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Yeah businesses are notorious about their lack of interest in breaking into new markets with high disposable incomes.
All jokes aside, it's not like they don't try. They do. Sometimes successfully. But more frequently not. Which is a summary I could use for virtually all Chinese interactions outside of China.
I'll check them out.
Most media prioritize local first instead of hypothetical deep pocketed foreign markets. Its just the math of cultural familiarity and limited upside from investing in the tastes of foreigners: hollywood tried selling pro China stuff to break into the market and for that we got Pacific Rim Uprising, which lost domestic gross for negligible xibucks, just like Iron Man 3 or Transformers 3 failing to capture mainlanders with the power of supplicating. Similarly China or Japan also prioritize local markets first. Only Korean Hallyu really committed money to the attempt and it just helps that Koreans are already shamelessly shallow so everyone they promote is already good looking, unlike Japs who have the weird crooked teeth for their idols and weird 80s hairstyle for the guys.
Frequent failures at breaking to overseas markets is hardly unique to China, it just is thermostatically relevant because China is relevant. Organic niche successes lack state push, so they escape notice.
Though since you're mostly westerners here, I'll leave one weird tidbit for you: there is one specific niche that was being pushed state level, and to roaring success until about a month ago (maybe). The Thai Culture Ministry has been very lax with who they disburse funds to, and some money ended up flowing to Boy Love dramas, with little state invervention against this unexpected success. It is HUGE in womens circles that were starved for prettyboys eyefucking each other after China cracked down on danmsi few years ago, and I'm sure western women watch it in large but hidden numbers. The only reason asian prettyboy rotting of womens minds may be halted is because Heated Rivalry exists.
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Don’t forget that it took a LONG time for Japan to register foreign interest in anime as anything more than cut-price toons for kids. The Japanese didn’t start actively factoring foreign sales into their strategy until, what, 2016? They had to be pursued quite strongly by companies like Crunchyroll before they were persuaded that piracy could be parlayed into real money.
The average westerner of the 60s-90s probably had an idea of what they thought a Japanese man was like. Hard worker, very strict workplaces, dedicated to the company, etc. Strage customs, nice furniture, small apartments. Tokyo, bright lights, (possibly??) crazy night life?
I'd say, whether that was an accurate description or not, the Japanese culture had endorsed that meme. And that helps create a cultural story that outsiders can read.
If you asked a normie what an average chinese guy is like, I just don't think you get any of that. In 10 years? 20? Yeah it's probably a different story.
My dad in the 80s could probably go out with an Italian, a Japanese, a Singaporean and have some expectations about each of them. I don't think Mr Thompson from accounting could go out with a Chinese guy, today, and have much of a head start at all.
It's weird because obviously Chinese economics have arguably caught up to the west. But they haven't exported the chinese identity. If anything, which is my main point, they've damaged chinese identity with bungled attempts to insert themselves into it.
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