Global Englishes Exam

May 2019

The influence of the English language and

the culture of English speakers on Japanese
anime films and series

By Jeppe Bloch Albertsen

Jeppe Bloch Albertsen 21/05-2019
Studienr.: 201807325 Global Englishes Exam
Eksamens nr.: 142187

Table of contents:
Introduction: ............................................................................................................................................................3
Description of site: ........................................................................................................................................................ 3
Concepts and theories: .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Methods: ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4

The use of the English language in Japanese anime series and films: ......................................................................4
A brief history of anime: ................................................................................................................................................ 4
On the surface: .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Dubbing: ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7

The influence of western art and culture on anime:.................................................................................................7

Howl’s Moving Castle (Miyazaki, 2004): ...................................................................................................................... 7
Cowboy Bebop (Nobumoto, 1997-1998): ...................................................................................................................... 7

From inspired to inspiring: ......................................................................................................................................8

The integrity of the industry of anime: ........................................................................................................................... 9

Conclusion:.............................................................................................................................................................10

List of references: ................................................................................................................................................... 11

Appendices: ............................................................................................................................................................12
1: Various anime title shots ......................................................................................................................................... 12
2: One Piece theme song lyrics: .................................................................................................................................. 13
3: Examples of One Piece move names: ...................................................................................................................... 14
4: Examples of English writing in the background: .................................................................................................... 14
5: Montage of English in anime (video): ..................................................................................................................... 15
6: Spike Spiegel outfit: ................................................................................................................................................. 15

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Jeppe Bloch Albertsen 21/05-2019
Studienr.: 201807325 Global Englishes Exam
Eksamens nr.: 142187

Introduction:

Description of site:
For this paper, I have chosen to write about the influence of the English language, and the inherent
culture that follows it, on the art of Japanese anime films and series. The reasons for me choosing this
specific topic are numerous, but in the end they can all be condensed down to the single point of me
being an avid, long-time fan of not only anime, but Japanese culture in general. I have been watching
anime for the majority of my life, well over a decade, and continue to do so to this day. As so, anime
has become an integral part of who I am and it is something I leisurely spend my spare time on, with
it being an easy choice of subject for this paper to me. I am a firm believer in the fact that writing
about something you care about makes whatever you are writing about that much more interesting
for the reader to read about.

Concepts and theories:

Heading into this paper I had the notion that not much research had been conduct prior to me writing
it. In some regard, I was both right and wrong, which came as a delight to me. The analysis part of
this paper will consequently consist of a number of different blog posts, YouTube videos and online
articles, which I will do my best to string together to provide some insight into the topic of this paper.
With this in mind, only a few concepts are truly important to be aware of before heading deeper into
this paper.
The first is the fact that Japan is categorized as being in the expanding circle, meaning that they are
learners of English (Galloway & Rose, 2015, p. 19). Their proficiency is subpar for a country with
the size of the economy that they have, and they rank only 35 in English proficiency - behind
th

countries such as Russia and Taiwan (Pariona, 2017).

Second, the analysis and discussion parts of this paper will be based on the notion that language is
embedded in culture (culture in the anthropological sense), and that language is transmitted culturally
more so than it is verbally or written (Crystal & Robins, 2019).
Third, and last, the economic exchange value of languages must be accounted for, as this paper is
dealing with an industry rather than a people. It is therefore important to note that the use of languages
by the entities mentioned in this paper may be deliberate rather than consequential (Cameron D. ,
2012).

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Eksamens nr.: 142187
Methods:
As this paper is dealing with a subject which has been part of my life for a substantial portion of it,
the amount of quantitative data as a background for this paper is too much to keep track of. A personal
estimate of the amount of anime series and films I have watched in the last decade would be well
over 1,500 episodes and maybe 50 films. For example, One Piece (Oda, 1997-present), a show which
has recently turned 20 years old and is reaching its 900 episode (it is both the longest running anime
th

in history and the highest grossing), make up around half of my catalogue of watched shows.
Furthermore, every single piece of work cited in this paper is critically acclaimed, making the data
not only quantitative, but also qualitative. Lastly, I will be referring to various blog posts, web articles
and YouTube videos, which have also been background checked in order to ensure the quality of the
information pulled from them.

