The anime Spell Return 0, which was released in Japan last year, was released in South Korea on February 7, and until April, it ranked first at the box office for several weeks in a row, and its popularity remained high.
This situation can't help but make people sigh, South Korea, which has always been at the forefront of anti-Japanese, why are more and more Koreans beginning to like Japan?
Anti-Japanese slogan
The heat is high, and the spell return war has led young Koreans to understand Japan
South Korean media have conducted a street survey where Koreans who cannot travel to Japan because of the new crown epidemic have learned about japanese culture on the screen through Japanese movies or programs such as "Spell Return 0" and are looking forward to going to Japan.
Ironically, the "boycott of Japanese goods" campaign, which has been popular in South Korea for some time, turned out to be nothing more than a "selective boycott."
According to statistics published by the Korean Film Promotion Council and the Cinema Admission Ticket Comprehensive Computer Network on February 25, "Theatrical Version of Spell Return 0" mobilized 19,202 Korean audiences on February 24, becoming the first place at the box office, and the cumulative number of viewers reached 231,200.
The Japanese anime "Spell Return 0" was released in South Korea on February 17, jumped to the top of the box office on its first day, and although it fell at one point, it topped the list again on February 23, and has remained at the top of the box office for several consecutive weeks since then.
Spells back to battle
Young people lining up at a comic café to read Spell Returns
Spell Return is a manga series by Japanese manga artist Shimoshita Wasami that began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump on March 5, 2018. It has now been released in 18 volumes, and the number of series in Japan has exceeded 60 million, making it a super popular work.
In the Korean comic charts, Devil's Blade has always been the number one seller, but now it has become "Spell Return". However, what they all have in common is manga from Japan.
In the manga cafés in Seoul, young people who want to see manga of spell returns also need to wait in line, which shows the popularity.
For such works, Koreans make such a sound.
"The best movie released this year", "The painting, performance, and character story are complete and complete", "Unveiling the true face of the strongest Kono Goku, I can feel that the painting shows some of his overwhelming strength, very good", "Action, characters, stories are funny, everything is perfect, rare animation masterpieces, please continue to do better animation production, thank you Japan", "Let me better understand modern Japanese society", "After watching it, I want to know more about Japan"
Through Spell Returns, Koreans developed more curiosity and interest in Japan and Japanese society, as well as in animation.
Popularity is too high, forget about the boycott movement
Although the South Korean media has been implementing the "boycott Of Japan boycott japanese goods" campaign, the South Korean people's liking for Japan is increasing.
For example, in "Devil's Blade: Infinite Train", which was released in South Korea last year, some people found that the earrings of Tanjiro, the protagonist of the original manga, were in the shape of the "Rising Sun Flag", a symbol of the Japanese militarist era.
Despite this, "Devil's Blade" attracted more than 2 million viewers in Japan and exploded at the box office. Moreover, the offline peripherals and books also continue to be the craze of "Ghost Blade". According to the statistical ranking of online and online comprehensive best-sellers published by Jiaobao Bunko, the largest book circulation company in South Korea, "Devil's Blade" has ranked first in the comprehensive list for four consecutive weeks since its publication in May last year.
Anti-Japanese resistance that disappeared like a sandstorm
Like anime and manga, Japanese-made consoles and games are also very popular in South Korea.
In the first half of 2020, Nintendo Switch's "Collection! The "Animal Forest Friends" game was once out of stock. After the game was released, hundreds of people waited in line in the store, and the scene was very chaotic. What's more, there have also been cases of mark-up transactions on online second-hand trading websites.
In the second half of the same year, South Korean media reported waiting in front of the console store to buy sony game console playstation5. Whenever the online inventory is full, it will be out of stock in an instant, and the popularity is very strong, and it is even traded at a high price several times higher than the price in the second-hand market.
Seeing that video games and anime are also very popular among Korean elementary school students, we know that "boycotting Japanese goods in Japan" has lost any meaning.
Unconsciously, the "boycott movement" against Japan disappeared like a sandstorm.
Pride of the Japanese media
These various realities are in front of us, and the Japanese media is greatly encouraged.
They argue that the reason for South Korea's inability to resist Japan lies in the South Korean government, especially the government of its predecessor, Moon Jae-in.
"In the past five years, not only the regime, but also pro-regime media, politicians, civic groups, etc. have also launched strong anti-Japanese condemnations, but nothing seems to have happened.
In the face of Japan's tightening of export restrictions, South Korea has promoted localization, but there has not been a single successful example.
The failure of South Korea's economic policy has led to an increase in the number of people who cannot maintain a living base such as jobs and housing, and diplomatically, an olive branch has been extended to North Korea in a northerly posture, but it has been lost.
We believe that the more such troubles are, the more they are shouting anti-Japanese in order to turn their eyes to the outside world. Shouldn't the words and deeds of political, economic, and cultural exchanges be confused without reason in the context of anti-Japanese issues, just like bibimbap?
Recently, South Korea has produced a new president. If we do not change the bad habit of replacing historical issues with historical issues if they do not go unsatisfactory in the affairs of our own country, we will not be so much anti-Japanese as we are becoming a country that surprises the Japanese people and the world. ”
epilogue
The current state of Japanese and Korean societies, as well as their campaigns to boycott Japanese goods, cultural infiltration, and so on, have taught us something. Be wary of cultural intrusion and increase your own strength.
At home, whether it is Japanese anime or Korean entertainment, the culture of Japan and South Korea has unconsciously become ingrained among our young people. Only by enhancing the soft power of our own culture and only when our excellent works are introduced by Japan and South Korea can we say that we are successful.