Already almost two decades ago, a legendary director shared his impressive thoughts about planned successes and unexpected hits in the anime world. Now, years later, his statement is gaining explosive again – and takes a critical look at one of the most popular franchises from the past 20 years.
Success is based on chance
Mamoru Oshii has been active as an anime director since the 1970s and was responsible for the production of the first anime adaptation of “Urusei Yatsura” and the early “Ghost in the Shell” films.
Already in 2007 and thus during the broadcast of “Code Geass” he expressed the following profound thoughts, which was now taken up again by fans on social networks and compared with today’s anime industry:
»Most of the works, which are called large hits, are the result of a chance. Works that nobody expected that they are successful are usually those that end up with big hits. There are no exceptions. ›Space Battleship Yamato‹, ›Mobile Suit Gundam‹, ›Neon Genesis Evangelion‹ and even ›Pokémon‹ fall into this category.
There are cases in which the success is planned from the start, and sometimes it works. But I believe that this kind of success disappears quickly. For example, ›Code GEAS‹ was produced with the intention that it should be the biggest hit in a long time. But I think that has evaporated in less than three years. Planned successes only last as long as the plan is effective, and not 10 or 20 years. «
Success continues
In the meantime, 18 years have passed and it can be seen without doubt that “code geass” has managed to maintain its popularity with new films, sequences and spin-offs despite the planned success.
The original two seasons of “Code: Lelouch of the Rebellion” with opaque reviews of 8.70 and 8.91 are still one of the best anime according to the review and ranking website Myanimelist- and the recent films of the franchise were also able to play good to very good ratings. No wonder that further new projects were announced a few months ago.
Nevertheless, Oshii’s statements can no longer be completely dismissed, because today, in which many productions are meticulously calculated with the calculator in the hand, there is no longer space for the random anime successes mentioned.
But what are your thoughts on the whole topic and the opinion of Mamoru Oshii in relation to “Code Geass”? Please let us know in the comments!
