Animation director Saitou Keiichiro comments on overseas fans

Oct 10, 7:23 PM

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There is a new initiative called "Global Anime Challenge" which will fund young animator's new projects to futher push anime on a global scale. Two members of this project were interviewed recently, Saitou Keiichirou (director for Bocchi, Frieren) and Nakame Takashi (production manager, credits include Your Name, Mirai no Mirai, Frieren)
Source : https://mantan-web.jp/article/20250810dog00m200064000c.html#goog_rewarded

Here's a comment from Saitou

斎藤さん said:

海外のコンベンションに呼んでいただき、海外のファンの方と交流する機会があり、漠然と思っていることがあるのですが、海外の方が熱狂している日本のアニメは、傾向として少し偏りがあるのかもしれません。人気があるものがやっぱり人気だと感じていて、大きな流れがある。作っている側との分断が生まれかねない状況でもあると思っています。流れが大きいが故に、そこに注力しすぎると、そればかりがアニメの側面として強くなっています。

Translation -

"I have been to overseas conventions and had the opportunity to talk with foreign fans; I think the Japanese anime(he specifically says 日本のアニメ) that overseas fans are crazy about tend to be a little bit biased. There's a big trend of what is expected to be popular. I believe this situation creates a disconnect with the creators. The flow of trends is so strong that focusing on trends dictates the anime."

I was surprised by Saitou openly speaking against fans because his comments would be considered controversial. But it's quite granted considered what he came across when visiting western animecons. Seeing that a generic isekai fantasy anime is being hailed as a holy grail of anime would puzzle anyone. Saitou's comment "overseas fans are biased people only following trends" makes a lot of sense in present context.

What would be more important is what Saitou speculates the impact of this trend could be. In the interview both Nakame and Saitou expressed a feeling of restraint in the anime industry, citing it as the reason to explore opportunities outside of their own industry. Saitou's comment further elaborates why he might be feeling restrained, "The flow of trends is so strong that focusing on trends dictates the anime". This implies animators like Saitou are feeling forced to focus on trends.

Note to Mods : Don't dare lock this one. This is a topic about a comment made by an industry professional and there's not even remotely any rule breaks.

Oct 10, 7:38 PM

Mando727

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Way to pull a bunch of baseless assumptions out of an extremely vague quote.

Oh wait, you’re the troll who created that previous rage bait thread. That makes more sense now

Oct 10, 7:45 PM

Tropisch

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I still want to know what makes this "Isekai" OP. Don't leave us hanging.

"Well, she's flatter than a pancake"
-Mimi Alpacas

Oct 10, 7:47 PM

Captain-577

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Mando727 said:
Way to pull a bunch of baseless assumptions out of an extremely vague quote.

You are free to present your theory what he might be talking about. He is already walking the edge of his contract by talking against fans, directly saying anything would nuke his career.

Captain-577Oct 10, 9:18 PM

Oct 10, 8:21 PM

Keeeppp

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The levels of ragebait are unmatched

Oct 10, 8:42 PM

Yumi_Karoni

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Jun 2022

He says that western people from overseas makes this so popualer and trend, but as I know, japan have way more impact at the anime industry and the isekai itself is focused at japan way of life, like diyng from exhaustion and most of the base of it.

Oct 10, 8:49 PM

deg

lagom

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and japan with their trend of big number of isekai shows each season is different?

btw frieren is not isekai but just normal fantasy show

thats just how capitalism works like the law of supply and demand and the current demand is fantasy shows especially dark fantasy ones like jujutsu kaisen, chainsaw man, attack on titan, demon slayer, etc and honestly frieren being not a dark fantasy is different enough with the trend

Oct 10, 8:50 PM

jekfrumstotferm

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Tl;dr: I don’t think this quote is about Frieren.

Western biases/expectations/trends are heavily focused around the Jump-esque battle shows, or anything that’s particularly action heavy. Recent examples would include JJK, Dandadan, Solo Leveling, Kaiju No. 8, and many more (regardless of your opinion on their quality). With the rise in foreign viewership, it’s only natural that producers would want to invest more into these kinds of shows, which is why more are releasing with greater average quality.

