Keywords: Japanese Movies | Animated Movies | Dongbao | ANIPLEX | Kadokawa.

Written.

EW SP|赤豆粽.XIA.

EW RA|吴丹 Asky Wu.

At the end of 2018, major Japanese film companies announced their 2019 movie titles As a major category of Japanese movies, there are many animations in the theater every year. In 2019, there are 51 animated films that have been confirmed

Among them, in addition to the annual release of a new version of the national-level longevity IP of the theatrical version of the animation, such as “Detective Conan”, “Doraemon”, “Bread Superman” and so on, mainly to anime, game IP The adapted theatrical animation is the main one

2019, you can see more and more Japanese film companies are involved in the animation film distribution business In addition to the three national distribution companies, Dongbao, Toei and Shochi, comprehensive entertainment companies such as Kadokawa Group and Ebex are also more actively involved in the film distribution business These companies include animation production, light novels, music and other businesses. In the past, they produced theatrical animations and used CD sales as their main source of profit. Through the film distribution business, they could obtain more direct profit conversion and make sales for subsequent CDs. Bedding

❶The number of cinema animated films in 2019 is maintained at a high level.

As of December 30, 2018, in 2019, a total of 51 theatrical animations have been released and announced. It should be noted that the Japanese industry will count the number of animated films released at the beginning of each year, but this figure is not the final number released in the whole year. For example, at the beginning of 2017, the number of animated movies in the whole year was 53, and in that year, the number of animated movies was 84

According to statistics from the beginning of the year, the number of announcements in early 2016 was 47, 53 in 2017, and 55 in 2018. The number of animated films released in the past four years has remained basically the same. And like TV animation, the number of productions of theatrical animations has been maintained at a high level in recent years

Also, As of now, the animated film released mainly in the first half of the year. , usually the major film distribution companies will also announce a series of movie information after September, including a series of works by the Superman Theatrical Edition, which will be released every year

❷ Traditional video disc manufacturers strengthen their theater distribution business.

2019 A major feature of Japanese animated films is the diversity of distribution companies. Although overall, it. Dongbao is still involved in the distribution of animated films still account for more than half of the 2019 year, but the number of companies involved in the animation film distribution business is increasing. (Related Links: Japan Toho 2019 Singles: Teaming up with Hollywood to release IP masterpieces, Xinhaicheng’s new work for Ding Ding?). Currently, a total of 15 companies participate in the 2019 animated film release

In 2018, Japan’s veteran independent film distribution company Gaya Co., Ltd. (GAGA Corporation/ギャガ株式会社) entered the animated film distribution industry for the first time through “The Spa House Girl”. Gaya was established on January 28, 1986. It was officially renamed as “Gaya Co., Ltd.” on September 1, 2009. Its main business is the import and distribution of overseas films. In 2019, Gaya will continue to issue children to the animated film “Korasho’s Undersea Adventure! 》

In addition, traditional movie companies such as KLOCKWORX and Tokyo Theater Co., Ltd. Will also release animated films in 2019. Warner Home Entertainment will also release a theatrical animated film “After the Underground City, asking for what is wrong – Orion’s Arrow -” in 2019

And as the Japanese optical disc market shrinks, sales are declining, more and more traditional video disc manufacturers are also adjusting their direction, relying on the resource reserves upstream of the ACGN industry chain, began to participate in the release of animated films

In 2017, the anime version of the ANIPLEX animation “Sword Art Online: The Battle of the Sequence” won a box office score of 2.5 billion yen in Japan. In 2019, the company will continue to release the theatrical version of the “Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel]” series, as well as “City Hunter: Shinjuku PRIVATE EYES”, “Youth Pig Head Boys Will Never Dream of a Beautiful Girl”, “The Passerby Hostess” The cultivation method Fine and other works. It is worth noting that “Sword Art Online: Sequence Battle” and “Fate/stay night [Heaven’sFeel]” have all been introduced to the Chinese market

The two comprehensive entertainment groups, Kadokawa Group and Ebex, are also catching up. Kadokawa Animation, a subsidiary of the Kadokawa Group, will release five films in 2019, including a new theatrical animation of the well-known game IP Grey series jointly released with the Kansai Broadcasting and Television Bureau

In addition to the release of the “KING OF PRISM” series of animations by women to the second-generation idols, Abbex will also release the animated films such as “The Royal Teacher Heine” and “The Magic of the Seven”. Although its own film distribution business is small, Abe Becks has also cooperated with Dongbao to jointly release the ultra-popular IP theatrical version of “Yuri on Ice: ICE ADOLESCENCE”

❸ Dongbao and Shochiku’s business units are actively involved in small and medium-sized distribution.

Large film distribution companies are still the mainstay of animated film distribution. At present, Japan’s major companies that can carry out large-scale distribution business nationwide are Dongbao, Shochiku and Toei. However, in addition to large-scale distribution of movies, the business departments of Dongbao and Shochiku have begun to participate in small and medium-sized movies more independently. Issuing business

Dongbao is responsible for the release of pre-school educational films such as the “Psychometrics” theatrical series, “PROMARE” and other non-national-level cores to animated films and “Qiaohu” theatrical version

And Shochi is responsible for the “Kabaneti of the Iron City”, “The Prince of Tennis”, “The Legend of the Heroes of the Galaxy”, and so on The common feature of these works is that the online cinema is mainly based on the sales of discs. Basically, it will not be released nationwide. Most of them are fan-drawn cartoons and animated dramas

❹ Still lacks original animated movies.

After observing the subdivision of the released works, I will also find that Japan still lacks original animated movies The original animated films of well-known directors such as Ghibli series and Xin Haicheng represent the level and quality of Japanese animated films, but due to the production cycle, cost, masters and other reasons, the companies and directors who really participated in the original animation film production not much

The animation discs produced by the video disc manufacturer and the Dongbao Imaging Business Unit and the Shochiku Media Business Unit are all derivative or OVA works that have been broadcasted by TV animation. This is due to the popularity of popular works, compared to TV and DVD / BD, the interests of the film business will be more obvious. In particular, the scale of the optical disc market has gradually narrowed in recent years, which has further promoted this trend

2019 original animation film works less than 10 pieces. Including “Even if the world is destroyed tomorrow” (Sakuragi Yuping), “LAIDBACKERS” (Hashimoto Yuki), “If you can ride with you on the waves” (Tangshuan Zhengming), “The Son of the Weather” (Xin Haicheng), “HELLO WORLD (Ito Zhiyan), “PROMARE” (present-day Shi Yangzhi) and so on. One of the most anticipated is the newest version of “The Son of the Weather” by Xin Haicheng since “Your Name.”