Global EditionASIA 中文双语Français
Business
Home / Business / Industries

ACG gaining traction in China

By Chen Meiling | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-13 07:29
Share
Share - WeChat
All-girl Chinese virtual band And2girls performs at the ACG (anime, comics and games) festival held by Baidu Tieba, a popular online community, in Shanghai in July. ACG content is spawning a big market patronized by young Chinese people. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Hit virtual bands like And2girls spawn potential $100 billion content market 

The average age of the five-girl all-Chinese music band And2girls is 16, but 'their' concerts are already sellouts, heralding a new entertainment market.

Their genre called ACG is a rage among 80 million young people, according to market research firm iResearch.

The overall market is seen netting $100 billion or more in annual sales revenue in the not too distant future, according to Sealand Securities.

But, wait a second-the five girls, in short skirts, glowing in their fair complexion, flashing endearing smiles and nimble in their dance moves, are not of the flesh-and-blood variety!

Instead, they are 3-D animated maidens with human voices. Yet, the virtual idols won applause and received flowers from over 1,000 fans-they were all Chinese users of anime, comics and games or ACG-at their live concert in Shanghai on July 7 last year.

Zhang Yu, 18, a high school student from East China's Fujian province, was one of the fans. He said he has made friends with the five girls. Each one of them has a unique personality, he said.

"Liuge, the captain of the band, is very lively and energetic. In her company, I feel like I can face anything with a smile. Bai Xiaojia is like a little sister that I want to protect. Feng Jiyue is kind of reserved but also cute."

Asked why he is so in love with the five virtual girls, Zhang said, "It's hard to say. Real people often give me a sense of distance."

For makers of ACG content, Zhang's anthropomorphic sentimentality is not a case in isolation but common among young users, and presents a golden opportunity to develop a new, big segment in the entertainment industry.

1 2 3 Next   >>|
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
CLOSE