Ask John: What Impact Has Anime Had On American Culture?

Question:
How has Japanese animation impacted/changed our culture since it was introduced to the U.S.? Are the changes noticeable?

Answer:
I may be shortsighted, but to a large degree I don’t think that Japanese animation or comics have significantly influenced American culture. They have had an undeniable impact on American culture, but impact doesn’t mean change. English translated manga now dominate graphic novel sales to mainstream American consumers, although manga are not as overwhelmingly successful among fans of traditional American comics and in specialty outlets like comic book stores. Anime related toys are now available in fast food chain restaurant kids’ meals. And the names Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh have become synonymous with kitschy, transient children’s toys and marketing in America. However, the influence of Japanese comics and animation in America have yet to cause mainstream America to re-evaluate its perception of visual art. It’s often said that the flood of anime into America has made Japan trendy in America’s teen culture, but I haven’t seen any significant increase in American interest in or appreciation for Japanese language, history or culture outside of pop-culture entertainment products. Nor have I seen an increased understanding or respect for 2D animation art in American culture. Nor have I seen Japanese animation influence the American entertainment industry outside of a handful of American made anime and manga influenced productions.

The American comic and animation industries have responded to the American anime revolution by riding its coat-tails with “anime inspired” works like Marvel’s Mangaverse, Warner Bros.’ Loonatics, the Teen Titans cartoon, and the Cartoon Network’s Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi cartoon. Coca-Cola and NASCAR highly touted their recently released “anime style” advertising spot, and while it is distinctly influenced by Japanese animation, it shares virtually no other commonalities with Japanese animation. Anime remains relatively marginalized on American television. Note that American animated programs like The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy and American Dad have earned prime-time American network television exposure, but no anime ever has. And while American comic book movies like Spiderman and X-Men have been box office hits, the only anime film to ever become a major mainstream box office hit in America is the first Pokemon movie.

It may be said that these examples of American culture acknowledging Japanese manga and anime are examples of manga and anime influencing American culture. In my opinion, however, these circumstances represent American culture consuming anime and manga but not being significantly influenced or changed by it. Anime has had an impact on American culture. The popularity of anime and manga has caused American business to take note and attempt to profit from that popularity. But cashing in on anime is not the same as being changed by anime. American culture, in my opinion, hasn’t altered its perception of Japanese animation at all. America now recognizes that anime and manga cover more genres than just giant robots and pornography, but the perception that Japanese comics and animation are merely disposable commodities hasn’t changed at all. I don’t see any evidence that the typical American perception of “Japanese cartoons” has changed a bit in the past 20 years. America certainly takes anime and manga more seriously now as a commercial product to be profited from, but America has yet to respect anime and manga as contemporary art, or revise its opinion of comics and animation as insubstantial childish entertainment. It’s true that mainstream Japanese society can also be said to not totally respect anime as art, but it seems clear to me that Japanese society has more respect for hand drawn fantasy commercial animation than America does.

In effect, the influences anime and manga have wrought on American culture are all minor and isolated. Anime has not caused a cultural revolution in America, nor has it been able to alter American people’s way of thinking about comics and cartoons or the Japanese culture that created and cultivated the distinct art forms of manga and anime. Americans now spend more money on manga than they used to, but we largely still just think of them in the same way we’ve always perceived comics. We spend more on buying anime, but still consider it primarily cartoons for children and teens with no merit beyond advertising merchandise to impressionable consumers. And the American comic and animation industry has attempted to copy manga and anime in order to cash in on the interest in the fields. But the copies are only superficially similar because they’re not constructed with the same philosophy or that inspires Japanese animation. Anime and manga are more popular in America now than ever before, and American business are trying to profit from that popularity, but otherwise I don’t see any major cultural or philosophical changes in America culture caused by anime or manga.