The popularity of January's new anime in China. Bewildered by "Kemono Friends" and learning about Japanese society through "Maidragon".

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 popularity of new Japanese anime released in January on Chinese video sites, as well as the surrounding circumstances.

Since China's schedule coincides with the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), the January season is a long vacation season, and students basically go home to their parents' houses, which slows down the movement of the Chinese otaku community. This year, however, with the release of high-profile works and changes in the otaku-related environment in China, there seems to be much more excitement about new anime than last year or the year before.

January's hottest titles show the difference in sensibilities between Japan and China

Among the new anime releases in January, "Maidragon of Mr. Kobayashi's Family" was by far the most popular and talked-about work.
The work attracted attention from the start because it is from the highly influential "Kyoani brand" in the Chinese otaku community, and it was highly rated overall due to its comedy and characters that can be enjoyed by a wide range of people, as well as the topicality of Japanese social topics that are scattered throughout the work. It seems that the film has been highly acclaimed overall.

Recently in China, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people who appreciate the "pleasant to watch," which is an indication of the fact that there are people who feel annoyed or repulsed by the storyline and the main characters' words and actions, and that such topics tend to spread and lead to the work being slammed. This is also a sign of the fact that people are caught up and repulsed by the anime story and the main characters.

Such backlash and criticism are especially common in works with harem-like elements in which multiple heroines appear, and it is not uncommon for such works to be criticized as "the main character is offensive, so the work is no good". In "Maidragon of Mr. Kobayashi's Family," the central character, Mr. Kobayashi, is a working man who is both receptive and rewarding.
It is a work with an ideal harem protagonist, even though her gender is female.
In addition, "Kobayashi-san no chino no maidensha no kyogen" (The maid of Mr. Kobayashi's household) is a character who is a member of society.

In addition, "Maidragon of Mr. Kobayashi's Family" is also said to be good in that it introduces the daily life in Japanese companies and elementary schools, as well as the things and costs that are necessary to start a life in Japanese society, in an interesting way without being forced in the story. Regarding this area
The work "depicts specific aspects of daily life in Japan that have never been depicted before, such as the prices of stationery, school bags, etc., and the Japanese people's perceptions of these things.
This is why it has become a topic of conversation from the Japanese society side.

In contrast to "Maidragon of Mr. Kobayashi's Family," which has become a topic of conversation in the direction of better understanding, "Kemono Friends" has become a topic of confusion in China because of its popularity in Japan as being "incomprehensible.

Although "Kemono Friends" is currently a hot topic in various quarters in Japan, in China, it was distributed on all major video sites that distribute Japanese anime, but the news of its explosion of popularity in Japan and the various rankings of related products seems to have completely fallen on deaf ears.

In addition to the fact that "Kemono Friends" had attracted little attention in China before it began airing, even among those who had actually checked out the first episode
Low-quality 3D animation.
"An educational animation with commentary by zoo staff for younger viewers.
and "an educational animation for younger viewers with commentary by zookeepers. It is often said in Chinese otaku circles
"I'll watch the first three episodes of a new anime before deciding whether I want to continue watching it or not," as is often said in Chinese otaku circles.
Most of them gave up on the show without even waiting for the "first three episodes before deciding whether to continue watching", which is often said in Chinese otaku circles.
Then, suddenly information came out that "Kemono Friends" was very popular in Japan and that "Kemono Friends" might be the dominant work of the season, and many otaku were puzzled.

In order to understand the popularity of "Kemono Friends," in addition to the content of the work, it is important to understand the "Ta-no-shii," "Amazing! Amazing! You must be the Friends of ________!
Even if you translate them into Chinese, you will only be able to understand the meaning, and it is difficult to understand the feel of the words and the atmosphere of the exchanges that take place between people using these terms.

Some people are trying to understand the explosion of popularity in Japan by analyzing the story from a sci-fi perspective, such as ......, which is actually a depressing story set in a world after the collapse of civilization, but this alone is not enough to understand the atmosphere on the Japanese Internet. However, this is not enough to understand the Japanese online atmosphere, so they are still puzzled by it.
In Japan, the sudden popularity of "Kemono Friends" is not uncommon, but in China, it is even more difficult to grasp the meaning of the popularity of "Kemono Friends" than in Japan, and some say that the atmosphere is even more bewildering than in Japan.

As you can see, the Chinese otaku community's own reactions were strong this season, but there were many topical works, and overall the season seems to be quite exciting.
Other titles such as "Gavril Dropout," "Bless This Wonderful World! 2," "Siren," "Feng Xia," and "Super Lovers 2" seem to be doing well, and "Jujo Senki," which is popular but there were concerns about whether it could be distributed due to its content, seems to have been distributed successfully as of now. The "SUPER LOVERS 2" series has been doing well.

Continued arrests of subtitlers and concerns about changes in the anime viewing environment

Lastly, although not directly related to the popularity of new anime, I would like to introduce a trend that may affect the otaku community in China in the future.

In Japan, an incident occurred in February of this year in which a person involved in a Chinese fansub group, known as the "subtitle group," was arrested for illegal uploading, and this is the third incident in which the subtitle group's name was mentioned, following last September and October.

The first arrest in September of last year in which the name of the subtitling group, and that of a major old-school Chinese subtitling group, appeared in the news in Japan, had a huge impact on the Chinese otaku community, and although the subsequent incidents have gradually decreased in terms of impact and buzz in the news, there has been a strong awareness in Japan of the need to strengthen the crackdown on illegal uploading. Although the subsequent incident has gradually decreased in terms of news impact and buzz, it seems to have been perceived as a strong reminder of the need to strengthen the crackdown in Japan.

Although there are some differences among Chinese otaku, almost all of them have been influenced by fansub activities, and their attitude toward fansub subtitled groups is very positive compared to the general feeling in Japan.

Recently, however, the perception of the Chinese otaku community has been gradually changing, and unlike the days when fansubs were the only way to distribute their works, now that legitimate distribution has increased and the crackdown in Japan has become more active, some people are wondering whether they should still continue to engage in fansub activities.

At the same time, however, recent changes in the regular distribution model for Japanese anime in China, as well as the exclusive distribution of hot new anime titles and their use in services for paying subscribers, have led some to worry that it may gradually become impossible to watch anime whenever and however they want.

Due to these recent incidents and changes in the environment, it seems that Chinese otaku are now forced to realize that they cannot continue to do the same things they did in the past, and that they may not always be able to watch anime as they please.

(Text by Hyakumoto Kagoyo)

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