In 2018, it was called the first year of Japanese animation overseas distribution. The event that impressed President Ishikawa was long-lived. Production I.G opened a new chapter in cooperation with the “Netflix” platform with “B: The Beginning”. Then, I.G announced the production plan of ULTRAMAN, Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045

As for Senbinjun, his Fuji TV station experienced many changes in the past 2018. First and foremost, the late night animation file opened up a new section called “+Ultra”. It is said that the purpose of this column was to try to be a part of the broader overseas market. On the other hand, the veteran column “noitaminA” has been further upgraded, and I.G has teamed up to create a theatrical version of PSYCHO-PASS Psychometric

Since Fujipa opened “+Ultra” in October 18, it first broadcasted “INGRESS THE ANIMATION”. Therefore, Fujitsu also entered the first year of overseas distribution in the same period. Since January of this year, “revisions” has been launched, and then Carole & Tuesday will be launched in April. For the colorful late-night animation, Fuji not only pays attention to the differences in the theme and personalization of each work, but also has a deep positioning for the preferences of overseas audiences. For example, “INGRESS” is an extension of the development of the original world-wide game. “Revisions” is supervised by Taniguchi, and selects the fashion landmark Shibuya as the story stage. “Carole & Tuesday” is an original new animated work supervised by Watanabe Ichiro, who has been known overseas for his “Star Cowboy”

Looking back last year, President Ishikawa also mentioned “B: The Beginning”. According to the president’s recollection, the book was a project that he began to think about when he visited the US headquarters of “Netflix” a few years ago, and proposed a plan in a short time after returning to China

Talking about the advantages of landing the “Netflix” platform, President Ishikawa pointed out that the “1 to 9 theories” can be used to guide planning projects. In short, if there are 10 viewers around the world watching B: The Beginning, then the local audience in Japan is about 10%. However, “Netflix” does not disclose the number of viewers. The above is only an intuitive estimate by President Ishikawa, but it still has great reference significance. Because if you are playing purely in Japan, it is absolutely unthinkable to plan through one week. It is because of the other 90% of the potential audience on the platform that this “business” is possible

Japan’s domestic animation consumption, taking into account factors such as simultaneity, is still the first choice for TV broadcasts. But when it comes to overseas markets, Fuji TV itself does not have the corresponding output channels, but once you take the platform of the video website, the problem will be solved. But one thing, despite the dazzling resources on the “Netflix” platform, you can think of the actual number of viewers who eventually contacted the work

According to Ishikawa’s own wishes, I would like to lead I.G to create a long-term return work that can generate benefits after 10 or 20 years, but I am afraid that the status quo may not be allowed. According to the operation of the production committee in the past, even if the market response after a certain cooperation is not satisfactory enough, in the future, the desire to jointly produce the works will retain the “sentiment” of re-cooperation. In the same situation, if it is placed in an overseas company, it shows a real and serious feeling. Fortunately, “Netflix” has established a Japanese branch, which has largely injected the “elastic accommodation” of the Japanese industry

Next, ULTRAMAN will go live on April 1. The “Ghost in the Shell” SAC_2045, which was jointly produced by the two superintendents of Shenshan Jianzhi and Amumu Shenzhi, actually entered the preparatory stage earlier. According to President Ishikawa, at the beginning, after considering the “Ghosts” supervising candidates after the “Ghosts of the Ghost in the Shell”, the Arai Supervisor offered to work with the supervision of the Shenshan. In view of the fact that the scriptwriting of “Ghosts” takes more time, and it is feared that the previous broadcast may make the production team use too much force, it is decided to let “ULTRAMAN” go first. Through the above two works, and the operation of many other works, Ishikawa’s president stated that the involvement of “Netflix” has already enabled IG to win, compared with the previous domestic capital investment and the income after the completion of the work. More production funds are needed and sold to overseas markets. The name is truthful, the president is outspoken, not so much as the “global distribution” listens to the name, it is better to say that the real gold and silver power is fierce

Fujitsu “noitaminA” column is selected in the “Amazon Prime Video” distribution. The platform is significantly different from the “Netflix” audience. Among the “Netflix” users, the proportion of people who like overseas film and television dramas and movies is quite heavy. On “Amazon”, users who prefer TV shows such as hilarious variety shows and Japanese-made dramas are the main ones. The tonality of the “+Ultra” program is generally more in line with the appetite of “Netflix” users. In this regard, President Ishikawa also agrees that as the age of the audience of Japan’s above-ground wave programs increases year by year, it objectively causes young people to stay away from TV and then divert to the “Netflix” and other online platforms

In addition, the words “+Ultra” that were not broadcast on the ground wave will be put together with the resources of the whole drama, and such measures are also in line with the needs of the times. Not only that, users who first enjoyed the program on “Netflix” spontaneously commented on the SNS, and the word-of-mouth effect triggered by it also stimulated the interest of more people. However, most of the network users who are calm and judged in the animated powder are less likely to blindly blow the film

Talking about the actual use experience of network distribution, President Ishikawa revealed that he has recently become fascinated with the TV series “Poison” that depicts the head of drug trafficking in Central and South America. After watching the season on “Netflix”, I couldn’t help but open the second season again. It was a bit dangerous to make it through the film. On the side of Senbin Jun, he was deeply impressed. He was deeply attracted by the super exciting story of “The Strange Story”. When he was on the shelves in the second season, he also saw the next morning for the follow-up. President Ishikawa immediately attached, and the “Nufu” producer of “Netflix” recommended him to “The Strange Story” and let himself enter the pit

Finally, the topic once again talked back to the two animations on the platform. President Ishikawa said that he was most concerned about “INGRESS” on “Netflix”, mainly because the film provided new ideas for animation consumption. In this way, the characters and works in the film can be constantly upgraded. Senbinjun is looking forward to the “Ghost in the Shell” SAC_2045. He wants to see how the quality of CG animation will be shaped for character shaping

References:

• 19 February issue “NewType”