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Why Are Japanese Anime Films Enjoying Outsized Success in China? The Answer Is a Combination of Culture, Politics and the Past
Japanese anime films’ growing success at the mainland China box office is driven by culture, politics and events of the past.
Reminiscent of the outsized Chinese box office success once enjoyed by a certain genre of Hollywood movie – think “Expendables 3,” Pacific Rim” and “Transformers: Age of Extinction” – some Japanese anime films are now earning more in China than they are in their native Japan. These conditions create a nostalgia effect for people who were children of the 1980s, and their continued presence on Chinese TV and streaming platforms also gives more recent generations a deep familiarity. Numerous commentators point to Japan and China’s overlapping history and enduring cultural connections and similarities as further reasons for Chinese understanding and acceptance of Japanese content.
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