A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

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There are more and more remakes of Japanese anime

Projects guaranteeing the success of streaming platforms

There are more and more remakes of Japanese anime Projects guaranteeing the success of streaming platforms

The entertainment industry has long embraced remakes, which guarantee production companies a secure source of revenue and provide an opportunity to revamp certain stories so they don’t remain stuck in time or, worse, get forgotten by the audience. Relying on already well-known plots and characters offers a dual advantage: first, there is no need to embark on the complex process of creating an entirely new script; second, it allows leveraging the nostalgia effect of fans. One of the cultural sectors that has best understood the effectiveness of remakes is that of Japanese anime, where the demand for new content has rapidly increased thanks to streaming platforms. Besides being a part of the collective imagination of entire generations, «anime has become an essential element in streaming service catalogs,» writes the magazine Movieplayer.it, given their surprising ability to attract viewers and boost subscription numbers. Consequently, remakes have become more frequent. And even when they are not outright remakes, many series tend to revisit narrative patterns already explored in the past, which, for some reason, proved to be successful. «It is undeniable that each season sees the release of dozens of titles that merely recycle tried-and-true formulas, seen over and over again. The same plots, the same situations, the same types of characters» anime expert Cristina Bignante had already written in 2017 on Fumettologica.

@marcustalksanime WHICH ANIME DESERVES A REMAKE THE MOST!? #yuyuhakusho #naruto #dragonball #bleach Elevator Music - Bohoman

Besides economic motivations, in some cases, remakes are also created with the intent of offering the audience a more faithful adaptation of the original work from which they are derived. However, not all fans view new versions of inherently iconic anime favorably. Some fans perceive remakes as a form of betrayal, labeling them as mere commercial operations. Although only a minority of fans fuel this debate, this form of dissent is deeply felt and taken into account in the industry. As Bignante argues, it is sometimes valuable that a portion of the audience (even if small) does not enthusiastically welcome a particular remake—this phenomenon often helps maintain a critical perspective on releases: «I would never accuse someone of not loving cinema or literature just because they don’t appreciate all the films that come out in theaters or all the novels that top the bestseller lists; so why should it be different for anime?»

The Anime That Started It All

For a long time, Japanese anime was created for very specific target audiences. However, starting in the 1980s, these productions began to appeal to a wider audience, including Western viewers. This shift occurred thanks to what is now recognized as the most internationally successful anime, which has yet to receive a remake but is periodically re-released in theaters on its anniversaries. This anime is Akira, an animated feature film by Katsuhiro Otomo, released in Japan in 1988, which, along with some of the most famous works of Studio Ghibli, is undoubtedly one of the most iconic anime of all time. The 1980s marked a turning point for the Japanese animation industry: a new generation of creators was revolutionizing the sector from within, experimenting with bolder content capable of transcending national boundaries.

From the 1970s onward, Japanese-made cartoons saw continuous expansion. Anime were viewed abroad as more experimental and innovative products, where even feature films managed to carve out their space. This sector growth led to the creation of Akira, an animated film so ambitious and sophisticated that it later went on to influence countless other productions, including traditional cinema. To this day, no other anime has had a cultural impact comparable to that of Akira: in the United States, the distribution company Manga Entertainment was even founded, playing a crucial role over the years in bringing titles to the Western market that would later become beloved classics, entering the imagination of entire generations, including Pokémon, Dragon Ball, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Ghost in the Shell.