Tokyo - Animators are flocking to Tokyo this week for one of the world's largest anime trade fairs, presenting work likely to challenge their audience in anime's home market of Japan as they seek to expand their popularity globally. The annual, four-day Tokyo International Anime Fair, which opened Thursday, is showcasing the work of nearly 300 companies and groups and was expected to attract more than 120,000 visitors.
Digimax brought its 12-minute animated film from Taiwan, hoping to get a positive reaction from the Japanese audience while admitting there might be hurdles.
"For the market that prefers two-dimensional features, it might be difficult to accept our film," said Tetsuya Ogawa, Digimax's senior marketing manager.
The company created the 3-D Adventures in the NPM in collaboration with the National Palace Museum to lure more young visitors to the Taipei institution. It portrays the museum's historical exhibits as characters.
Since Digimax acquired its know-how of animation from Hollywood studios, Ogawa said that its movie might not satisfy Japanese fans.
Considering Japanese anime has been developed from manga comic books, the fans expect to see their favourite characters in two dimensions rather than three like in Adventures in the NPM, Ogawa said.
Spooky Graphic's Toshihiro Umekitam, likewise, said he felt Japanese anime fans know what they want.
Umekita and his 12 artists, all in their 20s, have experienced difficulty maintaining their originality on their home turf in Japan.
Investors often try to change storylines and artwork of their films to fit tried-and-true Japanese formulas, but Spooky films resemble overseas works with black humour and simple daily ordeals illustrated in a funny way, like Sponge Bob Squarepants or the Power Puff Girls, Umekita said.
"Japanese animation lacks the shock value," said the art director who grew up watching Tom and Jerry, The Jetsons and Bugs Bunny. "Stories are always predictable and have happy endings, but overseas anime can make boring routines into a great, funny film. You can't expect what will happen next."
The company also pursues a US-style production line with character design, story writing, producing and drawing each having one person in charge.
Spooky Graphics is reaching out to the overseas market, and its latest work, Pooky's, has found clientele in Canada and aims for broadcast there next spring.
Anime for the Japanese market has shifted from the traditional manga-based style to "light" novels, which target junior-high-school readers, according to Tadashi Kitamura of the Tokyo Animation College.
Most of the anime programmes on television air stories taken from light novels, which also travel well to Europe and parts of the United States, Kitamura said.
As the Japanese used to seek Western culture and incorporate it into their own, fans in Europe and the United States also appear willing to import a range of Japanese animation, including "otaku" nerd culture, he said.
But the creative part of animation is finding its way back home these days.
Some of the workload for Japanese animation has been exported to other Asian countries with low wage costs for more than 10 years, Kitamura said.
Since the demand for employment opportunities is growing domestically and better anime quality is being sought, Kitamura said that there is a move within the industry to bring back outsourced jobs to Japan.
