People ask me about the future of anime in America. In those cases when no one asks me, I ask myself (to fill the void). So, you see, I am thinking about the future of anime all the time so you don't have to strain your brain with it. These are my predictions.
Before I reveal my predictions, I feel obligated to mention that I'm basing them on the Immutable Laws of Human Nature. These laws were put forth by Scott Adams (of DILBERT fame). According to Mr. Adams, human beings possess qualities that are timeless and never changing:

	1.	Stupidity.
	2.	Selfishness.
	3.	Horniness.

And since everyone is stupid, selfish and horny, it would be foolish of us to think that anime fans are somehow exempt; therefore, it is possible to predict the future of anime by predicting the stupid, selfish and horny behavior of anime fans in the future.

Prediction #1: Anime fans will always be one step ahead of the general public in the areas of stupidity, selfishness and horniness.

This is not so much a prediction as it is a keen observation. Anime fans have always been ahead of their time. We are, in fact, living examples of what the rest of the world can only hope to aspire to. The future isn't even here yet, but we're already there! By the time the rest of world starts dressing up in costume, singing badly at the top of their lungs, hoarding their collections of trinkets and trading-in their pornographic videos of live-people having sex for videos of cartoons having sex, we anime fans will already be on to the next thing that will make us more stupid, more selfish and more horny than ever before. Again, we will always be one step ahead. Indeed, we are the foreordained children of the future! We should feel very very lucky.

The Future of Acquiring Anime

Let's face it. Anime is still hard to acquire. Sure, it has been getting easier, but it's still a long, slow boat from Japan to your local comic book store. Pesky things such as "distribution marketing agreements" and "international licensing" (not to mention the Pacific Ocean) clog the path of anime from the people who created it to you, the fan who wants it right as soon as the paint on the cels is dry. "Money" has never been an issue in the past, nor will it be an issue in the future since anime fans are stupid and have always spent their money on anime instead of on smarter, more rational things such as food or tuition.

Prediction #2: In the future, fans will subscribe to "anime services" that will deliver the latest anime to them directly as soon as it is released in Japan.

Fans don't care what it is as long as it's new. And since anime fans want everything, and since there is something new coming out all the time, it just makes sense that fans blindly surrender their money regularly to some company every month and get a steady stream of stuff coming to them all the time. The difficult process of acquiring anime today (i.e. going from store to store, web site to web site, looking for anything new or different) would be eliminated and the results would be same!

The Future of Anime Conventions

Anime conventions, oddly enough, are not really 100% about anime at all. In fact, anime is probably only about 20% of the convention experience. Sure, we all would like to believe that conventions raise the awareness of anime to the rest of the world and that anime fans are gathering to seek new anime they haven't seen before and that fans want a place to connect and exchange stories and information and ideas about anime, its past, present and future. Instead, they are really gatherings of fans to accomplish one of several selfish goals.

	1.	To prove one's superiority over other fans by appearing to be the most knowledgeable (or opinionated) about a certain manga, TV series, etc.
	2.	To be reassured that you are not the only one suffering with anime addiction.
	3.	To see/buy/talk about stuff you already know or have seen before. New stuff you've never heard before doesn't matter at a convention.
	4.	To form cliques with your friends from around the world for the purpose of excluding other fans, thereby inflating one's self-worth.
	5.	An opportunity to harass industry guests for autographs, etc. in the attempt to magnify your own personal collection of treasure.
	6.	To be relieved that, as bad as you've gotten, there is still someone worse than you that you can laugh at and say, "Gee, those people are really weird!"
	7.	To have the opportunity to prove just how stupid you can be.

Prediction #3: In the future, anime conventions will not change at all. They will only get bigger and bigger.

All anime fans will want to have the opportunity to accomplish one of the 7 selfish goals. As transportation improves and the costs go down, more fans will find their way to the various anime conventions around the world. Even though fans are generally anti-social creatures, nothing can replace that sense of "being there". As long as the conventions can continue to create a forum where fans can satisfy their selfishness, they will keep coming and conventions will keep on growing.