Zhongtai Securities: Big manufacturers focus on releasing new video models, AI comics welcome a small explosion at the end of the year

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Zhongtai Securities released a research report saying that Dachang's ability to generate large audio and video models has gradually entered the professional film and television level, providing more room for growth for AI live-action video content creation. It also continues to promote the implementation of AI comic related application tools and accelerate the change and development of the skit content ecosystem. The comic industry is still in a stage of rapid change from content supply and profit models to the policy environment. Platforms with different advantages such as content, production, and terminals still have many competitive opportunities, providing impetus for the development of comics in 2026. Furthermore, when comics go overseas, there is no increase in the cost of actors, venues, etc., production costs and distribution costs are low, and they have the advantage of going overseas for content.

The main views of Zhongtai Securities are as follows:

Alibyte concentrated on releasing new video models, and Douyin released the comic AI tool incentive policy on the same day

Alibaba Cloud released the video generation model Wan2.6 on December 16. It is the first model in China with a role-playing function. It enables users to upload videos to generate movie-level content; realizes simultaneous audio and video generation, and maintains consistency when switching between lenses; improves image quality and ability to follow instructions, and supports up to 15 seconds of video; splitter control can transform reminders into professional narratives, and can be widely used in commercials, skits, etc.

Byte released the audio and video model Seedance 1.5 pro on December 16, which realizes native audio and video co-generation, accurate audio and video synchronization, and multi-language dialect support; has movie-grade motion control and dynamic tension; through mmDIT architecture and optimization, the inference speed is accelerated by more than 10 times. Compared with Sora 2 in professional reviews, it shows more balanced and controllable characteristics, avoids excessive exaggeration, and is more suitable for professional production scenarios that require a stable tone.

Douyin announced an incentive policy related to comic AI tools on December 16, providing 15% technical cost subsidies to comic agencies that use large Byte model products and achieve a certain production volume.

Douyin reviews are speeding up, comics are breaking out in December, and 3D/AI live-action art style has become a new trend

Since November 27, Douyin has migrated comic assets and data to the new platform, and the review mechanism for the new platform is quite strict. From November 27 to December 2, Douyin added less than 50 comics every day; since then, the review has gradually accelerated. As of December 15, Douyin added more than 2,200 comics in the past week, 3.8 times that of the previous week.

After moving to the new platform, comic reviews gradually showed a series of trends: AI comics and live-action AI dramas were prioritized, the pass rate for sand carvings and stick figures declined, and it was difficult for low-quality content such as blurred image quality to pass the review. Looking at popular genres, 3D and AI live-action comics have become a new growing trend. Among the top 50 most played comics, the past week (12.8-14), compared with the previous week (12.1-7), 3D animation achieved a breakthrough of 0 to 5, with an overall dynamic animation of 25, accounting for 50%; the number of sand carving comics was reduced from 20 to 15, accounting for 30%; the AI novel series remained the same; the AI effect category remained unchanged from 1 to 3, accounting for 18%; static comics remained unchanged, accounting for 2%. The bank believes that Douyin's move will accelerate the improvement of supply quality in the comic industry, promote the pace of industry development, accelerate the release of relevant parties' advantages in creativity, production, technology, and distribution, and provide more opportunities for high-quality (potential) competitors.

Baidu will launch the independent comic app Yu Manga. Kuaishou motivates the launch during the same period, and comic platforms will continue to compete at the end of the year

On December 16, it was announced that Baidu will soon launch the independent comic app “Pomo Manga Drama” and will launch on iOS and Android platforms. Kuaishou announced a new comic policy on December 10. In order to encourage first-run releases, 4% (S grade) and 2% (A grade) rebates were offered for PGC comics launched in Kuaishou during the same period; a cash reward of 50 to 20,000 yuan was given to PGC comics that consumed more than 20,000 monthly hits; and 500 to 10,000 yuan of cash rewards for UGC comics that were the top 500 monthly hits. Seven Cats announced a comic script collection policy on December 3. Levels A to S+ will each be given a guaranteed manuscript reward of 1-100,000 yuan and a 10-20% revenue share. Seven Cats plans to produce 100 comics per month in Q1 2026. The bank believes that the comic industry is still in a stage of rapid change from content supply and profit models to the policy environment, and that platforms with different advantages such as content, production, and terminals still have many competitive opportunities, providing impetus for the development of comics in 2026.

Female content layout is accelerating and is expected to explode in 2026

Leading comic makers such as Lingju Animation and Xiaoming Taiji have begun launching female content or testing content; Mantan Animation began laying out female comics in November, and currently accounts for 10% of its total production capacity. The industry believes that female comics are in high demand. They will explode in the next six months to a year, and that female content will more easily meet regulatory requirements, and that the ability of female users to pay will bring new growth to comics. The bank believes that the evolutionary path of skit themes has significant reference significance for the development of comics. The trend towards male content will become a trend, and comics will usher in a new increase at that time. Female content lacks strong visual scenes and requires high script quality, and will surely usher in more room for growth as the quality of content in the industry improves.

In 2026, comics will go overseas and gradually form an industry consensus

Currently, individual manufacturers such as Mantan Animation are starting to set up comics to go overseas, such as taking the entire script to platforms such as TikTok to test activity and turnover. According to research and test data, the manufacturer is confident in the comic's overseas market. YouTube's head of animation AI strategy in Greater China said that given the current low base of overseas comics, the market size is expected to increase by at least 3 times in 2026. The bank believes that when comics go overseas, there is no increase in the cost of actors, venues, etc.; production costs and distribution costs are low; they have the advantage of going overseas for content.

Continued attention is recommended

IP source companies for comics, online articles, etc.: Rongxin Culture, Huanrui Century, Chinese Online, Palm Reading Technology, CITIC Publishing, etc.; comic book promotion sales people: Easypoint World, etc.; AI technology and platform advantage companies: Kuaishou-W, Kunlun Wanwei, Huazhi Digital Media, Jebicheng Co., Ltd.

Risk warning: risk of rising model usage costs; increased risk of industry competition; risk of slowing content supply growth; risk of tightening content and technology regulatory policies; risk of third party data distortion.