For the first time, overseas revenue for the anime and game industries has begun to surpass domestic earnings.
Why is this Japanese? Because it takes the Idol principle (parasocial intimacy, constant content, "graduation") and removes the messy human element. There are no scandals about dating, no weight gain, no aging. The character is the IP.
One rainy Tuesday, she saw him. He wasn't dancing for a crowd or filming a TikTok. He was a busker tucked under the eaves of a closed department store, playing a shamisen—not with the rigid grace of a conservatory student, but with the frantic, distorted energy of a punk rocker.
For the first time, overseas revenue for the anime and game industries has begun to surpass domestic earnings.
Why is this Japanese? Because it takes the Idol principle (parasocial intimacy, constant content, "graduation") and removes the messy human element. There are no scandals about dating, no weight gain, no aging. The character is the IP.
One rainy Tuesday, she saw him. He wasn't dancing for a crowd or filming a TikTok. He was a busker tucked under the eaves of a closed department store, playing a shamisen—not with the rigid grace of a conservatory student, but with the frantic, distorted energy of a punk rocker.