The new anime releases in July in China have somehow begun to be distributed, and the popularity of Japanese voice actors in China continues to change.

Although it is late, distribution of new animations in July has somehow started.

As for the distribution of new anime in China in July, at the time of the initial response, as in the past seasons, information related to the distribution of new works did not appear, and the distribution schedule of the works that did begin distribution seemed unstable, but then the distribution of anticipated works in China was announced (without going missing) and began, etc, However, the distribution of anticipated works in China has since been announced (without going missing) and has begun, and it appears that we are in a kind of lull.

Among the works that began distribution late, " Jujutsu Kaisen 2nd season " is said to be the most popular, and although it was distributed almost two months after the start of airing in Japan, many people in China are relieved that this work, which has many fans, was successfully distributed.

In China, " NieR: Automata Ver1.1a " is being distributed as a new title, although it is not treated as a new title for July, and it is attracting considerable attention due to the popularity and name recognition of the characters from the original game.

In addition, " My Happy Marriage " and " Bungo Stray Dogs: The 5th Season " are also gaining solid popularity, while " Helck " and " White Saint and Black Reverend," which began distribution at the beginning of the July season, seem to be gaining relatively stable popularity along with those that have already been acquired. The popularity of "Helck" and "The White Saint and the Black Reverend," which were distributed from the beginning of the July season, seems to be relatively stable.

Among the new Japanese animations currently being distributed in China, some works that were said to be "risky in China in terms of content and depiction" seem to be included. As usual, it is said that modifications and deletions are being made in accordance with distribution for the Chinese market, but perhaps the atmosphere is no longer the one of self-restraint for fear of risks unique to China and the need for rigid self-regulation that existed not so long ago.

The Japanese anime distribution business in China has had its ups and downs, with LeTV, the first company to establish an official distribution channel for Japanese anime in mainland China, scaling back its operations and now having little to do with Japanese anime, and iQIYI which was once the largest distributor of new Japanese anime, has also been rapidly reducing its coverage of Japanese anime since the tightening of restrictions on Japanese anime that occurred in late 2018.
And even " bilibili, " currently the largest distributor of Japanese anime, has recently seen its distribution schedule disrupted and scaled back.
However, according to Chinese geeks, bilibili has recently been expanding the distribution of Chinese dubbed versions of popular anime titles that are popular among the general public, which is different from the rapid shrinkage of Japanese anime distribution due to a change of policy as seen on other platforms in the past. In addition, the recent video distribution field in China has been expanding.

In addition, there is a recent downward trend in "new releases" in the video distribution field in China, which is not limited to Japanese animation works, and there are reports that "not only are there more restrictions from above and an increased risk of fire, but the industry as a whole is also feeling the effects of the economic downturn.

As has been reported in Japan recently, China's overall economy has been deteriorating at a very fast pace recently, and there are an increasing number of people in the Chinese otaku community who are concerned about how the economic downturn will affect China's entertainment industry and the otaku sector in the future. The popularity of Japanese voice actors in China today

The Popularity of Japanese Voice Actors in China Today

Japanese voice actors are attracting a lot of attention in China, and there is a lot of talk in the Chinese otaku community about voice actors, and it is not unusual for people to get involved in anime and video games because of the voice actors they are interested in.

The popularity of Japanese voice actors in China is unique in many ways, but in addition to the language barrier, there are also differences in the media and events that otaku are exposed to on a daily basis that make the difference between Japan and China.

According to Chinese otaku, the situation regarding popular Japanese voice actors has changed considerably in China in recent years.

Unlike in Japan, where popular voice actors have fans of all ages and have a relatively long lifespan of popularity, recently in China, fans of voice actors who were very active a long time ago are becoming less noticeable. This may be due to the rapid generational change among Chinese otaku and the lack of active interactions between generations, as well as the fact that, despite the increased convenience and content in China compared to the past, there are still few opportunities to become aware of voice actors outside of anime.

" In China, there was a movement to invite Japanese voice actors to hold events around the end of the 2000s, and later, more and more Japanese voice actors were used in domestically produced video games. "In China, there is a growing number of Japanese voice actors in video games.

In China, there are many people who remember the voices of Japanese voice actors from games. These days, smartphone games are a very large gateway to two-dimensionality, so it is not uncommon for a character played in a game to become the representative image of a voice actor among a certain generation. But in terms of popularity and the spread of the topic, games have a limited effect."
and so on.

In addition to the above, the recent diversification of information on voice actors entering China has led to the fragmentation of local tastes, and there is a view that it has become difficult to identify a clear "big hit" in the area of Japanese voice actors.
One Chinese otaku commented on this point.
If you look for anime viewers in China today, you can find people who like any of the voice actors, and you can find topics of conversation among fans. However, unlike in the past, I don't think there are many Japanese voice actors who have dedicated fans in China on a scale that can be expected to have a clear commercial effect.
This is what I have been talking about.

As mentioned above, the popularity of Japanese voice actors in China has become more difficult to understand than in the past, but there have been some positive changes. They are becoming more and more memorable.

According to an otaku person in China, recent examples include Takehito Koyasu and Ikue Otani. According to one Chinese otaku, recent examples include Takehito Koyasu and Ikue Otani, although Takehito Koyasu was well-known in China before and had some devoted fans,
However, in China, where there are many people who watched dubbed versions of old works on Chinese TV and have knowledge of the voice actors' activities in old works, but do not have any feelings for them, " said Koyasu Takehito.
In China, the popularity of the anime "JoJo's Bizarre" was not as great as it could have been in terms of broad popularity.
However, the character DIO, played by Takehito Koyasu in the anime " JoJo's Bizarre Adventure," became very popular in China, including as a villain and a joke character, and became widely recognized, which led to a sharp rise in his popularity and reputation among Chinese otaku.

Ikue Otani is also well known in China for her role as Pikachu, but the coral of the enemy leader she is playing in the new series of "Pokemon" has been criticized as being too "human.
The voice of Pikachu played a human female character, and her performance was very moe.
This shocked some Chinese otaku and changed the image of Ikue Otani.

It is said that in recent years, the Chinese otaku community has rapidly come to recognize that "voice actors' voices are also aging," and in a sense, they are more sensitive to the aging of their voices than Japanese viewers, who are "used to hearing voices they have heard all their lives.
In such a situation, the shock of encountering a veteran voice actor with a long artistic career giving a performance that even today's otaku find appealing, and which was not generally recognized by Chinese otaku, is said to be considerably greater than in Japan.