It's impossible to ignore anime's growing popularity. In Japan, the likes of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle are breaking records but, in the US and beyond, shows such as Solo Leveling are becoming genuine bonafide hits.
Speaking to President Online (H/T Automaton Media), Dragon Ball and One Piece director Tatsuya Nagamine and Toei producer Shinji Shimizu share their grand theories as to why anime has become such a sensation on western shores – and it's partly down to Disney.
"I think overseas fans of animation are already tired of predictable Disney-style works," Nagamine said, pointing to anime's penchant for more outlandish adventures that are catching on with audiences worldwide.
"Right now, only Japanese animation offers bizarre stories where you truly can’t predict what will happen next," Nagamine offered.
Shimizu weighed in, "Japanese anime comes from comics. There is great care put into the characters. Disney, on the other hand, has predetermined storylines, and there is always a happy ending. In Japanese anime, you may see a protagonist die halfway through, or a villain turn out to be a hero – it’s made to be satisfying even for adults."
While the pair's comments may seem outspoken, it's not uncommon for Japanese creatives to take aim at Disney's output.
As recounted in Steve Alpert's Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man, Studio Ghibli director and co-founder Hayao Miyazaki criticized the "terrible" work on Fantasia 2000 during a studio tour.
With a serious amount of new anime on the horizon, it appears anime could yet scale even greater heights. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle will be joined in cinemas later this year by the Chainsaw Man movie, while the action-heavy Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War part 4 and more melancholic Frieren: Beyond Journey's End season 2 show the malleability of the medium in 2026 and beyond.
For more, check out the best anime movies you should be watching right now, plus all the latest on Jujutsu Kaisen season 3.
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