Ask John: Why Isn’t Anime Treated Like Foreign Film in America?

Question:
Do you think that, or why do you think that anime in the US is not at all treated like other foreign media is? A lot of people, especially big producers, look at anime as something that should be made palpable and enjoyable to the mainstream American audience. One thing people forget is that anime is just as foreign as the niche movies and TV shows shown on the International Channel and IFC. Yet many big anime distributors and even fans in the US do not treat it as so. Why do you think this is and do you think that anime will ever reach a stage where Americans treat it the same as any other foreign media?

Answer:
Honestly, I think that a thorough discussion of the degree to which anime is and should be treated as artistic foreign film is one which I can’t offer in a reasonably brief reply. Since I think this is a provocative question, I’ll do my best to provide a comprehensive answer, but a truly detailed and extensively researched answer could probably become a thesis or entire book.

To answer why anime isn’t frequently or consistently considered “foreign film” in America, we have to start in Japan. Traditionally Japan hasn’t really respected anime as an artistic medium. Anime has always been popular in Japan, but it’s been perceived as a niche commodity for children and otaku that sometimes spills over into mainstream success. In recent years Japan has begun to treat anime as a valuable contemporary cultural commodity, but it’s still seen as a fringe commodity – an artistic product, but rarely genuinely art. As anime has been exported internationally, Japanese distributors have made little effort to strictly preserve its artistic and cultural credibility. Individual artists including animators Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon, and manga creator Hiroaki Samura have expressed their desire to have their work changed as little as possible for American release, but in many cases American releases are negotiated and authorized by Japanese home video distributors that have little contact with the artists that actually create anime. Japanese licensors may stipulate a specific English language title or determine what may and may not be released in America, but Japanese licensors have typically been very flexible regarding editing, dubbing, and otherwise altering Japanese animation to make it palatable and marketable in America. For instance, it’s only this year that, for the first time, a Japanese licensor (Bandai Visual) is releasing its own anime in America subtitled only in an announced effort to maintain artistic and cultural authenticity. From the late 1950s through to today, Japanese license owners have always prioritized international sales and profits over strict artistic integrity. And if Japan’s industry is willing to accept compromises for international release, there’s even less reason for American distributors to treat anime respectfully.

The release of anime in America started as a cheap substitute for American cartoons. Early anime was imported to America because it was available cheap. Dubbing was implemented to make foreign films of all sort more palatable to average American viewers that weren’t interested in international cinema. Furthermore, American influences including Disney and the Comics Code helped establish the belief that animation was a medium for children. The American belief that animation is inherently inferior to live action, combined with domestic distributors focusing attention on marketing imported anime to children created a self-perpetuating cycle reinforcing the philosophy that Japanese animation was not comparable to the imported live action films of Kurosawa, Ozu, Kobayashi and others. The anime industry of today faces a daily struggle between a desire to respect anime as an exhibition of imported Japanese art, and a desire to make anime popular and profitable.

For as long as I’ve been consciously aware of anime being literally imported foreign film, I’ve respected it as foreign film, and made efforts to encourage other Americans to perceive it as such. I believe that hand drawn animation is just as much a valid form of cinema as live action, but my stance seems to be a minority. In America, foreign films are respected and treated respectfully. We commonly treat live action imported foreign films as art, but treat animated imported foreign films as mere cartoon products to be altered and marketed and used as advertisements to sell children’s toys. The argument may be made that the majority of anime is not serious art, nor is it intended to be taken seriously, but I dislike the idea that something being designed to be relaxing entertainment automatically makes it less worthy of respect and consideration. I’ll readily admit that not all Japanese animation is equal in artistic and literary value, but all anime in America is imported Japanese pop culture art which, I believe, deserves a degree of considerate respect. Film, unlike a manufactured commodity that’s designed to be used or consumed then discarded, is a product of creative effort and cultural expression. Whether it’s serious and profound or farcical and superficial, it illustrates aspects of the culture that created it. Film, like any type of creative expression, is an ambassador of its culture – a means of expressing the values and attitudes of its creators. Ignoring or altering that fundamental characteristic may, at times, be an economic necessity, but it should never be a preferred treatment.

Especially in America, animation is automatically presumed to be unimportant. Even many hardcore anime fans seem to assume that anime is disposable and insist that each title prove itself worthwhile rather than respect the art form itself and pay special attention to particular highlights. Japanese society doesn’t entirely respect anime; its acceptance in America is even lower. Yet America, in addition, refuses to treat anime the same as other foreign film, despite the fact that anime is foreign film. Americans do so thoughtlessly, by falling back on conventional perception. The only way to change that situation is for Americans, one by one, to begin recognizing and respecting anime as more than just disposable entertainment. Dragon Ball Z may be a shonen action show, and Pokemon a children’s marketing blitz, but for Americans, these sorts of programs also provide a glimpse into contemporary Japanese philosophy, aesthetics, and values. Until Americans are prepared to open their minds and perceive more than just the most superficial aspect of anime, it will never be respected as the foreign film that it is. But anime fans can change that situation one person at a time, by personally being willing to respect anime as an example of Japanese art, and not just as “cool cartoons.”