Not many people know how to turn from manga to animation, how to make animation, how the Japanese animation industry operates efficiently, and the details of the industry chain. In recent years, the Japanese manga industry has undergone a lot of changes from content plots to visual presentations. To understand the above situation, an important piece of information that cannot be avoided is the “Report on the Japanese Animation Industry”.

The biggest dark horse in Japan in 2020 is “Demon Slayer: Infinite Train”. From its release in October 2020, in less than three months, the box office reached 32 billion yen (2.05 billion yuan), breaking the record of 31.68 billion yen in Spirited Away in 2001.

For Riman, it seems that anyone can talk a few words, from the four pillars of “JUMP”, “Dragon Ball”, “You Yu Hakusho”, “Slam Dunk”, and “Captain Tsubasa”, which are still serialized today. From “Detective Conan” and “One Piece” to the more recent “Demon Slayer” and “Attack on Giant”, there is a high probability that you have been an anime lover since you were a child.

For Riman, everyone can often only talk so much. Not many people know how to turn from manga to animation, how to make animation, how the Japanese animation industry operates efficiently, and the details of the industry chain. In recent years, the Japanese manga industry has undergone a lot of changes from content plots to visual presentations.

To understand the above situation, an important piece of information that cannot be avoided is the “Report on the Japanese Animation Industry”. Although it is very famous in Japan, it may only be heard by research scholars, industry-related workers, and hardcore enthusiasts in China. This report, which covers the only authoritative data in the field of Japanese animation, finally has its official Chinese version released this year.

Recently, the “Japan Animation Industry Report 2020”, known as the weather vane of the Japanese animation industry and the “two-dimensional” culture, was exclusively released by the Japan Animation Association and Sunac Culture and its tens of millions of Sino-Japanese multinational animation studios.

We have an in-depth conversation with the Chinese version of the report, Chen Ji, the person in charge, and the actual record is as follows:

Q: There is no such thing as an “anime” industry in Japan? So what is the relationship between animation and manga?

Answer: Indeed, there is no “anime industry” in Japan. There are divided into animation, manga, and karaoke (character/キャラ/role). Animation is divided into commercial animation and art animation, with their respective authoritative organizations AJA and JAA. For comics, there is the Cartoonists Association, Kara, and the Kara Authorized Association CBLA.

The issue of the relationship between animation and manga can start from the traditional production model of Japanese animation. Because filming cartoons is very expensive, since there were cartoons, it has been very expensive. Because it’s all human labor, and the labor cost is getting more and more expensive, or if more people are needed to participate in animation, then this project is very expensive, it can be so simple to understand.

If you spend a lot of money on a work that is not necessarily popular, it is easy to get rid of it, and it does not conform to commercial logic. How can we ensure that with so much money, many people will like it? A screening mechanism is needed here.

Japan has always had the foundation of comics here. Simply put, Japan first had the culture of comics. Young people who read comics will produce popular works. If popular works are animated, they will be liked by more people and the chances of making money will be higher. Therefore, such a screening mechanism has been formed.

The cost of comics is relatively low, because it is a personal creation, and the cost of printing and sales channels will not be much. When the comics become popular, they will be animated, which in turn will stimulate the comics to sell more. This is the screening mechanism.

In fact, there is a similar field in China, that is, web writing. A lot of what we do now is to adapt from popular web articles. Whether it’s changing a live-action drama or an animation or whatever, a similar mechanism is also used. You always have to find some certain parts in the uncertainty, so as to judge whether this project can work. .

The mechanism that Japan selected from popular comics to make animations actually started with Astro Boy. Astromu has his own special place, because his manga author and anime author are the same person, Osamu Tezuka.

The first Japanese TV series animation was Astro Boy, and it was also the first Japanese animation on TV in our country. His practice of adapting popular comics into a series of cartoons was later followed. Probably it started in the 1960s in Japan and has continued to this day for nearly 60 years.

So it has been very stable now, and of course there are many new models later. For example, it is not necessary to change from popular comics. Some are popular authors, plus directors, screenwriters, and role settings. A team of several people will definitely be able to make good things. Then you can spend money to make them original. Other ways to play.

