Week Six: According to Lent (2000), what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia (ie comparing China and Japan)?

The culture that anime is associated with at the moment is a “popular” culture throughout Japan. However this may change due to the artistic form that anime has taken on especially in Japan (Lent, 2000). Anime in Japan has become an increasingly major icon in the global cultural economy and one scholar has gone as far as saying that Anime and Japans “chief cultural export”. Anime has extended to be recognised on an international level and Asian countries such as Taiwan and Korea have had an increase in the amount of people watching anime (Lent 2000). Due to the franchises that have been established through popular anime series, merchandise is now sold and creates more profit for anime series. This also creates brand image around the anime movie or series, this recognition has helped to launch the genres success internationally. Time magazine also published an article on Pokémon and anime in general in Time magazine, which added to international recognition and shows the increase of recognition that anime as a genre is gaining.

However animated films are far more popular in Japan than they are in western societies and in 1997 Princess Mononoke became the highest grossing film of all time in Japan, and still holds this title today (Lent 2000). Anime in Japan is know as being a mainstream pop culture and is accepted by the younger generation of Japanese viewers as a cultural staple. The anime culture targets not only children but also all age groups. For example Pokémon targets younger children while young adults can enjoy films such as Akira and Princess Mononoke.

Anime products are popular in countries such as Korea, Taiwan and South East Asia, in particular the animated series ‘Doraemon’ became popular in Thailand in the early 1990’s and became a franchise across Asia, which included video games, toys and life sized models. Although anime does appeal to different cultures on an international scale it is still the most popular in Japan. I find this interesting as I only ever enjoyed watching Pokémon when I was younger and wouldn’t choose to watch anime now that I am older. However in Japan many different age groups watch anime and anime is made for different target audiences. Pokemon and Doreamon were targeted towards younger viewers and Japan also offers films and programmes for young adults and older viewers. This is interesting as it is rare to find anime for young adults and older audiences in New Zealand.

Reference:

Lent, J. A. (2000). Animation in Asia: appropriation, reinterpretation, and adoption or adaptation. Retrieved 21 June, 2006, from AnimeResearch.com