Japanese pop culture in the United States

The flow of Japanese animation and manga to the United States has increased American awareness of Japanese animation. Anime differs from American animation in the range of its audiences and themes. Anime is made for adults more often than are American cartoons, and often deals with more serious themes. Anime and manga incorporate a multitude of genres such as romance, action, horror, comedy, drama and cover a wide variety of topics like teen suicides, high school rivalries, and social commentary, and more subjects. Described as a gateway for many fans that takes them to a whole new culture; it is used as a way to learn about Japan. People who are avid devotees to anime in the United States affectionately refer to themselves as otaku, although in Japan the term is similar to geek, and is commonly frowned upon by society. Much like punk and goth, anime has become a subculture.

Anime in the United States

Anime culture in the United States began as a niche community that had a grassroots foundation built by groups of fans on the local level.[1] Some of the earliest televised anime to air in the United States were Astro Boy, Speed Racer, and Gigantor, which gained popularity with many American audiences during the late 1960s.[1] Small patches of isolated communities started to form around collective interest towards this new medium, which seemed reminiscent of familiar Disney visuals and Warner-Brothers narratives.[2] One of these communities was the first anime fan club called the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization (C/FO), formed in Los Angeles, California during 1977; club actives involved monthly meets in order to watch newly aired anime.[1] The early popularity was driven by fan-subtitled content and remained that way until much later, when inter-connected entrepreneurs from Japan and the United States saw an opportunity for business through this new medium.[3][4] These business opportunities eventually led to the founding of Streamline Pictures, the United States' first anime import company in 1989, thus starting anime's widespread commercialization. Over the next dozen years, anime fans became more connected through fan-held conventions and the internet.[5] These groups began to develop new social identities, centered around what they saw as an overall interconnected community.

A subculture began to grow around the United States revolving around people who identified with the social identity “Anime fan.”[1] The strong imagined community built by the fandom since the earliest days was both the backbone and reason for the subculture’s growth. Today, early 2000's anime shows like Pokemon has become almost universally recognized media in the United States.[6]

Anime fan-culture

Although anime can be considered by some as distinctly Japanese animation, some scholars and fans relate to them by their animated nature similar to the works of Walt Disney.[7] Researchers found that this created a subset of people that distinguish themselves from the similar subculture of Japanophiles.[8] The fandom originally proliferated using participatory media via the nature of fan-subbing anime, or the English subtitling of the original Japanese shows.[9] This voluntary labor connects people on a global scale as fans from all over the world participate in and benefit from the collective community's work. During the 1990s, industry officials viewed fan-subtitlers as useful to the budding Anime industry, as they used fan production to see where potentially profitable markets might lie.[8] Interviews from some of the earliest fansubbers reveal that most of them subscribed to an unspoken code that they should not make a profit from their illegal activities. However, most distributors do asked to be reimbursed for the cost of the tape and for shipping.[10] Whether through fansubbing or professional industry translated anime and manga, the North American distribution of anime and manga has been primarily an import business for the Japanese produced content. However, due to the nature of its roots, the fandom is better thought of as a hybrid of American and Japanese cultural notes.[11]

Interview with modern-day anime fans reveal that some have no interest in its Japanese roots, merely that they enjoy the fashion or particular facets of the fandom. Scholars highlight the reason for this phenomenon as being the increasing hybrid factor of anime caused by integrating North America’s popular culture characteristics.[11] Because of the nature of imports, scholars found that the natural selectivity of anime importing by American companies cause the perception of anime to grow increasingly western, as anime itself as a medium cover a broad range of genres.

Anime conventions

Primarily the function of anime conventions in the United States is to give a place to fans of anime, manga and Japanese culture. There are a range of informational panels offered at these conventions from the basics of Japanese language and culture to cutting edge news about anime releases in Japan and the US. Anime conventions also provide performances and vendors of Japanese goods, manga, anime, figurines and Anime related merchandise. Most American anime conventions are fan operated, the increase in popularity starting in the '90s, sprung forth a long-standing list of annual conventions, such as Anime Expo, AnimeFest, Otakon, and Anime Boston, which continue to today with numbers of attendance reaching over 10,000.

