Best Of Both Worlds: The Japanese Invented Anime And Pachinko Posted Mar 25, 2022
Everyone knows Japan is famous for its anime, but did you know the country has also played an important role in the history of gaming by inventing the pachinko machine? Of course, that's not surprising, considering a pachinko machine is a form of slot machine, which, like anime, tells a story or emphasizes a theme through its symbols, artwork, characters, and music selection. Though usually unrelated directly, the shared aspects of anime and pachinko reveal some interesting truths about entertainment from Japan that remain important no matter the medium.
What is Pachinko Exactly?
While we're sure we don't have to explain anime to our readers, pachinko can be a little more difficult to understand if you were raised outside of Japan. Essentially, pachinko borrows and modifies the type of formula you see in online slots. Like in slots such as Knight Rider and Wild Arcade, pachinko is fundamentally a game of chance. The difference is that while slot players only modify a few options and rarely affect outcomes directly, pachinko relies on direct analog control.
With pachinko, the player launches a ball as they would in pinball. This ball then bounces down the game into various pockets which generate different rewards. Originating as a toy, pachinko would eventually become an important force in Japan's economy, to the tune of 4% of the country's annual GDP.
The Anime Relationship
The modern direct and indirect relationship that anime shares with pachinko come from how much the machines have evolved in the digital age. Long discarding their solely analog roots, modern pachinko machines have adopted software into their core systems. This allows a huge amount of flexibility not available on older setups, thanks to video screens and direct interactive control. Directly, it's the licensing of anime properties to use on pachinko that keeps fans coming back. Machines based on Fist of the North Star and Hokuto No Ken are some of the most popular in the business, letting fans who hit the high scores take the place of the main characters and recreate famous scenes. This is also the case for anime-themed video game adaptions like the Persona 4 pachinko machine, which maintains the series' famous style and charm.
Indirectly, it's again the software that allows both anime and pachinko to reach new heights. In anime, the use of digital illustration and animation programs has vastly reduced the cost and complexity of anime's most impressive titles. As a run-on effect, this means the companies that produce both anime and pachinko games can chase opportunities that wouldn't be available with older creation tools and publishing methods. Though both the basic concepts of anime and pachinko might have originated elsewhere, there's no question that their evolution and current popularity are owed to the work of Japan. Both of these systems have come a long way, and both illustrate important parts of Japan's national and international entertainment industry. The only question is, can pachinko take over the world as anime did?
