Japanese Anime

Anime is the slang for Japanese Animation. It is defined as art of Japanese

cartoons. It is distinguishable via certain characteristics in art, such as
enhancement of physical features. For example, large eyes, big mouths, and
funkily drawn hair. As mentioned, anime refers to Japanese cartoons,
although the term was originally borrowed from the French word animation.
Japanese animations are often based on
Japanese comics known as Manga. The term Manga was created by
Japanese artist Holuai in 1915 which means irresponsible pictures.
Most comic books in other cultures are geared towards children, and those
that are suited for mature audiences tend to be considered off the beaten
path. In Japan, comic books are intended for all audiences much the same
as a novel. The very first anime started with Astroboy way back in the
1960s.
Anime can be best distinguished through the artwork. Though many
traditional animation fans see Disney as the pinnacle of animation
achievement, anime tends to concentrate on a higher level of detail in the
artwork rather than fluidity of motion.
The term Anime refers to a distinctive tradition of Japanese animation that is
almost immediately recognizable by its superior artistic quality as well as by
the somewhat mannered artistic conventions anime artists employ, such as
the preference for child-like, large eyes. But it is not just the art that grabs
ones attention.
Anime also provides a window into another culture. In ways that many anime
fans scarcely guess, anime draws strongly from Japanese and wider Asian
mythology and symbolism generally, and specifically, from the rich Japanese
traditions of Shinto, the martial arts, and Zen.
Japanese Manga books are more integrated with Japanese culture than
Western
Comic books are. Manga books tell stories for all ages about anything under
the sun.
One will find various topics ranging from futuristic robots, medieval knights,
contemporary love stories, etc.
On the other hand, Comic books usually are geared towards teenagers with
stories with the basic superheroes vs. supervillains storyline. As of this
writing, it can be observed that certain Comics are beginning to be
influenced by Manga-style writing/drawing (particularly Marvels Gen 13).
JAPANESE ANIMATION
The Japanese anime and manga industry involved significantly during the World War
II period. Before this period, animators faced several problems. First, they had
difficulties competing with foreign producers like Disney, which had influence over
both, audience and producers. Since foreign films had already generated sizable
profits at home, they could be sold at lower prices abroad. As a consequence,
Japanese animators who typically worked in small companies had to keep their

prices low in order to stay competitive. However, the lower prices generated lower
revenue, which reduced salaries and made it difficult to compete in terms of quality
with foreign production. Larger enterprises could offer superior features such as
color and sound. Until the mid-1930s Japanese animation used cut-ou animation
instead of cel animation that was flat and without detail because forward and
backward motion was difficult to reach (Sharp, 2009)
Japanese animation improved considerably after the introduction of multi-plane
camera, which creates a three-dimensional effect, and along with the introduction of
sound and cel animation techniques. However, such innovations were hard to
support commercially and prewar animation depended considerably on sponsorship.
For this reason animators often concentrated on making public relation films for
companies, educational films for the government, and works of propaganda for the
military (Katsunori, 1997).
Since censorship and school regulations discouraged film-viewing by children during
this period, the Ministry of Education supported and encouraged anime that offerd
educational value. Such support was important for producers who had experienced
difficulties releasing their work in regular theaters, and it allowed producers to make
great improvements in animation techniques. Animation found a place in scholastic,
political and industrial use. (Katsunori, 1997).
World War II had the most significant impact on the development of Japanese
animation. In the 1930s the Japanese animation. In the 1930s the Japanese
government began enforcing cultural nationalism. This also led to a strict censorship
and control of published media. Many animators were obliged to produce
animations which enforced the Japanese spirit and National affiliation. Some movies
were shown in newsreel theaters especially after the Film Law of 1939 which
increased government authority and involvement over the cinema through the
promotion of documentary and other educational films. Such support helped boost
the industry as bigger companies formed through mergers and created major liveaction studios. More and more animated films were commissioned by the military,
showing Japanese people winning against enemy forces. The major animated film of
this period were created with the help of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Anime films of
this genre include Momotaros Sea Eagles in 1943, and Momotaros Divine Sea
Warriors in 1945.
Due to the World War II and the weak economy, the unemployment rate in Japan
was very high . This had a detrimental effect on the cinema industry. The extremely
militaristic Japanese government saw cinema as the perfect propaganda tool to
show people the glory and invincibility of the empire of Japan. Many films from this
period represented deeply patriotic and militaristic themes. In 1942 Kajiro
Yamamotos film Hawi Mare oki kaisn or The War at Sea from Hawii to Mlaya
portrayed the attack of Pearl Harbor.
Due to the World War II, Japan became exposed to American animation which had
been banned under the war-time government. Japanese anime became more
Disney-like in their features with musical numbers and animal sidekicks. The
success of the Walt Disney Companys 1937 feature film Snow White and Seven

