Tomohiro OSAKI
Tue, April 25, 2023
Japan's powerhouse anime business risks being overtaken by rising Chinese competition because a tilt towards commercialism has stifled creativity, industry heavyweight Masao Maruyama has warned.
Maruyama, a protege of manga great Osamu Tezuka, said he fears Japan is losing its edge.
"In Japan, people are no longer trained in animation," he told AFP in an interview.
"The only reason China hasn't quite caught up with Japan yet is because of a bunch of restrictions imposed on free expression there," he said.
"If more freedom is unleashed, Japan will be overtaken in no time."
Maruyama doesn't draw or direct, but he has clout that few in Japan's anime industry can match because of the breadth of the behind-the-scenes roles he has played -- from studio founder and recruiter to fixer.
The 81-year-old acknowledged his career was in its twilight, and Maruyama was far from optimistic as he prepared to leave behind an industry he helped shape.
He fears Japan is so hell-bent on cranking out money-spinning genres, such as those starring "kawaii" cute female characters, that its anime "doesn't necessarily outshine" America's Disney or France's arthouse productions in terms of creativity.
He warned that occasional successes from this prolific approach have distracted Japan from systematically fostering next-generation talent, even as China invests aggressively in young animators.
- 'God of manga' -
Maruyama has risen from a protege of the late Tezuka, the "God of manga" known for the pioneering cartoon series "Astro Boy", to a force behind some of Japan's most acclaimed anime directors, overseeing three animation studios along the way.
It was partly a desire to keep Tezuka's works alive that convinced Maruyama to take on his current project "Pluto", adapted from a manga with an "Astro Boy" arc.
The upcoming series for Netflix, of which he is executive producer, is steeped in themes such as war and discrimination that some feel are particularly relevant today.
Maruyama is unapologetic about his view that he is "the most authentic inheritor of Tezuka's DNA", from his blithe ignorance of budgets to an uncompromising work ethic that he says borders on "selfish".
Like Tezuka, "I flip-flop all the time, saying something totally different from what I said a day before", Maruyama said with a chuckle.
"But creating works is all about challenging yourself to do something new, regardless of what you said in the past. That makes you selfish in a way, and it's a trait I've inherited in its pure form."
Maruyama has helped bring to life hundreds of anime shows and films in his nearly 60-year career, including boxing saga "Ashita no Joe", critically acclaimed "Ninja Scroll" and award-winning "In This Corner of the World".
He is content to play second fiddle to directors, and is known for handling everything from pitching projects and raising funds to hand-picking animators.
- 'Cook and clean toilets' -
His deep involvement in productions earned him a reputation as a shadow shogun, but eventually he began stepping into the limelight.
His strategy was to use his credentials to promote and vouch for directors he felt deserved attention, animation history researcher Masahiro Haraguchi said.
From Mamoru Hosoda ("The Girl Who Leapt Through Time") to Satoshi Kon ("Perfect Blue") and Sunao Katabuchi ("In This Corner of the World"), many of Japan's top-notch anime directors saw their careers take off after working under Maruyama, Haraguchi said.
"Maruyama's magic was to team up with these directors and cause their transmogrification," he said.
Maruyama, however, jokes that all he does is "cook and clean toilets".
"I have no special skills," he said.
"I don't steer the directors but I just follow them and their talent."
His work ethic is legendary and is seen in the names of his three studios Madhouse, MAPPA and M2, which he says all start with 'M' for a reason.
"It means I'm masochistic," he said, breaking into a wide grin.
"The more challenging, painful and excruciating the project is, the more motivated I become."
Maruyama said he is determined to remain active "as long as my body and mind permit".
But that doesn't mean he is oblivious to his mortality.
He organised a flamboyant living funeral for himself last year, painting his face white to appear as a ghost to the amusement of his friends and colleagues.
"I thought then: 'well, I've had a good life'."
tmo/sah/pbt/dva
Hit Japan anime genre offers escape, second chances
Tomohiro OSAKI
Tue, April 25, 2023
Getting hit by a truck doesn't sound like anyone's favourite fantasy, but it's an idea central to an escapist type of Japanese anime exploding in popularity.
"Isekai" or "alternative world" anime covers a broad range of storylines in which a character is transported into a new life.
But one form of isekai often starts with a bang: a struggling protagonist, sometimes depicted as a loser, dies a violent death but is reincarnated as a hero with unique powers.
It's found new popularity in Japan and beyond, with US speciality streaming service Crunchyroll reporting "great appetite" for the genre that includes titles like "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime".
"We've seen very strong performance of these titles worldwide," Asa Suehira, chief content officer for Crunchyroll, told AFP.
In 2021, five of the top 10 most-watched Japanese anime on China's video platform Bilibili featured isekai storylines.
