The Otaku Encyclopedia author Patrick W. Galbraith reports that Cowboy Bebop writer Dai Sato said he was "frustrated" with the anime industry during a July 4 roundtable discussion titled "Living in the City: Hip Hop, Anime, Housing Projects."

According to Galbraith's Otaku2 web report on the discussion at the Cultural Typhoon conference, Sato dismissed the idea of "Cool Japan" and complained that much of the in-between animation work in anime is outsourced to people in other countries, who may not be aware of or invested in the work itself. Similar to director Hayao Miyazaki, Sato critcized politicians and other who promoted the image of Cool Japan for their own purposes.

Sato also decried series that were more about escape than about confronting real problems, and proclaimed that the anime industry in Japan is a "super establishment system" rather than a creative force, focused more on characters and on merchandise. He suggested that manga was "the last hold out," and that if manga was lost then anime would not last without it.

There were some titles, however, that Sato felt were fighting against the stagnating trends, including Eden of The East (for which he wrote two episode scripts) and his own Ergo Proxy. Sato said that he continues to write anime so that there will be a next project, but that he feels anime will die out in Japan over the next few decades.