Anime as a Popular Culture

Outline of the Presentation

• Introduction to Anime • Anime as Popular Culture• Ideologies behind the Phenomenon (Anime)• Contradictory Opinions Regarding Anime

INTRODUCTION TO ANIME

1. Cosplay 2. Anime event 3. News (reported)

Cosplay

According to McIsaac (2012),

Cosplay is a shortened form

two words – costume and play.

It is the practice of portraying

a fictional character from

comic books, anime,

video games etc. by dressing

alike the character.

Posted in Jurnal Otaku

Indonesia by Nanoha,

where 100 male and female

were dressed like anime

characters.

“The Cosplay Train” at August 2014

Anime Events

• Shanghai for the 11th ComiCon. It is one of the biggest anime/doujin conventions in China. This year, it drew more than ten thousand fans to the convention center.

• Sailor Moon Cosplay Meetup at Anime Expo 2014 Los Angeles

• Anime Expo 2011 - Hatsune Miku Concert, California

News• A Korean man named Lee Jin-gyu married with a life-sized

Japanese body pillow called a \"dakimakura\". The pillow has the image of anime character Fate Testarossa from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.

• Reported by Global Post, Hatsune Miku is claimed by some people as Japan's favorite pop star, according to Japan Today. She has more than 100,000 original (crowdsourced) songs, 1.8 million Facebook followers, and has even been the face for Google, Toyota, and Louis Vuitton.

• Hatsune Miku also won

the London Olympiad 2012

“The Idol and Virtual Icon

that You Adore"

• It has been reported by Yosihiro from Nipponia, that almost 90% of Spains population was in the habit of watching Mazinger Z. (one of the anime)

• The game Kantai Collection (Kadokawa Games ) which was launched at 23 April 2013 was proudly boasting over 150,000 registered users. Pretty respectable numbers for a browser-based game. Moreover, 1,400,000 people have registered to play.

The difference between Anime and Cartoon

Art Work

• Anime can accommodate all range of age (uni-age) than west animation which is only enjoyed by children.

• Anime provides categories such as romance, horror, comedy, action, drama, or pornography (hentai).

• Specific categories

Boys - Shounen Anime,

Girls - Shoujo Anime,

Seinen Anime for older men,

Josei Anime for older woman

and Yaoi for those who prefer to watch homo-sex.

History of Anime

• Japan has started making animation since the end of the world war II, this establishment was caused by the limit in film industry.

• Therefore, the film makers moved into a medium that affordable at cost and encourage them to be more imaginative.

• Osama Tezuka (17) created his first art piece of work Diary of Ma-chan and then Shin Takarajima both of them were inform of manga.

• Golden age of Anime 2000, was started with anime Astro Boy, the series was first published in 1959.

• Later the ace of anime was born Akira Toriyama, Rumiko Takashi, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and many others.

• Miyazaki who worked under studio Gibli made anime splash on US market.

Nipponia No. 27 15 December 2003 by Yonezawa Yoshiro reported that Spirit Away won Oscar for the best animated feature film at the 75th academy awards in 2003.

•

ANIME AS POPULAR CULTURE

• How Anime Becomes Worldwide• Why Anime Is Considered as Popular Culture

Anime becomes Worldwide

• Television

• Internet

Anime and Popular Culture

• Mass Culture (Storey, 2009)

• Escapism

• Learning Japanese Culture

IDEOLOGIES BEHIND ANIME PHENOMENON

• Hedonism• Propaganda & The power of anime to influence Japanese culture• Capitalism

What is hedonism?

Weijers (2012), hedonism is originated from Greek language hedone which means pleasure

Heathwood (2006) explained that hedonism is a desire theory of welfare which means that one needs to fulfill their desire in order to make their life at best

Hedonism

Rystaljus o n Tumblr – “ Anime is he art, life , so ul, happine ss, passio n, ho bby, humo r, and stre ng th”

How to be an otaku (anime geeks)

According to Wikihow, there are some steps on how to be an otaku which are:•Watching some anime•Collecting merchandise•Sharing with people with the same interest•Going to anime convention•Doing a cosplay (costume-play)

What is propaganda?

Jowett & O’Donnel (2012) propaganda is defined as a form of communication that attempts to achieve response according to the propagandist intention

The role of media as the tool of propagandaChomsky (2005) as cited in Gonzales, Jr. (2013), who stated that the function of media as a system of communicating message to people can be a tool of propaganda because the world is generally filled with conflict of interest and media will play a role in promoting certain values, beliefs, codes, and behavior that will influence the society

Propaganda – Momotaru Umi no Shinpei

“Momotaro Umu no Shinpei is the first anime which created as the media of propaganda of world war. It is intended to show the Japanese victory in liberating other Asian countries from western army and justify that western countries is the bad guy of the war” – Patten (1996)

“Full metal alchemist – the portrayal of women which shows that women also can be strong” – Cora (2013)

The power of anime in promoting Japanese Culture

Manion (2005) stated that people who like anime will be most likely to enjoy Japanese culture such as its traditions, foods, and places

What is capitalism?