But the most traditional way of filtering from popular comics should now account for more than 60% of the Japanese industry. Like Ghosts, is the most traditional Japanese animation production mode. A popular work was selected and then animated. In fact, Guimie’s comics sell very well, and after the anime came out, it stimulated the comics to sell better.

Q: So why is the Blade of Demon Slayer so hot?

Answer: Ghost Destruction is a phenomenal work in 2020. But in the theater version, it made a very “chicken thief” setting. In the theater version, it even has a main storyline! Everyone knows that the theatrical version generally does not tell the main story, and the main story will not be affected by not watching the theater version. As a result, Gui Mie has a main storyline part in the theater version, and a main character died in the plot. This is really a chicken thief, and fans have to watch it.

After watching it, there were some hot topics. At that time, there were not so many movies released. Many people felt that there was nothing to watch anyway. So many peopleTalk about it, or go and see? It just broke the circle. Later, it became very popular and the box office was so good. In fact, there was a very big chance. Compared with the works of the past, it is of little reference.

Although I like the work, I don’t think it is better than Spirited Away. This is a timing situation. Because it happened under the complicated background of the epidemic, otherwise he wouldn’t become a phenomenal work, the so-called fortune makes a hero.

But having said that, Gui Mie still lacks a certain degree of comparability with the top Japanese comics of the year. Judging from the comics, it seems that a lot of things have reached the ceiling, such as basketball, slam dunk is the eternal threshold, and the peak of some categories has appeared, just like Shakespeare in literature. The core of the story is also related to the original mythological system. At present, there are several fixed contradictions and story structures in the world, but they evolve differently in each era and reach an extreme.

[41:43.750,41:44.890,1] The person in front goes down.

Q: What is the greatest value of “Japan Animation Industry Report”?

Answer: Yes, first of all, this report is the only authoritative data set. This report does not have a long history. It only began to appear in 2009. Although Japan’s representative Japanese animation industry has been counted from the 1960s, it has been 60 years now, but it was not until 2009 that horizontal statistics of this industry were available.

Every animation company has its own account. However, no organization has come out. Let’s take a look at how much money the animation industry has made this year, how much manpower has been spent on animation production, and how many minutes of animation have been produced in total. Wait. Since 2009, industry associations have taken the lead to require each company to submit its own data, invite experts to sort out and compile it, and finally share the data with everyone. In this way, not only people in their own industry, including investors, and people who follow the Japanese animation industry overseas, can figure out what the current situation of the industry is, whether it is better or worse, and it is implemented on actual data. This data can only be counted by Japan, the “General Corporate Juridical Person Japan Animation Association”.

In addition, it also invited many industry experts to sort out the data. If there is only data, then the number is large or small, and the cost is high or low. It is not clear from the data alone. Therefore, the association invites industry experts, including academics, front-line workers in the industry, etc., to tell you how to look at this year’s data, and will also provide retrospective content such as three-year summary and five-year trends.

If you are really interested in this industry, whether it is your job needs or you are an animation fan, this report is actually very readable and very interesting.

The reason why we especially want to make the Chinese version is very simple. Everyone knows that since 2015, Japan’s animation and IP have been introduced in China, and ChinaAnd the animation industry in Japan has been influencing each other more and more deeply, so what is the extent of this influence? Where is it reflected? Japanese anime is exported abroad, so are there many Japanese or foreigners watching Japanese anime? This is a question we often ask.

This report shows that the total income of the entire Japanese animation industry this year has basically reached half of the income from Japan and overseas. If the income from overseas exceeds that in Japan in the future, the content will no longer only be watched by local Japanese audiences. More animation companies will maintain an open attitude. In the future, whether it is to cooperate with Netflix or with domestic companies such as Sunac. The animation company cooperates, and the content planning will take into account the audience’s feelings. Then there will be some changes in Japanese animation as a whole.

In this year’s report, there are a lot of China-related parts, because a large part of the industry income in Japan in recent years has come from my country’s purchasing power. They also have a clear understanding of themselves and will consider whether it is a bubble. Sooner or later, our country will develop its own local originals. The Japanese industry believes that this part of the revenue will not continue to grow, and one day it may disappear. So they are also very vigilant, when this part of the revenue is gone, what should they do? Has the current revenue caused the inflation of Japanese animation? Is there actually not so much rigid demand?

