A question a friend recently asked was “Why are the Japanese obsessed with anime?” but I am not that involved in the whole anime thing. So, I went forth and asked some Japanese people what they thought on the subject.
What’s Anime?
‘Anime’ is short for ‘animation’ in Japanese and basically refers to all cartoons and animated films. An anime character is thus a character from an animated film, e.g. Elsa from Frozen or Pikachu from Pokémon.
In the West, the term ‘anime’ most often refers to Japanese animations and films only.
Childhood
Pikachu in SoftBank (a Japanese phone shop)
As children, the Japanese are surrounded by anime in their daily environment. Unlike in the UK, where we have a range of TV shows from Japan, America, the UK etc, Japan only has Japanese anime programs.
When you walk into the local shop, you will find rows of Japanese comics (manga) in the magazine section. There are almost always grown men and children alike stood reading them.
There are often anime characters printed on the walls of shops and buildings too, even in train stations.
Does this make the Japanese obsessed, though? No, not everyone has an obsession. But, those who are really into manga and anime are called otaku.
What Is An Otaku?
Man reading manga in 7/11
It basically means “anime nerd”; however, they are not how anime nerds are usually depicted in the West.
The image often painted is a single, ageing, unclean, overweight man in his forties who reads comics/plays games/watches anime all day.
In Japan, the reality of otaku is that they often look the same as average Japanese people. In fact, there are many very attractive otaku, so the stereotype doesn’t generally hold true in Japan. They are average people who just happen to have a deep interest in anime and usually, but not always, date other otaku.
Artists
Anime characters on the side of a games arcade
Then, of course, there are those who just have a deep interest in drawing and writing their own stories.
When I started teaching children in Japan, I was amazed at the quality of art. From a much younger age than in the UK, children often have a skill for drawing manga-style characters. This, again, is probably because they are surrounded by them.
Manga writers may not be obsessed with it, but simply want to share their own stories with the world.
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That’s All, Folks!
So yeah. Are all Japanese people obsessed with anime? No. But almost everyone knows about it and has watched it during their lifetimes.
Go ahead and watch some anime today!
Ciao for now,
Jade xxx