The use of the English language in Japanese anime series and films:

A brief history of anime:

The start of the 1900s saw the Japanese film industry arrive in the world. Along with it followed what
is now the worldwide phenomena: anime. During its roughly 100 years of being, it (as an art form)
has undergone an incredible transformation.
After the industry’s humble beginnings, in the very early 1900s, with the rise of a nationalist Japan
and World War II on the brink, it transitioned towards a propagandist and commercialized orientation.
Not until after WWII did it start to pull inspiration from Walt Disney, which gave rise to the first
entertainment oriented Japanese animation studio, Toei.
When the industry slowly moved towards making series over features (though they were still being
made, of course), it started gaining traction in the western part of the world. The first real example of
this would be 1963s Astro Boy (Tomino, 1963-1975), which to this day is a nostalgic series for many
fans of the genre, with Astro Boy video games still being made.
With TV’s ever-increasing popularity over feature films, series saw a steady increase in both quantity
and quality all throughout the 60’s and 70’s, pulling film makers into TV-series.
The 1980’s became the catalyst for anime, giving birth to several major studios, series and features.
The most notable include, but are not limited to: former Toei animator Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio
Ghibli, which created several films in the 80’s which are now considered classics, GAINAX (who
would later be the creators of Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anno, 1995-1996)), and Katsuhiro Otomo’s

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Eksamens nr.: 142187
Akira (Otomo & Hashimoto, 1988). However, they underperformed in the box-office, but the
invention of the home video secured the longevity of the works of this era.
The 1990’s saw the emergence of the internet, DVD’s and an increasing amount of anime’s being
dubbed to English, as a result of the popularity gained by the works of the 80’s. All these factors led
to several major works of the era, such as One Piece (Oda, 1997-present), Cowboy Bebop
(Nobumoto, 1997-1998), Ghost In The Shell (Itō, 1995) and Perfect Blue (Murai, 1997).
Despite the struggles of piracy and improper working conditions, the genre of anime continues to see
a rise in both quantity and quality, with some of the most critically acclaimed anime’s having been
made in the last 15 years, such as Death Note (Inoue, 2006-2007) and Fullmetal Alchemist:
Brotherhood (Ōnogi, 2009-2010). 1

On the surface:
The first part of the analysis of this paper will focus on the apparent and clear influences of English
on anime. That is, methodical and plain uses of English, such as spoken English words or English
writing in various scenes of the film. For the sake of simplicity, it will be compiled into a list, as what
will be mentioned will be a general observation made on the basis of several different points of data.
1. Maybe the most apparent influence to be spotted would be that of the title sequences of several
of the films and shows mentioned in this paper. As can be seen, their title shot is most
2

commonly written in English, with the oldest in this analysis being Akira (Otomo &
Hashimoto, 1988). It is therefore a tool that has been used for several decades, dating back to
before the arrival of the home video and the breakthrough of anime in occidental society.
2. Many series’ opening theme songs make use of the English language, intertwining it into the
Japanese lyrics, something which is not often done in western culture (although there are
examples of it). The theme song for Cowboy Bebop (Nobumoto, 1997-1998) starts off with a
narrator saying the phrase “three, two, one, let’s go”, but this will be analyzed later on in the
paper. The theme song for One Piece (Oda, 1997-present) makes avid use of intertwined
English words in its lyrics. When looking at the lyrics, two different approaches can be
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observed. They use full sentences as a type of catchphrase, acting as a chorus in the song. The
verses are somewhat more obscure, including what, to a westerner, appears to be rather

1
This section was written on the basis of (Yegulalp, 2019).
2
See appendix 1.
3
See appendix 2. English words are written with capital letters.

