Anime has reached new heights of popularity in the last few years. Post-pandemic, many people became anime fans and have been exploring other forms of animation as well. Manhwas, Manhuas, and more have gotten exceptionally popular in addition to Manga. Fans nowadays have seen a new form of animation emerging known as Donghua.
Whilst some fans have seen this form of animation and know about it, many are clueless. Anime fans wish to know what exactly Donghua, which is Chinese animation, is. They also wish to know if this genre of animation is overtaking anime.
What Is Donghua?
Donghua is basically Chinese animation. Many people are confused about Donghua and consider it to be a subgenre of anime, or somewhat related to anime. This however is not entirely true. Whilst, indeed, Donghua is also a form of animation, it is not similar to anime.
Donghua is the term for Chinese animation and is unique to China. Contrary to what many fans think, Donghua has been around for multiple years. It is, however, recently that it started getting the attention it deserves. Donghua started somewhere around the 1920s but those animations were lost. It was around the 1970s that Chinese animation started getting popular in their country. The animations around the time were retellings or animated forms of Chinese folklore or stories that were unique to the country.
Even now, most of the Donghua animation focuses on Chinese culture. Although it has started becoming popular around the globe, this animation still majorly targets the Chinese audience. There are also Manhuas that are a little similar to mangas.
Is It Overtaking Anime?
That is quite an interesting question. The Donghua animation is most certainly wonderful and has a great plot. However, it is a little too soon to say that it is overtaking anime. Japanese anime has been around for many years and started getting popular many years back. Although it reached the peak of its popularity after the pandemic, it started getting popular many years back.
Donghua has only recently started climbing the ladder of popularity. It will be a few years before it gets as popular as anime is. In addition to that, it is not a secret that the anime’s popularity has most definitely helped Donghua as well. Many popular animes such as ‘Dragon Ball’, ‘Attack On Titan’, and ‘Demon Slayer’ are some anime that almost everyone has heard of if not watched. It is because of such anime that fans have gotten into various other forms of animation and written media such as manhwa, and manhuas.
Currently, anime is leaps and bounds ahead in terms of the popularity of Donghua. Therefore, it is safe to say that for now, Donghua is not overtaking anime. However, it is very well possible that it may overtake anime after some time.
In case you missed: What’s The Difference Between Manga, Manhua, And Manhwa?
