Ask John: Do the Japanese Really Have an Appreciation for Anime?

Question:
Do the Japanese really have an appreciation for anime? I was talking to a Japanese exchange student the other day and asked her if she liked anime. She told me she doesn’t watch Japanese animation anymore because she’s too old. But then she said she does watch American animation–looking slightly embarrassed. This made me wonder if the appeal of anime in Japan is really as widespread as I’d thought. Do you know if anime in Japan is regarded as more “for kids” and not as a viable, sophisticated art form?

Answer:
Based on my admittedly limited knowledge of Japanese culture, the appreciation for anime in Japan is an odd, bipolar thing. Based purely on the very fact that the anime industry exists, we must assume that Japan does have a market for, and an appreciation of, animated cinema and comic book art. But on the other hand, as you’ve experienced, most anime seems to fall into the realm of “guilty pleasure” or children’s programming.

There should be no question that first and foremost anime is a commercial product created to sell videotapes and movie tickets and toys and commercial airtime. But the vast diversity of anime, and the existence of such staunchly non-commercial productions as Angel’s Egg, Serial Experiments Lain, 1001 Nights, and Nekojiru-So prove that at least some part of the anime industry has evolved and expanded past the limitations of mere commercial product into the realm of contemporary art form. In the same way that some Japanese viewers may enjoy American animation and Disney movies possibly because of their “foreign-ness” and distinction from convention, American fans may likewise explain some of their interest in Japanese animation. Not all anime is good, but even bad anime may still be interesting to Americans because it’s different from the American animation that we’re used to. But to return to my point, the fact that so many anime series exist without direct toy marketing campaigns, and the fact that so much anime has so much creative, literary and cinematic style apart from merchandising tie-ins and commercial marketability, I would argue, proves that anime simultaneously is a commercial product and a genuine contemporary art form with its own artistic integrity and creative expression.

In the same way that sitcoms and police dramas are a conventional landmark of the American television landscape, animation has become such a routine and commonplace aspect of Japanese television and entertainment that it’s taken for granted as normal and ordinary and therefore easily dismissed. Furthermore, because anime is at least partially associated with the Japanese concept of “otaku,” obsessive/compulsive fans whose fanaticism can be anti-social and even border on psychopathic, anime in Japan has a dual face as both popular entertainment medium and refuge of socially repellant, irresponsible and potentially dangerous fanatics. So anime in Japan is thought of often as an irresponsible, childish diversion, but not necessarily “for kids,” per se. Even within the relatively tolerant ethical standards of Japanese society, no one is likely to consider anime series like Berserk, Hellsing or Evangelion, “for kids.” And the existence of anime collectables such as a $2000 40+ disc Ranma DVD boxed set clearly prove that anime is intended for as much an older, affluent market as it is for children. Furthermore, the expansion and adoption of anime and animated icons such as Totoro, Hello Kitty and Afroken into common Japanese culture as symbols as recognized as the Coca-Cola “wave” validate anime as not merely a fringe market of the Japanese entertainment industry but rather as an important and integral aspect of Japanese culture and identity itself. Finally, the fact that Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi is now the most successful non-American movie ever made, even though it has yet to be widely released outside of Japan, suggests that it’s not merely Japanese children that watch this film, but Japanese film-goers of all ages.

So while many Japanese natives may easily dismiss anime, there is enough evidence to support the argument that Japan does recognize and support anime as an important element of Japanese culture. In the same way that Americans may easily dismiss television sitcoms, Monday Night Football, trivia game-shows and Rambo movies as trashy, junk culture, these things are still a significant identifier of American popular culture, and a fundamental ingrained ingredient of American-ness. An individual American may not want to admit to watching General Hospital and Supermarket Sweep, or may claim that football and monster truck derby is the domain of the beer swilling, unwashed lower class, in the same way a Japanese native may claim that anime is merely extended TV commercials and “kids’ stuff,” but the point remains that neither argument is entirely true or accurate, and the things that we may be embarrassed about are actually the things that help define our culture and our moral, ethical and ideological values as a society.