MOVIE
Japanese animation with wings amidst all-time slump in Korean movies
TenAsia reporter Choi Ji-ye tells the story of the movie. We analyze every aspect of movies through live on-site reporting and write fun articles with sharp perspectives.
While Korean films are mired in record-breaking slump, Japanese animation films have achieved record-breaking results.
According to the 'February Korean Film Industry Settlement' data released by the Korea Promotion Commission, the audience share of Korean films recorded 19.8% and the sales share of 19.5% last month. This is the lowest record for February since 2004, when the integrated movie theater ticket network began counting.
Even before the pandemic, Korean movies were strong in February due to the Lunar New Year holiday, but this year, the situation for Korean movies is not so good, reaching the lowest level in 19 years. The movies 'Negotiation' (director Lim Sun-rye, cumulative audience of 1.72 million) and 'Ghost' (director Lee Hae-young, 660,000) were released targeting the Lunar New Year holiday in February, but both films suffered crushing box office failures.
The total sales of Korean films in February were 13.4 billion won, which is far below the 14.5 billion won in sales posted by Marvel Studios' 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania' (directed by Peyton Reed, 'Ant-Man 2') single film in the same month. If ‘Ant-Man 2’ is a work that embraces the previous momentum of Marvel, that is not the case. Korean movies in February did not even reach the sales of 'Ant-Man 2', which has already been criticized for its ruined reputation.
When compared to sports, the sluggish performance of Korean films is not a result of poor performance, but rather a result of the content of the game itself being poor, leading to voices calling for self-reflection in the film industry.
While Korean films are experiencing such a slump, Japanese animation films are taking over theaters, breaking all-time records. 'The First Slam Dunk' (directed by Takehiko Inoue, 'Slam Dunk') delved deep into domestic theaters in February.
'Slam Dunk' showed such great momentum that a new word was coined, so-called 'slam dunk crazy'. 'Slam Dunk', which stimulated the nostalgia of men in their 30s and 40s, spread word of mouth mainly among enthusiasts, and spread to all generations, causing a craze. The audience's Nth viewing rate surpassed 'Your Name' (director Makoto Shinkai), which was the highest-grossing Japanese animation of all time, and broke the first place record, reaching over 4 million viewers.
The success of Japanese animation did not stop here. Following the rapid success of 'Demon Slayer: The Gathering of the Prefecture, and To the Potter Village' (directed by Haruo Sotozaki), 'Suzume's Door Break' (directed by Makoto Shinkai) is once again creating a hot trend.
'Suzume's Lockdown', which was released in Korea on the 8th, has been ranked first in the box office for 9 days, surpassing 1 million in the shortest period of time among films released in 2023. ‘Suzume’s Lockdown’ is the finale of director Makoto Shinkai’s disaster trilogy, following ‘Your Name’ (2017) and ‘Child of the Weather’ (2019). It is appealing to audiences of all generations with its beautiful visuals, OST, and healing message of loss. In particular, this work, which deals with the Great East Japan Earthquake as its main subject, is being applauded for its artistic value as it conveys comfort in the reality of many types of disasters, such as pandemics.
From 'Slam Dunk' to 'Suzume's Door Break', the common reason for the success of Japanese animations in Korean theaters and related industries are citing solid stories and quality of work.
In the case of 'Slam Dunk', Song Tae-seop, not Kang Baek-ho, was cast as the main character, and the main role was that the original author, Takehiko Inoue, took over as director and expanded the story based on the clear worldview of the original work. In addition, 'Slam Dunk' is evaluated as having succeeded in absorbing even the MZ generation, who are not familiar with the original work, with its material and story development without barriers to entry.
'Suzume's Lockdown' is also an ambitious work by director Makoto Shinkai, who has a fan base in Korea. It has already attracted 10 million viewers in Japan and has been recognized for both its artistic quality and box office performance. 'Suzume's Door Break' shares the world view of 'Your Name' and 'Weather's Child', but attempts to create a new variation unique to this work. It is receiving favorable reviews from critics for its touching message of comfort in response to disasters.
'Slam Dunk' and 'Suzume's Lockdown' are suitable for all generations, from teenagers to people in their 40s and 50s, and the satisfaction level after viewing is high due to the artistic quality and tight story structure and structure. In addition, it is analyzed that the MZ generation, which is leading the recent trend in theaters, has broken away from the past trend of showing aversion to Japanese works for political reasons, and the tendency to consume content they like regardless of the past or political situation has also played a major role.
Director Makoto Shinkai said at a recent press conference that he "got a hint from the Korean drama 'Goblin'" regarding borrowing the motif of 'door' from 'Suzume's Door Break'. These words are ironic and painful at a time when Korean films are experiencing an unprecedented downturn.
Although there is great pain in our historical relationship with Japan, our country has achieved greater development than Japan, not only in terms of culture, but also economically. The reality of our movies not being able to show off their full potential is bitter because they are being pushed out by 'Suzume's Breaking the Door', which was created by taking a cue from our drama 'Goblin'.
Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr
