I just got home after seeing Perfect Blue in the cinema. Lots of people know I like Japanese anime. Instead of growing up reading the obligatory fantasy classics (except for LOTR and Narnia), I just like most Latin American milennials were exposed to Japanese anime.
Some anime in the 90s was dubbed over butchered US dubs. Samurai Pizza Cats did a nice job going even more abridged than the US version. That anime's Latam Spanish dub is still somewhat lost. It wasn't until relatively recently that Lost Media fanatics scoured the corners of the country and salvaged VHS rips to complement missing episodes, just missing some random voice loops. While a huge win, lost media like that is a stark contrast to the immense care that TMS Entertainment ensured for its IP. TMS not only protected the Magic Knight Latam dub masters, but they were fully restored and the VA that played Presea 30 years ago dubbed some of the next episode announcements that were never dubbed.
Lest to say, I don't have Netflix, but I'd sure be tempted to nab 1 month just to experience MKR in its restored glory. Hoping Netflix gives the green light for similar treatment of the company's other 5-6 anime IPs. I think Cat's Eye was once on Prime Video, but I don't think Virtua Fighter, B't X and Saint Tail got any remastering.
Anyhow, it's pretty obvious I like anime and DBZ is so culturally widespread that I would be surprised there wasn't a Mexican my age that cannot at least vaguely sing parts of Cha-la-Jed Cha-la.
While seeing series such as Ranma 1/2 uncut on Mexican public tv during the afternoon was not that controversial in the 90s, anime seldom got the big screen treatment. To this day, the only Saint Seiya film to reach cinemas has been the 1st film. yes, Caballeros del Zodiaco, that anime that practically everyone my age watched after school. A lot could be argued back in the 90s that anime is for kids, it's just a phase, kids will 'grow up', etc...
Whether my generation has tons of imperfections, we did start changing things that helped normalize things that will become even more normal in the next 20 years. One of them is that if you like anime, you can be any age and not face as much stigma as when I was a kid. My dad once told me the anime shown on the now defunct cable tv channel Locomotion (which later became Animax) was far more sophisticated than the public tv stuff. Interestingly, he said this after watching Blue Seed, which was one of the station's more teenager aimed series. I still think he had a valid point. Not everyone had access to this channel. I was lucky my cable company included it without ridiculous fees, so I got exposed to tons of other anime such as Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist and Evangelion.
The widespread success of these series in Latin America was proof anime was here to stay and with far greater cultural influence than Hollywood superhero films. I knew it, tons of peers from my generation did too. But cinema companies in particular still clung to the outdated 'anime is for kids and we can only show kiddy stuff' adage.
Things changed a bit for the better in 2001 when Spirited Away surprisingly won the oscar. It was real fun seeing that and Howl's Moving Castle in cinemas. Took Disney ages to start dubbing the other big Ghibli films. In case anyone is curious, Disney's Ghibli film Latam Spanish dubs are lost media. Had I known those 5-6 dubs would become lost, I would have recorded everything I could on vhs to save them. The ones everyone has heard are the Argentinean redubs done by a different company.
In the 2010's, cinemas continued being bareback with anime in cinema options. Pretty much the only films they dared show were Dragon Ball Z and that's pretty much it. It wasn't around 2014 I think the Evangelion remake films somehow reached cinemas. I saw the first 2 films in the cinema, never saw the 3rd one cuse it was logistically too difficult. I believe I saw them subbed, although I know for certain they all got dubbed with most of the original cast.
As I expected, the theater selected the tiniest room possible in just 1 schedule for 1 day in few select theaters and it was packed to the brim. Despite the obvious fan interest, cinemas still held tight to the mantra animated films are for little kids and ignored the potential buying power of my generation.
It wasn't until the pandemic where cinemas had to follow social distancing rules and were close to going bankrupt. What ultimately saved them were horror films and... anime. Whereas Oscar bait films (outside of scant outliers like Oppenheimer) would always sit empty, anime fans did try making an effort to see films.
One trick that surprisingly won cinemas over in Latin America was the fact they sometimes give away rare collectibles. This isn't something new from the pandemic. I still own rare postcards in quite good condition from Titantic, Jurassic Park 2 and I think I also got one from the 90s X Files film.
