The popularity of July's new anime in China, the Chinese environment, and the elements that stick with fans.

My name is Baiyuan Kagoyamo, 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 popularity of new Japanese anime released in July on Chinese video sites, as well as the popularity trend of distributed anime in the Chinese otaku community.

Sequel-based works are stable in popularity in July

As I wrote in my previous article, "Re:Zero kara Hajimete Isekai Seikatsu" has been the center of popularity in the Chinese otaku community for a while now, but there are also new anime that started in July that have been talked about and have gained a lot of views, and among them, the most stable and popular are The most popular are the sequel series.

Sequel series in July include famous titles such as"Shokugeki no Soma" and"D.Gray-man HALLOW " that have been very popular in China in the past, and it seems that many people in the Chinese otaku community think of such works as a "must have" first, and the number of views seems to be quite strong. The number of views seems to be doing very well.

However, in terms of buzz, sequels seem to have a harder time in China than in Japan. In China, there is a rapid turnover of popular works, and the environment surrounding the otaku demographic and the trends of works are changing rapidly, so the generational change of otaku is more active than in Japan.

Even if an anime is popular enough to have a sequel made, if it has not built up a solid fan base in China in the past, it is likely to have a tough time, and if there is a gap before a sequel is distributed, the spread of the topic is also likely to wane. In addition, it is said that it is very difficult to return to the original momentum once it has lost momentum. In fact, there are many cases in which sequel works initially gain a certain amount of views, but are buried before long due to the lack of excitement among Japanese anime viewers.

The difficulty in maintaining the popularity and buzz of Japanese anime sequels in China is due in part to the fact that it is not easy to obtain related products or participate in events in China as it is in Japan, and that related information must basically be "communicated" and "translated" via the Internet, making it difficult to reach local fans. This is also the reason why the number of works has been increasing and the pace of production turnover has been slowing down.

In the current situation where the number of productions is increasing and the pace of production turnover is rising, this unique environment in China has a significant impact, and the tendency for fans to cool off more easily than in Japan is also becoming more pronounced.

Influence of Popularity of Original Works and Character Designs

Among the new animations in July, "Mob Psycho 100" is showing a somewhat different popularity from other works.

In China, the influence of anime character design, whether for male or female audiences, for general audiences or for enthusiasts, is greater than in Japan, and there is a tendency for cool character design, and only cool design in the current sense of the word, to be strictly required.

Considering such requirements for character design in China, "Mob Psycho 100" would clearly be a "misstep," but a look at the current reactions shows that there is little opposition to the character design, and in fact, it seems to be accepted as a "unique and tasteful design. However, the current reactions show that there is little opposition to the character designs.

In fact, the original author of "Mob Psycho 100", Mr. ONE, is highly regarded in China, and there are many avid fans who prefer the old serialized web version of "One-Pan Man", which has already become very popular mainly on the Chinese internet, to the one drawn by Mr. ONE.

Therefore, "Mob Psycho 100" is rare among anime distributed in China in that the author of the original work is very popular, and the fan base is already formed and aware of the unique artwork, so there was no problem even if the character design was not to the general liking of Chinese anime viewers. Therefore, even if the character design is not to the general taste of Chinese animation viewers, it does not matter.

In addition, the anime does not simply follow the original work, but rather reconstructs the slow-starting development of the original in the anime version, which also seems to have had a positive effect.

Recently, the number of Japanese anime distributed in China has been increasing, with nearly 50 new titles released in July alone, and in order to become popular among Chinese otaku, it is important to appeal to the Chinese otaku demographic in the early stages of development.

Mob Psycho 100" seems to have succeeded in attracting new viewers who have not read the original work by reconstructing the early development and depicting the main character, the strength of his abilities, and his activities.

Otaku stories that can be passed on and talked about in China

Another new July anime that has been gaining popularity in an interesting way is "There is a Problem in This Art Club! is another new July anime that has been gaining popularity in an interesting way: "This Art Club Has Problems!

This is not an outstandingly popular work, but it seems to be the most popular work among the daily life works in July, and it is evaluated as "a work that can be watched comfortably" and "a work that can be easily talked about" among the people who prefer daily life works.

In China, there is also considerable demand for daily series works, as they are easy to watch and easy to get into. However, Chinese viewers tend to focus more on the storyline, and even in the otaku community, the excitement related to the character moe aspect is weaker than in Japan, and so daily life works tend to struggle in terms of popularity and buzz.

In addition, it is necessary to understand the various stories that appear in the works and the unique settings of the works, and the hurdles to understanding the laughter and moe are unexpectedly high for daily-oriented works, and in many cases a certain level of otaku sensitivity and knowledge is required to get into them seriously.

Perhaps due to this situation, everyday anime stories occasionally stick and become a major topic of conversation on the Chinese Internet, but works that do not explode with such stories do not get talked about very much.

The "There's a problem in this art club!" has a setting and a variety of stories (including otaku stories) that can be understood by the average Chinese anime viewer without any problems, as well as service scenes in the moe and erotic areas and a few not-too-gory undertones, making it a "solid" work in many respects in the Chinese otaku community. It is said that it is accepted as a "solid work" in various aspects in the Chinese otaku community.

In the past, there were quite a few cases of Japanese late-night otaku-oriented works that entered China where the material did not stick with the general otaku population in China, but the response to "This Art Club Has a Problem! it is interesting to see the direction and level of depth of the otaku material that sticks with the current otaku community in China.

In addition to the above works, "Ψ Difficulty of Kusuo Saiki" and "Taboo Tattoo", which I introduced in the previous issue, seem to be well received, and there are a variety of popular and talked-about works in the Chinese otaku community for the new works in July.

In addition, several new animations based on Chinese works or funded by China will start in October, so it seems that the relationship between Chinese and Japanese animations will continue to change and remain unpredictable even after October.

(Text by Hundred Yuan Kagoyo)
(C) 2016 IMIGIMURU/KADOKAWA ASCII MEDIA WORKS/Konomi Production Committee