by The new animated movie “THE FIRST SLAM DUNK” based on the Japanese basketball manga “Slam Dunk” was released in mainland China on the 20th. According to Chinese media, sales of advance tickets for the new animation movie, which has also gained popularity in China, exceeded 115 million yuan (approximately 2.25 billion yen) before its release. The highest advance sales for a foreign animated film screened in China has been set.
The movie was shown in theaters in Shanghai and elsewhere after midnight on the 20th, the first day of its release, and many fans came to see it even though it was late at night.
According to the Chinese Internet media “Peng Wen Shimbun,” it was screened 130,000 times in mainland China on the 20th, accounting for nearly 80% of all films screened that day.
There were many Chinese fans of Slam Dunk in the 1990s who were passionate about it, and on social media sites in China, many people have posted comments such as, “It’s just like my youth,” and “I saw it early in the morning. If I have time, I’ll watch it again soon.” was done.
Among Japanese animated films, Makoto Shinkai’s “Suzume no Tojimemari” is also popular in mainland China. Chinese media reported on the 17th of this month that the box office revenue of the same work in mainland China totaled 752 million yuan (about 14.7 billion yen), surpassing the box office revenue in Japan.
Relations between Japan and China continue to be tense, with the detention of a male executive of a Japanese company in Beijing in March. Still, the deep-rooted popularity of Japanese animation in China has become apparent.
