Sunday, April 22, 2007
Anime As Pathway to Globalization
Hey everyone! This is JJ bringing you the latest news on the cultural aspects of globalization. For today, I bring you ANIME (otherwise known as Japanese animation) as our topic of the day!
First up, a little definition for those who have no idea what 'animes' are. A quick look up on Wikipedia or Yahoo, ought to show that 'anime', on it's own, is actually short for 'animation', though anime is considered to be a 'subset' of animation in Western culture, as pointed out by Wikipedia . Yupp, with the coming of technology advancements and globalizaton, countries open up their ports to trade from all over the world and for Japan, one of it's most popular exports include Animes (Mangas too)!
Back in the past, animes were but typical cartoons in the homes of Japanese. But now, with the advent of easily accessible technology, basically the internet, people can now view it right off video hosting sites such as YouTube for example.
The United States was first exposed to Anime back in June 1961 with a few titles initially, and its popularity gradually increased with popular works such as AstroBoy.
Animes are now readily available nearly and Americans' awareness of Japanese anime is at an all time high. They have quite a significant influence in the American animation culture, considering the fact that hardcore Anime fans are now capable of obtaining animes through underground means even before they are released in the country.
Now, let's take a look at how Anime and globalization has affected the animation industry.
"Anime-styled Cartoons"
Ever watched some of the American animations on Kids Central such as Totally Spies, W.I.T.C.H and Monster Allergy?
Ever taken a close look at the style of the characters in them?
Animations such as these are considered, by Anime fans, to be 'influenced by Anime' and not so much Animes themselves. Comparing these Anime-influenced works to other American productions such as Spongebob Squarepants and Cow and Chicken, these new style of animation adopted refrains from using the typical exaggerations of the body proportions (looking at Cow and Chicken, anyone would have noticed the fact that the beak of Chicken is extremely big and Cow's mouth as well). Instead, the creators of these animations chose to adopt a similar Anime-style of human bodily proportion for their characters and facial features such as big eyes.
All in all, with globalization, cultural exchanges can be made between countries in terms of trade, just as observed in Animes! =)
Oh, and 2 of my favourite animes include 'Naruto' and 'Bleach'. Do check 'em out on YouTube, they're real nice. ^-^
ended entry at
8:39 PM
8:39 PM
