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Originally released in 1998, Nakamura's anime series Serial Experiments Lain anticipates many social transformations that have occurred in the decades since its broadcast. The series highlights the ways in which cognition and consciousness are transformed as technical assemblages through interaction with the internet. This change in cognition can be characterized in part by a bifurcation of Cartesian identity; individuals develop more than one sense of self, with different identities offline and online. The series articulates this bifurcation of Cartesian identity both by its emphasis on the fantastic, a narrative and visual style that makes it unclear where the Wired ends and the "real world" begins, and by updating the narrative figure of the "double" for the digital age. Individuals grapple with their own digital "doubles," versions of themselves that exist online with disregard for the emotional needs of their friends. In doing so, the series helps formulate a general understanding of the social problems posed by the formation of digital identities. What does friendship mean when individual identity is divided between online and in-person personas? This bifurcation in Cartesian identity leads to the "empathy problem," which is loss of empathy from technology use in conjunction with a rupture in the continuum from empathetic understanding to sympathetic compassion. The empathy problem is an innate byproduct of two competing desires among internet users: the desires for privacy and visibility. This problem has amplified other concerns that have been stressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including loneliness and depression. Although technological developers hope to mitigate the current psychological problems of digital spaces through increases in synchronous telepresence, particularly amid the rise in remote work, this paper argues the empathy problem is a byproduct of these two competing desires, due to the differential in representation these competing desires produce. As such, the empathy problem is a foundational issue that will continue to challenge individuals working and acting in digital spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares two aesthetic movements, Italian futurism and Japanese cyberpunk, which served as the high points of utopian modernism and nihilistic postmodernism, respectively. Through a comparison of aesthetics between the movieAkiraand Italian futurist works by Fortuna Depero, Umberto Boccioni, Balla Giamoco, and others, this paper shows the cyberpunk movement as a postmodern critique of utopian modernist concepts: the machine body, the revolutionary character of youth and destruction, masculinity, speed, rational architecture, and the cleansing effect of war. Through a synchronic comparison, fundamental features of Italian fascist capitalism, the Japanese bubble economy, and the linkage between culture and economics in these contexts are explored. Finally, a close reading of the themes, aesthetics, and philosophy of theAkiramovie shed new light on this movie’s place in the worldwide ‘anime boom’ and its universally resonant themes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When the anime short-movie "Magnetic Rose" (a 22-minutes long anime movie included as the first part of the trilogy "Memories") was released in the year 1995, it shattered profoundly the Japanese public opinion due to its unexpected ideological-aesthetic correlations and inspite a very modest box-office success. Subsequently, the television anime series "Cowboy Bebop" was released in 1998 and brutally awakened both the Japanese and the Western audiences to the realities of violence, sex and lack of orientation looming within the carefully sanitized societies of post-industrialized, late-modern nations - simultaneously with an astonishing success at box-office. This paper focuses on the disturbing music composed by Yôko Kanno (born 1964) whose anime soundtracks support the dramaturgic structure developed by the anime director Kôji Morimoto (born 1959) respectively Watanabe Shin'ichirô (born 1965) in their efforts to visually create alternative universes, firstly by bringing into foreground Giacomo Puccini's (1858-1924) spectacular, haunting music - refreshed by Yôko Kanno's own compositional vision with warm sensitivity and in-depth insight, and secondly by combining in a colourful rainbow-like spectrum different styles and musical genres (ranging from US music and counter-culture of the 1940s-1960s, sounds of the era of early rock from the 1950s-1970s, Western country music and Arabian inflections). On the one hand, there is the critical examination of Yôko Kanno's creative compositional strategies in her taking over Giacomo Puccini's stylistic characteristics as well as her coping with Western counterpoint and harmony techniques as well as Eastern a-rhythmicity. On the other hand, there is a specific „sincerity” in Yôko Kanno's music to which both anime specialists and anime fans repeatedly referred as possibly being Yôko Kanno's „secret tool” on her way towards popularity and financial success. Taking these both dimensions into account, the current paper will suggest different interpretation options beyond the orientalist temptation as reflected in the employment of songs and arias alongside animated structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Doujin (どうじん) is a Japanese term referring to a circle where people share the same interests, usually something that belongs