Ask John: What’s John’s Opinion of American Created Anime and Manga?

Question:
What do you think of American anime and manga? Nowadays, more Americans are making anime (such as Avatar) and manga (such as Peach Fuzz). I think some of those people who create anime and manga in America are anime fans and have always wanted to make their own anime/manga stories. Yet, many anime fans hate their work, thinking it’s “wannabe” anime and manga. I would explain more, but I would really like to know your side about this.

Answer:
I hope that my opinion of American created art inspired by Japanese anime and manga is reasonable, and I suspect that it probably falls in the middle of the poles of American fan reaction. I’ve not watched or read a significant amount of American created manga or anime-style animation. I’ve read the early chapters of Ben Dunn’s Ninja High School and Fred Perry’s Gold Digger. I’ve watched a few episodes of Powerpuff Girls and one episode of Samurai Jack. But I’ve never read any of Fred Gallagher’s MegaTokyo or any of the recent American manga publications. I’ve also never watched any full episodes of the Teen Titans, Totally Spies, Code Lyoko, or Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series. I have no particular interest in any of these American created productions. Likewise, I have watched the Korean animated film Wonderful Days and read some of the Korean comic series Café Occult, but I’m still not particularly experienced or interested in consuming Korean comics or animation. I don’t believe that I have an obligation to be interested in American and Korean art even if they are similar to the Japanese manga and anime that I love. To provide an illustrative analogy, I’m quite a fan of Star Wars, but have very little interest in Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, even though they’re all science fiction franchises. I’m a fan of Japanese animation and manga, not American or Korean art inspired by Japanese animation and manga. I don’t believe that there’s any reason for me to justify my interest, or any reason for me to feel guilty about my interests. After all, regardless of its origin, animation and comic art are leisure entertainment, so it’s only natural to focus my attention exclusively on whatever I personally find entertaining.

Not being interested in a particular artist’s work isn’t the same thing as disrespecting another artist’s work. I’m honestly glad that artists worldwide are creating art. Regardless of artistic style or nationality, I respect artists because they encourage communication and appreciation of civility and culture. But while I respect all artists, I’m not interested in the work of all artists. Even within a very narrow genre, my tastes may be specific. For instance, a music lover may be a fan of rap artists The Beastie Boys, but not a fan of similar rap artist Eminem. That’s not wrong, irresponsible, or narrow-minded. It’s simply a mater of personal taste. Likewise, being a fan of Japanese manga but not a fan of “American manga” isn’t narrow-minded racism. It’s simply a matter of personal taste. I don’t think that my personal preferences are artificially limited. I consider them well defined. And what my personal tastes happen to be should have no impact on what types of comics and animation any other fan does or does not like.

I don’t believe that there’s anything objectionable about artists being inspired or influenced by other art. And I don’t believe that there’s anything wrong with artists paying homage to other artists or art styles. But I do believe that there’s a valuable reason to recognize differences between Japanese, Korean, and American created comics and animation with unique terms. Specific identifications enable specific analysis, such as tracing the evolution of Japanese manga relative to significant events in Japanese cultural history, or examining the explosion of American created manga-style comics within a particular time period. These sort of analysis can only be done if delineations are made based on strict characteristics such as cultural origin. Terms like “manga” and “anime” are linguistic signifiers that refer to specific things, and they’re only useful as long as they refer to specific things. As far as I know, American fans don’t argue that Japanese comics should be called “manhwa,” (Korean comics) so there’s equally no logic in arguing that “manhwa” should be known as “manga.” The terms “manga” and “anime” are Japanese words that refer to Japanese art. If Russian or Arabic or German artists create an animated film featuring characters with big eyes and sweat drops, is it anime? In my opinion, no. As America continues to develop its own style of art inspired by Japanese styles, I think that the American fan community would be better served by creating an original name for this new style of American art, rather than trying to compromise the definition of established terms for egotistic goals.

Calling something “anime” or “anime influenced,” “manhwa,” or “manga-style” doesn’t mean superior or inferior. Precisely defined classifications don’t necessitate quality judgments, only differences. Many American anime fans, though, do seem to have that misconception. It seems as though “manga” and “anime” are trendy in America, and things that aren’t “anime” or “manga” are not good. That attitude isn’t caused by the terms “anime” and “manga,” themselves. That perception is caused by shortsighted consumers and irresponsible publishers that promote and perceive American art on a basis of whether or not it’s trendy instead of whether or not it’s good. I have no objections to American art adopting characteristics of Japanese art. But I do object to American and Korean art being referred to as Japanese art. Anime and manga are not visual styles; they are varieties of Japanese art. As such, appreciation of Japanese anime and manga has nothing to do with appreciation for American or Korean art. Similarity is interesting for comparative purposes, but shouldn’t be taken so seriously as to artificially influence one’s tastes. French and German movies may both be European, but if I like French films, I shouldn’t be expected to also like German movies. Metallica and Sepultura both perform hard rock music, but Metallica is heavy metal and Sepultura is death metal. I think it’s okay to like one, but not the other, even though they’re both similar. MegaTokyo and Akira are both comics, but one is manga and one isn’t. Teen Titans and Trigun are both animation, but one is anime and one isn’t. In both cases, being a fan of one but not the other is just a personal preference that doesn’t imply a difference in quality. It’s only when observers make irrational, unqualified comparisons that limited interests become narrow-minded. I believe that it’s reasonable and normal to be interested in some things but not others. I believe that it’s logical to call something inferior if it actually is inferior. I don’t believe that it’s logical to classify something as what it’s not. And I don’t believe that anyone should be expected to like something just because they happen to like something else that’s similar.