"Transborder Assemblage: The Chinese Anime The Legend of Hei in Japan," presented by Professor Seio Nakajima

 

Thursday, November 13 at 7PM

 

The Chinese anime The Legend of Hei (Luo Xiaohei zhanji, dir. MTJJ, 2019; Roshaoheisenki: Bokuga erabu mirai, 2019) has been the most commercially successful Chinese animated feature released in Japan, grossing 580 million yen at the box office. How did the film achieve such success? This talk traces the processes behind its distribution, exhibition, and reception in the Japanese market. It also demonstrates the usefulness of applying the analytical concept of "assemblage" and employing mixed methods that combine quantitative and qualitative content analyses of word-of-mouth (then) Twitter posts and audience reviews on user-generated film sites.

 

Seio Nakajima teaches sociology and Asian studies at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University. His research spans organizational analyses of the Chinese film industry and ethnographic studies of film audiences and consumption. His recent publications include "In Dependence and in Relation: A Relational Sociological Approach to Chinese Independent Cinema," in Reassessing Chinese Independent Cinema: Past, Present, and a Questionable Future, edited by Chris Berry et al. (Amsterdam University Press, 2025).

 

-To attend the event in person, there is no need to register. For a map and directions to Lakeland's Ryogoku campus, see our website: https://luj.lakeland.edu/contact

 

--To join on Zoom, please register here (before 5PM on the day of the event). You will be emailed a link that afternoon

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MluR2Z_x8RwhpEtt6CzRQiT4ebYM0rqoA8Le4EJl_bM/edit

--

Roger Grabowski, Jr.

Assistant Professor of General Studies

Lakeland University Japan