With that being said, I don’t know how you could’ve assumed this quote was about Frieren outside of it coming from that show’s director (in which case, it could’ve easily been about Bocchi the Rock, since that show is also super popular). You seemed to assume it was regarding the rise in isekai, but that has two main issues:

1. Isekai as a trend is magnitudes more prominent in Japan, which wouldn’t make sense for the quote.

2. Frieren isn’t an isekai.

Going off of the other comments in this thread, you seem to have a personal disdain for this series, so maybe, in an ironic twist, it was your own biases that led you to misinterpret the quote.

Oct 10, 9:34 PM

TAPanos

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Oct 2023

I don’t think Frieren is generic. The music is really good

Oct 10, 9:35 PM

#10

Piromysl

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Is that Okaenix alt account or something?

Oct 10, 9:37 PM

#11

deg

lagom

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Reply to Piromysl

Is that Okaenix alt account or something?

@Piromysl nah okeanix do not talk about animation quality at all but this op does even if he is so wrong like he claimed there is no character acting sakuga on chainsaw man reze movie

Oct 10, 9:39 PM

#12

Captain-577

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Why did I assume he's specifically talking about Frieren? Because he's specifically talking about "Overseas fans" which means western fans in this context. The trends and biases he mentions specifically exist in the west and differ significantly from his own country. And there's only one anime that's specifically worshipped in the west alone. Other trendy anime like One Piece, Demon Slayer or JJK are trending across the globe and biases about these aren't limited to "overseas fans". And don't give me "Frieren is mainstream in Japan", no one is hailing it as the "Anime to end all Anime". Considering his comments are entirely based on what he saw at western animecons, something that specifically differed from his country, it's not much of a stretch to assume what he's talking about. He may not be talking about only Frieren but it's the major one, after all "Frieren is the greatest masterpiece" has been the biggest western trend in past few years.

Mando727 said:
previous rage bait thread

Keeeppp said:
The levels of ragebait are unmatched

amkmod said:
Or maybe he is intentionally misinterpreting the quote to bait people like yourself, just a thought

jekfrumstotferm said:
(Shhh! I know that, I’m just trying to open the thread to genuine discussion. Rage bait doesn’t work if it baits kindness and rationality.)

Not much to say when anything besides "Frieren is the greatest masterpiece" is "ragebait" to fanboys.

Captain-577Oct 10, 9:51 PM

Oct 10, 9:50 PM

#13

Captain-577

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And this also answers a question a lot of fanboys have been asking, "Why didn't the director return for season 2?". He says he wants to break away from trends so it makes sense ig.

Oct 10, 9:54 PM

#14

Captain-577

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Reply to deg

@Piromysl nah okeanix do not talk about animation quality at all but this op does even if he is so wrong like he claimed there is no character acting sakuga on chainsaw man reze movie

@deg
I never said anything about Reze movie, I haven't even watched Chainsaw Man yet.

Oct 10, 9:59 PM

#15

deg

lagom

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Reply to Captain-577

@deg
I never said anything about Reze movie, I haven't even watched Chainsaw Man yet.

@Captain-577 ok my bad its a different user "Confused_100" https://myanimelist.net/forum/?goto=post&topicid=2233323&id=73314171

Oct 10, 10:15 PM

#16

endless_Story_

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@Captain-577 Do you like Re:Zero?

Oct 10, 10:15 PM

#17

jekfrumstotferm

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Captain-577 said:
Why did I assume he's specifically talking about Frieren? Because he's specifically talking about "Overseas fans" which means western fans in this context. The trends and biases he mentions specifically exist in the west and differ significantly from his own country. And there's only one anime that's specifically worshipped in the west alone. Other trendy anime like One Piece, Demon Slayer or JJK are trending across the globe and biases about these aren't limited to "overseas fans". And don't give me "Frieren is mainstream in Japan", no one is hailing it as the "Anime to end all Anime". Considering his comments are entirely based on what he saw at western animecons, something that specifically differed from his country, it's not much of a stretch to assume what he's talking about. He may not be talking about only Frieren but it's the major one, after all "Frieren is the greatest masterpiece" has been the biggest western trend in past few years.