• Reisman (1998), capitalism is a social system based on private ownership of production in order to gain material profit.

Capitalism – Anime as economic strategySugimoto (2009) who stated that Japanese cultural product like anime is one of important commodities to be sold in the world market and therefore become an industry under capitalist value because of its profit interest

Studio Ghibli anime studio – taken from togofu.com

Reactions toward Phenomenon

There will be at least 3 reactions of people who react to the phenomenon, such as

1.People who like the phenomenon

2.People who do not like about the phenomenon

3.People who is ambivalent

CONTRADICTORY OPINIONS REGARDING ANIMEReasons to like or dislike Anime

Why people like Anime

Based on Manion (2006), people like Anime because:•The influence of the community they join•The exposure of certain Japanese culture•The production of creative fan work

(Okamoto, 2009) as cited in Czuprynski (2010) stated that many people like Anime because it tells about Japanese culture that is presented in the story of Anime.

Why people like Anime

On the website http://lifehack.org there is an article that tells about why otaku (anime fans) can get a highly satisfaction in life, it is because:•They are immersed in vivid colors regularly•They often learn new things from anime•Anime can be used for exercising their imagination•etc.

Why people don’t like Anime

On the website www.quora.com, it states some reasons why people don’t like Anime, they are

1.Young people are not given the decent anime to be watched

2.The culture is coming from the foreign country so young people there cannot enjoyed anime

3.There is no television channel who broadcast anime regularly

4.Many people there still think that anime = cartoon from U.S.

Why people don’t like Anime

In addition, an article on http://www.indoanime.net/, mentions some reasons why people don’t like Anime:

1.Anime is shown in Japanese so people do not really understand the content

2.Opinion that anime is just for kids and not suitable for teenagers or adults

Conclusion

• As the phenomenon, Anime has successfully gained people’s attention

• Anime has to be responded wisely and not to be judged only from one side

• Anime has to be responded from the ideology that drives it behind

• And again, you decide the response for your own toward each phenomenon, include Anime

THANK YOU Abi, Erma, Firly, Indah

Reference• Czuprynski, A. (2010). Japan Invading the Minds of U.S. Students: Anime in Education. Eastern New Mexico University• Heathwood. C. (2006). Desire satisfaction and hedonism. Philosopical Studies. Retrieved October 26th, 2014 from

http://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/DSH.pdf• Manion, A. (2006). Discovering Japan: Anime and Learning Japanese Culture. University of Southern California.• Weijers, D. (2012). Hedonism and happiness in theory and practice. Victoria University. Retrieved October 26th, 2014 from

http://www.danweijers.com/pdf/Hedonism%20and%20Happiness%20in%20Theory%20and%20Practice%20-%20Dan%20Weijers.pdf• Sugimoto, Y. (2009). The Cambridge companion to modern Japanese culture. New York: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved

November 23rd, 2014 from http://books.google.co.id/books?id=rzGqyHaUGYkC&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=Anime+and+capitalism&source=bl&ots=HQiBUS1Ir4&sig=rMzFPQLOtrQ0WKWgGyILuQGohfc&hl=id&sa=X&ei=wHNxVP73Gs2eugSrpoGQCw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Anime%20and%20capitalism&f=false

• Reisman, G. (1998). Capitalism. Otawa: Jameson Books• Gonzales, Jr. P. (2013). Noam Chomsky propaganda model: A critical evaluation. Saint Thomas University. Retrieved on November

23rd, 2014 from ttp://pedrogonzalezmunne.homestead.com/Noam_Chomsky_Propaganda_Model_a_Critical_Evaluation_t.pdf• Jowett, G. & O’Donnel, V. (2012). Propaganda and persuasion. California: Sage Publication. Retrieved on November 23rd, 2014 from

http://sttpml.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/propaganda-and-persuasion.pdf• Patten, J. (1996). Momotaro’s Gods-blessed sea warriors: Japan’s unknown wartime feature. Retrieved on November 23rd, 2014 from

http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.7/articles/patten1.7.html

References

Secondary references•http://www.indoanime.net/forum/topic/211-teman-yang-tidak-suka-anime/•http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-reasons-why-anime-nerds-are-highly-satisfied-life.html •http://www.quora.com/Why-is-anime-or-manga-culture-not-so-famous-in-India•http://www.wikihow.com/Be-an-Otaku-(Anime-Geek)

ReferencesAnime expo at July 2014 in Italy. http://nerdreactor.com/tag/anime-expo/ComiCon Tour: A Report On A Chinese Anime Conventionhttp://www.socialtechpop.com/2012/08/comicon-tour-a-report-on-a-chinese-anime-convention/ http://theweek.com/article/index/260319/how-a-fetishized-hologram-became-japans-biggest-pop-starZagzoug, M. (2001). The History of Anime & Manga . http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his135/events/anime62/anime62.html Emmanuel. (2014). An Introduction into Animehttp://www.fortressofsolitude.co.za/2014/01/introduction-anime/ Yosihiro, Y. (2003). The Worlwide Phenomenon of Anime Past And Present http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia27/en/feature/