to the Anime, Comics, and Games (ACG) subculture. Individuals who belong to it and create related works, known as ACG doujin creators, are usually described as socially awkward and at potential risk of isolation. In such a context, they may theoretically exhibit higher autistic traits and manifest camouflaging tendencies, which may consequently be associated with their mental health. Nonetheless, the impact of autistic traits and camouflaging on mental health in this subculture remains significantly underexplored. Methods: We recruited 183 Taiwanese ACG doujin creators (age ranges from 18 to 41, 146 female and 37 male) via social networking platforms. Participants completed Chinese online surveys assessing socio-demographic information, doujin activities, past psychiatric history, the 35-item Version of Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ-35), Chinese version Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q-Ch), the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Linear regression analysis was employed to examine the associations between the aforementioned scales. Results: Our findings revealed that among ACG doujin creators, descriptively higher level of AQ-35 and CAT-Q-Ch than previous studies were found. Moreover, we observed a positive association between camouflaging behaviours and most AQ-35 subscales, with the exception of the mindreading subscale. Additionally, we identified that both camouflaging and autistic traits were significantly linked to higher PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores. Conclusions: Through this study, we gained insight into the distinctive characteristics of autistic traits, camouflaging behaviours, and mental health among Taiwanese ACG doujin creators, as the associations between the factors mentioned above are divergent compared to previous research. This topic demonstrated that camouflaging is also associated with adverse mental health in a subculture group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delves into the collaborative efforts that unfolded in the creation of the 2012 exhibition 'TOKUSATSU: Special Effects Museum – Craftsmanship of Showa and Heisei Eras Seen through Miniatures', which in turn paved the way for the establishment of institutional facilities for popular culture. Specifically, this article explores the collaborative dynamics of two recently established facilities: the Anime Tokusatsu Archive Center in Tokyo (2017) and the Sukagawa Tokusatsu Archive Center (2020) in Sukagawa, Fukushima. Sukagawa, Tsuburaya Eiji's hometown, has played a pivotal role in mobilising artists and communities to engage with these cultural spaces. Artist groups dedicated to tokusatsu and anime began to consider preservation and exhibition strategies to convey these art forms to other generations. This article analyses the building process, and the social cooperation in building these facilities, connecting them to broader popular culture movements in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of China Tourism Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents examples of collaboration between anime producers and the Japan Self-Defense Force. By situating the transitions within the context of the broader trends in collaboration between anime producers and locations (namely, the development of contents tourism), the key turning point in anime producer — JSDF collaboration is be identified and explained. Then, the reasons why in recent years JSDF has been actively collaborating with the production of pop culture contents in the realms of fantasy and fiction with an anime fanbase will be discussed. What is happening in Japan today is a fantasization (= contentsization) and consumption of the military, rather than a 'drift to the right' or resurgence of militarism. The pressures to produce military or 'moe military' anime are driven by the market rather than the military. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a survey of the story elements in isekai (other world) manga. The large number of available isekai manga series allows the use of a survey to investigate patterns in story elements. These patterns can be used to generate hypotheses about relationships between story elements, authors’ intent, and readers’ interests. The paper begins with a review of the characteristics of isekai manga stories and places the stories into existing speculative fiction ontologies. A brief history of isekai manga and their relationships to roleplaying computer and tabletop games is provided. Finally, descriptions of the survey framework, instrument and results are presented. The survey includes data on 746 manga series identified as isekai manga by publishers or fans. The series are divided into four types (portal-quest, immersive, intrusion, and liminal). A detailed survey was performed on the 427 series identified as “portal-quest” stories (the most common type of isekai stories). The survey results are captured in a database of story elements that is organized based on plot points dictated by the form of the portal-quest stories. The survey found that the majority of the manga series are inspired by first-person shônen and otome computer games. The characteristics of the stories vary with the gender and age of the protagonists (here taken as surrogates for the gender and age of the stories’ target audiences) and this variation allows the generation of hypotheses on the motivations and interests of the different reader demographics and how they are satisfied by the stories.

