Run by the Anime Defense Project, Keep Anime Alive is trying to sustain the industry by proving that fans will buy anime rather than only download illegal copies.
The two masterminds attempting to pull this off are Colin Harvie and Chris Perry. They should be thanked and we should accept it’s early days for these two before we take a look at the site.
In fact, registration for the site starts on January 19th. We don’t yet know whether this is worldwide registration but that’s the assumption.
In the future anime fans will be able to donate to Keep Anime Alive and to support that they’re converting from a “social association” to a not-for-profit corporation. The site points out that donations made after January 26, 2011 will be tax deductible but this blogger (who can offer no financial advice) suggests that depends on which part of the world you’re in.
The site is new but what it’s missing is an RSS feed. That’s what we’ll sign up to monitor Keep Anime Alive’s progress after its launch. Right now, after this initial wave of interest, we’ll have to remember to go back to it and check for updates. A Twitter account would be an equally good idea.
Over at YouTube there’s been something of a micro-movement called “Sustain the Industry” in which fans post a video detailing which anime purchases they’ve made that month. Keep Anime Alive is designed to codify this movement somewhat more and will be accepting similar videos.
