Those of us who are obsessed with Chinese animation (ie: donghua) often ask “Why is Chinese donghua not as popular as Japanese anime?” and “Will it ever be?”. (You can read my thoughts on Chinese donghua becoming huge here on Leo Sigh).
While there are always a thousand reasons why anime fans prefer one style of animation, and animation from one country over another, there are at least 8 solid reasons why Chinese donghua is not as popular as Japanese anime.
Yet.
Reasons why Chinese donghua is not as popular as Japanese anime?
First of all, I should obviously clarify Chinese donghua is massively popular in one country at least — China.
In fact, there are hundreds of donghua released every year in China, and tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of people lap them up.
But what about outside China?
What are the reasons why most donghua still struggle to get the audience of a typical Japanese anime?
1. Chinese animators’ main focus is Chinese donghua fans
With over 1.4 billion people in China, plus 7.3 million in Hong Kong, 23.2 million in Taiwan, around 4.5 million in Singapore, and around 700,000 in Macau speaking a Chinese language (Mandarin, Cantonese etc), Chinese animators don’t have a need to focus on non-Chinese-speaking people when it comes to making money with their shows.
After all, when there are more people watching Chinese donghua than Japanese anime, simply due to the enormous number of Chinese speakers, why spend money catering to those who don’t speak Chinese, eh?
When an animation producer/animation studio doesn’t focus any of their time on non-Chinese speakers, it is pretty obvious why most non-Chinese speakers couldn’t even name one donghua title.
Let alone have watched it.
2. Chinese producers/animation studios don’t promote to international audiences
When you consider how much Japanese anime studios promote their upcoming anime, while Chinese companies do little promotion outside China, it is no wonder so many non-Chinese speakers have no idea what donghua is, or even what new shows will soon be releasing.
Even for me.
Someone who has watched donghua for the better part of a decade, and so generally knows where to go to find it, I still sometimes struggle to find information on upcoming donghua that isn’t in Chinese.
For most people, unless they follow Tencent Video’s YouTube channel, Bilibili’s animation channel, the YouTube channels for iQIYI Anime, or YOUKU Animation — or subscribe to those companies’ apps — chances are they will not hear about donghua at all.
If Chinese animators/producers spent even a fraction of the money Japanese anime companies spend on promoting their IPs every year, donghua would immediately become more popular.
And more watched.
3. Distribution in the west is low
Compared to anime, which is distributed on massive platforms like Crunchyroll, Netflix, HIDIVE, Hulu and Disney, the platforms donghua is distributed on are generally Chinese-owned streaming platforms — Tencent Video, Bilibili, iQIYI, YOUKU etc.
Yes, Netflix has picked up some donghua recently — Scissor Seven, The Daily Life of the Immortal King, and Qi Refining for 3000 Years for instance.
Crunchyroll has also streamed a handful of titles (Heaven Official’s Blessing, Link Click, Fairies Album and To Be Heroine,).
But, overall, unless you subscribe to a Chinese platform/app (I subscribe to Bilibili, Tencent (WeTV in the west), and YOUKU), you will get little access to donghua outside Chinese-speaking countries.
4. Subtitles on donghua aren’t always great
While anime fans will kick up a big stink if the subtitles in their language aren’t almost native-level, donghua just serves whatever subtitles the companies feel like serving.
Regardless that, at least in English, a sizable percentage of the time, they are barely understandable.
Just this morning, I re-watched the first six episodes of Ten Thousand Worlds on WeTV, and had to put up with a girl being called “Sir” every time someone spoke to her, and the beginnings of Lin Feng’s cultivation being difficult to follow — simply because of the convoluted subtitles.
There isn’t a big fan-subbing community like there is for Japanese anime either. So you can’t even find decent subtitles on the less-than-legal donghua sites.
Now, I am a donghua fan, know what to expect in the English subtitles department, and so just put up with it.
Someone who hasn’t watched a donghua before and is used to almost perfect subtitles on anime, however, will watch one 10-minute episode, not understand 10 percent of it, and decide to move on.
5. No dubs in foreign languages other than Japanese
It is rare, if not almost impossible, to find a donghua dubbed in English or any other language except Japanese.
That means, if you don’t like to read subtitles, watching a Chinese donghua probably isn’t for you.
6. The Chinese language
For some reason, a substantial number of anime fans believe Chinese is an “ugly” language, and so don’t want to listen to it when they watch their animation.
Now, I don’t understand that attitude at all, as Chinese doesn’t sound anymore “ugly” to me than when I watch anime in Japanese, or dramas in Korean or Thai but… there ya go.
Personally, I like the Chinese language, and it makes sense to me to watch donghua about cultivation, Chinese myths and legends, martial arts etc in the story’s original language.
It adds to the mystery of it all that way.
7. 2D animation versus 3D animation
While there is 2D animation of the anime variety created in Chinese donghua studios, most donghua is 3D animated, as that is what is hugely popular in China.
A large number of animation fans do not like 3D animation (I have to admit, I used to be one of them) or CGI of any kind, so getting them to watch a donghua that is not to their taste can be a struggle.
8. Prejudice against everything Chinese
Finally, due to western politicians and “news” media being ‘all in’ on the everything-Chinese-is-evil mantra, a huge number of people are prejudiced against everything Chinese.
Watching a donghua then, is just not something they would ever do, as why watch something from a country whose government is that “evil”.
The same people have no idea that China is a decade or two ahead of countries like the United States and all of Europe when it comes to technology.
They don’t know that Chinese students are generally better educated than most western students, that China is one of the safest countries in the world — or that the donghua Chinese animation companies put out is far more interesting and unique than the same old same old “woke” b.s. we are now often being subjected to by western production companies.
But, when entire populations have been brain-washed by their politicians and “news” media about China and everything it creates, it is little wonder donghua still has an uphill battle before it becomes as popular as anime.
I am still convinced, though, that it won’t be that long before it is.