In 2020, there was a single anime story that dominated all others: the box-office success of ¡°Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba ¡ª The Movie: Mugen Train.¡± That film, the sequel to an anime series about demon slayers in the early 1900s, became Japan¡¯s highest-grossing film of all time despite being released in the middle of a pandemic. Even anime journalists like myself were asked to appear on television to explain what ¡°Demon Slayer¡± was about and why the entire population of Japan seemed to be into it.
By contrast, 2021 had no all-dominating anime headline, though there were plenty of interesting titles and industry moves nonetheless.
This year¡¯s biggest theatrical hit was ¡±Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time,¡± the long-awaited and oft-delayed conclusion to the ¡°Evangelion¡± film series. That series retold (and reworked) the story of the generation-defining robot series from the mid-1990s, and fans came out in droves to see director Hideaki Anno¡¯s second run at concluding the franchise, earning the film over ?10 billion. That¡¯s a massive sum for any anime film, let alone one that isn¡¯t child-friendly, boasts a 155-minute runtime, and was released during a state of emergency, which meant that theaters in Tokyo had to close by 8 p.m. The success of the film cemented Anno, who also directed the 2016 hit ¡°Shin Godzilla,¡± as Japan¡¯s favorite geek chic auteur. Following the film came multiple Anno-centered documentaries, talk shows and even an exhibition about his career at The National Art Center, Tokyo. The Anno craze doesn¡¯t seem likely to wane soon: He¡¯s now helming reboots of the superhero franchises ¡°Ultraman¡± and ¡°Kamen Rider.¡±
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