Looking into the “Anime Global Popular” and the “Manga Media”: Reflections on the Scholarship of a Transnational and Transmedia Industry

Abstract

This article introduces the special issue dedicated to global industries around anime, its theoretical commentary and its cross-cultural consumption. The concepts “anime” and “anime studies” are evaluated critically, involving current debates such as those presented in this volume. This discussion will employ the concepts of “manga media” as well as the “popular global”, giving an account of the transmedia and transcultural character of these creative industries. The conclusion critiques the irregular presence of Cultural Studies in the study of Japanese visual culture and advocates for constructing an updated dialogue with this tradition in order to readdress the study of these media as a form of global popular culture.

Otaku Tourists Out of Japan: Fictionality, Shared Memories, and the Role of National Branding in the Japanese Pilgrimages of Anime Fans in the United Kingdom

“… While the term “anime media‐mix” is the most popular, the centrality of manga as an origin of stylistic features and narrative tropes has been often discussed (Hernández‐Péreze, “Looking”). Here, the focus is on “anime,” which is arguably the most international of the elements within these media mixes and the main motivation for the different forms of otaku tourism. …”

Japanese popular culture reception in Croatia as exemplified by anime and manga fans

“…Susan Napier smatra kako određuje i njezin čitav poslijeratni razvoj, od tehničkih i estetskih karakteristika do raširenosti i novih poslovnih i kreativnih mogućnosti animatora Disneyev primjer u pristupu kontroliranja autorskih prava na Atomu i među prvima u Japanu traži naknadu za korištenje lika, a osniva i udruženje za licencirane proizvode "Atomu no kai". 87 Već u ovo doba, dolazi do svojevrsne inverzije utjecaja dvaju animacijskih tradicija. Kada 1994. izlazi Disneyev Lion King, kritike u dvama američkim novinama ubrzo primjećuju sličnost s Tezukinim Jungle Emperorom, u likovima, okolišu, imenima i detaljima.…”

“…Iskustvo "slike" tako se odvija u dvije dimenzije: suspenzije kao superlinarne, i iščekivanje koje je linearno (Ibid. [86][87].…”