Anime and American audiences

The Japanese term otaku is used in America as a term for anime fans, more particularly the obsessive ones. The negative connotations associated with the word in Japan have also been lost in its American context, where it instead connotes the pride of the fans. Only in the recent decade or so has there been a more casual viewership outside the devoted otaku fan base, which can be attributed highly
to technological advances. Also, shows like Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z provided a pivotal introduction of anime's conventions, animation methods, and Shinto influences to many American children. Because anime is highly influenced by ancient Japanese myths often deriving from the animistic nature worship of Shinto, most American audiences not accustomed to anime are wholly unfamiliar to these foreign texts and customs. For example, an average American viewing the live-action TV show Hercules will be no stranger to the Greek myths and legends it is based on, while the same person watching the show Tenchi Muyo might not understand that the pleated ropes wrapped around the "space trees" are influenced by the ancient legend of Amaterasu and Susano.[54]

It is also important to note that the Western world abandoned their ancient pagan beliefs during the middle ages, whereas Shinto has remained relatively unchanged in modern Japanese culture. Because of this, Shinto has been able to provide over eight million deities and their surrounding folklore for anime creators to utilize. A Japanese audience is thus more aware of these Shinto influences since they have existed consistently throughout Japanese society. American media creators are often confined with the most popular or basic myths to draw upon. These cultural gaps limit anime's potential impact on its foreign audience, but as anime integrates into American pop-culture the newer generations will be more in tune with anime conventions and the ideals behind Shinto.

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History of Anime

Anime began at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques that were being explored in France, Germany, the United States, and Russia.[3] The oldest known anime in existence was screened in 1917 - a two minute clip of a samurai trying to test a new sword on his target, only to suffer defeat.

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By the 1930s, animation became an alternative format of storytelling compared to the underdeveloped live-action industry in Japan. Unlike in the United States, the live-action industry in Japan remained a small market and suffered from budgeting, location, and casting restrictions. The lack of Western-looking actors, for example, made it next to impossible to shoot films set in Europe, America, or fantasy worlds that do not naturally involve Japan. Animation allowed artists to create any characters and settings.[5]

The success of Disney's 1937 feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs influenced Japanese animators.[6] In the 60's, Osamu Tezuka adapted and simplified many Disney animation techniques to reduce the costs and number of frames in the production. This was intended to be a temporary measure to allow him to produce material on a tight schedule with an inexperienced animation staff.

During the 1970s, there was a surge of growth in the popularity of manga—which were often later animated—especially those of Osamu Tezuka, who has been called a "legend"[7] and the "god of manga".[8][9] His work and that of other pioneers in the field, inspired characteristics and genres that are fundamental elements of anime today. The giant robot genre (known as "Mecha" outside Japan), for instance, took shape under Tezuka, developed into the Super Robot genre under Go Nagai and others, and was revolutionized at the end of the decade by Yoshiyuki Tomino who developed the Real Robot genre. Robot anime like the Gundam and Macross series became instant classics in the 1980s, and the robot genre of anime is still one of the most common in Japan and worldwide today. In the 1980s, anime became more accepted in the mainstream in Japan (although less than manga), and experienced a boom in production. Following a few successful adaptations of anime in overseas markets in the 1980s, anime gained increased acceptance in those markets in the 1990s and even more in the 2000s.

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