And the genre is so popular that "isekaied" even features in the online lexicon guide Urban Dictionary, defined as "the act of being run over by a truck and reborn".
Experts and fans alike say the genre taps into the pent-up frustrations of people who feel undervalued and dissatisfied with modern life.
While traditional anime franchises tend to showcase heroes navigating hostile worlds, isekai focuses instead on a chance at a do-over of life.
"The prevailing mindset in isekai is that 'I'm better off just being transported into a world where I can excel'," Satoshi Arima, an editor with publishing giant Kadokawa, told AFP.
- Living vicariously -
Over the years, the publishing house has released a plethora of isekai-themed light novels, many of which have then inspired manga and anime adaptations.
The current iteration of isekai began to take off around 2012, and the rise of platforms from Crunchyroll to Netflix has helped make them a mainstay among today's anime fans.
Arima said a core audience for Kadokawa's novels is "salarymen" -- Japanese office workers -- in their 30s and 40s.
They may be dreaming of "just switching to jobs that recognise them better," in defiance of Japan's ingrained lifetime employment system, he said.
"Since this kind of way of living is not always possible, they might be fulfilling that desire vicariously through these novels."
The escapism has broad appeal, though, and is increasingly winning over female fans who recognise themselves in previously underappreciated heroines "living their lives the way they want to", he added.
Popular series include "Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation" -- the tale of a 34-year-old "jobless male virgin" who is hit by a truck and reincarnated as an infant with magical powers.
At this year's AnimeJapan convention, a long line of mostly male fans of the series formed at a booth promoting the show and other works.
"Japan isn't at its best anymore, so stories like this make me think people might be looking for ways to vent their stress and escape," one fan, 50-year-old Shinya Yamada, told AFP.
- 'Free from regrets' -
Such escapism "serves a therapeutic purpose, although I think it's kind of sad," Yamada said.
Still, isekai's popularity appears to be growing in Japan and abroad.
A search on a major manga-curating site turns up more than 4,000 works with "isekai" in their titles.
Over the years, the genre has spawned so many works it risked being "overcrowded", Suehira said, but the subgenres it has generated have helped keep it fresh.
While some isekai narratives start with protagonists escaping their current lives by dying, others are transported into alternate universes in a less violent fashion.
Some iterations see heroes put through gruelling battles for survival featuring outlandish transfigurations into a spider monster or slime.
The increasingly popular "slow life" isekai, however, showcases characters whose new life is stress-free and tranquil.
The variety means that isekai can tap into a broad fanbase -- from those fantasising about a more leisurely lifestyle to those imagining a bit more excitement, said Suehira.
The genre offers a fresh start, "free from the regrets or mistakes every person experiences in life".
tmo/sah/dva
Over the years, the publishing house has released a plethora of isekai-themed light novels, many of which have then inspired manga and anime adaptations.
The current iteration of isekai began to take off around 2012, and the rise of platforms from Crunchyroll to Netflix has helped make them a mainstay among today's anime fans.
Arima said a core audience for Kadokawa's novels is "salarymen" -- Japanese office workers -- in their 30s and 40s.
They may be dreaming of "just switching to jobs that recognise them better," in defiance of Japan's ingrained lifetime employment system, he said.
"Since this kind of way of living is not always possible, they might be fulfilling that desire vicariously through these novels."
The escapism has broad appeal, though, and is increasingly winning over female fans who recognise themselves in previously underappreciated heroines "living their lives the way they want to", he added.
Popular series include "Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation" -- the tale of a 34-year-old "jobless male virgin" who is hit by a truck and reincarnated as an infant with magical powers.
At this year's AnimeJapan convention, a long line of mostly male fans of the series formed at a booth promoting the show and other works.
"Japan isn't at its best anymore, so stories like this make me think people might be looking for ways to vent their stress and escape," one fan, 50-year-old Shinya Yamada, told AFP.
- 'Free from regrets' -
Such escapism "serves a therapeutic purpose, although I think it's kind of sad," Yamada said.
Still, isekai's popularity appears to be growing in Japan and abroad.
A search on a major manga-curating site turns up more than 4,000 works with "isekai" in their titles.
Over the years, the genre has spawned so many works it risked being "overcrowded", Suehira said, but the subgenres it has generated have helped keep it fresh.
While some isekai narratives start with protagonists escaping their current lives by dying, others are transported into alternate universes in a less violent fashion.
Some iterations see heroes put through gruelling battles for survival featuring outlandish transfigurations into a spider monster or slime.
The increasingly popular "slow life" isekai, however, showcases characters whose new life is stress-free and tranquil.
The variety means that isekai can tap into a broad fanbase -- from those fantasising about a more leisurely lifestyle to those imagining a bit more excitement, said Suehira.
The genre offers a fresh start, "free from the regrets or mistakes every person experiences in life".
tmo/sah/dva
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