Is anime a genre or a media? Is it a branch of film or another mode?
I guess its hard to decide but i would say it is a genre of a media and a form which allows people to enter a new world through media as it is generally used in TV, video, video games, films etc.
What place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia? Is it a high or low cultural genre/media? how is anime culturally located?
According to Napier (2005), anime is a abbreviated term in Japanese pronunciation and became a new English word from 'animation'. This tells how Japanese animation has become so popular and well-known for its animation to Western world as well as Eastern. It is huge and massive in Japan as he states as 'mass culture', contrast to 'sub culture' in America. Anime is a popular cultural form that clearly builds on previous high cultural traditions. Not only does the medium show influences from such Japanese traditional arts as Kabuki and the woodblock print but it also makes use of worldwide artistic traditions of twentieth century cinema and photography. The issues it explores, often are familiar to readers of contemporary 'high culture' literature. Japaneses' animated works are a major part of the output of Japanese studios. Animated films are also far more important in Japan than in the West. Unlike cartoons in the West, anime in Japan is truly a mainstream pop cultural phenomenon. Anime is watched and accepted from little children to grandparaents. Its popularity is also can be seen in Korea especially in the last decade that i watched many of them and my friends as well. May not be not much as in Japan but i also know how it has been garderning its popularity.
Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/ Macmillan.
Ji Eun, good to see that you're catching up - the first question is a difficult one - I'm not sure if a dichotomy exists between anime as a genre or media. Anime is definitely a genre as we can ascribe it a set of defining characteristics.
ReplyDeleteI agree, its not obviously a media, but a genre. I found a couple of definitions supporting this.
ReplyDeleteDefinition from Whatls: "Anime (pronounced AH-nee-may ) is a term for a style of Japanese comic book and video cartoon animation in which the main characters have large doe-like eyes. Many Web sites are devoted to anime. Anime is the prevalent style in Japanese comic books or manga."
Another definition according to wiki: "Distributors can release anime via television broadcasts, directly to video, or theatrically, as well as online. Both hand-drawn and computer-animated anime exist. It is used in television series, films, video, video games, commercials, and internet-based releases, and represents most, if not all, genres of fiction."