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Eksamens nr.: 142187
random words thrown into the mix simply with the intention of doing exactly that: singing
more English words.
3. English words used as terms which are local to the universe of the given feature or series. For
example, the film Ghost In The Shell (Itō, 1995) makes use of the word “ghost” all throughout
the film. It has, however, been giving a different meaning than the standard English meaning
of a dead person being manifested in a nebulous image. In the film, the term “ghost” is used
to describe the human consciousness, or soul. Nonetheless, they chose to use the English
word, giving the word a semantic change and creating their own term to fit the universe of the
film.
4. A standard in the genre of action anime is the use of move names. A move, here, is when a
character performs a maneuver with the intent of attacking someone or something. For
simplicity’s sake, One Piece (Oda, 1997-present) will be used as an example again. Countless 4

move names in the universe of One Piece has English names, but are not limited to them (other
languages, such as French and Spanish, are used as well).
5. The use of English writing in the background or scenery of a given shot is used in several
different anime. The use is often in connection to advertisements, names of places or signs.
5

They are often easy to spot, standing out in a forest of Kanji. Sometimes, however, they blend
in naturally with the environment, as in Akira, where the name of a bowling center is called
“Starbowl”. This makes sense, as bowling is an inherent American industry.
6. The use of English names. Cowboy Bebop (Nobumoto, 1997-1998) is a great example of this,
with the 4 main characters named: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine and Edward.
7. Lastly is simply the use of phrases or whole sentences in English in different anime. They
sometimes come across as comedic to occidental audiences, showing off Japans low level of
English proficiency. The attached video shows the widespread use of this, clocking in as a 36
6

minutes long quick-cut compilation of different examples of anime using the English language
directly.

4
See appendix 3. The list is a small outtake of some of the many, many moves in the series.
5
See appendix 4.
6
See appendix 5. The intended use of this link is to give the reader the ability to quickly choose random locations in
the video in order to get a sense of the scale of English used in anime in this way.

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Eksamens nr.: 142187
Dubbing:
A point which is essential to mention is the fact that every single one of the works mentioned in this
paper has been dubbed into English, at some point in time. Some of the older works may not have
gotten their dubs until later on, though. Throughout time, the art of dubbing has been controversial,
and has become a topic which splits the waters amongst fans of the genre. On the one side, dubbing
is a way for the producers of the show to reach a much bigger audience. They can now target kids
who may not have the ability to read subbed versions, or adults who refuse to watch something in
Japanese. However, many believe that dubbed anime lose integrity, and thereby quality, and simply
refuse to watch an anime which has been dubbed. In short, there is no real answer as to what is best.
It depends on the show/film (Atkinson, 2017).

The influence of western art and culture on anime:

Howl’s Moving Castle (Miyazaki, 2004):

This paper would not be complete without mentioning the extraordinary Hayao Miyazaki. The
founder of Studio Ghibli and the creator of dozens of films, Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (Miyazaki,
2001) is the only anime to have ever won an academy award. It won Best Animated Feature in 2003,
and Miyazaki has since earned two more nominations in the category, and received the honorary
award from the Academy in 2015 (IMDb, n.d.).
Miyazaki is, however, somewhat of a deviation from this paper’s topic. It is apparent that he is not
making films commercially, but rather for the sake of the art. With that being said, western influence
can still be found in his work. His film Howl’s Moving Castle (Miyazaki, 2004) is an adaptation of
the book by the same name, written in 1986 by Diana Wynne Jones, from England. There is therefore
little argumentation to be had when questioning whether or not this film has been influenced by
western culture (Lane, 2015).

Cowboy Bebop (Nobumoto, 1997-1998):

As mentioned previously, Shinichirö Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop has plenty of direct uses of the
English language. It is, however, to a much higher extent influenced by the culture of the western
world. The music, clothing, buildings, characters and stories are but a few of the areas where the
series draw heavily on western (and specifically American) culture.

