — Anime Boston (@AnimeBoston) March 14, 2020

“As you may be aware, Governor Charlie Baker recently announced a ban on all gatherings of 250 people or more in Massachusetts. This ban is set with no current end date, until the governor announces otherwise. With Anime Boston 2020 scheduled for less than four weeks from now, it is highly likely this ban will still be in place. Given the uncertainty around these new circumstances, we have no choice but to cancel Anime Boston 2020.”

AnimeJapan 2020, Family Anime Festa 2020 cancellation.

Due to the novel coronavirus outbreak and the call from the Japanese government to cancel large-scale events, but above all thinking about the health of our visitors and everyone involved, we have decided to cancel the event. pic.twitter.com/oNoKhs4SrB — AnimeJapan 2020 Official English Account (@aj_overseas) February 27, 2020

An Important message about Awesome Con 2020: The Awesome Con team is very aware of the COVID-19 coronavirus issue evolving across the US and is actively speaking with local officials. We’re discussing all possibilities with the Walter E. Washington Convention Center… [1 of 2] — Awesome Con (@AwesomeCon) March 16, 2020

COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus, makes its mark on the Japanese animation industry as a major company backs out of this year’s Anime Japan trade show in response to the global outbreak.https://t.co/BLwOGWSKJB pic.twitter.com/leWjDtGe43 — OTAQUEST (@otaquest) February 25, 2020

As we can see – there’s a lot of announcements being made from anime conventions worldwide. Not just in Japan or the US.

You can expect to see more anime conventions in the UK (Manchester, Liverpool, etc) get cancelled.

And elsewhere in the world like India, Philippines and other countries.

Related: Sacanime Cal Expo Vs Sacramento Convention Center (My Experience)

Anime conventions NOT cancelled just yet

The City of Houston has not given us any concern about hosting our event in July. Anime Matsuri 2020 will continue to take place as scheduled for July 9-12, 2020 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. A full statement is available at https://t.co/caPWhyyAQj — Anime Matsuri (@AnimeMatsuri) March 11, 2020

We have posted on our website a statement regarding coronavirus at https://t.co/qQ7FrsBSi1 “We currently intend that Anime North 2020 will proceed as planned from May 22nd-24th, 2020.” Please read the full statement for more information.#AnimeNorth2020 pic.twitter.com/OnzJN6BpSo — Anime North Game Shows (@ANorthGameShows) March 13, 2020

At the moment – these are the only known anime conventions that haven’t been cancelled thanks to coronavirus.

Whether it’ll stay that way though is another question.

2. Anime shows being streamed for FREE

Amazon Japan is offering the Pokémon anime for free to keep kids indoors amidst all the coronavirus developments: https://t.co/w2Q2Xs39Fh pic.twitter.com/kQfszd4IRu — Nintendo Wire (@NinWire) March 10, 2020

Amazon Japan is streaming their anime for FREE for titles like Pokemon.

It’s their way of keeping kids, teenagers and whoever else indoors during the coronavirus outbreak.

This “free” streaming period will last up until early April 2020.

Bandai is another anime company that’s offering FREE streaming for a list of their shows.

Anime like:

Aikatsu! (1 episode to 50 episodes).

Cowboy Bebop.

Gundam Build Divers.

Keroro Sergeant 1st Season.

Gust! Iron Leaguer.

Scride.

Absolutely unbeatable Raijin Oh.

Phi Brain: God’s Puzzle (1st season).

“Seriously and seriously, Kaoritsu Zorori (1st to 50th episodes).

Majin Heroes Wataru.

Mado King Granzort.

All these anime will be streamed FREE until April 5th 2020 from Bandai to keep people indoors.

We haven’t seen similar efforts from companies in the US or the west in general yet (Crunchyroll, Funimation, etc).

3. Anime shows delayed

Re:Zero Season 2 DELAYED Until July 2020, Thanks To Coronavirus https://t.co/9tFBsIwxFD #animemotivation — Anime Motivation (@AnimeMotivate) March 9, 2020

“number24” episodes #11 & #12 are being postponed due to the effects that Coronavirus has had on the show’s production. New airdates (3 week delay): ・ Episode #11: April 8th

・ Episode #12: April 15thhttps://t.co/du0jSSN6J8 pic.twitter.com/tlijlzYfJO — A.I.R (Anime Intelligence (and) Research) (@AIR_News01) March 11, 2020

Blue Protocol’s Closed Beta Delayed Due to Coronavirus; New Screenshot Show Beautiful City at Night Today there is news about Bandai Namco’s upcoming anime-style MMORPG Blue Protocol, which was supposed to enter a beta test soon. https://t.co/8LXF8GDJE0 pic.twitter.com/zf18URfXfk — N4G (@N4G) March 5, 2020

Re:Zero season 2 was one of the major anime to get pushed back to July 2020. It’s original date was April 2020.

This is happening to multiple anime shows, Railgun T being one of them.

NEWS: After Weeks Of Specials, A Certain Scientific Railgun T Anime Zaps Its Way Back On The Air March 20th ✨ More: https://t.co/3JpygT8PMb pic.twitter.com/5WYprF5bRm — Crunchyroll (@Crunchyroll) March 14, 2020

Originally – Railgun T was paused in February. But this week it’s coming back as J.C Staff is ready to record again.

You can expect more shows to get this treatment, and in some cases – even cancelled if the coronavirus gets bad enough.

Anime Japan has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak which means announcements such as Attack on Titan season 4 and the ‼️NEW‼️Bleach announcement will be cancelled 🙃 and a lot of new shows scheduled to be released. Listen to the newest episode for the the insight pic.twitter.com/OhyFmSa4dA — NoCapHighlights (@NoCapHighlights) March 5, 2020

There’s also the possibility that anime announcements for AOT or Bleach will be cancelled.

Bleach in particular is supposed to have a BIG announcement on March 21st 2020.

Related: 25 Powerful Quotes From A Certain Scientific Railgun

4. Anime exhibitions and events closed

“The Tokyo Corridor, which is scheduled to be held from March 20 (Friday) to April 7 (Tue), 2020, will be held at the Tokyo Anime “Devil’s Blade” Full Concentration Exhibition. As a result of taking into consideration the health and safety aspects of customers and other parties concerned, we have decided to cancel the event.”

Exhibitions are events where art is displayed and other items.

Demon Slayer’s exhibition was cancelled, even though days before it was announced to be fine.

As of now – this is one of very few exhibitions to be cancelled.

The anime and manga industry will lose money in 2020

All of these events that have played out will have an impact on:

Money

Revenue

Profits

Health

Working hours

Production

Schedules

And so much more in the anime industry.

Most of it can’t be avoid because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Only anime companies who’ve invested in streaming will be relatively unaffected. Anime studios and businesses that have relied on an outdated mindset will take the biggest right-hook to their profits.

On the other hand – overworked anime staff may get more time to relax so they can take a breather from the grind.

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How long do you think this will last?

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