Mando727 said:
previous rage bait thread

Keeeppp said:
The levels of ragebait are unmatched

amkmod said:
Or maybe he is intentionally misinterpreting the quote to bait people like yourself, just a thought

jekfrumstotferm said:
(Shhh! I know that, I’m just trying to open the thread to genuine discussion. Rage bait doesn’t work if it baits kindness and rationality.)

Not much to say when anything besides "Frieren is the greatest masterpiece" is "ragebait" to fanboys.

Nothing you’ve said points specifically towards Frieren. He could be talking about Solo Leveling just as easily. Honestly, it’s more likely, given he was at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards when that show won. You’d be hard pressed to find a bigger indicator of “Western biases and trends”, regardless of how you feel about the awards themselves. Or, in your case, regardless of your own biases towards the shows we’re discussing.

Oct 10, 10:16 PM

#18

DragyG

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And then the quote goes on.

そうなってしまう前に、アニメの多様な魅力を世界に発信していくことが大切だと感じています。さまざまなアプローチで世界に注目してもらえるような作品を作っていきたいという気持ちがあります。

I think it's important to show the different charms of animes £before the production becomes biased to merely follow the trends.£ I want to show the world all the different approaches we can have about anime.

When you quote someone about something. Quote everything they said about it if you don't want to look stupid or manipulative. Hence why I personally think your challenge to mods doesn't make sense. You are not telling what a professional said. You are isolating a part of what a professional said to change the whole meaning of what they actually said.

For transparency:

The text between ££ isn't exactly what is said in Japanese. In that part of the quote. Saitou uses そうなってしまう前に which includes そう
that refers to something said earlier (The part the OP shared here)

DragyGOct 10, 10:33 PM

Oct 10, 10:54 PM

#19

Captain-577

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DragyG said:
When you quote someone about something. Quote everything they said about it if you don't want to look stupid or manipulative

I won't refute that, I only translated the part I was concerned with. But I am not being "manipulative" because I did translate the main part faithfully.

そうなってしまう前に、アニメの多様な魅力を世界に発信していくことが大切だと感じています。さまざまなアプローチで世界に注目してもらえるような作品を作っていきたいという気持ちがあります。

He just further talks about promoting more variety to counter trends and improving communication overseas, which goes back to his earlier statement "I feel overseas fans are disconnected with creators". I won't take your accusation that "I changed the meaning". I faithfully translated what he said and presented my theory about it. Say what you will about my theory, but my translation is accurate and I cited my source for people like yourself who would want to confirm it.

DragyG said:
Hence why I personally think your challenge to mods doesn't make sense

So you want to lock this thread citing that I presented something out of context even when I actually provided the link to the source itself.

Captain-577Oct 10, 11:25 PM

Oct 10, 10:56 PM

#20

Captain-577

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jekfrumstotferm said:
given he was at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards

I bet he hasn't even heard of "Crunchyroll Anime Awards"

Oct 10, 11:13 PM

#21

jekfrumstotferm

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Captain-577 said:

jekfrumstotferm said:
given he was at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards

I bet he hasn't even heard of "Crunchyroll Anime Awards"

You’ve made a lot of arguments in this thread that have had little to no weight behind them, but this is the first I’ve seen that’s actually contradictory to everything you’ve said thus far. It’s clear that your own personal biases have deluded you to a point I can’t save you from, and any further attempts at discussion would be like teaching Shakespeare to a fish, so I will leave you to your pond. I hope you have a pleasant day.

Oct 10, 11:40 PM

#22

Old_Greggu

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jekfrumstotferm said:

Captain-577 said:

I bet he hasn't even heard of "Crunchyroll Anime Awards"

/thread (15 char. req.)

Oct 10, 11:55 PM

#23

Tendo_GM

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Reply to Captain-577

jekfrumstotferm said:
given he was at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards

I bet he hasn't even heard of "Crunchyroll Anime Awards"

@Captain-577
Lmao, you have no idea what you're talking about. You think an anime director doesn't know what the biggest streaming and distributing plaftorm for anime in the worlds is? You're out of your mind.
You have no idea what you're talking about man, that's clear as day, but saying an industry veteran doesn't know what Crunchyroll or Crunchyroll Awards is, is probably the most stupid take ever, you do know that Crunchyroll is owned by Sony? Right? That one giant Japanese company?

