Chinese film, television, music
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New game from Chinese developer Mihayou. Disappointed in them since they're promoting the global version in Japanese instead of Chinese.
Also people mistakenly think this is made by their Canadian branch that just literally opened some months ago because it's too 'Western'
Also people mistakenly think this is made by their Canadian branch that just literally opened some months ago because it's too 'Western'
To be fair, the target audience for global prefers Japanese voice acting when it comes to anime-styled games as its the expected standard, even anime styled games created by Korean game companies uses Japanese voice acting. As long it has some elements of Chinese culture and placed it in a spotlight, like what they did with Geshin's Liyue region, I consider that as a win in pushing Chinese culture to the global consciousness.
The problem with that is, in my opinion, they are doing it half-heartedly. How are you going to promote Chinese culture when you fall back to Japanese aesthetics and using their language as a voice? This new game screams 'Japanese' to me in terms of the characters and environment.
Maybe they are afraid of going all in? I remember one Chinese game finally introduced Chinese voice acting and the community wasn't having any of it. They were unironically afraid of friggin Chinese/CCP/yadayada influence as if they didn't know the game was from China!
If you go to any discussion boards regarding MHY's games, all of the arts/memes are Japanese-influenced. That is why I am of the opinion that the devs are doing more to advance Japanese soft power than Chinese lmao
Yeah, the anti-China crowd is a nuisance and maybe a roadblock in some cases, which could explain why they didn't go all in at first, but I have seen instances where after the initial outcry over these issues, those crowds eventually subside and continue playing the game quietly, without the game's reputation or popularity taking a big hit. I think the strategy should be to slowly introduce more Chinese elements, testing the waters on how global players respond to it and build up the popularity of their brand, then eventually Chinese culture will gain acceptance and may even be well received enough that they can go all in.
One subculture we can see where Chinese elements aren't discriminated against and received a good following is the Chinese fantasy light novel genre with Wuxia, Cultivation and Xianxia. It takes time to build up the same prestige and appreciation of culture like Japan did, so for now lets not be too hard on companies that decide to ride on the trend and support their efforts to bring Chinese culture into the spotlight, no matter how big or small.
Edit: An example of an outcry that got subsided quick is the creator of Don't Starve, Klei entertainment, got bought out by Tencent. It sparked some anti-China mods in the Steam workshop using the usual Winnie the pooh and surveillance memes. But it basically died down really quick, and no one cares or forgotten that Klei got bought out by a Chinese company lol
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Speaking of Wuxia, Cultivation, and Xianxia, I've been seeing a weird trend recently starting since late last year but I am starting to see a lot of foreigners using those settings as the base for their novels. Even more incredibly, I've seen a Korean webtoon that takes place in those settings but the only difference is the MC is Korean. It's like looking at a unicorn, you question yourself if what you're seeing is real or not.
The interest in Chinese culture and genres from foreigners are starting to increase at a faster pace than I would imagine. I think in the next 3-to 4 years we will see another major increase in interest since most if not all major Chinese games from the mainland are released during that time.
Probably. Unfortunately, Chinese culture isn't considered as cool as Japanese culture. So from a business perspective, it's safer to go with JP dub instead of Chinese.
Mihoyo has done a lot promoting Chinese culture in their previous game (Genshin Impact). So no hard feelings here.
IMO developing China's soft power should be a team effort. Can't place all the work onto one person/company. Everyone needs to contribute.
I expect lots of cool Chinese media content coming out in the next 5-10 years. Will be a blast
The coolness factor of the Chinese culture from the perspective of the west totally depends on the geopolitical trends. It wasn't too long ago when Chinese mainland movies were being pumped into the west, especially the Zhang Yimous projects, and even Taiwanese Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon which made a star out of Zhang Ziyi in Hollywood. Folks like Michelle Yeoh, Chow-Yun fat, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, even Sammo Hung (had an American major series on CBS) followed with Donnie Yen, and Daniel Wu with his American series called the badlands.Probably. Unfortunately, Chinese culture isn't considered as cool as Japanese culture. So from a business perspective, it's safer to go with JP dub instead of Chinese.
Mihoyo has done a lot promoting Chinese culture in their previous game (Genshin Impact). So no hard feelings here.
IMO developing China's soft power should be a team effort. Can't place all the work onto one person/company. Everyone needs to contribute.
I expect lots of cool Chinese media content coming out in the next 5-10 years. Will be a blast
I have yet to see any Korean actors doing their own thing, meaning carrying a movie where they're the main attraction and not just an extra in an American movie.
So this notion that Chinese culture or Chinese actors aren't "cool" is pure nonsense. In other words, it's all about POLITICS.
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