maybe the current popularity of anime is because anime is not infused with the moral campaigning that Los Angeles media is?
maybe the current popularity of anime is because anime is not infused with the moral campaigning that Los Angeles media is?
Maybe, but unclear how much of a change that would be from “maybe the ‘90s popularly of anime is because anime was more infused with schoolgirl panties and tentacle rape than Los Angeles media was?”, anyway.
Tbf the anime industry in the US is exponentially larger today than it was in the 90′s or even the start of the 2010′s, though I’ll admit “actual number of new watchers” is hard to quantify over “increasing financialization of existing consumption streams & assets”. I think its decent odds that some dynamic beyond a rehash of the 90′s dynamic is required for that growth to make sense.
One of the big pluses for anime (for me) is that it doesn’t have the vague infusion of progressive politics made mandatory in western media since Trump got elected. Escapism from the 24/7 stalemate culture war is nice.
Yeah its definitely a plus for me, just on the sheer tiredness of the political tropes you can’t bang your head against anymore - though Anime certainly has its own repeated concepts! I think its even more prevalent in Manga sales, which are now the plurality of all comic sales in the US as their native compatriots have had a far more striking cultural shift in their content.
Still, how much of the growth is stemming from that? I still have no real pulse on, could be a tiny fraction or a legitimate part of the story, or this idea is entirely misdirected and its all legitimate streaming finally competing with piracy for eyeballs while the eyeball pile remains the same size.
I do think it’s a good sign that while YA is trying to calibrate their Queer Representation just right manga is pandering to its audience like “yaoi boys are hot 😅”
In fairness as a bisexual man I am wildly more positive about female attraction to male-male pairings than might be the norm.
I wonder if anime has repetitive tropes and political themes of its own… but Western audiences don’t pick up on them?
Oh it does, and I have watched enough of it that I am picking up on it.
The first and most obvious one is that Japanese people have no idea what the Empire did during WWII. They know the vague overview, but the real warcrime stuff is not covered.
There’s a huge focus on working moms being detrimental to their children in lots of anime, and that career oriented girls in high school are unlikable busibodies.
On the one hand I want to say “alternate WWII where Japan wins and is totally the good guys” is one of my favorite anime tropes but on the other WHAT?