Did you guys catch Suzume in theaters??? I didn’t, I missed it 😔. I live in (near) a pretty big city but we don’t get anime in theaters often, outside of film festivals, and when we do they don’t stick around for long. You gotta get your behind out to the movies within a few days or you’ll be out of luck. And it just didn’t work out for me this time. But I will definitely be watching Suzume as soon as I can find it so please don’t tell me how it ends.
However, this failed experience did get me thinking about watching anime in theaters. I have managed to do it a few times and it’s a pretty different experience. And once again, I don’t mean watching it during Film Festivals when the entire audience is super primed otaku, I mean watching it as a regular movie-going fan.
Let me give you some context: I like movies. I’m just super original that way: Not Like Other Girls! As a result, I have spent a whole lot of time in darkened movie theatres, carefully sitting as far away as possible from the other strangers in the room while still getting a good view of the big screen. I have watched a LOT of movies in theaters. I’ll admit that lately, with confinement and all that, my movie-watching experience has been a bit more homebound, but I still get out there now and then to catch a feature when I can. It just hits differently on a big screen with other folks around. Other folks, I don’t have to talk to! You know what I mean?
But it hits extra different with anime.
In my experience, anime movies aren’t a huge draw. I have personally never been to a sold-out showing o an anime movie. That’s to be expected and it is changing. So yay. The upside is that you are likely to have a few empty seats around you as a buffer when going to one of those movies which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It also means that it’s not the intoxicating rush of having a huge crowd drag you along as they cheer for their hero, burst out in uproarious laughter at every joke or audibly gasp at tense moments. It’s a more subdued experience with a few polite laughs and maybe one particularly engrossed fan letting an exclamation slip past them when the Big Scene comes on!
If you’ve never been to a festival or any viewing with a huge and dedicated audience, you might not know what I’m talking about. Still, I saw the Mario Movie not that long ago and I got swept up as so much of the surprisingly not toddler audience was chuckling at every reference (it’s a real safe movie) and what was most likely a toddler or even younger child let out an actual squeal of pure glee at a random moment. The air is electric in those viewings, and it can make a mediocre movie seem much more interesting and exciting.
My point is that in my experience, anime movies do not benefit from that. At least not in this town. It’s the usual movie-going deal where you can tell there are other people in the room, but they won’t intrude too much on your personal experience.
But that has its own charm. Because anime movies are not frequently shown and don’t stay in theaters long, moviegoers have to actively seek them out. So they will draw the dedicated fans that show up in subtle cosplay and whisper encyclopedic knowledge about every character, voice actor, or director to their friends. These are getting less frequent as the ease of watching anime on streaming platforms or dubiously legal sites have encouraged to introverts to just watch things at home. Still, I can usually spot a few. You’ll also get the cinephiles that just tend to go to the movies once or twice a week and pick whatever seems interesting or they haven’t seen yet. Unless it’s rated R or something, you’re likely to see a parent with a small child who figured: it’s a cartoon, it must be for kids and who will definitely be devasted/horrified when they realize there are subtitles! And occasionally, you might even get someone who really wanted to see the movie but isn’t normally an anime fan and is taking their first steps into the medium.
I go over the audience makeup because these are folks you would never really see at an anime film festival or convention. They are outside the “community”. And unless you go out to watch an anime movie at the theater, you probably would never get the chance to see their reaction and interpretations of anime.
And if you’re shy or deeply introverted, don’t worry, you don’t actually have to talk to anyone. With a bit of people-watching prowess, you can easily figure out what their experience has been. And that is both unique and adds an entirely different layer of appreciation to anime.
You probably thought I would talk about the virtues of seeing animation on a giant screen or getting the rich full soundtrack on theater speakers. And don’t get me wrong. That is absolutely a plus. If you like the technical aspects of anime, then watching it on a silver screen once in a while is going to be way more fun than just sticking to your phone on public transit.
However, people don’t really think of the social aspect of watching anime in theaters. Even now that anime is an enormous and ubiquitous market, I still occasionally hear anime fans bemoan that they feel isolated in their passion for the medium. Well, going to see an anime movie is a great way to dip your toes into a more social anime experience without jumping into the deep end of cosplay and conventions.
I guess what I’m trying to say is you should go out and watch some anime in theaters once in a while. It can be surprisingly fun. It’s a nice way to get out of your bubble. And who knows, you may meet someone who just watched their first anime and is super psyched about it. Baby otakus are adorable, and you should pet one whenever you get the chance!
It’s been weird reflecting on my movie watching experiences in America, verses Japan. I was able to see Suzume in theaters in Japan with Japanese subtitles (a small blessing for a non-native like me!). It had the second biggest screen in the theater, early evening showing and there were still only about 10-15 people total. Not quite sure how that worked out. (It’s still being shown in theaters as of posting. Absolutely wild how long a run-time it gets.) But I did fondly smile at all the Slam Dunk fans, and Dragonball fans queuing for those movies when they aired. There’s just something so fun about being among like-minded people even if you don’t talk to them.
