I Kadokawa eiga tra simultaneità e simulacri. Per una riconsiderazione del cinema giapponese degli anni settanta e ottanta

Scholars and critics of Japanese film tend to neglect the cinematographic period from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. However, the changing dynamics of the film industry of this period are crucial to understanding the symbiotic relationship between visual media and contemporary Japanese society. In fact, the downfall of the “major system” and the waning of the New Wave allowed for the emergence of industry outsiders such as Kadokawa Haruki. Kadokawa introduced new production, distribution, and advertising practices in his so-called Kadokawa eiga, which combined image, text, and sound in a “media mix” configuration that proved to be both very commodifiable and intensively emulated. Later, Kadokawa refocused the media mix on aidoru’s “blank” kyara, calling for synchronic temporality both on- and off-screen. In so doing, Kadokawa eiga reflected the logic of a highly sophisticated consumer society that wished to represent itself as the forefront of modernization.