A recent
article published by the respected outlet PRESIDENT Online has drawn attention
for highlighting an increasingly clear trend in the Japanese film
industry: anime films are completely dominating the box
office. According to the analysis, among the 10 highest-grossing films,
eight are Japanese and two are foreign, but what's most striking is that six of
those ten are animated, including the two foreign ones.
Furthermore,
among the 41 films that grossed over 10 billion yen, 24 were live-action films
(58.5%), but in terms of box office receipts, they only accounted for 42.8% of
the total. The conclusion is clear: anime is not only more
prevalent, it's also more profitable. In this context, the outlet points
out that the already well-known structure of "邦高洋低" ("Japanese cinema
surpasses foreign cinema") has now been joined by a new one: "アニ高実低" ("anime surpasses
live-action").
To put it
more bluntly, only Japanese anime films are truly box office hits these
days. While this phenomenon may seem positive for anime, it also poses
a risk: if the industry relies too heavily on anime, it could further weaken
the production of live-action films in the medium and long term. Especially
those lower-budget productions that play an important role in developing new
talent.
In
closing, the article warns that, while anime's successes are worthy of praise,
the industry should seek a better balance if it wants to remain healthy in the
future. And
of course, there was no shortage of opinions:
- " Actually, anime
whose popularity is guaranteed by TV series are popular, while anime
created by unknown people with unknown origins are similar to Japanese or
foreign films we're not familiar with. Adaptations of
popular series are also pretty safe ."
- " In anime, the
proportion of people who watch the film multiple times is high. Sales are
something we appreciate, but on the other hand, if we don't have those
repeat customers, sustainability will be lost, which is a problem ."
- " I'd like to see
a distinction between works that use the 'extras method' and those that
don't. Works that use this method have the same customers watching them
repeatedly, so I'm skeptical about whether it can be considered a success ."
- « If the "extras
method" and TV series previews were banned, and the number of anime
films were limited, would original Japanese films really fill theaters? I'm
not sure. ."
- " I think 2000 yen
is too expensive ."
- « Even though there are
too many anime, the Oscars still treat anime as something secondary ."
- « Live-action films, or
more specifically Hollywood films, have become ideological propaganda
films, and I think that's turning a lot of people off. .»
- « The rise of anime
films was also thanks to the successes of Your
Name and Demon Slayer (if those two hadn't
existed, One Piece wouldn't have reached 10 billion yen). I
think it will change if something like Harry Potter comes along
, a real "game changer", if it comes along at all. . »
- « I understand what you
mean, but there is no basis for the idea of "we shouldn't rely
solely on anime", nor an analysis of "why anime is more popular
than live-action movies", so the main focus of the article is not on
anime . »
