The Rise and Fall of Japanese Anime Distribution by Chinese Video Websites! Japanese Anime Now, which Started in the Shadow of Anti-Japanese Riots [Anime Situation of Chinese Otaku] (Japanese only)

Distribution of Japanese anime began in the shadow of the anti-Japanese riots

The distribution of Japanese anime in China began in earnest with the distribution of "Sword Art Online" on LeTV in the second half of 2012.

The year 2012 was a year of large-scale anti-Japanese riots in China related to the Senkaku Islands issue. At the time, there was a growing trend in China to hold Japan-related otaku events such as anime and voice actor events, and there were moves here and there for otaku-related fields to enter the Chinese market, but the riots put a major brake on this trend. The official distribution of Japanese anime in China began in the shadow of these developments.

After the success of this distribution and the popularity of "Sword Art Online," the regular distribution of Japanese anime on Chinese video sites expanded, and by the end of 2013, new Japanese anime were being distributed on sites such as LeTV, iQIYI, Sohu, Tencent, and Tudou. Japanese new animations are now being distributed on sites such as iQIYI, Sohu, Tencent, and Tudou. (Site names are as of 2013)

At this point, there were still less than 10 new anime titles available on each site, but works such as "Kuroko no Basketball" and "Shinkaku no Kyojin" were distributed and became very popular, and Japanese anime began to attract attention from the Chinese industry as an influential content.

Incidentally, although there had been some major moves in China since around 2011 regarding the purchase of rights and authorized distribution of Japanese anime, they seem to have been lost in the shuffle of the video site industry that occurred in China at that time.

On the Japanese side, the first season of "Fate/Zero" was distributed on Nico Nico Douga with subtitles in eight languages on a trial basis in 2011, and the second season of "Fate/Zero" was distributed on bilibili in 2012 before full-scale commercialization.

However, since Nico Nico Douga was included in the restricted sites in China, Chinese anime fans had to break through the Chinese firewall in order to watch it, and the distribution on bilibili was ordered by the relevant Chinese department to stop distribution, perhaps due to problems with local permission, etc. The relevant department in China has issued a cease-and-desist order.

Notification of stricter foreign content restrictions issued in 2014 and the announcement of the blacklist in 2015.

The period when Japanese anime became available for regular distribution in China was also a time when the distribution of foreign content, such as Western dramas, was heating up and expanding rapidly in China.

At that time, the distribution of foreign content on Chinese video websites was in a gray area, and there were many cases where the

In effect, the situation was such that "as long as the video site had obtained an operating license, distribution was possible within the scope of the video site's own discretion with a simple notification.

However, as expected, this was not the case in China. However, as expected, this situation could not remain unchanged, and in 2014 China issued a notice of stricter control of foreign content distributed on video websites.

Furthermore, in 2015, China's then Ministry of Culture, a Chinese government agency, issued a notice to video sites where Japanese anime was uploaded, stating

"suspected of providing animated works with contents that induce minors to commit illegal crimes, or cause minors to engage in violent, pornographic, or terrorist activities, or endanger public order and morals."

This led to a number of Japanese animation works being blocked from viewing on Chinese video websites.

The blacklist announced afterwards included popular works such as "Shinkage no Kyojin", "Yosei Zyu", "Tokyo Ghoul: Tokyo Ghoul √A", "Sword Art Online", and "PSYCHO-PASS", which were legally distributed in China at the time, and the local otaku-related industry was in turmoil. The local otaku-related industry was in turmoil.

Some of the works on this blacklist have since been "revived," but others, such as "Shinkage no Kyojin," have been virtually cut off.

In terms of Japanese animation distribution in China during this period, iQIYI became a big hit with "Shinkage no Kyojin" and leaped to the top of the industry through the power of China's largest video site at the time and the use of big data by the search engine Baidu, but after this regulation, the scale of distribution of new Japanese animation was gradually scaled down. However, after this regulation, the scale of distribution of new Japanese animation gradually shrank, and the distribution of Japanese animation also seems to have become centered on works for general audiences and children.

In the latter half of 2014, bilibili, a commercialized company, entered the Japanese anime distribution market and became one of the centers of Japanese anime distribution and otaku culture in China.

The regulation and crackdown at that time was the first major turning point for Japanese anime distribution in China, and when I spoke with people who knew the situation back then, they said

I have talked to people who knew the situation back then, and they say, "I think there was a kind of bubble-like excitement about copyrights for Japanese anime works back then.

Although the number of new Japanese anime titles distributed in the next few years will be higher, I think that this period was the peak in terms of price hikes that we don't know how far they will go.

This was also the view of some of the respondents.

In fact, at the time, the prices of Japanese anime programs were soaring so high that local video sites could not keep up, and there was a move to share the cost of distributing the most popular works that would be the centerpiece on multiple video sites.

Some Chinese otaku familiar with the industry said, "Perhaps 'Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works]' was the peak of the Japanese anime copyright bubble. ......

This series of restrictions has led to the emergence of a new wave of video sites in China.

Although this series of regulations put a temporary brake on the distribution of Japanese anime on Chinese video sites, the distribution of Japanese anime itself continued to expand as local procedures, rights relations, and business models changed.

During this period, the business model in China that relied on online advertising was becoming more and more difficult, and with the rapid growth of the social game industry in China, two-dimensional social games became a pillar of revenue in the otaku field as well.

At the time, video sites were also putting various policies in place, such as focusing on production and distribution of Chinese-made animation, strengthening exclusive distribution lineups of Japanese animation and copyright management, and introducing distribution for paying subscribers.

