Some anime professional said that China could overtake Japan in ten years. That’s too possible given China’s economic conditions and that it’s already producing or co-producing many animated productions. It’s about time that China will get to do and support animation en masse, along with India as these two have fast rising economies.
China and India are expected to become the world’s largest economies in the foreseeable future and Japan has held like a near monopoly on non-Western animation for so long that it would have to compete with its fast growing rivals instead. One could even see African animation rising real quickly too.
South Africa’s Supa Strikas and Nigeria’s Bino and Fino all indicate this possibility and I think the next Naruto would be African. Albeit one that’ll really rock the world that the most successful non-Western animation in the 2020s is actually from that continent more infamous for being impoverished.
Aya of Youpogon’s a fairly well-known Ivorian comic book that got an animated adaptation so there’s that (Supa Strikas was also adapted from comics too). If you want to know how far African animation’s come, though it’s too premature to say at this point but Supa Strikas got aired on Disney Channel Asia and Bino and Fino got aired in Brazil.
Then there’s Zambia’s Super 4. Kampung’s a Malaysian comic strip that got animated and aired in some international channels as are some Korean productions. For another matter, Cameroon’s Kiro’o Games actually has a game on Steam. This increases the likelihood of an African Naruto-style phenomenon especially if African economies grow this quickly and strongly so.
However this results in a lot of unintended competition in non-Western animation given Japan has like a near monopoly on it for decades. Even if other forms of non-Western animation co-existed with Japanese anime before, but because the latter’s more prevalent and historically more lucrative so it’s enough to suggest that Japan was the face of non-Western animation.
Now well onto the 21st century with growing competition from South Korea, China, India and possibly even South Africa. A South African production has even been nominated. Now it’s going to be even tougher for anime to compete in, especially when non-Western animation productions are coming outside of Japan en masse and when America’s beginning to step up in adult animation if the likes of Rick and Morty, Bob’s Burgers, DC’s animated productions and Archer Vice are any indication.
fynm 