Return to cinema

Miyazaki, the film's director and a leading animator in Japan, boasts a sizable following among China's young generations. Spirited Away, which scores 9.3 out of 10 on China's major film rating platform Douban, is deemed a masterpiece.

Lu Jianing, associate professor with the School of Theater, Film and Television at the Communication University of China, said Japanese animated films including the works of Miyazaki attract several generations of Chinese born between the 1970 and 2010.

"People who once watched Miyazaki films via DVD or internet are returning to the cinema, which contributed to the booming box office," Lu said.

China began to introduce Japanese animation in the late 1970s, but it was not until after the turn of the century were many Chinese youth familiarized with the genre, thanks to the popularity of cassettes, DVDs and the internet.

Wang Yuhui, a film PhD student from Hokkaido University, said many Chinese born in the 1980s and 1990s harbored a nostalgic feeling toward Japanese anime that figured prominently in their childhood.

Spirited Away is not the first Japanese movie to draw success from China's nostalgic moviegoers. In 2015, Japanese 3D animated film Stand by Me Doraemon, narrating a poignant parting with the household cartoon character Doraemon, became the then top-grossing Japanese film in China with a box office of 530 million yuan.

Late last year, My Neighbor Totoro became the first Miyazaki film to hit the Chinese mainland screens, 30 years after its Japan debut in 1988, and generated over 170 million yuan in box office.

According to a report released at the just-concluded Shanghai International Film Festival, China introduced a record 118 films from 18 countries in 2018, marking a yearly increase of 24 percent. The majority were the U.S. productions, which were followed by Japanese films, it said.

Liu Jia, main author of the report, said Hollywood movies and films from other countries are blossoming in the more diversified Chinese film market and are offering more choices for Chinese audiences.