Anime

1. Anime • Belongs to popular culture in Japan • Exists as subculture in America • Builds on previous high cultural traditions • Entertains people on basic level • Provokes them on other levels as well

2. History of anime • 1909: Western animated film appeared in Japan • 1915: Japanese animations(like Toei) started create their own works • 1963: First Japanese animated television series- Astro Boy (by Osamu Tezuka) • Early 1980s: anime became an important player in video market • 1988: Around 40% of Japanese studio releases were animated • 1999: 50% of them were animated

3. American Responses to Manga and Anime • Difficulties • Responses from fans of Japanese mange and anime (Point of views of both American comics and Japanese manga) • Responses from American parents of small children

4. Manga in Japan • Manga culture • Manga use in Education, Commercial and Political purposes • Reason of popular culture of manga

5. Finding Self Through The Works of Manga and Anime • Manga provides role models • Older education system • Contemporary educational system • Students establishing individual selves and personalities • Manga helps on students growth

6. Anime: SUPERHEROES • Sailor Moon was first introduced in 1992 in Japan. • Female heroes were rare in Japan. • Expand market to include girls. • Sailor Moon was popular in Asian countries instead of the Western countries.

7. Power Rangers • Originated from a show in Japan named “Go Ranger”. • Great success of the new version of Rangers in U.S. • Translate to fit taste of Americans.

8. Sailor Moon • Story of the various metaseries revolves around the reborn defenders of a kingdom that once spanned the Solar System and the evil forces that they battle. • Major characters — Sailor Scouts are teenage girls who can transform into heroines named for the Moon and planets. • Use of "Sailor" comes from a style of girls' school uniform popular in Japan, the sērāfuku (Sailor outfit).

9. The reasons that make feminist heroes popular in Japan • The increases in female manga artists in recent years. • The large consumer audience of girls. • More girls who read, watch and even write their own fantasy stories. • A numeral of ojisan (older men) like Sailor Moon as she has a good figure.

10. Reasons that Sailor Moon failed in United States • DIC Entertainment gives fuller attention of male superhero. • Spent the larger expenditures on Dragon Ball Z and Masked Rider of advertisement in Kid’s prime time. • Girl watch male-oriented programming but boys won’t watch female-oriented shows in America. • Not altered sufficiently of “cultural appropriate”.

11. Discussion • What are the factors that made Japanese anime not succeed in the U.S. market? • What are the reasons behind anime’s popularity in Japan? • Why girly heroes are popular in Japanese, but not in United State? • How do you think about the statement ‘Sailor Moon is the one which makes for a new and attractive combination of the action orientation of boys and fashion orientation of girls.’? • Why Japanese culture appeal to so many Americans?

12. Reference List Allison, Anne. “Sailor Moon: Japanese Superheroes for Global Girls.” Chap.14 in Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture, ed. Timothy J. Craig. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2000, 259-78. Hatayama, Hiroaki. “The Cross-Cultural Appeal of the Characters in Manga and Anime.” In The Japanification of Children’s Popular Culture: From Godzilla to Miyazaki, ed., Mark I. West. Lanham, Marylnad: The Scarecrow Press, 2009, 191-98. Napier, Susan J. “Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle.” In Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, 1-34.