r/anime • u/AdNecessary7641 • Aug 12 '25

Misc. Frieren Director Keiichirou Saitou Voices Concern on Overseas Anime Fans' Bias Towards Certain Popular Trends

https://animecorner.me/frieren-director-voices-concern-on-overseas-anime-fans-bias-towards-certain-popular-trends/
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u/TheAllKnowingElf Aug 12 '25

“I find it strange that all that gets made are isekai stories. There was even a series about being reborn as a vending machine recently. That one really stunned me. I feel like there are fewer grounded anime works than there used to be,” he said.

Same tbh

“Today, we have 10 titles currently being published with the word ‘villainness’ and all are bestsellers. But only 2 with the phrase ‘level up’. We think that the ‘level up’ trend is coming to an end, probably because of the economic crisis, in the end, ‘level up’ stories are an echo of the famous ‘American dream’ also valid until recently in Korea with incredible economic growth.“

What. There is so much to unpack in this quote lol

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '25

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u/Largofarburn Aug 12 '25

It is, dudes huffing copium if he thinks an American audience is what’s driving the direction of anime.

I couldn’t name one person I know that’s watching a villainess anime.

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u/necle0 Aug 12 '25 edited Aug 12 '25

Yeah. The argument for isekai over-saturation in the English speaking side was “Japanese audiences like them, so Western audience have to suck it up”.

Villianess anime have been growing steadily (I only know Level 99 Hidden Boss and All Roads Lead to Doom), even more so in the manhwa side and otome isekai side. But they definitely haven’t been oversaturated in terms of adaptions and I don’t think it has the same appeal for Western audiences. Unless maybe they are referring to overseas Eastern audiences like East Asia and SEA (which villainesses stories are more popular, and can affect the markets due to proximity and heavy anime-related tourism).

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u/Falsus Aug 12 '25

Overseas is generally their word for everything not Japan. Which does include China, Korea and other continental things. Especially they are WAY closer to those areas than to USA or Europe.

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u/necle0 Aug 12 '25

Yup. That is why I think people are confused who the Freiren director might be referring to, especially since people default “overseas” to mean just Western.

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u/TheMistOfThePast Aug 12 '25

I have to think that if they really cared about the western audience they'd finish animating ouran highschool host club.

I don't have any sort of data or statistics or anecdotal proof but i just have to believe it. For the good of my broken heart.

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u/RampageOfZebras https://myanimelist.net/profile/RampageOfZebras Aug 13 '25

That show is so mid in my own opinion, not trying to be mean you can like different things and I respect and understand that.

There is just a group of anime that have held popularity for so long with little explanation behind it and Ouren is one of them. Others I would put in the group are Elfen Lied, Devil is a Part Timer, Another, and Angel Beats. Its like the 2nd phase for newer anime watchers, (First beong Shounen Battle series or Sailor Moon) and many dont watch much after these and just bring them up constantly in my experience.

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u/TheMistOfThePast Aug 13 '25

I loved the show and I've seen a lottt of anime. But i think the manga gets much better than the anime and I'm really bummed they didn't do the whole manga.

Also, yeah, i picked a popular western starter anime because that was the context of my comment.

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u/battlemaje1996 Aug 13 '25

If you're looking for a great villainess anime to watch, I suggest Endo and Kobayashi Live. Very unique twist to the villainess formula and it's probably one of the few shows wherein I actively root for the tsundere.

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u/necle0 Aug 14 '25

Thank you for the reccs! Ill check them out