As the 2020 global pandemic has demonstrated with new force, we continue to struggle with managing primal, existential fear, even during the ongoing struggle to understand and combat a deadly infectious disease. As this paper reveals, multimedia popular culture texts can provide us with tools, knowledge, and avenues to help us better express, empathize, and educate one another during trying times. In particular, this paper aims to form part of a larger discussion on how we can better face the task of looking at death during a moment of human history where doom may seem ubiquitous. Although it is not possible to separate ourselves from our dependence on information that links us as individuals to the outside world, we can engage with media that provides knowledge in a more palatable or entertaining way and in so doing, support the development of better coping skills for apprehension about an unknown tomorrow. This paper analyzes the 2018 Cells at Work! as an example of anime that is both educational and entertaining, and discusses its implications for terror management and the promotion of well-being.

With live streaming rising in popularity, many people stream the creation of 3D avatars However, many of these avatars end up following a similar output: a hyper-feminized anime girl. Why is this? What are the social and technological processes constructing these avatars? To answer these questions, I propose that human (streamer and audience) and non-human (streaming platform and 3D modeling software) participants interact to produce the cultural experience of the live stream, re-producing common heteronormative, cisgendered, and racialized tropes about bodies and desirable avatars. And so, I take as my object of study the interaction that happens when all of these participants merge, forming what I call a white heteronormative assemblage. I argue that this assemblage is collective, relational, and self-reinforcing. Analyzing the relations between human and non-humans participants helps us turn our analytical lens away from media content or streamer motive, and instead toward the restrictive outcomes of such interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anime is now considered an accepted form of animation and is considered to represent Japanese contemporary culture worldwide. There are many fans of anime and manga, creating a community known as otaku world. However, Japanese anime and manga have gained popularity in Western countries as well as in Japan. This paper attempts to ascertain the determinants of watching anime in Japan based on individual-level data from Japan. Despite the growth in the number of adult anime fans, children are still more likely to watch anime than adults are. Hence, this study investigates how adults are influenced by the presence of their children. After controlling for individual characteristics, it was found that people are more likely to watch anime when they have children aged less than 12 years who have not yet entered junior high school. Such an effect is larger for parents who belong to an older generation where people are less likely to prefer anime. This implies that the externality coming from children results in parents watching anime. The findings of this study show that externalities from surrounding people play a critical role in enlarging the market of modern cultural goods representing 'Cool Japan.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently the Japanese government revised its copyright law, and one of the major changes in it is that illegal downloaders in Japan now face up to two years' imprisonment or a fine of ¥2 million (approximately US$19,265), or a combination of the two for downloading certain kinds of copyrighted content. These momentous changes have triggered backlashes around the country from below, as might be expected. Interestingly, the industrial practices of Japanese content industries have developed certain domestic and foreign copyright-related strategies that tolerate some alleged copyright-infringing fan activities. This paper argues that, although some of these strategies are incompatible with the current copyright law regime, and specifically the aforementioned revision to Japan's copyright law, they have unconsciously created unexpected positive outcomes. This paper uses an integrative approach that combines market analysis and comparative law methods--to examine these copyright strategies, and proposes an alternative solution to deal with the copyright problems raised by fanbased activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to provide reasons for developing an anime collection within academic libraries as well as providing guidance in starting such a collection. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based upon research of literature and anime-related websites, as well as familiarity gained through viewing anime. Findings – Anime is a medium that can be used to explore all genres, as well as universal themes, and provide a glimpse of Japanese life. The study of film has been accepted for decades and the study of animation has grown from that but has been restricted to primarily American animation. Anime is animation specific to Japan which can inspire students and faculty to explore another culture. Libraries should provide classic anime that can support cross-cultural and interdisciplinary studies. By creating an anime collection, a library will provide their community with engaging materials that can be used for enjoyment as well as study. A list of core titles is included. Originality/value – This paper reflects recent trends toward increased interest in Japanese popular culture, specifically anime, and offers academic libraries a rationale for including such materials within their collection to connect with their students and faculty. There are no articles on the topic of collecting anime in academic libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Masamune Shirow's manga, Ghost in the Shell, is a "cyberpunk" classic of the 1990's. It focuses on a fictional counter-cyberterrorist organisation led by Major Motoko Kusanagi known as Section-9. This classic manga was made into an anime by Mamoru Oshii and became a cult hit in the mid-1990s. Its popularity fuelled the production of a number of