In today's Shanghai, everyone has long been accustomed to young people wearing "cosplay" costumes taking to the streets. The two-dimensional peripheral stores in many large shopping malls are often overcrowded. The various animation exhibitions held in Shanghai every year attract two-dimensional fans across the country. event.
With the growing influence and commercial potential of two-dimensional culture among young people, two-dimensional performances are also booming in Shanghai. Judging from the number of performances, this type of performance may still be a niche in Shanghai's entire performance market, but it still contains unlimited development potential and is an important part of the diverse charm of Shanghai, which is open to all rivers.
At present, what are the main categories of two-dimensional performances in Shanghai? Which audience will prefer this kind of performance? Morning News reporters conducted exclusive interviews with many practitioners who have been involved in the two-dimensional performance industry for many years, and conducted an in-depth investigation and analysis of the development process, current classification, and audience characteristics of this type of performance.
Who to invite: Domestic traffic data is very important
According to relevant statistics, there were nearly 120 Japanese artist performances held in Shanghai last year, of which two-dimensional performances accounted for nearly half. For example, last year's "Slam Dunk" The movie version was a hit, and the "Youth Never Gone·Until the End of the World" concert by many original singers of the theme songs of familiar animated works such as "Slam Dunk" and "Saint Seiya" was invited to the National Convention and Exhibition Center in Shanghai. It was held at the museum and the box office was a hit; Miyori Reme, who broke out of the entertainment industry many years ago with the two-dimensional famous song "Pure Land" and participated in the variety show "Riding the Wind 2023" last year, attracted fans again. Her group garnidelia performed in Shanghai last year and was equally popular. popular.
Generally speaking, inviting anime song singers, animation voice actors (dubbing actors), actors and other artists to hold concerts, small live, and meet-and-greets are the most important forms of two-dimensional performances. There are many similar performances this year, such as The "Memories of Relativity" concert held at the Kyushu Hatada Tennis Center Stadium invited singers who sang the theme songs of "Digimon", "Dragon Ball", "Detective Conan", "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and other works; a concert by a single artist The number will be larger, including Minori Chihara, Aimer, Angela and other singers who have sung many well-known anime songs, all of whom will come to Shanghai to sing.
Looking back on the past, due to the influence of Japanese animation on generations of domestic audiences for decades, these two-dimensional performances are basically dominated by Japanese artists. Organizers will consider many aspects when planning and inviting artists to hold events in China. Dumpling (pseudonym), who is in charge of the 2D performance information account ahpeventcollection at
and has many years of experience in planning 2D event performances, told the Morning Post reporter that on the one hand, the singer’s status in Japan and the size of the domestic fan base will be used to determine whether Worth inviting, they will observe the data and discussion of artist-related topics on Weibo, Bilibili, Douyin, Xiaohongshu and other social platforms, such as whether there are a large number of reposts brought by core fans, NetEase Cloud Music, QQ Music, etc. The playback volume, comments, collection and other data of songs on music platforms are also within the scope of consideration.
At the same time, the organizer will also select artists who intend to come to China through the introduction of some event agencies and Japanese artist management companies. Some agents will also recommend artists with good connections outside their companies.
"For example, if these companies want to do activities in China, they will take the initiative to ask us whether these artists are interested in coming to China recently. If you are interested, we will choose based on the specific situation." Dumpling joked, in addition to choosing based on market conditions Artists, and occasionally the relevant persons in charge of the organizer will also "chasing stars at public expense" and contact relevant parties based on their personal preferences to see if they can invite their favorite artists to hold events.
Attendance rate: The unexpected popularity of artists after leaving the industry
Based on the popularity and market potential of artists in China, performance venues generally booked by organizers will be divided into two categories. One is the live house format, with no seats and only standing seats; The number of people is usually several hundred. People stand and listen to the music mainly to "get high". Many organizers will choose venues such as Bandai Namco Shanghai Cultural Center and Washi; the other type is formal concerts. It is generally chosen in a large theater or stadium with a seating capacity of more than a thousand people.
Looking back at this type of music performances held from last year to now, there are actually not many single two-dimensional singers who can support a box office of more than 1,000 seats. Generally, most of the ones that can be held are platter concerts or singers with high popularity. For example, Miyori's group Garnidelia held three consecutive performances in Shanghai in the second half of last year, including two tours at the Bandai Namco Shanghai Culture and Art Center and a concert at the Hong Kong Hall of the National Exhibition and Convention Center.