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Eksamens nr.: 142187
Take the name, for a start, Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビバップ, Kaubōi Bibappu). Giving a
Japanese series a more western American name would be hard. A cowboy is, of course, an animal
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herder who works on ranches in North America (Wikipedia, n.d.). Bebop is a genre of jazz, which
flourished in the 1940s in the United States (Wikipedia, n.d.). So, in short, both words in the title of
the series are strictly English, serving as a clear indicator of what the viewer can expect from the
series. The title truly does capture the main essence of the series, as it revolves around a band of space
bounty hunters in a distant future, with a phenomenal jazz score to glue it all together.
As stated earlier, the names of the main characters in the series cannot be said to be simply influenced
by English. Like the title of the show, the names are English. The characters Faye Valentine and Jet
Black came to life after Watanabe had listened to My Funny Valentine and Led Zeppelin’s Black
Dog, with the main character, Spike Spiegel, being based off of Clint Eastwood. Watanabe has also
stated that he was directly inspired by classic American films, such as Alien, Taxi Driver and
Desperado, as well as various Jazz genres and The Rolling Stones (Rizzo-Smith, 2017).
While Cowboy Bebop is a mix of several pop-culture references, the most prominent is, without a
doubt, that of the American western genre. Spikes gun is a reference to the go-to gun for western
films, the colt-45. A reoccurring TV-show within the series is called “Big Shot for The Bounty
Hunters”, which features two cowboys showing off various wanted posters. In the pilot episode of
the series, Spike wears a poncho and a sombrero, solidifying the Clint Eastwood inspiration. 8

Beyond this, there are simply too many western culture references to count, with movies such as
2001: A Space Odyssey, the original Django, Star Trek and Desperado being amongst the references
in the series (Noory, 2019). To emphasize just how big of an impact the series has made on the world,
Netflix has recently announced a live-action adaptation of it.

From inspired to inspiring:

It has become clear that there are definitive answers to the question “has the industry of anime been
inspired by western culture?”. The answer is yes, it has, in many different ways. The answer to why
this is may be a bit more obscure, however. When keeping in mind the commodification of language
(Cameron D. , 2012), one can begin to imagine the case where the Japanese anime creators saw the
potential of the English speaking viewers, and therefore slowly began to incorporate, be that

7
See appendix 1 again for confirmation of the fact that it uses the English name in the title shot of the series.
8
See appendix 6.

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Eksamens nr.: 142187
consciously or subconsciously, both direct and indirect references to the English language and
western culture in their films and series. The phenomena appears to have taken off in the mid 1980s,
with films such as Akira (Otomo & Hashimoto, 1988), but pieces such as Ghost In The Shell (Itō,
1995) and Cowboy Bebop (Nobumoto, 1997-1998), made in the 1990s, made it clear to the world
that the art of anime was definitively trying to tap into the western market. At this point, the notion
of anime being an industry became clear, and as with most all industries in the world, a chance to tap
into bigger markets will be taken. Did they succeed in doing this, then? Most would argue that they
did. Today, anime is a bigger industry than ever, having reached a milestone income of $25.5 billion
in 2016, for the first time in history (Chapman, 2017).
The popularity of anime becomes ever more apparent when looking at what western culture is doing
today. Now, anime has become such a big industry that developers in the western part of the world
are the ones trying to tap into the market, and not the other way around. Shows such as Avatar: The
Last Airbender (DiMartino & Konietzko, 2005-2008) and Samurai Jack (Tartakovsky, Andrews,
Larsen, & Reccardi, 2001-2017) serve as examples of American studios deliberately trying to recreate
the feel of a Japanese anime, targeted towards a western audience.
It extends further than this, however. American live-action movies have likewise been inspired by
anime, with The Matrix (Wachowskis, 1999) and Avatar (Cameron J. , 2009) directors the
Wachowskis and James Cameron openly citing Ghost In The Shell (Itō, 1995) as being an
instrumental inspiration for their works (Schrodt, 2017).

The integrity of the industry of anime:

When contemplating the integrity of the industry of anime throughout the years, many things must
be considered. The key component in this, however, must be the difference in culture between the
Japanese and the western part of the world. They live in a capitalistic world, just like the rest of the
world, which comes to show through some of the clear inspirations that many and most of the series
and films show. However, the Japanese people are known for being hard workers, having a great
respect for the cultural integrity and the creative purpose which their work serves. Eiichiro Oda (One
Piece) has been quoted with having said that he would even die for One Piece. Where western series
see a tremendous change in writers and directors throughout their runtime, anime creators see their
work through, generally working on every and all of the series episodes (The Artifice, 2017).

