美国国家公共电台 NPR--Growing interest in anime movies is a beacon of hope for the entire industry

Growing interest in anime movies is a beacon¹ of hope for the entire industry

Transcript²

Anime films have been a big hit at the domestic box office — a sign there is room in the movie market for more than just sequels and superheroes.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Japanese animation³, or anime, has been around for decades and has spawned⁴ as titles such as "Demon⁵ Slayer," "Pokemon," "Naruto." But anime movies have only recently become consistent hits at the U.S. box office. That may bode⁶ well for a movie market saturated⁷ with sequels and superheroes. NPR's Maison Tran has more.

MAISON TRAN, BYLINE⁸: Sailing the seas in search of fruit that gives powers, shooting energy beams out of palms, fighting demons⁹ with swords and sorcery...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "JUJUTSU KAISEN")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character, speaking Japanese).

TRAN: ...All on brand for the anime movies that have come out this year to great success in the U.S. "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero" grossed over $38 million. And the recent "One Piece: Red" opened with 9 million.

JEFF BOCK: Usually, a film like this would take the box office by surprise, you know? And a lot of analysts¹¹ wouldn't even mention the film. And now a lot of them are predicting, hey, oh, an anime film's coming in? Oh, that could be number one at the box office. That was just unheard of even three years ago.

TRAN: That's Jeff Bock, a box office analyst¹⁰ for Exhibitor Relations. He says films like "Pokemon: The First Movie," which came out in 1999, and Studio Ghibli's "Spirited Away," which had great critical acclaim¹², laid the groundwork for how these later movies did so well. Since then, anime's audience has grown massively. One of the biggest anime conventions in America, Anime NYC, went from about 22,000 attendees in 2017 to 55,000 this year.

BOCK: That's great news not only for theaters and and audiences, but for the theatrical¹³ community, which is losing more genres¹⁴ than it's gaining. To see something like this shoot up is like a beacon of hope for the entire industry.

TRAN: Usually, these films only screen for a few weeks, so dedicated¹⁵ fans rush out to see them opening weekend. Mitchel Berger, senior VP of Global Commerce at Crunchyroll, the No. 1 distributor of these anime films, says they owe it to these fans.

BOCK: There's just something special about getting together in real life and watching it on the big screen. And I think that is another big key into why it's been a success. We have amazing content to show, and we have a fan base that loves to come out and see it in theaters.

TRAN: As passionate¹⁶ as these fans are, there's still a little bit of stigma¹⁷ around this medium, as one might associate cartoons with kids. But Peter Tatara, director of Anime NYC, says there's a lot more in common with a Marvel¹⁸ movie fanatic¹⁹ and an avid²⁰ anime fan than one might think. And whether a kid is swinging around New York in spandex or flying around Japan in a jumpsuit...

PETER TATARA: Whether it's about an alien with a monkey tail or Captain America, it's still the same thing that brings people together.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO")

CHRISTOPHER SABAT: (As Piccolo) It's do-or-die time, so draw out all of your strength.

KYLE HEBERT: (As Gohan, yelling).

TRAN: As these animated²¹ films consistently make upwards²² of $30 million domestically, they're hitting more than just their target demographic. And Hollywood has taken notice. Sony acquired Crunchyroll in 2021 for $1.2 billion. Netflix and Disney are already licensing²³ and producing anime. But wherever this goes, anime fans...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, speaking Japanese).

(CHEERING)

TRAN: ...Will be eating good.

Maison Tran, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF NAOKI SATO'S "'DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO' MAIN THEME")

1 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

4 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

5 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

6 bode   

v.预示

参考例句：

• These figures do not bode well for the company's future.这些数字显示出公司的前景不妙。
• His careful habits bode well for his future.他那认真的习惯预示著他会有好的前途。

7 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

13 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

14 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

15 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

16 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

17 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

18 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

19 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

20 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

21 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

22 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

23 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句