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Comment by yladiz | Hacker News Reader

I think that this makes some sense in the context of the article talking about the newer Disney films, which are purely CG, also not doing so well, but doesn't explain it entirely.

In general I believe that there's some audience CG fatigue around the world, but it hits some markets more than others and in different timeframes. In the US I do think that there is a bit, but in general if it's happening it's happening very slowly as evident by the high box office numbers for all Marvel films (often breaking records). In contrast I suspect that it's higher in Japan, driven in part by high quality non-CG animations as well as by nationalism, as the article points out. This feels like it helps explains both the lack of interest in the Marvel and CG-heavy films, as well as films like other Disney films and ones from well known directors like Tarantino, del Toro, or Paul Thomas Anderson, better than a pure CG fatigue reason.

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> In contrast I suspect that it's higher in Japan, driven in part by high quality non-CG animations as well as by nationalism, as the article points out.

Nationalism is a loaded term, but there's absolutely an international aloofness in Japan that is seemingly worse compared to decades prior. The consumption patterns of my younger Japanese friends are way more domestic compared to some middle-aged colleagues of mine, who had a voracious appetite for hair rock, shoot em ups, and Robert De Niro in general. I don't think the Japanese culture industry necessarily improved over the course of this generational chasm, but it became more hegemonic. Couple that with a shit currency and ridiculous notions of safety, and you have a bunch of kids who just aren't getting out there and exposed to different ideas.

I can't stand Hollywood and my first post reflected that, but the breakdown in cultural exchange has been mutual; I can't remember the last piece of Japanese media that's taken the Western mainstream by storm. Competent dramas like Shoplifters or Drive My Car make it to theaters here, I enjoy them, then forget them. But on the whole, Japanese media is far too inward looking and fan-servicing: the same things I hate about Marvel.

Pound for pound though, Japanese people still have a better sense for what's good looking. There's a trend in American media to deliberately bombard the subject with ugliness and then bully them into accepting it. It doesn't work in Japan.

Having lived in Japan for 10 years with my 11th coming up I have some perspective. I have seen almost every single marvel film that came to theaters here and it was always a packed house. However, I think the fact that the pandemic has scared people away from movie theaters has something to do with it. That, as well as, the fact more and more films have been released only via streaming here (I didn't even see it advertised as being available to watch at the theater). For me it is hard to get interested in a film that I couldn't have enjoyed in the theater and have to settle for the streamed version that I only knew about because of some ad I saw on YouTube or a google search. Plus, I think there is still the fact that movies have gotten more and more cookie-cutter to appeal to everyone with the obvious chain of development. When everything tastes the same and nothing sticks out, why would I care for it except to say I watched it?

I'd argue that the average quality of animation in Japan has gone way down. Bad animation has never been so cheap!

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