Special feature of 1905 film network The movie "Doraemon", a theatrical version, arrived late. Unfortunately, Doraemon: Nobita’s New Dinosaur, the Doraemon movie series with the highest rating (ticketing platform), has not broken through the 50 million mark so far. Judging from the follow-up trend, this movie should not break through 100 million yuan and will become the worst box office work in this series in recent years.
Not to mention that in 2015, the animated film Doraemon: Walk with Me grabbed 530 million box office, and every year, a theatrical version of a big movie can have 100 million box office bases. In 2018, Doraemon: Treasure Island of Daxiong reached 209 million box office results.
Perhaps without the protection of Children’s Day and summer file, this family fun animation seems to be less energetic. On the one hand, there will be fewer opportunities for parents to take their children to watch cartoons during this schedule; On the other hand, the repeated release of Japanese animated films, such as "Baokemeng: The Counter-attack Evolution of Super Dreams" and "Digital Baby: The Last Evolution", also diluted some audiences to some extent.
For a long time, animated films have been the first choice for mainland film companies to introduce Japanese films. Such works, which are derived from mature IP, can largely guarantee their box office revenue. For Japanese animation, it is actually subdivided into theatrical animation and animated film. So, how to distinguish the two?
Theater animation is a TV animation based on this IP, which is derived, for example, Detective Conan series and Huang Jincheng of Navigator released in China. They are independent chapters, but they are related to TV animation.Animated movies are completely original animations, such as those well known.My Neighbor Totoro’s Your NameSmokeFlowersWait.
Many people will regard Doraemon: Walk with Me as a theatrical animation, but strictly speaking, it belongs to the category of animated films. Since the Japanese film market picked up in the mainland in 2015, the theatrical animation has been the main force in Japanese films. From the first theatrical animated film Detective Conan: Sunflower of Fire in 2015 to the current Doraemon: Nobita’s New Dinosaur, there are over 28 theatrical animations to meet the audience.
In addition, Japanese box office champion Infinite Train with the Blade of Ghost Extinction, Kyoto Animation animation Violet Eternal Garden and Night of Destiny 3 are also expected to be released in the mainland in early 2021. So, what are the performances of these films in the China market?
N cases of "most"
Since 2015, all Japanese theatrical animated films have been released in the mainland, including IP with childhood feelings such as Doraemon and Conan, as well as bloody "migrant workers" such as Naruto and Navigator, and even smaller paintings such as "Violet Eternal Garden" and "Night of Destiny". These works also let us see the diversification of Japanese animation industry. Among these IPS, Doraemon series is definitely the most powerful "shoulder handle". Since 2016, there will be a work to meet the mainland audience every year. In addition to this year, due to the epidemic, the local release plan in Japan was postponed, which led to the domestic release date moving from the "June 1" summer file to the New Year’s release.
Judging from the box office data, from 2016 to 2019, the box office results of this series of films all exceeded 100 million by the bonus of holidays, especially Doraemon: Treasure Island of Daxiong in 2018 became the first Japanese theatrical animated film with a box office of over 200 million.
It can be seen that Doraemon is still the blue fat man who is suitable for all ages and has been growing up with different generations. What can compete with this box office is another national animation, Detective Conan. In 2015, Japanese films reappeared in the China film market, and the film Detective Conan: Sunflower of Fire became the first theatrical animated film to be introduced.
Since then, this series has also become "oftengreenTree ".Except for 2017Detective Conan: Tang Hong’s Love SongNot being introduced, and the release of Japan in 2020 was postponed to 2021, Conan has also become an animated image that audiences meet every year. The market response of this series was not as enthusiastic as Doraemon at first. The total box office results in 2015 and 2016 were only 110 million, but since 2018, it has sprung up suddenly and the box office has repeatedly exceeded 100 million, especially in 2019.Detective Conan: the fist of the Qing DynastyUp to now, with a score of 231 million, it has won the highest box office in the mainland of Japan’s theatrical animated film.
If Doraemon and Detective Conan belong to the carnival of every age, then the box office of Naruto and Nautical King shows the "fighting power" of otaku. With the ending of the original Naruto, Naruto Theater Edition: Biography of Bo Ren became the first theatrical animated film to break 100 million at the box office in the Mainland. At that time, when the film was released, there was no large-scale publicity, but direct audience marketing was adopted, which successfully brought the "otaku" into the cinema.
Doing the same thing, the "Nautical King" series has also successfully achieved good box office income. These two animated films can be said to be typical "fan movies" in some ways. Its limitation is that it is not a fan of the cartoon, so it is difficult to get into the inside of the story, and you can only look at the doorway. It can be seen from the data of "Huang Jincheng of the Sea King" and "Naruto Theater Edition" that the male and female audiences are constant at 56%: 44%, and most of them are concentrated in the crowd aged 20-24.
Looking at these animated films whose original works have been published, the equally well-known Pokémon series, Cherry Maruko and Crayon Shinchan are the most disappointing. Especially, the Pokémon series, the two works currently released, both have a box office of only 30 million. The "yellow-skinned electric mouse" that the audience thinks is the most cute can’t even move the box office.
On the contrary, "Digital Baby: The Last Evolution", which is also a teenager’s feeling, has captured 125 million box office domineering, becoming the highest box office in this type of film in 2020. Of course, the most unexpected thing is that "Cherry Maruko" and "Crayon Shinchan", two animation brands with great national representatives, have only introduced one theatrical animation work each.
On the contrary, the animation brand Destiny’s Night, which is more niche in itself, has always maintained the most stable output, Destiny’s Night — — The goblet of heaven: the flower of bad omen and the night of destiny — — The Cup of Heaven II: The Lost Butterfly has achieved about 30 million box office results, so it is no wonder that the introduction of Destiny’s Night 3 is under way.
Who’s next?
At present, animated films from Makoto Shinkai and Miyazaki Hayao are introduced frequently. At the same time, the works of authors such as Mamoru Hosoda (Future) and Ayumu Watanabe (Son of the Sea Beast) are gradually recognized by the audience. However, it cannot be ignored that the theatrical animated films will still be the main force of Japanese animated films in the China film market in the future.
To a large extent, the fan base of these animations can guarantee its basic box office income. At present, Detective Conan: Scary Bullet, which was adapted from Japan in 2021, has been announced to be introduced by Huace Film, and I believe it will meet the audience at an appropriate time.
Of course, the introduction of Doraemon’s 2021 theatrical version Doraemon: Nobita’s Little War in the Universe will not be abandoned because of this box office failure. In addition, Huace Film also officially announced the introduction of "Silver Soul: The Final". This will be the first time that the cinema in China mainland has introduced the animated film "Silver Soul". I wonder if this relatively old IP can drive fans’ feelings?
The theatrical animation "Infinite Train with Ghost Blade", which is about to break the box office champion of Japanese film history, is also expected to be introduced. Although this brand is not as well-known as Naruto and Voyage King in the China market at present, it is expected to impress the curiosity of many audiences other than the original fans when it is released in the mainland with its hot box office results in Japan.
The new work Natsume Friends Account, which once won 115 million box office, Natsume Friends Account: Shiqi and Suspicious Visitors also has the opportunity to let mainland audiences see the moment when Niangkou Sansan sells cute on the big screen. These kinds of theatrical animated films, while selling feelings, how to make something new may be concerned by fans and ordinary audiences. In particular, whether they can continue the past Japanese theatrical animation box office in the future may be the most worth looking forward to.
