Ask John: Does American Popularity Renew Japanese Interest in Old Anime?

Question:
Do you think the release of old anime in North America can actually have a “retro-active” revival craze in Japan? Specifically, I’m referring to series like Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon for the most part, thus “big hits” from their time. Do you think foreign broadcast creates a resurgence of interest in series among the Japanese, or has their devotion to these series never waned, and what we’re actually seeing is just a coincidence in timing?

Answer:
Based on my limited knowledge of Japan’s fan community and anime industry, I do believe that international success can reignite interest in certain anime titles in Japan. I don’t want to encourage the stereotype that Japanese culture is obsessed with America and American trends, but I do think that, to a certain degree, an anime becoming successful in America does reinvigorate some interest in Japan’s fan community. As an example, I’ll cite the Rurouni Kenshin Seisouhen OAV series from 2001. The series was created specifically in part due to the success of Rurouni Kenshin in America, and the series was promoted in Japan as a big hit in America. I think that your Dragonball example is also accurate. While Dragonball has a lasting appeal in Japan, it was seemingly a retired franchise in Japan until its explosive American success. The American created Dragonball Z Boudokai fighting games were exported to Japan, spawning a revival of Dragonball video games in Japan. And following the American release of Dragonball Z DVDs, Toei of Japan finally released all of the Dragonball anime on Japanese DVD in massive boxed sets that sold out to Japanese collectors very quickly.

But it seems as though the potential of American success to influence Japanese interest is limited to only select instances that have a predisposition to revival in Japan. Dragonball and Rurouni Kenshin were both long running, massive hits in Japan. Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, for example, were not nearly as long running nor as successful in mainstream Japanese awareness. Despite their tremendous popularity in America, and intense demand for revivals from the American fan community, neither Cowboy Bebop nor Trigun has been revived in Japan. So it seems as though strong American success has the potential to remind Japanese viewers of their interest in anime titles that were massive hits in Japan years earlier. But it doesn’t seem as though American interest alone is enough to create Japanese interest in titles that were never larger than cult hits in Japan in the first place.