Tokyo: Emon Animates Chinese Comics for Japan and the World

TOKYO – Emon Animation is attempting to channel the threat to Japan’s cartoon houses posed by the rise of China’s animation industry.

Japan has long been Asia’s biggest producer of manga (comics) and anime (animation) for the world. But Chinese comic artists and animators are quickly coming to the forefront, especially in their huge home market.

Launched in October of last year, with Studio Gonzo co-founder Shoji Murahama serving as producer and general director, Emon Animation aims to be a conduit to the Japanese and global market for Chinese comics and animation, with the Shanghai-based Haoliners Animation studio a major supplier. The company is attending the Tokyo Film Festival’s TIFFCOM market for the first time.

“Japan has great animators and China has a lot of content and a lot of people,” says Emon global license management manager Aouchache Widad. “We are bringing them together.”

Backed by such strategic partners as web giant Tencent, video platform iQIYI and video sharing website Bilibili, Haoliners has become a major industry player since its launch in 2013.

Emon’s most ambitious project with Haoliners to date is “The Silver Guardian,” an animated series set for TV release in April of next year based on a hugely popular (500 million views to date and counting) Chinese web comic about a high school boy and champion gamer who enters a virtual reality world.

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