Ask John: Why Don’t More Fans Analytically Respect Anime?

Question:
Where are all the fans that enjoy anime and manga on a more academic level? It seems that as soon as one tries to get a fan to intelligently talk about anime and/or manga they freeze up or run away. I know this is a tricky medium to deal with as it’s an art form, a marketing device, and a form of entertainment, but that’s what is so good about it! There is a great opportunity for discourse, and no one seems to be up to it. Should fans even try to get anime and manga recognized as valid objects of study in academia when the majority seem to be completely against it?

Answer:
Perhaps we, by whom I mean myself, you, and other fans like us, are misguided in our respect of anime as a serious form of contemporary art, but I’d like to believe that we are not mistaken and that, especially in America, anime is simply still not well understood and not accorded proper respect. I don’t wish to sound snobbish, nor do I think of myself as elite. I simply seem to have a perception of anime that differs from the average. Regardless of whether the anime is an ominous, intellectual science fiction like Ghost in the Shell or a lowbrow farce like Love Hina, I believe that Japanese animators take anime very seriously, so I believe that devoted fans should do no less. However, many Americans seem reticent to dignify anime either because they’re influenced by the conventional theory that animation is a children’s medium, or because they’re unwilling to acknowledge that something animated may be a valid, literary artwork. Unquestionably anime is a commercial art, but instead of recognizing anime as a variety of foreign film in America, most Americans perceive it as only a disposable entertainment commodity. I’m well aware that there are varying degrees of anime quality and that some anime deserve more respect as serious literature or art than others, but I believe that all anime is hand crafted art which deserves respect. So although fans who are interested in anime as more than just a leisure distraction are a minority, I strongly believe that the minority should do whatever it can to encourage respect and recognition for anime as a smart, literate type of contemporary cultural art.

Mainstream Japanese society tends to think of anime much the way American society does. Anime is unimportant cartoons for children and fanatics. However, Japan’s governmental Agency for Cultural Affairs presents honorary recognitions to anime every year. Gainax co-founder Toshio Okada has taught courses on anime at the prestigious Tokyo University. And the Kyoto Seika University in Kyoto offers courses in anime creation and criticism. Instances like these suggest that Japan’s influential and literate do recognize the academic and artistic value of Japanese animation. There are also American websites including AnimeResearch.com, Mechademia, The Anime/Manga Web Essay Archive, and the Anime Academic Resource Page which focus on interpreting and analyzing anime and manga as works of literary art. Likewise there are American reference books including Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Science of Anime which treat anime as a subject worthy of scholarly investigation. There unquestionably is an international movement that regards anime as an intelligent form of modern literature, but that movement is disappointingly small.

Average Americans, and even many American anime fans often seem to be adamantly opposed to the very possibility that Japanese animation may be respectable. This narrow-minded attitude is, I think, a defensive reaction. Americans who are used to the idea of animation being only inconsequential cartoons may refuse to accept the concept of animation as serious art because doing so is revolutionary and unsettling. In the same way that many American fans think of hentai and anime as entirely distinct things, many Americans think of select anime as intelligent, artistic exceptions instead of believing that all anime is literate art, with some titles more intellectual than others. I think it’s disrespectful to the art and the artists to maintain the lowest expectations for anime. I’m especially shocked by self-proclaimed anime fans who insist that 90% of “everything” is crap and that most anime are just harem shows and toy commercials. Fans who love anime should respect it and look for the best in anime instead of assuming the worst. I suspect that many American anime fans are stunned by scholarly interpretation of anime because it’s shocking. Americans are completely alien to the concept of treating animation as a subject for analytical evaluation, and more importantly, interpretation. That’s exactly why it’s important for anime fans who do respect anime as intellectual, cultural art to continue doing so, and hopefully influence a greater respect for anime as a legitimate form of cinema. Certainly not every anime is “high art,” deeply philosophical, or intellectually brilliant. But I do believe that anime is consistently more intelligent and worthy of more respect than average Americans give it credit for.