The popularity of October's new anime in China, viewer preferences and hurdles to understanding them.

My name is Baiyuan Longhoam, and I am here to introduce you to all things related to the otaku situation in China.

This time, I would like to introduce the popular and talked-about new animation works of October distributed on Chinese video sites, as well as the unique reactions of the Chinese otaku community to the new works of October.

October was a month of strong sequels and classics

In my previous column, I wrote that in a season with no outstanding hot topics, there is a tendency that sequels to popular previous works, works with standard elements that are easy to understand even among Chinese otaku, and works for women with a stable community are strong. The new anime releases in October also seem to be following this trend.

From this, among the new anime titles in October, the most popular and most viewed are

Seraph of the End

DIABOLIK LOVERS MORE, BLOOD

K RETURN OF KINGS

Noragami: ARAGOTO

These works are popular in China, especially among female otaku.

K", "Seraph of the End", and "Noragami ARAGOTO" are said to have strong female fans and male fans at the same time, and they seem to have maintained their popularity across a wide range of audiences and have continued to accumulate episode numbers.

Anime based on light novels with strong "promise" and "sex appeal

In addition to sequel series, there are anime based on light novels that stand out as popular works. Among them

Ochidai knight no hero tan" ("Heroic tale of the fallen knight")

"The Case That I Was Acquired by a Young Lady's School as a 'Sample of a Commoner'"

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk" and "Gakusen Toshi Asterisk"

and "Gakusen Toshi Asterisk" seem to be doing well.

The "Heroic tale of the fallen knight" and "Gakusen Toshi Asterisk" have become a topic of conversation in Chinese otaku circles because of the overlap in character settings, design direction, and even the promised development of the characters.

It seems that "The Heroic Tale of the Fallen Knight" has been particularly well received, especially by the light crowd, and it may be that even if the story is a promise or a pre-made development that would draw criticism in China, Chinese otaku would welcome it if it is animated with high quality.

The "I've Been Taken as a 'Sample of a Commoner' at a Young Lady's School" is currently receiving a good number of views on all of the video sites where it is distributed, and the sexy element is said to be a positive factor.

In the Chinese otaku community, there is less talk about the sexually explicit elements than in Japan, but looking at the number of views on video sites, it is clear that works with sexually explicit elements that (seem to) suit Chinese tastes tend to earn views silently.

Therefore, it is said that anime with erotic elements and service scenes based on novels can be a "solid" content if it does not fall under the Chinese regulatory line.

However, it is not uncommon for the erotic elements in Japanese anime "not to the general taste of the Chinese public" or "to be rejected" by the Chinese. In addition, if it is too extreme or attracts too much attention, it may be subject to regulation or social criticism, and at worst, it may be blacklisted, as was the case at the time of the regulation at the end of March.

Incidentally, not limited to the October new releases, there is a tendency for new anime based on novels to gain stable popularity in China.

Perhaps due to the relatively strong presence of Lanobes in the Chinese otaku community, and the active movement of Lanobes readers, a good amount of "translated into Chinese" information about Lanobes-based anime is disseminated prior to the start of airing. In many cases, discussions about the work are actively exchanged immediately after the start of airing, and compared to other genres of anime based on novels, the popularity of the work and the spread of information about the work tend to be more advantageous.

In China, the influence of "original works" is not the same as in Japan, due in part to the differences in the daily media and the otaku-related environment, such as bookstores and anime stores, compared to Japan.

In China, where the original works of novels are not as strong in supporting new anime, the support of the original works is relatively effective, and fans are active in exchanges based on the original works, making it a solid genre that is likely to gain stable popularity.

Works with different reactions and conditions from Japan

Finally, we would like to introduce some of the new October anime that are clearly having a different reaction from Japan, or are in a slightly different state than in the past.

Osomatsu-san.

In Japan, "Osomatsu-san" is very popular among women, but in the Chinese otaku community, the first episode was only a parody of the first episode, and after that, it does not seem to be a hot topic among men and women alike.

There are some reasons why it is difficult to convey the fun of comedic works, but from what I have heard from Chinese otaku and the reactions on the Internet, the difference between Japan and China is clearly evident.

"In China, the hurdles are too high.

However, from what I have heard from Chinese otaku and the reactions on the Internet, it seems that the difference between Japan and China is because "the hurdle was too high in China.

In China, the influence of the visual aspect, specifically whether or not there are cool characters, is more apparent than in Japan for works with female-oriented elements, and there is no doubt that the character design of "Osomatsu-san" is one of the hurdles in the Chinese otaku community. There is no doubt that "Osomatsu-san" character design is one of the hurdles in the Chinese otaku community.

Also, voice actors do not have a strong appeal to the lightweight demographic that is the main audience for video websites. Female otaku in China tend to have a high level of Japanese language ability, but those who can watch Japanese voice actors are in the minority, and most of them watch only with subtitles.

Therefore, in China, there are many people who drop out of "Osomatsu-san" before watching it enough to be able to distinguish the visual differences between the six children and the different characters, and information on the characteristics and relationships between the characters and topics related to them are not spread or shared... It seems that this is the case....

One Pan Man

Like "Ushiooto Tora," a new title released in July, "One Pan Man" is being distributed on the Chinese video site "Tudou" only for paying members. One Pan Man" is well known in China, and many people have been following the manga since its original web manga days, and it was considered the centerpiece of the new October release with its high reputation.

The number of views seems to be increasing steadily after the start of distribution, but in contrast, the momentum of the exchanges about the work and the topics flying around on the Chinese net, etc., seem to be quiet.

A similar trend can be seen with "Ushio-Tora," so the quietness of the buzz compared to the popularity and number of views may be due in part to the fact that the distribution is limited to paying members.

In China today, the Internet is basically the only place where people can access Japanese anime, so if exclusive distribution is conducted for paying subscribers, it is possible that the impact of the Internet buzz and the spread of topics related to the works will be greater than in Japan.

However, the number of views itself does not seem to be bad, and there are advantages to the business model of the video site, so it is difficult to say at this point whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. In addition to the popularity of the works themselves, it will be interesting to see how this form of limited distribution for paying members will affect the future.

(Text by Hyakumoto Kagoyo)