Anime influence and sales

Through the last two decades the introduction of anime into American mainstream culture has furthered its popularity. Such famous titles as Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, "Naruto Shippuden", and most importantly Pokémon have influenced anime's appeal to young Americans.[12] "Anime already makes up an estimated 60% of all broadcast animation across the world." "ICv2 estimates the size of the North American anime market at $275-300 million" (in retail dollars)."[13] To compete with its Japanese competitors, many production companies in the US have adjusted their style to one inspired by anime to hold onto their viewers. An important example that has sparked much controversy in the animation world would be Avatar: The Last Airbender. A popular show on Nickelodeon, the characters have a distinct anime style, even the expressions and mannerism drawn evoke that of anime style. Teen Titans on Cartoon Network is yet another example of anime's influence on cartoons, as well as a popular comic strip turned cartoon called The Boondocks. In recent years there has also been development of Anime developed in the United States in collaboration with Japan, examples would be the Netflix original series Neo Yokio and Castlevania (TV series) based off the video game series.

Manga in the United States

See also: Tokyopop

Along with the translating and purchasing of Japanese manga in the United States, this led to the development of artists and writers in the country to develop their own manga. These were called Original English Language manga (OEL manga for short). These comics were mostly a retelling of a piece of American entertainment, such as Disney films, or perhaps a sequel to a movie, TV series, or adaptation of a video game.

Video Gaming

See also: Video gaming in Japan

Since the early 1970's, Japan has been home to some of the most famous and influential video game companies in the world; some of the most well-known include Nintendo, Sega and Namco. The games produced by the companies are extremely well-known across the world,including the famous arcade game Pac-Man and the incredibly popular Super Mario Bros. which has still been ranked as one of the best games of all time, and both have gone on to spawn several sequels and remakes.

American cosplayers

Cosplay of Rozen Maiden

The term "cosplay" corresponds to an abbreviation of the English words costume play, though the term was coined in Japan the practice is not solely Japanese. The use of the term cosplay applies to any costumed role play outside of theaters. Characters are often taken from popular Japanese fiction. Popular sources that fans draw from include anime, manga, video games, comic books, and graphic novels. American cosplayers practice this form of fandom at anime conventions. However, there are a growing number of web pages and photo sites dedicated to the art of cosplaying, such as DeviantArt and Cosplay.com.

Manga influences and sales

Calvin Reid of Publishers Weekly estimated that the "Total U.S. manga sales in 2007 rose about 10%, to more than $220 million, and about 1,468 titles are estimated to have been released last year."[14] With the popularity of manga on the rise graphic novel artists are beginning to adapt their style to that of manga. Manga provides diversity in the graphic novel department not seen in the American comic book industry. In a different trend celebrities are getting their hands into the manga market, rock star Courtney Love has published her own manga called Princess Ai. The production of original English language manga has started. CBR columnists Joe Casey and Matt Fraction describe the increase of manga sales in the United States, "Manga is the 900-pound bear in the comics shop. Inescapable, unavoidable, and impossible to ignore, the manga explosion is either going to go away—which is bad, as so many mass-market bookstores seem to be bulking up their comics supply based on manga's lead—or manga will continue to grow—also bad, as the direct market scrambles to keep up. The entire industry is being forced, month by month, little by little, into a paradigm shift not seen since the advent of the direct market in the early '80s, all thanks to these strange little books from far away."[15]

