Beijing aims to overtake Japan in the 'anime' industry
China is aggressively investing in young cartoonists for animated films. For Masao Maruyama, Japanese products are now "too commercial" and are in danger of being overtaken. In the country of the dragon, it is the 'restrictions' on freedom of expression that weigh heavily. Liu Jian: Chinese productions are starting to find 'a style of their own'.
Beijing (AsiaNews) - Tokyo is in danger of soon losing its dominance in the cartoon industry, giving way to Chinese "competition" that is becoming more and more consistent, richer and more capable of attracting a large audience in the Asian animation market. Launching the alarm is one of the most important experts in the sector in the Rising Sun, Masao Maruyama, according to whom the country is losing the consistent advantage of the past due to a growing and short-sighted inclination towards the 'commercial' at the expense of quality and originality.
"Success," he warns, "has distracted Japan from promoting next-generation talent" while Beijing is going in the opposite direction by "aggressively investing in young animators".
For Maruyama, overtaking could happen 'in a very short time'. The only reason, he continues in the interview, why China 'has not yet caught up with Japan is because of the restrictions' imposed by the communist authorities 'on freedom of expression."
But if more creativity and freedom of expression were granted, Japanese production would be easily overtaken because authors 'are no longer prepared' as they were in the past 'for animation'.
The expert is one of the leading exponents of the sector in the Land of the Rising Sun and had as his teacher and mentor Osamu Tezuka, who for many is considered the 'father of manga' and founder of the sector in terms of prolificacy and often pioneering genres.
His role in post-war animation was fundamental, also thanks to the historic studio he founded, Mushi Production, to which the first real anime series in history is linked: the famous Astro Boy, in 1963. Maruyama was a protégé of Tezuka's and is still today, at 81 years of age, one of Tezuka's most popular authors thanks to his many behind-the-scenes roles, although he has not drawn or directed himself for some time.
He attacks Japanese production that only aims to churn out genres that attract money, with winking female characters or productions that achieve occasional success, without a solid studio behind them.
The country has lost sight of the ability, and the desire, to promote young talent while China is making huge progress, investing mainly in newcomers. As Tezuka's heir for uncompromising work ethic and research, he emphasises that creating a work means "challenging" oneself "to do something new, regardless of what has been done in the past".
Maruyama is not the only one among the great masters to raise the alarm about a forthcoming Chinese leadership in the sector, to the detriment of Japanese production. Like him, anime director Makoto Shinkai, who during the days of the Berlin Festival had speculated on a possible 'overtaking' of Beijing in global animation while the premiere of the Chinese animation drama 'Art College 1994' was taking place at the festival.
A production by 53-year-old director Liu Jian centred on a group of students in the 1990s that met with critical acclaim because it "evokes a specific time and place so vividly, you can almost taste the stale cigarette smoke and cheap beer".
"The quality of (Chinese) films," said Shinkai, "is improving rapidly and they are able to build those unique characters we have in Japan. Sooner or later they will surpass us." Until 10 years ago, he continued in the reflection, Japanese anime creators were "very confident of making the best animated films in the world". However, the situation has changed in recent years 'and most of my peers feel that way'.
The global Japanese anime market grew by 13% to an all-time high of 2.74 trillion yen ( billion) in 2021, according to data from the Association of Japanese Animations. But in the last period Chinese films are catching up.
"In recent years," reflects director Liu Jian, "more and more Chinese animated films have been released, and they are increasingly varied, not only commercial but also arthouse. 'Many Chinese commercial animations,' he concludes, 'are influenced by Japanese animation, but they are beginning to find a style of their own."
The issue of censorship remains, which for the time being limits the creativity of the authors and the subjects to be explored: proof of this is the long list of Japanese anime that have been banned by Beijing to date, which includes products that are very popular especially among young people such as Black Butler, Tokyo Ghoul, Deadman Wonderland, Deatrh Note, Attack On Titan and High School Of The Dead.
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