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Studienr.: 201807325 Global Englishes Exam
Eksamens nr.: 142187

Conclusion:
This paper has contemplated the influence of the English language and western culture on Japanese
anime. A brief history of anime has been outlined in order to give the reader a deeper understanding
of what came before what is written about in this paper. The analysis part of the paper has dealt with
several different topics, such as direct uses of the English language in anime, to more subtle ways in
which western culture has had an impact on the genre. The relationship of anime and western films
and series is becoming closer and closer, with a move from anime being inspired by western culture
to western films being inspired by anime being visible. The critically acclaimed works mentioned in
this paper all serve somewhat the same purpose: to show that the genre of anime does draw heavily
on western culture, but that it at the same time encapsulates the integrity of Japanese art, culture and
the people behind it all.

(Character count: 18.573)

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Eksamens nr.: 142187

List of references:
Anno, H. (Writer), & Anno, H. (Director). (1995-1996). Neon Genesis Evangelion [Series]. Tokyo,
Japan.
Atkinson, C. (2017, December 14). Day Translations. Retrieved May 2019, from
daytranslation.com: https://www.daytranslations.com/blog/2017/12/anime-dubbed-
subbed-10298/
Ōnogi, H. (Writer), & Irie, Y. (Director). (2009-2010). Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood [Series].
Tokyo, Japan.
Cameron, D. (2012). The Commodification Of Language: English As A Global Commodity. In
Nevalainen, & E. Tragott, The Oxford Handbook Of The History Of English (pp. 352-361).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cameron, J. (Writer), & Cameron, J. (Director). (2009). Avatar [Motion Picture]. USA.
Chapman, P. (2017, October 25). Crunchyroll. Retrieved May 2019, from crunchyroll.com:
https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2017/10/24/anime-industry-income-hits-29-
trillion-yen-milestone
Crystal, D., & Robins, R. H. (2019, January 10). Encyclopædia Brittannica. Retrieved May 2019,
from brittannica.com: https://www.britannica.com/topic/language/Language-and-culture
DiMartino, M., Konietzko, B. (Writers), Ehasz, A., MacMullan, L., Filoni, D., Volpe, G., Lioi, A.,
Spaulding, E., . . . Santos, J. (Directors). (2005-2008). Avatar: The Last Airbender [Series].
USA.
English in Anime (2016). (2017, March 14). Retrieved May 2019, from youtube.com:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXn1HKqk9j4
Galloway, N., & Rose, H. (2015). Introducing Global Englishes. New York: Routledge.
IMDb. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2019, from imdb.com:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0594503/?ref_=nmawd_awd_nm
Inoue, T. (Writer), & Araki, T. (Director). (2006-2007). Death Note [Series]. Tokyo, Japan.
Ishida, Y. (2005). We Are! [Recorded by Y. Ishida]. Tokyo, Japan.
Itō, K. (Writer), & Oshii, M. (Director). (1995). Ghost In The Shell [Motion Picture]. Tokyo, Japan.
Lane, V. (2015, June 22). Tofugu. Retrieved May 2019, from tofugo.com:
https://www.tofugu.com/japan/studio-ghibli-books/
Miyazaki, H. (Writer), & Miyazaki, H. (Director). (2001). Spirited Away [Motion Picture]. Tokyo,
Japan.
Miyazaki, H. (Writer), & Miyazaki, H. (Director). (2004). Howl's Moving Castle [Motion Picture].
Tokyo, Japan.
Murai, S. (Writer), & Kon, S. (Director). (1997). Perfect Blue [Motion Picture]. Tokyo, Japan.
Nobumoto, K. (Writer), & Watanabe, S. (Director). (1997-1998). Cowboy Bebop [Series]. Tokyo,
Japan.
Noory, D. (2019, May 16). fanbyte. Retrieved May 2019, from fanbyte.com:
https://www.fanbyte.com/features/cowboy-bebop-western-genre/
Oda, E. (Writer), Uda, K., Shimizu, J., Sakai, M., Miyamoto, H., Fukazawa, T., Itö, S., & Nagamine, T.
(Directors). (1997-present). One Piece [Series]. Tokyo, Japan.
Otomo, K., Hashimoto, I. (Writers), & Otomo, K. (Director). (1988). Akira [Motion Picture]. Tokyo,
Japan.

