John UM
The ultra-hero-themed movie has been popular all over the world for a decade, including the MCU created by Marvel Films after the Disney acquisition. In addition, DC Comics has also created its own DCEU. These two series are in the US and Europe as well as China and South Korea. It has swept the box office, and it seems that the Japanese market has not become a popular trend. The recent “Avengers: The Final Battle” was not as good as the “Detective Conan: The Fist of the Green” at the beginning of the box office in Japan. So why is the Japanese market less responsive to the US superhero movie market than other East Asian countries?
For example, in addition to the current Open Avengers: The Final Battle, the most popular MCU released in Japan is The Avengers: Infinite War (released in 2018). However, all countries have the highest annual sales rankings, but in the Japanese market, the total box office can only be ranked 12th and 10th in the year. If the Japanese box office is unfair compared to other English-speaking countries, but in East Asian countries, especially China and South Korea, the box office in Japan is also a bit low and incredible
With the “Avengers: Infinite War” as a reference, Japan has a population of 120 million, while South Korea has a population of 50 million, and the movie has a box office in Japan of only 3.74 billion yen, while in South Korea it is 98.918 billion. The yen is equal to Japan’s 29.6 to South Korea’s 194.5, which means that the South Korean Avengers League is 6 times better than Japan! Of course, this is different from the demographic structure and the consumption environment, but the gap is still a bit exaggerated
For reference, let us compare Japan and Korea on a population basis. Japan’s population in 2018 was 12.645 million, and South Korea’s population was less than 50.9 million. However, after converting to Japanese yen, the resolution was 98.498 billion yen, while South Korea was 9.8498 billion yen. It is three times closer to Japan. In addition, comparing box office receipts and population, South Korea compared with Japan’s 29.6, it was 194.5. Of course, Japan and South Korea differs in terms of their preconditions, such as the proportion of people by age and admission fees, so they cannot be easily compared. But even so, the difference is too big
So what is the cause of this result?
After the Second World War, Japan was occupied by the US military, and then the cultural field was quickly connected with the world, especially after the Olympic Games in Japan. For example, last year’s film “Bohemian”, which was the lead singer of the Queen, won last year in Japan. The highest box office movie, and the film was released in China, but the box office was not good. Because when we heard the Queen’s songs, they passed their golden age, and when Queen once went to Japan to sing, so Japan received enough Queen baptism in that year, and they have feelings for them. Similarly, in the “Star Wars” series, the performance in Japan is obviously better than that in China. Of course, in the year of “Star Wars”, the director of Lucas absorbed the characteristics of the samurai in Japanese culture, but the most important thing was that the United States and Japan were synchronized. China also learned from reform and opening up that the mass base was much worse, so that Chinese actors who participated in the performance did not achieve particularly good Chinese box office results
In the Japanese secondary culture, the vast majority of the protagonists are underage children, while the heroes in Western culture have teenagers but most of them are adults
Mainly because Western culture is deeply influenced by Greek mythology, the Bible, and Shakespeare’s story, so the heroic characters are mainly adults. In Japan, in the animation culture, such as Dragon Ball, Gundam, Detective Conan, EVA, the protagonists are children and students. Japanese audiences like to find value in the child’s immaturity. In addition, young people who want to grow up want to grow up as soon as possible, and young people in Japan are hoping to grow up forever, and even adults like to go back to childhood. The heroic character is fixed in the minds of Japanese audiences as a boy or a girl. So in the works of Marvel, “Spider-Man” is the best performer
Due to the national conditions of the United States, the concept of equality for women, ethnic minorities, and LGBT people is so experienced in the movie. For example, there are fewer and fewer villains in black, and there will always be homosexuality in the works. Support, as well as male rights will be overthrown. These are most evident in the Panthers and Surprise Captains, and this politically correct content has no market in Japan, as is the case in China and South Korea