Some Asian programming travels better than others, but almost all content these days is travelling further than it used to thanks to streaming platforms and greater opportunity for exposure, a healthier appetite for experimentation by programmers, who in turn are encouraged by more diverse user engagement, and the realisation that audiences will actually watch content not made on their doorsteps in languages other than their mother tongue. In all, a lovely moment for the content industry despite a difficult funding environment and broken production models, particularly in Southeast Asia.

Full measurement of 100% of the activity on digital platforms (legal or illegal) around Asian titles is ramping up. For now, data science tells us that, with a few exceptions, Asian originals haven’t generated anywhere near the online activity in the region this year than there is around Hollywood’s blockbuster titles such as The Walking Dead, Westworld and 13 Reasons Why, according to data from Parrot Analytics published in ContentAsia’s eNewsletter every two weeks.

Zombies and sci-fi are Asia’s hottest properties. The Walking Dead showed up on top 10 lists in 12 countries (Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand), missing only from lists in Singapore and South Korea. HBO’s Westworld was on the most active lists in five countries (Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Japan) along with Game of Thrones (Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand).

Parrot Analytics’ data shows that Asian originals are, for now, topped by Japanese anime, a genre with very long legs and incredibly passionate audiences in Asia.

The anime titles with the widest visibility on weekly lists this year included One Piece (Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand), Dragon Ball Super (Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Thailand) and The Seven Deadly Sins (Taiwan, Japan). In addition to topping Taiwan’s list for the first week of August, My Hero Academia, the anime series about a boy born without superhero abilities in a world where everyone has them, also showed up on the top 10 in the Philippines.

Outside of Japan, nothing in Asia comes close to anime demand in the U.S., which registered more than double the demand of any other country outside of Japan for the three months from April to June this year, according to Parrot Analytics.

Other countries on the top 10 anime list are the Philippines, which ran second to the U.S., albeit with less than half the demand expressions, followed by France, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Canada and Chile. The most popular anime titles differed by country. The top titles in the U.S. for instance, were Naruto: Shippuden, with about 25 million demand expressions in the three months; One Piece and Dragon Ball Z. Fans in France and Mexico prefer Dragon Ball Super, while in the Philippines, One Piece was by far the most popular title from April to June this year, with My Hero Academia in second spot followed by Tokyo Ghoul.

View more on ContentAsia Issue Four 2018, 24 August 2018