This report is not a rigid, purely academic, or purely theoretical thing. Ordinary enthusiasts will find it very interesting to read, and can get some information you want you want to know.

Q: From the report, Japanese animation is already a highly developed industrial chain with detailed labor division. How did it develop to today?

Answer: Yes. In fact, my country also participates in its animation industry chain. Since the beginning of the reform and opening up and the ability to accept foreign orders, the country has been outsourcing to Japan, not only outsourcing Japan, but also outsourcing British cartoons and American cartoons, including coloring and post-production.

However, the most important and critical parts, such as scripts and character settings, are basically completed in Japan. Core creative positions such as directors have not been cultivated in my country in the early days. But our painters are very good, and the basic skills are particularly good.

In the past few years, my country has produced many very good animation directors, including Sunac, who have joined many excellent directors, at least after the 8th Five-Year Plan. In fact, they themselves, regardless of their educational background or professional career, Directly participated in some core works in Japan or the United States.

In addition, there have been some changes in China, such as labor costs. When we were working on some projects, we found that domestic costs are actually more expensive than Japan. Therefore, Japan also sends outsourcing links to Southeast Asia or other places. Because this industrial chain is an industrialized product, just like making cars and mobile phones, the supply chain is scattered all over the world, and finally combined into one, it is probably this kind of production mode.

Q: How did a Japanese manga artist cultivated?

Answer: This question is very interesting. Because Japan has so many manga artists, and then has such a long history of manga, but the real manga major, the world’s first manga major, the undergraduate manga education major of Kyoto Seika University, was established in 2006, is it right? Very surprised. Therefore, there has always been no so-called academic background.

Manga itself is a very free art form because it has a variety of styles. Basically, everyone really depends on self-study. Whether it is imitating other people’s styles of painting, or exploring on their own, there are all kinds of things, but there is no textbook, and there is a training mechanism for masters and students.

Famous cartoonists have a team of assistants. They help him with coloring and hooking in his studio, so that he will learn the skills of creating cartoons, or some methods, etc. Most of the time before Such a form. Among them are editors. The editor will help you understand the needs of readers and how to adjust your creation. This is a small workshop style from person to person. The Department of Manga at Kyoto Seika University did not exist until 2006.

There is an interesting thing to note. The existing Manga Faculty of Kyoto Seika University has an animation major underneath it, but Beiying Animation College has a manga major under it. This is actually very interesting. Which one is the bigger concept? Which one comes first, anime or manga? Differences in industrial structure and historical development have caused this phenomenon. The current cartoon professional training in our country focuses more on the basics, such as the use of software, or normal division, and the appreciation of classic works. Even if this major in Japan has been established soon, how to train a real manga artist and make a suitable comic theme requires continuous exploration by the entire industry.

Q: Why did so many comics appear at the same time in the 80s and 90s, just like the sudden burst of Hong Kong movies in the 90s?

Answer: This is not a very appropriate metaphor. Because its background is different, the outbreak of Hong Kong films has a certain relationship with the maturity of the film industrialized production system at that time, and ecological containers have been built. But we think that there were so many good-looking cartoons or good-looking animation works at that time. There was another reason for this.

For example, what are the cartoons we saw in the 90s, “Dragon Ball”. What year was “Dragon Ball”? It’s 86 years old. “Doraemon” was in the 1970s, and “Astro Boy” was finished in 1968. In fact, when we can see a lot of works on TV, we actually see good works that others have accumulated for more than 30 years.

After the collapse of the bubble economy, today, on the 10th anniversary of the “March 11” earthquake in Japan, we can see some trends. For example, the ghost extinction is actually like this. The protagonist in it is actually very weak, so hard work. Still hitBut others. Therefore, the expression of comics is also changing. Even if it is a passionate work, where is the hope in it, whether it will eventually defeat the evil, and how strong the evil is, these expressions have indeed changed.

If you ask a young Japanese, he doesn’t think that tomorrow will be better than today. Of course, the Japanese manga world is also very dynamic, but the works that appear may not be as good-looking in our eyes. .