Manga in the United States

Tracing factors leading to the rise of manga in the US.

MANGA IN THE UNITED STATES

OVERVIEW 

Anime/manga in the U.S.  The



popularity of anime/manga in the U.S. today.

Unpromising beginnings.  WWII,

negative preconceptions, and the difficulty of marketing manga in the West.

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The rise of manga.  Factors

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contributing to the rise of manga in the U.S.

A mutual relationship.  How

the popularity of manga in the U.S. has affected the literature produced.

ANIME/MANGA IN THE U.S.

QUESTION! In what state is the largest anime convention in the United States held?

ANIME CONVENTIONS 

1990: Project A-Kon (Dallas, TX) 

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1992: Anime Expo (Los Angeles, CA) 

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2011 Attendance: 47,000

1994: Otakon (Baltimore, MD) 

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2011 Attendance: 18,447

2011 Attendance: 31,348

1998: Sakura-Con (Seattle, WA) 

2011 Attendance: 19,040

Comparative Number: UW has around 42,000 students (graduate and undergraduate).

COMIC-BOOK CONVENTION

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1970: San Diego Comic-Con International (San Diego, CA)  2010 Attendance: 130,000 2006: New York Comic Con  2010 attendance: 96,000 Compare to 47,000 for Anime Expo.

MANGA SALES 

In the “…Diamond Comic Distributors back list, about 43% are manga.” 

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"ICv2 Graphic Novel White Paper" by Mikhail Koulikov (2-5-2009) http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention /2009/new-york-comic-con/icv2

"Overall, manga still makes up the majority of the North American graphic novel releases“ 

"ICv2 Estimates U.S. Manga Sales Were Down 17% in 2008" (2-5-2009) http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009 -02-05/icv2-estimates-u.s-manga-sales-weredown-17-percent-in-2008

QUESTION! In 2011, what was the top selling manga in Japan? In the US?

2011 TOP SELLING MANGAS

Japan

United States

UNPROMISING BEGINNINGS

WORLD WAR II: ANTI-JAPANESE SENTIMENTS

(BUT TO BE FAIR…) 

To compete with the “gung-ho patriotism” in American comics… 

“Perhaps the earliest manga to appear in English were the bilingual colour comic-strip leaflets issued during World War II by the Japanese military to undermine enemy morale. One example showed a Western soldier’s wife back home enjoying the advances of a leering stranger after being informed that her husband would never return…” 

Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics by Paul Gravett

NEGATIVE PRECONCEPTIONS 

“Westerners often have … preconceptions about [manga]: ‘All the characters have big, Bambi-like eyes’; ‘The magazines are as thick as phone directories’; ‘Businessmen devour them in public on trans’; ‘They are full of sex and violence’…’tits and tentacles’…” 

Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics by Paul Gravett

NEGATIVE PRECONCEPTIONS 

“Otaku is extremely negative in meaning as it is used to refer to someone who stays at home all the time and doesn't have a life…they pass the time by watching anime, playing videogames, surfing the internet.” 

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Urbandictionary.com

1989: Tsutomu Miyazaki “The Otaku Murderer”

NEGATIVE PRECONCEPTIONS

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“weebo: Someone not of the oriental race that tries impersonate or emulate the japanese or japanime culture.” 

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Urbandictionary.com

Saturday Night Live skit: “J-Pop America Fun Time Now”  

http://www.aoltv.com/2011/10/17/j-pop-america-fun-time-now-funny-orracist-snl-video/ http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2011/12/11-1/video-j-pop-americafun-time-now-episode-2

DIFFICULTY OF MARKETING

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Xenophobia Trade protectionism Difficulty of page layout (flipping) and translation.

THE RISE OF MANGA

TV & ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS 

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Rise of television. Considerably less costly and uncomplicated to import Japanese animated cartoons. “…anime broadcasts…primed viewers for eventual manga consumption…” 



Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics by Paul Gravett

"Manga made their way only gradually into U.S. markets, first in association with anime and then independently“ 

Wikipedia.com

DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN COMIC

   

Slim profit margins on comic books. Censorship. Subject considered juvenile. Disconnect with youth culture. 

“The early 1960s saw a major reevaluation of youth culture…[that] most comic books…had not kept up with…[they] failed to speak to the social and emotional disorientation of young people.”

THE FEMALE AUDIENCE  

Shojo, Josei, Shojo-Ai, ShonenAi, Yuri, Yaoi. “Teen anguish was once a staple of many 1970s British girls’ weeklies that have now completely vanished. In contrast, girls’ manga thrive because authors are not prevented from confronting difficult issues…” 

Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics by Paul Gravett

IDEOLOGICAL THEORIES: THE COLD WAR 

Re-imagination of Asian figures driven by economic considerations… 

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The rehabilitation of Japan in the US helped paved the way for economic exchange.

…and Cold War politics. 

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“During the…Cold War, the United States distinguished itself from Communist nations…by emphasizing its democratic impulse towards” cultural difference. “…interest in Japanese style became an expression of the principle of freedom of choice, helping to distinguish American democracy from its Soviet counterpart.” 

Virtual Orientialism: Asia Religions and American Popular Culture by Jane Naomi Iwamura

A MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP

AVATAR (2005-2008) & HEROMAN (2010)

TIGER & BUNNY (2011)

QUESTION! What do you notice about the main characters of Japanese manga/anime over time?

PRE-1990

EARLY 1990S

LATE 1990S

2000S

2005 AND ON