Uma Musume for the Chinese domestic market, which has finally started service but is not going as planned, and China's new anime releases for October

Although it is no longer the worst time of the year, the uncertainty remains about October's new anime information

Due to the ongoing regulatory control in China, the distribution of Japanese anime in China is still in a situation where information about the distributed works is not readily available, the start of distribution tends to be delayed, and the schedule is unstable even for the works that have started distribution. This seems to be the case for new animations in October as well.

In China, there are some works such as " Good Night World " and " Ragna Crimson " that started distribution at the beginning of the October season, and " Sougou no Freelen ", which started distribution a little later, is gradually gaining momentum. In addition, "Souei no Freelen," which began distribution a little later, is gradually gaining momentum.

The original work of "Souei no Freelen" is well known among Chinese otaku, especially among enthusiasts, and there has been a lot of discussion about it.

As of the time of writing this article in early November, the number of new titles that will be distributed in China in October seems to be increasing, including " Shangri-La Frontier," which is well known in Chinese otaku circles for its original story, " The Rise of a Brave Shield Season 3," which has become popular in China for its past series, and "The Rise of a Brave Shield," which has become popular in China for its original story and is also available in China for the first time in October. Despite some confusion, distribution of the simplified Chinese version of " Uma Musume Pretty Derby Season 3" has finally begun in China.

In addition, " Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, " a new release in July, has been doing well since the start of the season in October, with the number of views steadily increasing to over 100 million, and other factors have led to the following comments from Chinese otaku.

─ ─ "As for the lineup, it seems to have improved compared to the worst period. That doesn't mean I've lost my anxiety, though."

Some said, "I'm not so sure.

However, as for " SPY x FAMILY Season 2," the first season of which became very popular and was said to be the most anticipated new anime for October in China, although a notice of distribution has been announced, as of this writing, no information regarding the start of distribution has been released yet.

In addition, there are other works for which we do not know whether they will be distributed in China or not, or for which we do not know the specific start date of distribution even though a notice page has been created for the work to be distributed, and many people in China are in an indescribable mood.

In such an uncertain situation, the topic of new anime will not become more lively, and even if distribution does start, it is inevitable that the diffusion of information will be much slower than before the regulations were tightened. It seems that the situation surrounding new Japanese anime in China is still very difficult.

Difficulties as seen in the start of Uma Musume's service in China and the cancellation of downloads

Uma MusumePretty Derby" has been one of the most successful contents in Japan recently, but it has been attracting some attention in China for some time as well. The second season of the anime has been highly acclaimed in Chinese otaku circles and is said to be gaining popularity, especially among enthusiasts.

With this background, the distribution of the simplified Chinese version of the "Umamusume" application for China that started on August 30 (although it was treated as an open beta, the content was almost the same as the official service) seems to have attracted considerable attention not only from fans but also from the Chinese otaku community and 2-D industry. ...

According to Chinese otaku, there were no major differences from the Japanese version except for some wording changes that may be related to sensitive issues in China, such as changing "Tennou-sho" to "Tennou-sho" and "Takamatsu-no-Miya Kinen" to "Chukyo-tanzai".

However, although the initial response was good, with the game ranking high in the local cell-run rankings, downloads from the official website suddenly stopped around September 7, and advertisements that had appeared in various places on the Chinese Internet, including the website of bilibili, which operates the domestic Chinese version, disappeared all at once. As is often the case in China, no official announcement was made regarding the situation.

As of the time of writing this article in early November, the official root download has not been restored, and the only link available on the official Chinese domestic version of the site is via an emulator.

According to local reactions and stories from Chinese otaku, downloading through the official route has been stopped, but the service itself is continuing, with new events, new characters, and additional gachas being added even after downloading was stopped. The advertisement of "Uma Musume", which once disappeared, was suddenly restored around the end of September.

Also, it is possible to download the Android version of the game, and it is said that it is possible to play the game by downloading the application from other websites than the official website.

However, such unofficial routes are "time-consuming and risky," requiring users to search for and try them out on their own, which is a disadvantage in the modern game business, especially for social games.

Furthermore, as a fundamental problem, there has been no official announcement from the management of the domestic Chinese version of the game, and the unstable situation continues, which raises the question, "Will the service be maintained in the future? The question of whether the service will be maintained in the future is also a fundamental problem.

In regards to the current situation of the domestic version of Uma Musume in China, some Chinese otaku have commented

─ ─ "As a person who is playing the game, I am not too concerned about the fact that downloads are still being suspended. However, I don't trust any of the game operators in China, and I'm worried about the possibility of sudden withdrawals, as has happened in the past with anime and manga, which makes me nervous about paying for the game.

I'm also worried about the billing.

Incidentally, not limited to the Chinese version of Uma Musume, game operators in China are much more likely than their counterparts in Japan to give no explanation or to remain silent when a problem occurs.

In addition to technical problems, games operated in China are also subject to problems that arise due to the political climate of the time, tightening of regulations, and pressure from the top.

It is difficult to explain such problems openly, and it is not uncommon to have to read the atmosphere and make disciplinary moves, so it is inevitable that the management side does not (or cannot) explain. It seems that users in China also tolerate "no official announcement" to some extent.

However, this does not eliminate the problem, and since users cannot tell whether the management is unable to explain or is just taking advantage of the situation to avoid having to explain, dissatisfaction and distrust toward the management will accumulate. And this leads to additional fuel when other problems arise later, or to an increase in the number of users who have a cold attitude toward the management's measures.

Despite the delicate atmosphere surrounding the Chinese version of "Uma Musume," some believe that the game would have grown steadily if the problems had not occurred.

From the otaku people in China

─ "Looking at the development of "Umamusume" in China, I think that if things had gone according to plan, the exciting material would have continued to be dropped at the right time. At the end of August, bilibili launched a simplified Chinese version of its app service for the Chinese domestic market. Then in October, during the National Day holiday, Uma Musume was exhibited along with many other advertisements and cosplayers at a fan event held in Guangzhou.

Also around the time of the National Day holiday, the support card for Kitasan Black, which Chinese users had been told to resell and pay for first, was implemented, and the third season of the new anime featuring Kitasan Black was also supposed to coincide with the new anime in October. However, in reality, downloading from the official website has been suspended, and the third season of the anime will be released much later than expected, after a long period of no distribution information.

There were also stories such as the following.

As for the regulatory control of the entertainment sector in China, which has been continuing for some time now, we can hear people saying, "Hasn't the peak passed? However, the situation still seems to be more difficult than before.

In any business field in China, we often hear stories of things not going according to plan and problems occurring in unexpected places, but it seems that the otaku field is also becoming more and more difficult these days.