The video sites distributing new Japanese anime also changed, with bilibili and iQIYI leading the pack around 2018, and Tencent, Youku, Acfun, and others regularly distributing new anime, but by around 2020 By 2020, however, Tencent and Youku (Yuhkoku) were the leaders, and by 2020, bilibili had become the sole distributor of 20 to 30 new anime each season, while other video sites were only distributing a few new anime each season.

However, even those sites that reduced or stopped distributing new animations also distributed Japanese animations and special effects for general audiences and children, so it seems that they were not completely disconnected from Japanese content.

Expansion of commercialized bilibili and stricter regulatory control after the new Corona

Contrary to other video sites, where a series of regulations put the brakes on the distribution of Japanese anime, the commercialized bilibili expanded its handling of Japanese content. In addition to anime, bilibili also developed its own content, such as domestically produced social games, and operated Chinese versions of Japanese social games such as "Fate/Grand Order" and "Princess Connect! Re:Dive" and other Japanese social games.

Although Japanese anime distribution was no longer as lucrative from a business standpoint as it had been in the past, it was a time when various types of online content, including video sites, were strengthening their presence, and the number of views of Japanese anime distributed on bilibili grew significantly, increasing its influence in China. The data will be available around 2020.

As for the data around 2020, before 2015, the works distributed on bilibili's new anime slot that exceeded 100 million views were "Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works]", "April is Your Lie", and "Overlord 1st season". However, from 2015 onward, several works exceeding 100 million views a year will be released. On the contrary, "Re:Zero kara Hajimeiru Isekai Seikatsu", "Kobayashi-sanchi no Maidragon", "Tensei wa Slymu datta Datta Koto", "JoJo`s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind", "Overload 2nd season", "Overload 3rd season", etc. have exceeded 200 million views, and "Demon Slayer" hit over 500 million views. Demon Slayer" was a hit with more than 500 million views.

In China in the late 2010s, the presence of Japanese otaku content became even stronger than before, and there is a sense that this genre is in demand not only among the younger generation of anime lovers, but also among the general population with access to the Internet.

At the same time, however, there was a sense of instability unique to China, as not only Japanese works but also animation and social games were regularly regulated.

The decisive regulation that changed the trend at that time was the change in the situation in China after the new corona epidemic.

After the outbreak of the new strain of coronas, restrictions on the entire entertainment sector in China were strengthened, and video websites became a target. In addition, the "stricter control of Japanese animation numbers" and the "first-instance, second-out " screening of content prior to distribution, which began in 2021, were implemented for the distribution of Japanese animation, and the distribution of new animation in China, which had been possible with almost no time lag between broadcast in Japan, fell into chaos.

In China at that time, there were many works that were not distributed despite the acquisition of copyrights for new animations and the announcement of distribution through bilibili, etc., and even for works that began distribution much later, more parts and contents were deleted and modified than before.

After this regulation, it has become very difficult to distribute Japanese anime in China without a time lag between the Japanese broadcast and the Chinese broadcast, and some works have had to be revised considerably in terms of content compared to before.

The procedures and modifications required to distribute Japanese anime are now more costly than in the past, and the modifications and deletions made with a large safety margin in order to avoid the risk of passing the screening process or being reported to the authorities are naturally unpopular with local anime viewers.

Another major problem, albeit common in China, is that there are no clear guidelines regarding regulations and screening, and it is up to the wind at the top at the time. From the geeky people in China.

"Since it is difficult to predict and respond to regulations, the distribution schedule has become unpredictable, and it has become difficult to announce works scheduled for distribution or even whether or not they will be distributed.

We are also hearing such heartbreaking comments as, "It is difficult to predict and respond to regulations.

As a result, viewers have fewer opportunities to receive information on new anime, and the buzz and excitement around new anime in the Chinese otaku community has visibly slowed down.

The "decrease in the number of topics related to new anime" has reduced the boost of excitement and buzz that used to be generated by each season of new anime in China, and with the time lapsing since the Japanese broadcast, the online excitement can no longer be shared with Japan and other countries, making the distribution of new anime even more lonely than the decrease in the number of works. The distribution of new anime became more lonely than the decrease in the number of productions.

The series of restrictions during this period are said to have targeted the entertainment sector in China in general and the Internet in particular, and although Japanese anime was not the only area that was restricted, the distribution of Japanese anime in China, especially new releases, faced a very difficult situation. And the situation is still the same today.

At its peak, bilibili and iQIYI distributed 20 to 30 new Japanese anime titles per season, but now only a few titles are distributed or announced at the beginning of the season, and then gradually more are added, finally exceeding 10 titles.

Incidentally, some otaku who are familiar with the industry in China who were confronted with this regulation at the time say that the "business of buying and distributing Japanese anime works" has ended. Also, in the Chinese otaku community

"Does this mean that an era has come to an end?

In hindsight, it seems that this statement was true.

As described above, the distribution of Japanese anime on Chinese video sites has been changing every time large-scale restrictions have been imposed. The most recent leader was bilibili, but it has become somewhat lonely due to regulations over the past few years. And currently in China, no successor to bilibili has emerged.

However, in recent years, Chinese social games, which are also prominent in Japan, have become the flagship of the 2D genre, and 2D-related short movies seem to have become a major genre on the Internet.

In addition, although the impact of regulations has had a large impact, the paid subscription and paid distribution formats that were once considered "unrealistic" in China are now firmly established, and the screening of Japanese-made theatrical anime in China continues to be a hit.

Therefore, I personally do not have much hope for the future of "Japanese anime distribution in China," but I believe that it will be interesting to see the influence of Japanese otaku culture and Japanese otaku content that has spread to China, and how it is received and enjoyed locally. However, we believe that it will be interesting to see the influence of Japanese otaku culture and Japanese otaku content that has spread to China and how it is received and enjoyed there.