In a recent interview, “freezing” director Keiichiro Saito and anime producer Takafumi Nakame about the visual habits of international anime fans and warned of growing one-sidedness within the industry.
Other trends in overseas
At the beginning of the conversation, both Saito and Nakame expressed a feeling of standstill in the anime industry, which she also moved to take part in the “Global Anime Challenge”-a support program that aims to expand the perspective of Japanese anime-buying internationally.
As part of this project, they were able to attend several conventions abroad and get in touch with fans from all over the world. Saito made an observation that particularly occupied him:
“I have the feeling that the anime, which particularly love foreign fans, often follow a certain one -sidedness. Of course, popular works are still popular, but there is a clear trend. I think that could lead to a certain distance between the makers and the audience.
In the end, only this aspect remains as a formative feature of the medium if you cling too much to this trend. Before that happens, I would like to share the many different facets of anime with the world and create works that convince with their diversity and their own approach. «
Lack of diversity
Nakame agreed to this assessment and emphasized that anime would be freely designed, but certain patterns would have solidified within this creative freedom. It would be more exciting to allow more courage for new ideas. Unfortunately, many animation studios and creators could be influenced too much by trends.
In recent years, numerous anime creative people have been concerned about the continuing dominance of ISEKAI and RPG fantasy formats. They criticized that realistic and original works were becoming increasingly less common.
In addition, the industry is increasingly losing creative power, since a strong focus is placed on factory adaptations by Manga and Light Novels instead of granting creative freedom. In this context, the number of original anime has recently decreased significantly.
In the end, Saito summarized the discussion with an honest insight into his own conflict: he wondered whether he should create a work that follows the current trends and aims international recognition – such as the Oscars – or rather more profound with personal statements.
Via Mantan Web
© Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe, Shogakukan / Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Production Committee