In order to figure out why anime is so popular in the U.S., we must figure out what makes anime and American cartoons different. What niche does anime fill that can't be found in American cartoons?
I found some really interesting information on the history of anime in Gilles Poitras essay "Contemporary Anime in Japanese Pop Culture", which gave much insight on how the development of Japanese animation over the decades was really different from that of American animation. His essay could be found in the book Japanese Visual Culture.
According to Poitras, anime is usually made up of a single story rather than a series of disconnected episodes, and even anime that have separate stories in each episode usually have some sort of subplot for the entire season.
Many examples of this can be seen in anime, such as Gundam Wing. On the contrary, anime like Kaasan – Mom’s Life do not seem to contain a single storyline, since the anime is about the daily life of a mom. Yet each episode does relate to the rest, where a single event in one episode will have a lasting effect on the rest of the episodes.
Many examples of this can be seen in anime, such as Gundam Wing. On the contrary, anime like Kaasan – Mom’s Life do not seem to contain a single storyline, since the anime is about the daily life of a mom. Yet each episode does relate to the rest, where a single event in one episode will have a lasting effect on the rest of the episodes.
Anime normally last for three months to a year. Multiyear programs are unusual, and these programs are regularly based on manga that are very long, such as Naruto or Gintama.
In comparison, American cartoons, such as the Simpsons or the Grimm Adventures of Billy and Mandy, tend to last over a year, and episodes do not relate to one another.
I think that since anime is made up of a continuous storyline, the shorter length may help hold the audience's attention for the entire series.
I think that since anime is made up of a continuous storyline, the shorter length may help hold the audience's attention for the entire series.
Poitras also points out that anime has emotional content, where it contain elements of suffering, death, love, adventure, pain, and joy. Much emphasis is placed on the characters' feelings, in order to move the audience. This relates to how animation qualities between anime and American cartoons are different. The visual qualities in anime enhance the emotional effect. "Shadows exist and move on faces, bodies, and objects. Vehicles may move under the shade of trees and out into the sunlight, and clouds may case shadows on a field or even a cityscape. Hair movement is noticeable, unlike many animated works, where hair is more like a helmet; at the right dramatic moment a lock may fall or a hand will move to push hair back from the face" (Poitras, 62).
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Lastly, the anime industry has a large number of genres that are age, gender, and niche-specific. In the 1980's the OVA (Original Video Animation) format of straight-to-video anime allowed for companies to target specialized markets, since the anime did not have to be released on TV or in theaters. This allowed innovation into new concepts, as OVA titles that proved to be popular could made into TV or movie versions.New genres also came out of this.
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| Tsubasa Chronicles (Fantasy, mostly aimed at young female audience) |
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| One Piece (Adventure, mostly aimed at young male audience) |
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| Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (Science Fiction) |
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| Eyeshield 21 (Sports) |
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| 20th Century Boys (Mystery, Drama) |
In the end, anime is very different from American animation. The vast variety of genres that engage audiences of different age groups and interests, as well as the complex visual quality of anime, anime may be appealing to a large number of people in the U.S.
I think Japanese and American animations are very different.
ReplyDeleteMost Japanese animations have a more innocent and airy sense comparing to the American one. They are usually about a small group of people having adventures and overcoming problems together. For example, One Piece, SlamDunk, and Pokemon. Friendships is always emphasized in the storyline of these animations.
For America, there are majoyly two kinds of animation. The first one is heroic story, like Batman and Spiderman, which talks about one single character saving the whole world from dangers. The other kind has a strong ties with American's daily life, for example, The Simpons. It uses a humorous but ironic way to express people's opinion on different social affiars.
I completely agree with what you are stating here, there are differences and very noticeable differences, an example is what you have stated in your response to this article.
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