Dwarfs influenced Japanese animators greatly. The manga animator and artist
Osamu Tezuka, considered the legend and the God of Manga, adapted and
simplified many Disney animation techniques to reduce costs and to limit the
number of costs and to limit the number of frames in productions. He started a
production company called Mushi Productions, and his work inspired characteristics
and genres that remain fundamental elements of anime till date. Another critical
personality for the development of Japanese anime was Yasuo Otsuka, animator of
the Toeis production. Mushi Productions and Toeis Production were the most
important production companies in Japan. Toei lent its talent to International
Companies like Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, DiC Entertainment,
Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, Ruby Spears and Hanna Barbera. They collaboratively
produced animated cartoons for America during the 80s. Other studios like TMS
Entertainment, were also being used more often to animate foreign productions.
However, the Japanese companies involved, still produced anime for their domestic
market.
During the 1970s, the Japanese film market shrunk due to competition from
television. This increased competition, reduced Toeis animation staff and many
animators went to other studios. Mushi Production went bankrupt and its former
employees founded studos such as Madhouse Production and Sunrise. As a result,
many young animators were thrust into the position of directors instead of being
promoted and this injection of young talent allowed for a wide variety of
experimentation. One example of such experimentation is a television series Heidi,
Girl of the Alps, which represented a shift from the fantastic theme to the realistic
drama aimed toward the children. Heidi became an international success as iy was
exported to many European countries and it became very popular there (Kehr,
2002).
Anime became a major cultural export between the 1980s and 1990s. According to
Japans External trade Organization, the anime market for the United States is worth
around $4.35 billion. Anime has also had commercial success in Asia. Anime in
Europe and Latin American, has become more tradirional than in the United States.
For example, many anime based video games were released in Europe due to its
popularity; even years after the show went off-air. Anime distribution companies
handled the licensing and distribution of anime outside Japan. Licensed anime is
modified by distributors through dubbing or subtitling. The internet has played a
significant role in the exposure of anime beyond Japan. Before the 1990s, anime
had limited exposure beyond Japans border. As the popularity of the internet grew,
so did interest in anime (Basker, 2008)
The combination of internet communities and increasing amounts of anime
material. From video to images, helped the process of internationalization. Another
factor that contributed to the expansion of anime in Western world was the
phenomenon of fansubs, who are a group of fans who create subtitles for anime
on their own and distribute the episodes by uploading in the websites and advertise
them, to earn money. This violates copyright laws in many countries. Even though
ethical implications of distributing or watching fansubs is a topic of controversy,

fansubs played an important role in helping anime become popular, especially in

the English speaking world.
During the 1990s, international TV Networks started to broadcast anime regularly. In
the United States, cable TV channels such as Cartoon Network, Disney, Syfy, and
others dedicated some air-time to anime, whereas others such as the Anime
Network and FUNimation Channel, specifically aired anime. Sony-based Animax and
Disneys Jetix channel broadcasted anime in many countries. AnimeCentral solely
broadcasted anime in the UK (Leonard, 2003)
Since anime became commercially profitable in western countries, it made a
significant impact on the Western culture. Since the 19 th century, many Westerners
have expressed an increasing interest towards Japan, Anime drastically exposed
more Westerners to the culture of Japan. Aside from anime, other aspects of the
Japanese culture increased in terms of popularity. For example, the number of
people studying Japanese increased worldwide. In 1984, the Japanese Language
Proficiency Test was devised to meet the increasing demand. Anime-influenced
animation refers to non-Japanese production of animation, which adopts the visual
style of anime. Most of these productions are created by studios in the United
States, Europe, and Asia excluding Japan (Convention Schedule, 2007).
Another important phenomenon is the diffusion of animation of anime conventions,
event with the primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. They began to
appear in the early 1990s, during the Anime boom, starting with Anime Expo,
Animethon, Otakon, and JACON. Currently anime conventions are held annually in
many cities across the Americas, Asia and Europe. Many attendants participate in
cosplay, short for costume paly. It is a type of performance art in which
participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character from a
popular fiction in Japan, In addition anime conventions and anime clubs have
become popular in colleges, high schools and community centers a s a way to
publicly exhibit anime as well as widening Japanese culture understanding. For
instance the Japanese term otaku is used as a term for anime fans who hail from
other parts of the world, who are obsessed with anime. The term otaku has a
negative connotion in Japan but contrastingly in the international context it is
considered a matter of pride for the fans.
The Domestic Market
The Media Development Research Institute Institute reported on August 9, 2009 in
its Animation Market Analysis Project that the Japanese domestic and foreign
animation market grew by 1.6%between 2008 and 2009 to about US$2.52 billion,
but has nbot reclaimed its 2006 peak of US$2.026 billion. The bar graph in Figure 12
displays the declining trend of Japanese animation consumption in the recent years.
Foreign titles have captured less than 15% of the Japanese animation market.

