The (posthumously exposed) revealed a 50-year history of abuse against minors, hidden by media blackouts because the agency controlled the airwaves. This led to a national reckoning. Similarly, the suicide of Hana Kimura (a wrestler/reality TV star) after online bullying exposed the brutal toll of Netto-Uyoku (internet right-wing mobs) on celebrity mental health.

As the Yen fluctuates and the population declines domestically, the industry is finally looking outward—not by diluting its weirdness, but by doubling down on it. The world no longer wants generic blockbusters; it wants the hyper-specific, the ritualistic, and the eccentric.

While international art houses revere Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi), the domestic box office is dominated by . Director Makoto Shinkai ( Your Name. , Suzume ) has become the heir to Miyazaki, drawing crowds that surpass Hollywood blockbusters. Unlike Western animation, which is coded as "children's content," anime in Japan occupies the entire spectrum of human emotion. It is the primary vehicle for national storytelling.