Will China overtake Japan in anime?

By Eva Tao

Photo credit: Sohu.com

“I’m convinced that China will overtake Japan in anime production in two years, and in terms of skill, maybe five to ten years, although their animation industry has just begun,” said Yoshitada Fukuhara, a reputable Japanese anime producer.

Japan has been world-famous for its anime industry, but in the changing global economy, competitors with an enormous market like China will easily outpace it.

Tech giants in China, including NetEase, Baidu and Tencent, are spending billions developing Chinese characters in animation market, and the investment is predicted to be 216 billion yuan in two years. The increasingly common use of Chinese traditional, cultural and religious characters in animation projects enhances quality in storytelling, which helped China’s animation market to gain a whopping 150 billion yuan profit last year.

Meanwhile, China has been improving on its anime production techniques; in 2D and 3D animation, it is already at an outstanding level. According to a survey that Geeky Girl conducted, 87 per cent believed that Chinese anime has a great potential in surpassing Japan, while only 13 per cent suggested that the monumental influence of Japanese anime cannot be overlooked, and that Japanese anime will still be a monopoly in the industry.

Photo Credit: billibilli

#anime #japanese #china #economy