Ask John: Why are Americans so Interested in Japanese Anime and Manga?

Question:
Why do you feel Americans are so interested in Japanese anime and manga? It seems to me that traditional “American” comic book stores are catering only to hardcore buyers nowadays, whereas all the “new” comic buyers want Japanese products. Furthermore, when you look at the cartoons on TV in America, more and more are of Japanese origin, and more and more of those are becoming hits in the ratings.

Could it be that the culture of America is starting to change? Could it be that Americans are interested in Japanese produced content because it’s “better?” I frequently notice how more and more children become anime fans (even if only subconsciously) by their interest in Yugi-Oh and what not, and then purchasing the manga, then realizing there is similar content available in the form of other series as well. The first time I ever saw a Japanese TV show localized for the USA was 1991’s Dragon Warrior. I didn’t know it was Japanese. All I knew was that it was based on a game series I loved, and that the animation was fantastic. Thus I also wonder if the growing interest in Japanese content over American may also have to do with effort or “quality.”

In truth, I suppose there is no “right” answer to this question, but I’d be most interested to hear your thoughts. I just find it strange that, even in my case, were I a small child and offered a choice between X-Men and Dragon Ball, I’d most definitely take the latter, even though the former is in full colour and features “true” super heroes.

Answer:
When we compare the technical animation quality of Japanese and American produced titles, it’s arguable that American animation typically has a higher frame count than Japanese animation, resulting in smoother animation. But Japanese animation has a greater emphasis on visual design and graphic detail than typical American animation. So depending on your preferences, I think that Japanese and American animation come out roughly even in quality, with both having strengths and weaknesses. But when you say that a young reader may be more likely to pick up a black and white Dragonball action manga than a full color X-Men action comic, I think the reason lies in two distinct characteristics of Japanese visual design and writing that are different from typical American constructs.

A popular manga title like Dragonball or Rurouni Kenshin or Fruits Basket is constructed with a stylized, simplistic, clean look. The big eyes and smooth black and white lines are primal and create the same immediately recognizable impression that Hello Kitty and the vintage monochrome Mickey Mouse create. On the other hand, the design of American comics, especially contemporary American super hero comics, strives for a realistic or super heroic realism. The square-jawed, muscled perfection of typical American super heroes, ironically, may look more foreign to Americans, on a subliminal level, than the everyday human characters of manga. American super heroes are intentionally designed to look like real people, but not like people that we know. Most people don’t know or meet specimens of human perfection on a daily basis. But the average characters of manga are people just like us. They’re often not ruggedly handsome or superbly muscled. Manga characters seem like normal, average, everyday folks. Furthermore, because they’re drawn in such a non-realistic, stylized way, our minds naturally interpret the design of manga characters instead of taking them literally, the way we react to American comic characters. It may be that we subconsciously see manga and anime characters as though they were highly detailed stick figures or iconic hieroglyphics. They are guidelines for our imagination, unlike American comic heroes that are illustrated as rigidly defined, realistic humans. So if that is indeed the case, we may be naturally drawn to manga because the visual look of manga engages our imagination and appeals to our primal, basic visual recognition instincts more than typical American comics that address our more instinctively critical and intellectual perception.

If that does indeed explain why a reader reaches out for a black and white manga before choosing a colored comic, I believe that it’s the way Japanese comics and animation are constructed that retains our interest. If American comics appeal to our longing for fantasy, manga and anime connect with our sense of grounded reality. Readers don’t associate with super heroes like Spiderman and Superman and Wolverine. We may see parts of our own personalities in them, and may respect their lives and wish to put ourselves in their place, but there’s always a separation between ourselves and those comic book heroes. In manga, we see ourselves. Manga shows us characters that act like real people and deal with problems in the way we also would analyze and worry over them. We can relate to the conflicts and personalities of anime and manga characters more intimately that we can the conflicts and anxieties of larger than life super powered heroes.

So I think that it’s that intimacy and immediacy and believability that make Japanese manga attractive. There are undeniably American comics that feature down to earth, believable characters and situations (and by that I mean that even a futuristic sci-fi set on Mars, like Cowboy Bebop, still seems believable and grounded because its characters and situations are believable). But such American comics are often underground or independent comics, or ones that aren’t aimed at young readers. There’s no reason at all why mainstream American comics and animation can’t replicate some of the defining characteristics of Japanese comics and animation. They simply don’t because the traditional American consumer market and established business model oppose Japanese style story telling content and formats. So because of the absence of a wide variety of easily available animation and comics that stress realistic, believable characters, and realistic personalities and emotional and rational reactions in native American comics and animation, I think that an increasing number of Americans are discovering the appeal of these characteristics in imported Japanese media. The characteristics of native American productions are still far more popular among Americans than those of Japanese imports, proven by the popularity and success of American stories, in comics and film, like X-Men and Spiderman and The Incredibles, but it seems as though Japanese imports are increasingly perceived as, at least, a compliment to American graphic fantasy literature.