In 2013, I was going to tell us that I would see you again, and unconsciously, "The Wind of the World" also accompanied you through 20 issues.

At this time of year, various animation media and forums will stand up and take stock of the major events in 2013. However, I believe that the "top ten" inventory in different places must be different, and even every comic fan has a different account in their hearts.

But although the list is different, I believe that the trends or "trends" reflected behind the events are the same, and these trends are both good and bad, and they will affect the anime culture we love for a certain period of time. In this issue of "The Wind of the World", we will put aside a separate incident and count the "undercurrents" surging behind the animation circle in 2013.

Digging a grave is a skillful job

It's really a bit unlucky to dig up graves for the New Year, but the Japanese animation industry has done a lot of grave digging this year.

It doesn't matter if it's old or new, dig if you can

In fact, grave digging didn't start in 2013, but it continued throughout the anime circle throughout the year. We can easily pull out a bunch of old antiques that were dug up this year - the most well-known is undoubtedly the new theatrical version of "Dragon Ball" "Dragon Ball Z". Although I sprayed a screen while Vegeta danced, and the plot was really not very outstanding, the return of "Dragon Ball" itself was enough to make a group of fans ecstatic and moved, and they repeatedly swiped the show to buy tickets.

With this group of nostalgic parties who will buy everything, you will understand why everything that can and can't is starting to dig in a big way. Buried deep are the new works and new peripherals of "Rose of Versailles", the new actions of "Space Battleship Yamato", the 20th anniversary of "Sailor Moon", and the new work of "Ghost in the Shell"... Wait, even the "Gundam SEED-D", which has not yet grown grass on the grave, has come to a reset without any suspense. In October, the HD version of "Slam Dunk" was re-broadcast, setting off a nostalgic frenzy again... In the next year, the 3D movie of "Saint Seiya" and the 3D version of "Doraemon" will also run out to keep pace with the times.

Nostalgia is fake, making money is real

Of course, there are many reasons for digging graves, but the old audience is already a social person with mature purchasing power to squeeze another round of value, and the lack of new work is undoubtedly the main reason. So without exception, we saw that with the reset, rebroadcast, and new chapter of the old work, the peripheral goods jumped out impatiently.

At this time, Bandai, the big man who holds countless copyrights, is undoubtedly the big winner. Not only is the new handies of "Space Battleship" selling hotly, but the merchandise of "Legend of the Demon God Heroes" has also been unveiled at the MegaHobby Autumn 2013 exhibition at the end of November, have you felt a chill in your wallet?

How can it be popular if the taste is not heavy?

It's not a fact to say that all the new works are not powerful, I believe that when everyone ranks this year's "Top Ten Events", they will put "the popularity of "Giant" on the list.

"Giant" swept the whole year

"Attack on Titan" is undoubtedly the big winner in 2014, and the animation is so powerful that the original manga has been on the sales list for half a year, becoming the second work in the history of the sales list to exceed 10 million in annual sales, and for the first time, it has reached the edge of the throne of "One Piece". Compared with the manga sales in the home field of the shonen manga, the "Giant" in the same circle of the rotten world can also be said to be eaten by both men and women. At the upcoming C85, although the number of doujinben of "Giant" has declined, it is still in the top 3 with 298 titles. Coupled with the author himself, who has been controversial for many topics, "Giant" can be said to have a sense of existence throughout the year, becoming the most popular anime work in 2013.

Those curious friends who have become popular

However, we say that "the taste of the new work is a bit heavy", and it is not just because of "Giant". On the C85 book list, "Danganronpa" is also ranked in the top 10, which is enough to show how popular this work is. To be honest, the animation quality of "Projectile" is really not very good, because the number of episodes is limited, and the plot is really catching up with the speed of reincarnation, and it can be seen that such results can be achieved to show the preferences of the people.

In fact, not only anime, but also the top 10 manga sales list has 2 works that have not yet been animated for the first time, that is, "Assassination Classroom" and "Martian Xenomorph". If "Assassination" still belongs to "a funny comic that heals under the guise of a student killing a teacher", "Martian Xenomorph" is not such an easy theme, if you have to say yes, the girls who were killed stand up and look at you one by one.

