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Anime Epic 'Demon Slayer' Ousts Ghibli Classic as Japan's Top-Grossing Film

Women wearing protective masks amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak walk past a poster for "Demon slayer" in front of a movie theatre in Tokyo, Japan, December 13, 2020. (Reuters)
Women wearing protective masks amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak walk past a poster for "Demon slayer" in front of a movie theatre in Tokyo, Japan, December 13, 2020. (Reuters)
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Anime Epic 'Demon Slayer' Ousts Ghibli Classic as Japan's Top-Grossing Film

Women wearing protective masks amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak walk past a poster for "Demon slayer" in front of a movie theatre in Tokyo, Japan, December 13, 2020. (Reuters)
Women wearing protective masks amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak walk past a poster for "Demon slayer" in front of a movie theatre in Tokyo, Japan, December 13, 2020. (Reuters)

An anime epic in which a teenager hunts down and beheads demons on Monday became Japan's top-grossing film of all time, its production company said, ending the near two-decade reign of Studio Ghibli's "Spirited Away".

"Demon Slayer", based on the hit manga series, has chalked up 32.5 billion yen ($314 million) in box-office sales since its October release, a spokeswoman for anime producer Aniplex said.

The story of Tanjiro, whose life transforms when his family are killed in a demon attack, has drawn 24 million viewers to cinemas, she added -- in a year that has seen movie theaters and film releases around the world hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

After weeks of closing in on the top spot, "Demon Slayer" dethroned the 2001 fantasy classic "Spirited Away", whose total takings had reached 31.7 billion yen including ticket sales from a summer re-release.

Japan has seen a relatively limited outbreak of Covid-19, with some 3,200 deaths, although record numbers of new cases have been reported in recent weeks.

"Demon Slayer" has been helped by Japan not implementing the strict lockdown measures seen elsewhere, and movie theaters have largely stayed open, though with restrictions including mask-wearing.

Throughout the pandemic, people have been urged to avoid crowds -- putting most other forms of mass entertainment off-limits -- while a sophisticated marketing campaign, including tie-ups with shops and restaurants, and well-known actors voicing the characters, also helped boost the film.

The success of the movie, whose full title is "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train", has been a rare bright spot in the economic malaise that has accompanied the pandemic in Japan.

One research institute estimated the entire series has generated an economic impact of 270 billion yen in Japan alone.

"Demon Slayer" has already been distributed elsewhere in Asia with releases in Europe and the United States planned for next year.

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Demand for Japanese Content Booms Post 'Shogun'

The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File
The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File
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Demand for Japanese Content Booms Post 'Shogun'

The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File
The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File

But "Shogun", based on the 1975 novel by Australian-British writer James Clavell, broke the mould when the period drama series -- mostly in Japanese and hailed for its authenticity -- won 18 Emmy awards in September.
Other recent Japanese works have also become worldwide hits.
Franco-US-Japanese show "Drops of God", based on a manga of the same name, won best drama series at the International Emmy Awards in November.
Netflix's 2023 adaptation of the manga superhit "One Piece" -- starring Mexican actor Inaki Godoy as the lead -- was hailed by viewers and critics alike and will return for a second season.
More adaptations of major manga and anime hits are in the works, including the superhero adventures of "My Hero Academia" and the ninja escapades of "Naruto".
"Demand from Western markets is clearly increasing," said Kaori Ikeda, managing director at TIFFCOM, the content trade fair affiliated with the Tokyo International Film Festival.
But Japanese companies lack "know-how" when it comes to things like negotiating rights, she told AFP.
So TIFFCOM has organized Tokyo Story Market, a space to facilitate networking and meetings between international producers and Japanese publishers.
'Whitewashing'
Foreign studios are also getting better at avoiding some of the pitfalls of the past, such as the 2017 film version of the manga "Ghost in the Shell" starring Scarlett Johansson.
Critics accused the movie, whose main actors except Takeshi Kitano were all non-Japanese, of "whitewashing".
Similarly, the 2017 supernatural thriller "Death Note" was panned for veering too far from the original manga.
"Manga authors are highly respected and fan communities are very vigilant," said Klaus Zimmermann, producer of "Drops of God".
His adaptation takes some liberties, such as starring a French actor as one of the main characters, but Zimmermann insists it was developed in collaboration with the authors of the original manga.
"It was about finding the spirit of the manga so as not to distort it," he told AFP.
Yuki Takamatsu, a rights negotiator at the manga's publishing house Kodansha, said the process of adapting "Drops of God" was "amazing".
"Everyone was open to tackling those challenges together... At every step, everyone was understanding about how we should do it," he said.
Past failures were in part down to publishers struggling to communicate their wishes to foreign producers, who in turn lacked a proper understanding of manga and anime, Takamatsu said.
"Back just 15, 20 years ago, most of the enquiries we received from those big studios were like, hey, I know 'Dragon Ball', do you have 'Dragon Ball' IP?" Takamatsu told AFP.
"But nowadays, especially since Covid, the producers in their 30s, 40s, they watch anime together with their kids on Netflix or Amazon" and then reach out, he said.
Japanese TV goes global
Japanese broadcasters have also become "better and better (at) presenting and marketing their content" abroad, said Makito Sugiyama, executive director at the Broadcast Program Export Association of Japan (BEAJ).
This includes their participation at global events such as MIPCOM in Cannes, an annual trade show for the television industry, Sugiyama said.
Japanese broadcasters have long had success selling show concepts abroad, like the one for "America's Funniest Home Videos", known in Britain as "You've Been Framed".
Now, some Japanese dramas are also finding a wider echo abroad.
Nippon TV's original drama "Mother" became a hit thanks in part to its Turkish remake, and has been broadcast in around 50 countries.
Western viewers have overcome their initial reluctance to watch series with Asian actors, believes Masaru Akiyama, chief executive of the BEAJ.
"They have got used to it, they don't care anymore. They want to see, they want to feel the stories."
"Shogun" was "a game changer for Japan," he added, and Ikeda agrees.
"That a samurai story with such attention to historical detail can become mainstream entertainment is proof of the potential" of Japanese content, she said.