Chinese Soft Power and Media Discussion and Updates
- Thread starter tankphobia
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This is definitely one of the shining examples this year. It is original, great animation, good story with a amazing English/Japanese/Chinese voice work. The other hyped Chinese donghua super cube had the same issue like many predecessors, poor pacing and poor dub.
IMO manhua in general just translates poorly into animation, especially those cultivation ones due to the insane length and repetiveness.
Lord of the Mysteries did really well too, even if I wasn't a fan of it, mostly though because it already had a built in audience from the web novel.
Sometimes too what foreigners like ain't exactly what Mainlanders like, since TBHX was critically panned in China.
Hudson having another
Looking back at China's cultural output for the year, I can confidently say that China's entertainment industry now is where South Korea was in the 2000s to early 2010s. Back then Korean dramas were solidly mainstream in Southeast Asia and PSY had become a sensation, but globally the fanbase for Korean cultural products was still mostly confined to niche fandoms of gory Korean crime movies like Oldboy and I Saw the Devil. It was only 2015 onwards with BTS, Parasite, and Netflix churning out K-content did Korean media become mainstream globally.
Right now, I don't think people realize how signficant it is that we're discussing not how China can make good stuff, but how China can make its cultural products more popular globally. Back in the 2000s-2010s, nevermind global appeal, many ABCs wanted to improve their mandarin and of course a popular way to do so is to watch movies. But Chinese media was so uniformly bad, none of us knew where to begin. Even a website I used that had pinyin subtitles for Chinese movies, had a disclaimer that they knew most of their lineup was pure shit but that the purpose was to learn Chinese rather than be entertained.
Fast forward to today, even as someone who mostly consumed Hollywood content in the past, I was surprised that the vast majority of the stuff I consumed this year was Chinese even if I didn't actively seek it out. Nezha 2, LOH 2 Nobody, TBHX, Where Winds Meet, Genshin Impact Nod Krai Arc, and I'm told that Ling Cage Season 2 and Pillow Knife Song Season 3 are fire so now I'm obligated to check those out. Granted Hollywood's been slow these past two years due to the writer's strike, with next year looking to be a knockout year with movies from Nolan, Villeneuve, and Spielberg, so I'm not deluding myself into thinking China's anywhere near that level. Some even doubt if China can maintain consistency in its cultural output, but from what I've seen online and from the creators, I'm optimistic that it will.
Simply put, if Chinese stories being represented is all one wants, then you're living in a damn good time. But of course, the bar is currently set at global reach vis a vis Japan and SK with the US being the long term goal. I believe per the time frame I referenced earlier with respect to Korean media, China perhaps is 5 years away from reaching the status of the next Asian pop cultural power.
Right now, I don't think people realize how signficant it is that we're discussing not how China can make good stuff, but how China can make its cultural products more popular globally. Back in the 2000s-2010s, nevermind global appeal, many ABCs wanted to improve their mandarin and of course a popular way to do so is to watch movies. But Chinese media was so uniformly bad, none of us knew where to begin. Even a website I used that had pinyin subtitles for Chinese movies, had a disclaimer that they knew most of their lineup was pure shit but that the purpose was to learn Chinese rather than be entertained.
Fast forward to today, even as someone who mostly consumed Hollywood content in the past, I was surprised that the vast majority of the stuff I consumed this year was Chinese even if I didn't actively seek it out. Nezha 2, LOH 2 Nobody, TBHX, Where Winds Meet, Genshin Impact Nod Krai Arc, and I'm told that Ling Cage Season 2 and Pillow Knife Song Season 3 are fire so now I'm obligated to check those out. Granted Hollywood's been slow these past two years due to the writer's strike, with next year looking to be a knockout year with movies from Nolan, Villeneuve, and Spielberg, so I'm not deluding myself into thinking China's anywhere near that level. Some even doubt if China can maintain consistency in its cultural output, but from what I've seen online and from the creators, I'm optimistic that it will.
Simply put, if Chinese stories being represented is all one wants, then you're living in a damn good time. But of course, the bar is currently set at global reach vis a vis Japan and SK with the US being the long term goal. I believe per the time frame I referenced earlier with respect to Korean media, China perhaps is 5 years away from reaching the status of the next Asian pop cultural power.
I'm surprised at the hate, sure it's a bit bleak and has its flaws, but its still infinitely better than the typical cultivation slop. You can only hear have eyes but can't see mount tai so many times before rolling your eyes.
Another Chinese lib has lost it and went on a tirade against his former comrades on Twitter.
I'm of two minds about China's steady rise in culture exports. One one hand, like yourself I think it's a great thing and more importantly it lets Chinese people tell their own stories. On the other, there's no indication to what extent this will go.
Will it be like the Japanese or Koreans, who are functionally exporting Western culture with an "Asian" coat of paint? Or will it be like the American's unapologetic "America fuck yeah" through Marvel Studios?
Don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware I'm suffering from Availability Bias: nobody in the West knows about Doreamon or Heize, despite being fantatics for Dragon Ball and BTS. Problem is, Dragon Ball almost single-handedly saved the Japanese cartoon industry during the Lost Generation recession, and BTS is what allows to Hybe Co. to fund hundreds of smaller projects/artists/bands that barely expand out of Korea.
Before anyone comes at me, how many of you are aware China's animation industry ? How about film and TV VFX oursourcing to China is ? Did you know China's the best county for (think video games)? China's been dominant for so long, there have been scandals of "elite" American workers were really to China-based contractors.
But the fact that this dominance has been ongoing for over a decade (the Verizon story was from 2013), and nobody is aware of it, really highlights my problem: How can China be a dominant media producer when not even Chinese people realize it's already the backbone for most of the global media industy?
I wonder if it would be like the auto industry. China had silently developed the world's largest car market AND the world's dominant reservoir for auto parts. No one knew this until five years ago and then in a period of just four years it shot to the top of the world:
If the underpinnings are there then things could happen very quickly once the ball gets rolling. Like autos, China has the world's largest gaming, animation and drama industries. The largest short film and other new age media beginning with Douyin/Tik Tok.
As well as the 2nd largest traditional film markets for good measure.
I see it as bubbling volcano that can explode at any time.