Yesterday, 12:43 AM

#24

Captain-577

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Tendo_GM said:
you do know that Crunchyroll is owned by Sony? Right? That one giant Japanese company?

And do you Crunchyroll doesn't operate in Japan at all? Do even know what the entire point of Crunchyroll is?

Yesterday, 12:45 AM

#25

Captain-577

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If I am so wrong then I'd like to hear any other theories about what the statement meant

Yesterday, 1:47 AM

#26

Master_Chef

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this dude wasn't satisfied with his first post so he had to make a second one 😭

Yesterday, 3:54 AM

#27

FreedomKME

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With all that nonsense you spout, I don't think you even know what a 'trend' is.

Yesterday, 6:00 AM

#28

vesamija8

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Captain-577 said:

Mando727 said:
Way to pull a bunch of baseless assumptions out of an extremely vague quote.

You are free to present your theory what he might be talking about. He is already walking the edge of his contract by talking against fans, directly saying anything would nuke his career.

It would be a problem if he directly said something against companies. I think this much against fans is no problem, especially against non-japanese fans.

Yesterday, 6:33 AM

#29

DragyG

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Captain-577 said:

DragyG said:
When you quote someone about something. Quote everything they said about it if you don't want to look stupid or manipulative

DragyG said:
Hence why I personally think your challenge to mods doesn't make sense

So you want to lock this thread citing that I presented something out of context even when I actually provided the link to the source itself.

You probably know fairly well most people would take what you said for granted and wouldn't check the source.

Let's say I went too far with manipulative and change it to misleading

Yesterday, 6:52 AM

#30

vesamija8

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jekfrumstotferm said:

Not much to say when anything besides "Frieren is the greatest masterpiece" is "ragebait" to fanboys.

I do not support the interpretation presented by OP, but I have to correct you, he wasn't present at the awards, some producer came instead.

Click here

Yesterday, 6:58 AM

#31

Sushi099

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Captain-577 said:

Tendo_GM said:
you do know that Crunchyroll is owned by Sony? Right? That one giant Japanese company?

And do you Crunchyroll doesn't operate in Japan at all? Do even know what the entire point of Crunchyroll is?

DragyG literally said he was at the crunchyroll awards when solo leveling won. There’s no reason he wouldn’t know what crunchyroll is

Yesterday, 7:19 AM

#32

vesamija8

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Captain-577 said:

Tendo_GM said:
you do know that Crunchyroll is owned by Sony? Right? That one giant Japanese company?

And do you Crunchyroll doesn't operate in Japan at all? Do even know what the entire point of Crunchyroll is?

Of course, he didn't hear about it because he watched the anime on it, but when the anime he's the director of gets 3 awards, and he himself gets the best director award on the most used official anime distribution platform, he'll definitely know about it, BOCCHI THE ROCK! also received an award in 2024. Even without that, he must have heard of Crunchyroll, the world's largest distributor of what he makes, especially with the controversy surrounding that horrible company.

https://www.crunchyroll.com/animeawards/?srsltid=AfmBOopSdPWh4U5d11ZEuAA2filFSFbGSuIKlGlRHBcNbmYPhyPoa88l

https://www.crunchyroll.com/animeawards/pastwinners?srsltid=AfmBOopm39Y4-yVO_17-R3ZJuBQIx5A2ba3Z5i7cUw2cnzzRvLwOlbPl

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKSQFZ5oSaJ/

Yesterday, 7:33 AM

#33

vesamija8

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Sushi099 said:

Captain-577 said:

And do you Crunchyroll doesn't operate in Japan at all? Do even know what the entire point of Crunchyroll is?

DragyG literally said he was at the crunchyroll awards when solo leveling won. There’s no reason he wouldn’t know what crunchyroll is

The only year solo leveling won awards was 2025, the same year Saito won the best director award but he didn't show up, someone accepted on his behalf.
Also, I think the one who mentioned it was jekfrunstotfrem.

But yes, he 100% knows about it.

Yesterday, 8:11 AM

#34

Fluffygreygrass

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Animation director Saitou Keiichiro comments on overseas fans

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