Culture news The Naruto sequel can thank Demon Slayer: this hated aspect of the anime is finally abandoned!
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Without Demon Slayer, Bleach might not have had the success it has today. It is thanks to a change in production that the Pierrot studio has probably relaunched the rails of success for the adaptation of Tite Kubo's manga. An initiative that he will repeat for the animated adaptation of Boruto.
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Naruto and Bleach on the verge of cancellation
Competition is good and there is no shortage of examples. Personally, the first one that comes to mind is between Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft. The first, initially released in 2011, had a disastrous launch. Naoki Yoshida, responsible for reviving online multiplayer, uses WoW as an object of study. And it is like a phoenix that the MMO is reborn from its ashes and is today a reference of its genre.
It is in the field of animation that we can also ensure that having rivals can be good for creativity. This is evidenced by the various declarations of Michiyuki Honma. He is the president of studio Pierrot, the animation studio behind Bleach And Naruto. Two animated series that ignored seasonal broadcasting by being released every week of the year. A decision that has its consequences, especially in 2011 after the Fukushima earthquake. It is Michiyuki Honma who explains it in an interview :
When the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, I felt a great sense of crisis. At the time, we were producing over four episodes a week, including Naruto Shippuden and Bleach, but the production line was in disarray, some stations stopped broadcasting, and our revenue became unstable. This lasted two months and we were almost unable to pay our employees' salaries. We were in a situation where we felt we had no choice but to dissolve the company.
A first crisis which allows the president to take a step back on the way of producing. This is why he is committed, while keeping adaptations of renowned works under his belt.
“Demon Slayer was a major turning point in the industry”
The years pass and new challenges present themselves to the studio. He must seek a new audience without separating from the old one. And it was while watching the animated series Demon Slayer that Michiyuki Honma clicked:
I think Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was a major turning point for the anime industry. It is a high-quality work that took a lot of time and a generous budget to create, and which enjoyed great success during its broadcast, attracting viewers of all age groups. I've watched it. Before and after Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, I really felt like we needed to change the way we created things. Additionally, other studios were releasing high-quality works on a similar scale.
He then decided to publish the conclusion of Bleach, the narrative arc of the bloody 1000-year war, in a seasonal format without episodes. filler. In defines filler episodes as not being present in the manga and are often singled out by fans. A judicious initiative since he himself explains that the adaptation of Bleach is a success outside of Japan. It is therefore with enthusiasm that he announces that such treatment will be carried out in the future for Boruto, on hiatus since March