The Relationship between Japanese Anime and Globalization

Japanese anime in todays time is known and watched by many people worldwide. However, this wasn’t always the case. Japanese Anime was once only popular in Japan. Some people may believe the reason for its popularity is because of country’s like the United States of America taking an interest to it.

Although that may be somewhat true, the real reason for Japanese Anime’s growth is because of its originality and how different it is. The topics that will be discussed are how it became popular, Japanese Anime’s relationship with country’s around the world and the impact of Japanese Anime culture.

It all begins in the 1900’s when Japanese Anime was first created and published, many of the early animations have been lost with few remaining. However, this did not stop the major growth of Japanese anime that was soon to take place in the 1970’s due to the methods of the west (Essays UK, 2018). Japanese Anime gained its popularity due to its passionate fans giving positive feedback allowing anime to be spread to countries around the world (Leonard, 2005, p. 2). It should be noted that one of the biggest reasons as to how Japanese Anime has gotten so popular is due to the fans in America.

One of the reasons Japanese Anime started to attract Americans is because it served as a replacement to Hollywood which they were already watching for many years (Essays UK, 2018). Another way Japanese Anime has gotten popular is because of fan distribution. In 1990, fans began to use Japanese anime to subtitle videos, which then lead to fans creating their own anime videos and eventually beginning their own professional careers using anime content (Leonard, 2005, p.2).

Japanese Anime has spread throughout many countries and the country that had the most impact is the United States of America. “In America, anime has won the hearts of many and the winning of an Oscar by Miyazaki Hayao’s anime, Spirited Away, in 2002 for best animated feature film was a clear show of just how much anime has been embraced in the American way of life”(Essays UK, 2018). When it comes to broadcasting TV programs and anime’s, the United Kingdom is known to be very strict. This is because of their culture from earlier generations which remains with them till this day (Essays UK, 2018).

Although the United Kingdom was strict, this did not mean that anime was banned in the UK entirely, anime was accepted but only if it didn’t go against their culture (Essays UK, 2018). Country’s like France, Spain, Italy and Sweden are all very accepting of anime and have very passionate fans who are active and up to date with new anime releases (Essays UK, 2018). Country’s in South America like Mexico, Chile, and Venezuela also have a strong relationship with Japanese anime allowing fans to create websites and talk about anime with one another (Essays UK, 2018). Country’s like India, Australia, South Africa and many other countries around the world also have a relationship with Japanese anime and have sites that allow fans to interact with one another about anime.

Japanese anime culture has left a significant impact on many people around the world. Anime culture started to spread with the beginning of anime conventions. Anime fans around the world would attend these conventions to get a better experience of anime culture and to also meet their favourite voice actors (Jpninfocom, 2019). Fans in anime conventions would also dress up in cosplay to show their support to their favourite anime’s. Cosplay is when a fan dresses up as one of the characters of a show (Jpninfocom, 2019). The art style in anime is unlike anything that has come before it. This is because of its uniqueness and the way the characters are drawn giving special attention to the characters hairstyle and eyes (Jpninfocom, 2019).