In short, although the traditional sense of hot-blooded shonen comics occupies their own inherent territory, it is difficult to meet the needs of the audience for the newly rising works. Let's wait and see whether this will lead anime works to a more mature state, or whether it will go further and further down the road of bloody and violent curiosity.

The threat of violence lingers

Of course, behind the prosperity of the anime circle, it is not without dark spots. This year's anime industry has been plagued by unplanned violence, with the "Oriental Shrine Festival" suspended due to coercion at the beginning of the year, and then another event in the East, the "Red Moon Feast", also canceled. In April, Tsukasa Fushimi, the author of "My Sister", even received death threats.

Of course, the most uproar this year is the threatening letter incident of "Kuroko's Basketball", which we have made a special report on (click me to watch). Although the suspect has been arrested and brought to justice, looking back on the whole process, there are hundreds of exhibitions, supermarkets, video stores in various places across Japan... All of them have been affected to varying degrees, causing heated discussions in the society.

Whether this low-cost and high-effect way of boycotting works will lead to imitation will become a focus of our attention next year. We still hope that everyone can treat the second dimension sensibly, and the original intention of watching the works is to relax and entertain, not to put the cart before the horse.

A new attempt at domestic animation

The Japanese animation circle is trying to take a new path, but what about the Chinese animation circle? What happened on our side in 2013?

The first major event is that Pleasant Goat was acquired by Aofei at a price of nearly 540 million.

As we all know, China's animation industry (especially the animation industry) has long relied on government subsidies to exist. As a rare success story, it is undoubtedly a positive signal that Pleasant Goat proves its value with such a high value.

The new atmosphere of the domestic animation circle

In fact, for the majority of anime lovers, it doesn't matter what the Pleasant Goat surname is, what matters is what they can see. This brings us to the copyright of the work. Copyright issues have been a theme in China's animation circles in 2013. Japanese comics were introduced, and animation was also introduced. Taking advantage of the tentacles of the relevant departments, major video stations are vying to share the broadcast rights of Japan's new animation and popular feature-length animation.

In addition to the introduction of animation, domestic anime fans have a new choice this year. If the animation in 2012 was "100,000 Bad Jokes", then in 2013, more domestic animations entered the field of vision of netizens. Whether it is Tencent's "Corpse Brother", "Super God Game", or "LU Era", which became popular at the end of the year, or even "Kuiba 2", which finally broke through the 20 million mark at the box office, they are all trying to get rid of the shackles of "domestic animation is for children".

Although there is still a long way to go from a mature copyright market with copyright norms and piracy to hide, we must see that this is the only way for the animation industry to rise. Taiwan's anime circle has also pirated everywhere, and Japan's anime circle is trying to imitate Hollywood before stepping out of its own style. We have reason to believe that the Chinese animation circle will be even better next year.

Attack on the live-action drama

Another big trend in 2013 is live-action adaptations.

Live-action adaptations of anime have always been relatively prosperous, but in 2013, both the number of challenging works and the popularity reached the level of madness. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, news of live-action drama adaptations came out almost every week. Old works such as "Ninja Rantaro" and "Rogue Kenshin", new works such as "Black Butler", "I Have Few Friends", and hunting curiosities such as "Parasitic Beast" and "As God Said", etc., can be said to be omnipotent.

Regarding the attitude towards live-action dramas, domestic comic fans naturally said that Yali Mountain was angry and poked your eyes, you don't want to do it anymore, but local comic fans in Japan don't think so. For them, live-action dramas have become a part of animation culture, and a good way to integrate animation culture with three dimensions. Thinking about the rhythm of American dramas and American comic film adaptations dominating the world, perhaps when China's animation adaptation of live-action film and television dramas becomes the mainstream, it is the time when China's animation industry will really go public.

epilogue

Of course, there is more to the anime circle in 2013. For example, the old man Gong has retired, where will Ghibli's future go? For example, what will be the result of the new theatrical version of "Madoka" hitting the Oscars? For example, if Japan successfully bids for the Olympic Games, will the scale of the animation circle be affected... Wait a minute. Overall, the anime scene in 2013 was very exciting. Of course, the most affordable thing for us anime fans is when the yen exchange rate falls below the 0.06 mark. It's the end of the year, why don't you treat yourself to a gift? In 2014, we also want to witness the ups and downs of the animation industry! Happy New Year, everyone!