“I understand that my expectations for Meiyireya Shanglang were not that high at the beginning, and then she happened to have a tour in China in September. The consideration at that time was that in May, Shanglang would be able to perform 6 shows in the next 5 cities. After digesting the votes, I felt that I had met my expectations. I didn’t expect that it became popular all of a sudden. It was actually a bit unexpected." Dumpling said, for example, with an average of nearly 1,000 people per game, the initial prediction was probably that of the whole country. 6,000 people, "The first tour was prepared at this level, but after she fell in love with Sister Lang, all the tickets were sold out immediately."
In addition to the singer's performance, there will be a Japanese voice actor meeting It is also an important category of two-dimensional performances, but the number will be much less than that of music performances. The main reason is that for voice actors, this is not a "cost-effective" business.
Jiaozi analyzed that popular Japanese voice actors have a lot of work every day, and they usually have to reserve three days in advance for a meeting in China, making it difficult to coordinate the schedule.
"General activities are scheduled on weekends, especially many first- and second-tier voice actors have fixed programs or activities in Japan during this time. They are too busy on a daily basis and have no time to come. Then if you are a third-, third-, or fourth-tier voice actor If so, the box office may not be optimistic."
Love Shanghai: There are realistic considerations and atmosphere to support
Compared with last year, there are more two-dimensional artist performances held in Shanghai this year, which can be said to be highlights every week. Many people often watch this Fans of two-dimensional performances told reporters that they only watched single-digit performances last year, but this year, in just over three months, they have already watched more than a dozen performances.
According to relevant statistics, Japanese artists (including two-dimensional singers, voice actors, etc.) performed nearly 400 times across the country last year, of which more than a quarter were held in Shanghai. As of press time, more than 300 events have been held and announced nationwide this year, and about 120 have been held in Shanghai.
"Shanghai is not the only city in China. Why does every artist I like only go to Shanghai to hold events?" On the Internet, you can often see two-dimensional fans across the country saying this with the emotion of "envy, jealousy, and hate" Ridicule.
Regarding the event organizer’s “preference” for Shanghai, Jiaozi believes that the reason is that on the one hand, Shanghai has a stronger two-dimensional atmosphere, and at the same time, there is also a very practical factor. The transportation cost from Japan to Shanghai is relatively cheap, in terms of feasibility and cost. Shanghai has great advantages.
At the same time, judging from the box office results of past two-dimensional performances, the box office in Shanghai will indeed be higher than that in other cities. "For example, if the same performance is held in Shanghai and other cities, the tickets in Shanghai have been sold out, and the other one may still be Half of them have not been sold.”
According to Dumpling’s observation, the age group of the audience who come to see this kind of two-dimensional performance is mainly concentrated in the age group of 18 to 25, that is, college students or fresh professionals who have just worked for a few years.
“This range is actually quite interesting. College students can spend all their money on entertainment except food and drinks, and most of their living expenses are paid by their parents, so there is no pressure.This was also the case a year or two after graduation. One person had enough to eat and the whole family was not hungry, so he had the most spare money. Tickets for this kind of performance usually cost a few hundred yuan, and you could buy them at will. "
Dumpling, who is also a planner and senior audience member, has also gone to watch performances in other cities across the country in recent years. He also found that because there are many performances in Shanghai, the maturity level of fans will be higher in all aspects. For example, most of the audience in the audience are very Familiar with the routine of "calling for support", many people who come to the show also speak Japanese. Often, before the translator speaks on stage, everyone has understood the artist's words and given a reaction.
has held many two-dimensional tours in Shanghai and other places, Gai (pseudonym), a staff member of Lingchuang Culture at the meeting, told reporters that not only the audience in Shanghai can speak Japanese, but also the technical staff of many venues can speak Japanese.
"For example, Bandai Namco and mao livehouse, the technical staff of these two venues themselves They all speak Japanese, so communication will be much easier. When we hold events in other cities, we need to find an extra Japanese translator, and the requirements for the translator are not low, because we need to understand all professional stage vocabulary. "
Many Japanese artist activities also have a special requirement, that is, "no secret filming", which may be strange to some Chinese audiences who have just started to watch such performances and were used to recording them with their mobile phones. "But in Shanghai , more audiences can accept this. If they don’t, then we won’t film it. There may be new fans who feel that I don’t know, then old fans will teach them, and there will be such a helper. In other cities, if there are fewer performances, they may not have the same atmosphere, and many people will still hold up their mobile phones to take pictures. "
Of course, the rules themselves have also changed in the past two years. Now some performances may state in advance that these two sessions or these songs can be filmed to satisfy fans' wishes to check in and record.