I got to see Suzume in theaters and luckily I was the only person there (considering it was the middle of the afternoon, on a week day, in a fairly small theater not that odd I suppose). I go to the cinema often and don’t usually get bothered by people unless they’re right on top of me or rather loud but this just made the whole experience better!
(Won’t spoil anything, but the soundtrack of Suzume in theaters was the best I’ve listened to in a long time.)
I also got to see the Jujutsu Kaisen movie last year and the theater was packed full of fans wearing tshirts with pins on backpacks. Everyone was talking about anime right up until the movie started, so it was a really cool experience for that part too (obviously, the movie was also great for me).
Both sound amazing. I’m jealous
Watching the Black Butler movie in theatres was pretty cool. There were only about 10 people in the place max. so we could “social distance” (this was pre-COVID) all we liked. However, being at a con and watching premieres on the big screen? Watching first episodes of anime or entire movies (the anime club I was a part of up until March this year almost did a movie a semester) in the university cinema or on a big lecture screen? Now, *those* are the moments which make an anime fan one for life – for the former especially, the atmosphere is electric, even if you’re up the back and slightly to the right to avoid being in direct view of the screen.
Black Butler in theaters sounds like an absolute blast!!!
I used to go to the cinema a lot when I was younger, but not anymore. Anime in movies? Back when I was still going regularly, that was a very rare thing. I remember there was a viewing of Akira in a small town somewhere near me, but it was a night viewing and I’d have had no way to get back home. Ah, those were the days.
This should be an exhaustive list of films I’ve seen in cinemas:
Spirited Away
Perfect Blue
Roujin Z (yes, I’ve seen an OVA in the cinema: English dub, German subtitles)
Howl’s Moving Castle
I feel like I’m forgetting something. I thought, it might have been Ghost in the Shell, but that was the one they cancelled because the company shipped a Wallace and Grommit movie by mistake and the cinema didn’t have the reel…
These days anime is popular enough so that I could have even watched the Date a Live movie if I’d wanted to (not something I’ve seen, or want to see on the big screen; but it’s definitely an otaku-targeted film, in the way Ghibli stuff is not).
I’ve never been to a convention, and these days I probably wouldn’t go either anymore. Maybe if I went with someone who wanted to go, but I know of no such person in my vicinity (or conventions, come to think of it). A viewing at a convention would serve as a relaxation break, though.
Spirited Away in theaters must have been stunning!
I love going to the cinema in general – going alone can be a really enjoyable way to switch off from the world for a bit with no distractions.
My local cinema actually had quite a lot of showings for Suzume, which was great to see. It feels like the Shinkai films have built a following in the UK!
Also being the UK, even when you have a full audience, even then the most you’ll get is polite laughter. It’s just the way we Brits are, haha.
Canadians aren’t that far off from Brits in general in my experience. Not as rowdy maybe
I like anime features as much as series, but in all the long, weary years of my existence in this vale of tears, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single anime feature in a theatre. Largely because, in Australia, anime features tend to be restricted to film festivals or a very limited release schedule. Even Suzume was only showing at a very selected locations and times – so, no dice for me either so far as seeing it was concerned. Like yourself, I shall be waiting until it’s released via other means…
Hopefully it will be worth the wait
I hope so, too. I found Weathering With You a little disappointing after all the hype; so I’ve been desperately avoiding any publicity this time around.
On a happier note, I finally got to see the three Psycho Pass: Sinners in the System short films recently (thanks Crunchyroll!) and they helped make a lot of sense of series 3…
@Irina. Yeah, my home town is kind of like that too. Anime movies are pretty rare, and when we do get an anime movie in our local theaters, it’s usually an older movie and there’s not a lot of people that go to it. Maybe it’s because the movies are older and most fans have already seen it on a streaming site, is the reason the audience sizes are so small? But due to the age of the movies and small anime community I tend to skip the theater viewings of anime movies. I love going to mini theaters/viewing rooms at anime conventions. The audiences are so excited and there are always fans to chat with. Even if you don’t know what the movie is about, there are plenty of people that are very eager to fill you in!
I’m not a convention person but it can be really enjoyable, especially if you happen to be sociable
My two most memorable theater experiences were The Cabin in the Woods at the Auckland film festival and My Hero Academia: Two Heroes which was just a regular screening in Ottawa.
Both were packed out with horror nerds or anime otaku respectively. It’s so much fun watching it with a crowd of people who truly understand and appreciate the movie.
The audience reactions were incredible and really made the movies that much more enjoyable. Even the occasional yell of Plus Ultrawas appreciated.
It must have been fun. Sure sounds like it