Since the pandemic, collectible freebies have become much more common and desired. If the anime IP is a big one like Demon Slayer, that rare collectible merch goes out FAST. People are aware about Pokemon cards suddenly accruing huge resale value, and this kind of anime merch is highly sought by collectors. Lest to say, the only time I ever had the good luck of nabbing a collectible was when I watched an anime called Deemo. It was still during the pandemic when people were hesitant to visit movie theaters. I wrapped that hush puppy in a protective plastic sheet the minute I got home. I had the good luck Demon Slayer Mugen train got a rather large release in Mexico still during the pandemic. That film I saw during my brief trip to Huatulco in May, 2021. The cinema was rather empty due to the pandemic, and sadly, no postcard gift. Still took a cute photo of the movie poster for posterity. I heard they later re-released the same film now dubbed to Spanish (I saw it subbed) and gave postcard collectibles on premiere night. Only that... they only premiered it in like 3 cinemas on weekdays. -_-
I am still miffed Gundam Seed was only released at a Thursday noon showing in just 1 cinema in the southwestern part of Mexico City. Ever since Demon Slayer's new film became such a wide success last summer, more anime came.
We not only got a bunch of Ghibli rereleases, including Princess Mononoke (sadly, I didn't go see it because I was busy with homework), but the last 3 months were a nonstop parade of new releases seemingly every month. Chainsaw man had tons of posters. I really should share a photo of that film's Mexico City billboard. Some of them are still up in the neighborhood where I grew up 5 months later.
A lot of this is not just the avid cinemagoers. The Japanese embassy in Mexico City has been working real hard with its anime promotion diplomacy branch and helping arrange the nitty gritty of IP permits and local distribution. If someone sees something on Twitter about a KonnichiwaFest tag promoting an anime film in cinemas, that's the middleman distributor company doing its magic.
And while 2025 was a year full of surprises (who would have thought even 15 years ago an anime with as much grit like Chainsaw man would have a wide cinematic release?), 2026 seems to plan on beating the odds further. What seemed like one big release every 5-6 months is now turning into a whopping new release every 2 weeks!
Just in the past few months, I saw two Yu-Gi-Oh! films (sadly the cinema was almost empty, they didn't do any marketing and very few people knew), Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, The Dangers in my Heart, Virgin Punk and today, Perfect Blue. I would have seen Paprika too, but the highway was blocked due to a repaving project and reached the cinema 45 minutes too late. They will show Millenium Actress tomorrow. Sadly I can't expend the money and annoyance of long-distance travel two days in a row, or else I would have gladly seen it too for the triple Satoshi Kon flickathon.
I know Dangers of my Heart had postcards, cuse lucky people proudly showed them on social media. Frustrated because I would love winning another freebie, I asked a friendly guy at the movie theater. He told me the 3 Satoshi Kon films sadly didn't get postcard freebies. He was awfully annoyed and sympathetic because (unsurprisingly) cinema employees also claim dibs for this cool free merch. Told me the scant few times anime gets postcards, the distributor only brings 100 of them and they run out on premiere day. Meanwhile, Marvel film screenings that sit empty because locals are not that into them always have tons of free merch.
From the way the cinema was 80% full for Dangers of my Heart (a huge surprise for me because I never expected an unknown shojo IP to have so many moviegoers that seemed genuinely excited to see the film), the demand for anime is certainly there. I can't believe I nabbed the very last ticket for Perfect Blue. If I had arrived to the theater just 10 minutes later, I would have made the long trip for nothing. It wouldn't surprise me Millenium Actress will similarly fill up to the brim. The friendly cinema guy told me Paprika sold pretty much every ticket.
In 2 weeks, they are premiering another KonnichiwaFest film named Zombieland Saga. I would like to try to see it. The guy at the place promised he will try to reserve a postcard, so it looks like I will make an effort to see that film. Since it is a given even 1990s anime can bring audiences if the occasion feels sufficiently special, maybe Escaflowne and Utena have a chance to be screened.
I'd be immensely happy if they re released Gundam Seed and Fafner in more theaters. They have started mass premiering anime in at least 10 different Latin American countries. There is obvious interest by cinemagoers and I am glad we are getting the stuff we always dreamed of seeing when we were teenagers.
Can't wait to see what other anime gets the big screen treatment this year!!!
