According to interdisciplinary media scholar Sheng Zou, who teaches at Baptist University, Japanese culture is selectively embraced in China and ACG has been received favourably for decades despite downturns in the China-Japan relationship.

“Cultural exchanges between the two countries have never stopped [despite political tensions],” Zou said. “They are initiated and maintained by non-state-affiliated actors, like civil organisations, commercial media and citizens themselves.”

The latest season of Ride the Wind boasts the show’s most ethnically diverse line-up since it was launched in 2020, with Russian singer Katerina Kelly, Korean actress Choo Ja-hyun, Vietnamese multihyphenate Chi Pu, German pianist Gina Alice Redlinger and American singer Annie Lowdermilk featured among the contestants.

“The show provides an occasion for public or cultural diplomacy, which is unofficial, whereas the state is more focused on security, economic and geopolitical issues,” Zou said.

He added that the cultural and political levels of Chinese engagement with Japan were “intertwined but follow different logics”.

Zou said while cybernationalism was prevalent, the Chinese audience was “heterogeneous”, resulting in little overlap between people attracted to Mizuhashi’s art or Japanese subcultures and people who are politically inclined.

“The marketing slogan of the show is ‘the great beautiful China’, which promotes cosmopolitanism with China at the centre,” Zou said. “I call this self-serving cosmopolitanism, because it intends to portray China’s engagement with the world as that of a responsible leader.”

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The surprisingly fervent response to Mizuhashi’s performance is also a reflection of China’s obscure community of Japanese ACG fans, according to cultural studies academic Cao Xuenan, who specialises in modern Chinese media, literature and popular culture.

Cao said Mizuhashi’s appearance marked a rare occasion where the anime subculture, as represented by her music and fashion, was showcased on mainstream television. It resonated with China’s otaku – young and middle-aged people immersed in the cyberworld of animation.

“There is a sizeable yet invisible audience of Chinese otakus that don’t usually see the type of images that they like on television,” Cao said.

“Mizuhashi’s explosive popularity reflects that they have been hoping for this type of moment, many of whom are stuck with medium or low-paying jobs, have a dismissive attitude towards life but want an outlet.”

The celebrity contestants deliberately promoted by Ride the Wind fit a specific portrayal of women – empowered, independent and possessing a forceful persona, but that fails to serve a portion of the audience looking for an “alternative female image” such as Mizuhashi, according to Cao, who is an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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Streaming giants battle to be top platform for Japanese anime

Streaming giants battle to be top platform for Japanese anime

“There has been a gap between the cultural values that the mainstream media expects to reinforce in terms of how to be an ageing and/or single woman in a society where there are many, versus the actual taste of the audience who want to reinforce the opposite,” Cao said.

“The audience wanted a different type of woman that is an invention of the male gaze, or the otaku gaze, to be represented,” said Cao, comparing “cutesy” Mizuhashi with Na Ying, the 55-year-old Chinese singer who won the show in 2021 and is known for her blunt and masculine personality.

“Because of her commercial success, it is now in the spotlight how much the Chinese audience is [taking in] from the Japanese subculture,” said Cao, adding that different generations of the Chinese audience would react to the anison star’s performances differently. She said older viewers might view it as “toxic”.

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With Chinese productions seeking to expand beyond national borders and create an international audience, and more viewers being open to on-screen diversity, the trend would continue regardless of geopolitical tensions, the analysts agreed while adding that visiting artists were likely to feel the same.

“Foreign celebrities and their companies are very aware that China has a bigger market, so their main motivation is to tap into that and grow their fan base – as long as it is not convoluted with politics,” Zou said.