Thanks to increasing revenue from foreign sales, anime producers and studios are gaining more control over their projects.  In the past the considerable funds required to produce anime came primarily from Japanese sources, including TV networks, toy companies, and advertising agencies.  But as Natsume Maya has reported on her excellent Japanese pop culture website, overseas profits are changing the traditional patterns of investment and control.  The rise of the anime studios such as Ghibli, Gonzo, Gainax, Madhouse, Production IG, etc. demonstrate that with financial success comes artistic freedom -- and the influx of profits from foreign sales has allowed this power to seep down to newer companies.  While Japan's economy remains in the doldrums, anime exports continue to grow and bring in more revenues.

This influx of foreign capital is not just at the backend.  Increasingly as was the case with The Big O II, overseas companies are investing in the production of new anime series, rather than just paying licensing fees after the projects are completed.  Marvelous Entertainment's production of the new Gunslinger Girl anime, for example, has already received commitments covering more than half of the series' 13 million yen (about $120,000) per episode cost from the U.S. and Europe.  The long-term effect of the influx of foreign capital should be higher production values for anime series produced for television, but it has already shifted the decision making power towards the creators and the studios, which should be a good thing.