The popularity of January's new anime in China, the subject matter that is attracting attention, and the risks.

My name is Baiyuan Longhoam, and I am a writer who introduces various topics related to the otaku situation in China.

This time, I would like to introduce the popularity of the new Japanese anime (winter anime) released in January on Chinese video sites, and the trends that I have found regarding the popular subjects.

As I wrote in my previous column, this time of the year coincides with the Chinese New Year vacations, which means that there is less interaction and less viewing of works for the sake of conversation, so topics related to new January anime are not very active in the Chinese otaku community. In the Chinese otaku community, there is a tendency for people to watch existing "big productions" and "works with many episodes and high ratings" during the vacations.

Perhaps because of this, the January new anime season seems to be more subdued than other seasons, but there are some interesting stories.

Dangerous but Solidly Popular Military Productions

As I mentioned in my last column, this is a work that is quite "dangerous" in China.

GATE: Self-Defense Forces: In His Own Country, This Is War,

and "Schwarzesmarken", which is not directly related to China, but has a difficult setting to handle in China.

Schwarzesmarken

This may be due to the strength of military-related works in China.

In China, there is a lot of military news and information in the media, and many war-related dramas have been produced. In addition, defense education is provided in schools, so military-related topics are familiar to Chinese students.

In the Chinese otaku community, military-related topics have become a standard category of topics, and it is certain that this genre is more likely to become popular than in Japan, and that topics related to works are more likely to spread. In the early days of Chinese otaku, "Full Metal Panic" became very popular, and in the past few years, "Girls und Panzer" has become very popular.

Naturally, in Chinese society, it is difficult to deal with "Japan" and "military" when they are involved, and in some cases, there is a risk that they may become the subject of social criticism. However, it is also true that there is a certain demand for military-related works, and anime with military elements may be considered "solid" in terms of popularity.

Is the content of sexy content still strong?

Then, as for works that are active in terms of popularity and spread of topics, there are the following.

Dare ga Butai

is "Dare But Butterfly.

Because "Dare ga Butai" is a work based on the theme of Japanese candy, it was widely acclaimed before it began airing.

"Isn't it difficult to understand with the general level of knowledge of Japanese culture among Chinese otaku?

There was some talk that it might be difficult for Chinese otaku to understand it with their general level of knowledge of Japanese culture.

In fact, there are very few Chinese otaku who have actually eaten or can imagine the taste of the Japanese dagashi that appear in the work, and the interest in the dagashi aspect of the story is not very active.

However, "Dare ga Butai" is filled with metaphorical expressions that involve a bit of sex appeal, and it seems that a number of people are taking to that aspect and using it as a topic of conversation.

In the current Chinese online community and in the subtitle comments of so-called "Nico Nico Douga" type videos, the sexy and lewd elements have become a topic of conversation.

In this direction of "topicality," even before "Dare ga Butai," there was "A Boring World Where the Concept of Undertones Does Not Exist," which became the dark horse of the season by capturing the conversation among Chinese otaku.

If the use of undertones and erotic expressions is taken to extremes, it is possible that viewers may be turned off by them, or that they may not understand them in the Chinese sense, and there is also the problem of increased risk of crackdowns. However, if a work is "within the range that Chinese otaku people can understand and accept," it seems to be a powerful weapon for making the work a topic of conversation.

Works distributed only to paying members are doing well

The Chinese video site "Tudou" has been distributing films exclusively to paying subscribers since the previous term and the previous two terms, and this term, the films distributed there seem to be doing well in terms of popularity and popularity.

Bokutoku dake ga inai machi" ("The town where only I am not here")

was highly acclaimed among the enthusiasts even before its distribution, but the development combining mystery elements and time-phase elements seems to have been to the liking of Chinese otaku, and even after the distribution began, there was a flurry of exchanges among fans while trying to avoid seeing or reading blatant spoilers.

There are also others.

The Phantom World of Achromaticity

is a KyoAni brand that is highly regarded among Chinese otaku, and the quality of the work itself is said to be stable and popular,

Bless This Wonderful World!

is a work that includes "trip and reincarnation"-like developments and parodies about the promise of fantasy, which have been used in a variety of content and recognized as standard material in China, making it a work that "sticks" with Chinese otaku.

It remains to be seen whether Japanese anime will be included in the distribution of Chinese video sites for paying subscribers only, but it seems certain that if it is a topical work that meets the tastes of Chinese otaku, it will be able to gain a certain level of popularity and popularity even if it is distributed only to paying subscribers. I think it is certain that this is the case.

As for new anime titles in January, "Assassination Classroom" seems to be gaining popularity not only among Otaku but also among the general public, and "Utawareru Mono" and "Heavy Object" are gaining more attention since they entered their second season, and the topics related to these works are also becoming more active.

Incidentally, I reported in my previous column that "Assassination Classroom" was being distributed with a new Chinese title, "Kyokusoku Kyoshitsu Kyokai" (極速教師), perhaps because it was blacklisted at the end of March last year and its distribution was suspended. As of this writing, the Chinese title has been changed to "Three Year Group E".

It is inevitable that the distribution of works and the spread of topics will be affected when they become the subject of regulation or social criticism in China.

It is difficult to determine the popularity and buzz of Japanese anime distributed in China without taking into consideration not only the interest and subject matter of the work, but also its treatment in Chinese society and the risk of being subject to regulations.

(Text by Hundred Yuan Kagoyamo)