Music

Miyavi

Japanese pop and rock music acts are also increasing in popularity amongst US listeners. Such artists include L'Arc-en-Ciel, Miyavi, T.M.Revolution, Hikaru Utada, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Dir En Grey, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and Susumu Hirasawa. Growing in popularity by the year these performers have toured the United States at least twice playing at small venues in Boston, New York City and Los Angeles each time increasing their fan base. Japanese American artist Hikaru Utada released an English debut album in 2004, her single "Devil Inside" topped the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Airplay charts. Dir En Grey, in early 2006 started touring the US. Japanese idols, like Morning Musume, AKB48 and S/mileage are now becoming known in the US thanks to the internet. In 2009, Morning Musume performed at Anime Expo and in 2010 AKB48 played there. Also in 2010, influential metal band X Japan performed their first US tour, selling out most shows. In April 2011, Berryz Kobo played at an anime convention in Washington. Japanese manga art has also influenced American music artists and singers, such as Pharrell Williams whose music video It Girl (Pharrell Williams song) contains a wide array of anime style artwork. Even the electronic musicians Daft Punk have used anime artwork in several of their music videos such as Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, One More Time (Daft Punk song) and Something About Us (Daft Punk song).

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mckevitt, Andrew C. (2010-11-01). ""You Are Not Alone!": Anime and the Globalizing of America". Diplomatic History. 34 (5): 893–921. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7709.2010.00899.x. ISSN 0145-2096.
  2. ↑ Cubbison, Laurie (2006-01-30). "Anime Fans, DVDs, and the Authentic Text". The Velvet Light Trap. 56 (1): 45–57. doi:10.1353/vlt.2006.0004. ISSN 1542-4251.
  3. ↑ Daliot-Bul, Michal (2014-01-01). "Reframing and reconsidering the cultural innovations of the anime boom on US television". International Journal of Cultural Studies. 17 (1): 75–91. doi:10.1177/1367877912464538. ISSN 1367-8779.
  4. ↑ Nissim, Otmazgin (March 2014). "Anime in the US: The Entrepreneurial Dimensions of Globalized Culture". Pacific Affairs; Vancouver. 87, Iss. 1: 53–69 – via Proquest.
  5. ↑ Grisby, Mary (Summer 1998). ""Sailormoon": "Manga (Comics)" and "Anime (Cartoon)" Superheroine Meets Barbie: Global Entertainment Commodity Comes to the United States". Journal of Popular Culture. 32, Iss. 1 – via Proquest.
  6. ↑ "How Pokemon Became a Pop Culture Sensation in America". The Escapist. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  7. ↑ Napier, Susan (2006). "The World of Anime Fandom in America". Mechademia. 1.
  8. 1 2 Levi, Antonia (2013). "The sweet smell of Japan: Anime, manga, and Japan in North America". Journal of Asian Pacific Communication. 23.
  9. ↑ Lee, Hye-Kyung. "Participatory media fandom: A case study of anime fansubbing". Media, Culture & Society. 33 (8): 1131–1147. doi:10.1177/0163443711418271.
  10. ↑ Denison, Rayna. "Anime fandom and the liminal spaces between fan creativity and piracy". International Journal of Cultural Studies. 14 (5): 449–466. doi:10.1177/1367877910394565.
  11. 1 2 Denison, Rayna (2011). "Transcultural creativity in anime: Hybrid identities in the production, distribution, texts and fandom of Japanese anime". Creative Industries Journal. 3.
  12. ↑ http://publications.epress.monash.edu/doi/pdf/10.2104/cc100012
  13. ↑ "Anime DVDs Down 20%". February 13, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  14. ↑ Reid, Calvin (December 7, 2007). "New Report Finds Manga Sales Up; Anime DVD Down in '07". Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  15. ↑ Comic Book Resource (September 28, 2004). "The Basement Tapes Issue #9". Retrieved December 10, 2010.

References

  • Baus, J. (2007-12-17). "Anime Releases Tumble: Manga Market Girds for Challenges". ICv2.
  • Kelts, Roland (2006). Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Sarafin, J. (2008-04-24). "Manga Sales Rose Slightly in America". Archived from the original on 13 October 2012.
  • Schodt, Frederik L. (2007). Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.
  • Sefton-Green, Julian (2003). Digital Diversions: Youth Culture in the Age of Multimedia. London: Stone Bridge Press.
  • Johnson-Woods, Toni (2010). Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc
  • Kohler, Chris (2016). Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life. New York: Dover Publications
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