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Studienr.: 201807325 Global Englishes Exam
Eksamens nr.: 142187
Pariona, A. (2017, August 1). World Atlas. Retrieved May 2019 , from worldatlas.com:
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-that-are-most-and-least-proficient-in-
english.html
Rizzo-Smith, J. (2017, November 24). IGN. Retrieved May 2019, from nordic.ign.com:
https://nordic.ign.com/cowboy-bebop/6878/feature/the-many-inspirations-of-cowboy-
bebop-director-shinichiro-watanabe
Schrodt, P. (2017, April 1). Business Insider. Retrieved May 2019, from businessinsider.com:
https://www.businessinsider.com/original-ghost-in-the-shell-movie-influence-2017-
3?r=US&IR=T
Shinkai, M. (Writer), & Shinkai, M. (Director). (2016). Your Name. [Motion Picture]. Tokyo, Japan.
Tartakovsky, G., Andrews, B., Larsen, B., Reccardi, C. (Writers), Tartakovsky, G., Myers, R., &
Alvarez, R. (Directors). (2001-2017). Samurai Jack [Series]. USA.
The Artifice. (2017, August 7). Retrieved May 2019, from the-artifice.com: https://the-
artifice.com/western-culture-embrace-anime/
Tomino, Y. (Writer), & Tezuka, O. (Director). (1963-1975). Astro Boy [Series]. Tokyo, Japan.
Wachowskis (Writer), & Wachowskis (Director). (1999). The Matrix [Motion Picture]. USA.
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2019, from en.wikipedia.org:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2019, from en.wikipedia.org:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebop
Yegulalp, S. (2019, April 27). ThoughtCo. Retrieved May 2019, from thoughco.com:
https://www.thoughtco.com/brief-history-of-anime-144979

Appendices:

1: Various anime title shots

(Otomo & Hashimoto, 1988)

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Eksamens nr.: 142187

(Murai, 1997)

(Itō, 1995)

(Nobumoto, 1997-1998)

2: One Piece theme song lyrics:

Arittakeno yume o kakiatsume
sagashi mono sagashini yuku no sa ONE PIECE
rashinban nante jyutai no moto
netsu ni ukasare kaji o toru no sa
HOKORI ka butteta takara no chizu mo
tashikameta no nara densetsu jyanai!
kojin teki na arashi wa dareka no
BIORHYTHM nokkatte
omoi sugose ba ii
arittakeno yume o kakiatsume
sagashi mono sagashini yuku no sa
POCKET no COIN, soreto

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YOU WANNA BE MY FRIEND?
WE ARE, WE ARE ON THE CRUISE! WE ARE!
zembu mani ukete shinji chattemo
kata o osarete iippo LEAD sa
kondo aetanara hanasu tsumorisa
sore kara no koto to kore kara no koto
tsumari itsumo PINCH wa dareka ni
APPEAL dekiru ii CHANCE
ji ishiki kajyoo ni!
shimittareta yoru o buttobase!
takara bako ni KYOUMI wa nai kedo
POCKET ni ROMAN, soreto
YOU WANNA BE MY FRIEND?
WE ARE, WE ARE ON THE CRUISE! WE ARE!
arittakeno yume o kakiatsume
sagashi mono sagashini yuku no sa
POCKET no COIN, soreto
YOU WANNA BE MY FRIEND?
WE ARE, WE ARE ON THE CRUISE! WE ARE!
WE ARE! WE ARE!
(Ishida, 2005)

3: Examples of One Piece move names:

• Gomu Gomu no Pistol

• … Blast
• … Rocket
• … Bazooka
• … Gatling
• … Rifle
• Gear Second/Third/Fourth
• Ice Age
• Radical Beam
• Venom Demon
• Gamma Knife

4: Examples of English writing in the background:

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(Nobumoto, 1997-1998)

(Otomo & Hashimoto, 1988)

5: Montage of English in anime (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXn1HKqk9j4 (English in Anime (2016), 2017)

6: Spike Spiegel outfit:

(Nobumoto, 1997-1998)

(Clint Eastwood in Desperado)

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