Exports
Anime has established a large market size at home; however its sales abroad are
only a fraction of its domestic sales.

Anime sales abroad are generally highest in the regions of North America, Europe,
and Asia. In 2005, Japanese anime-related sales reached $500 million, mainly
derived from character merchandise geared toward children. Sales of DVDs catered
to the teenage market segment peaked in 2003 at approximately $550 million, but
have experienced a decline since then as seen in the figure. Manga sales peaked in
2007 at $219million and declined to $140 million in 2009. European countries;
however, have imposed entry barriers including the screen quota system, which has
forced Japanese anime to compete against American movies. Furthermore,
childrens title do not gain popularity unless they are aired on TV, which hinders the
development of markets for character goods, character-based games, cards games,

toys and manga. Similarly, China requires a government permit to air the anime on
its TV Channels. Moreover many anime titles are illegally sold in the form of pirated
DVDs there.

Japanese Anime Cluster Advantage:

Government Support
The Japanese governments support is a major contributor to the success of
the Anime Cluster. Government and Anime industry players started
promoting and exporting anime aggressively as the Japanese Culture. In
2004, the Japanese government passed a law regarding the content of mass
media industry promotion, to sustain Japanese anime industrys top position
in the world. Previously Animation was not associated with the Japanese
culture. In 2004, the Japanese government passed a law regarding the
content of mass media industry promotion, to sustain Japanese anime
industrys top position in the world. Now the Jpanese government promotes
Cool Japan culture by leveraging the popularity created by Manga, Anime
and Video Games. The government globally markets anime as the modern
extension of traditional Japanese arts (Younghan, 2009)
The First Mover Advantage
Japan has the first mover advantage as the pioneer of Anime. Furthermore
Japan utilizes the low cost labor of its neighbors. The Japanese have
developed powerful high quality animation production platforms to produce
good quality anime, which has attracted competition from North American
television and film producers who also outsource their production in Japan
and the rest of Asia (Woods, 2011).
Popularity
Japan anime has reached 87.2 percent of the worlds population. Due to this
popularity, people worldwide associate animation with Japan. Therefore,
anime exports generate over 18 to 20 billion in revenue. It is evident that
promoting and exporting animation has expanded the Japans anime cluster
sphere of influence (Nagata, 2010)
Close Ties with licensed operators
These operators have further extended the value chain of anime industry.
They sell shirts, caps, video games, costumes etc. worldwide. This factors
adds to the revenue of this cluster (Japan External Trade Organization).

After the foundation of Disney Land in Tokyo in 1983. There was a trend to build
theme parks in Japan. However in the late 1990s when the Japanese economy went
down sponsors became hesitant to invest in theme parks since there were not
enough tourists. The existing theme parks are not able to compete with Disney Land
because they are too small. Theme parks are not able to compete the industrial
chain. The animation companies in Japan are not the owners of the cartoon
character they made. Instead, the authors are the owners of these characters , so
unlike Disney, if the sponsors want to build a theme park in Japan, they will have to
negotiate with each author about the details of co-operation which need a lot of
time and effort. The suggestion is for the Japanese authors to give part of the
authority to the animation companies then the companies can represent these
authors to negotiate with the theme park builders. In addition companies can keep
on building theme parks for a certain cartoon character, for example Crayon Shinchan and Doraemon to target niche market.