feature length animated films as well as two anime series. It regained popularity in 2015 following the news that Scarlett Johansson signed to play the lead in a live-action version of the anime that was released in 2017. What is interesting about Ghost in the Shell is not only its "cyberpunk" motifs but the very transhumanist themes it conveys. Though considered a "cultural/intellectual" movement transhumanism has some interesting "religious" elements associated with it, albeit ones that may not fit the usual conventional understanding of "religion." This is especially the case if "religion" is seen as the sui generis concept that it is popularly known as, rather than a cultural activity. One of the fundamental beliefs of this movement is that humans will advance physically, intellectually, and psychologically, not through the will of a divine creator, but through human ingenuity and technology. Another popular belief held by some transhumanists is one that suggests that in the "not-so-distant future" humans will transcend their physical and mental imperfections by uploading themselves into a supercomputer. With transhumanist themes in mind this paper will focus on two main points. The first is that Japanese traditions can be used to strengthen the "transhumanism as religion" argument as proposed by Robert Geraci. The second will examine how-through the adoption of Japanese mythology and its articulation in Ghost in the Shell-cyborg technology can be used to enhance spirituality, thus introducing a new method for understanding the traditional science v religion debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video-sharing sites like YouTube and streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, along with unlawful platforms such as Anitube, are environments of consumption enabled by increasing transnational consumption that are pushing for transformations in the Japanese animation industry. Among these platforms, the Kadokawa Dwango Corporation is known to rely on the integration of consumers' practices and the needs of the animation industry in a changing and challenging era of transnational content flows. In this paper, I focus on the Kadokawa Dwango Corporation, a major player in the contemporary media mix, and its pushing forward of the creation of an environment that integrates two different stances on cultural content: one which represents the industry's needs regarding cultural content as intellectual property, and another that represents consumers' practices and which regards content as a common or free resource for enabling participation in digital networks. I argue that rather than the production of content, it is the production of value through the management of fictional worlds and user's participation in media platforms that lies at the core of the Kadokawa Dwango Corporation's self-proclaimed 'ecosystem'. This case represents the transformations in the Japanese content industry to survive the increasing transnationalisation of consumption and production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By converging 3A—artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and anime culture, a new type of non-naturalistic and stylized anthropomorphism has been exercised on the latest hologram social robot—"Hupo." By combining scopes of human–machine communication and cultural studies, this study investigated how this 3A convergence constructed the user experience of Hupo. Through in-depth interviews with 25 users, we revealed their expected experience related to the dual identity of anime otaku and technology geeks alongside social segregation and loneliness. We found their actual experience highlighted how anime elements offset their dissatisfactions caused by AI weakness and the uncanny valley. Three specific anime-enabled strategies were illustrated, namely anime characterization, gamification, and idolization. Our analysis suggested that pop culture offers not technical solutions but temporary compensation for the current AI limitations. Nevertheless, such fusions between anime otakuism and instinct-served technologies also raise concerns about a further animalized human society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anime has become a global phenomenon due to its diverse cultural representations, relatable characters, and unique storytelling. However, there is limited research on the relationship between character personality and popularity. The aim of this study is to understand the relevance of the characters' personalities to the audience's evaluation of various characters. This study analyzed the correlation between the MBTI personality evaluations of characters in anime and their popularity, based on the data of the personality of each animation character reviewed by audiences. In this study, 885 characters from 200 anime aimed at a male audience were selected as a sample for research. The results showed that personality traits such as introversion, intuition, and thinking had an impact on the popularity of female characters but not male characters. The overall results were influenced by the larger sample size of female characters. By addressing this question, the study can contribute to the design of a character's personality and overall success in anime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Guided by stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory, this study analyzed the user-generated content (UGC) produced by attendees from six anime conventions in the USA. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 739 online reviews and 1,932 photos were collected from the social platforms of six large anime conventions in the USA (Yelp and Facebook), and the study employed thematic analysis and image analysis to analyze the collected UGCs. Findings: The findings revealed eight main themes (i.e. ambient and space, customers, service and products, sign and symbol, social density, emotional status, motivation, and behavior intention) and 32 subthemes across the three dimensions of SOR theory. Leveraging the power of cutting-edge image analysis, the image labels obtained from the analysis contributed to the creation of network clusters. The result of the image analysis also continued consistently with the thematic analysis result, which reflected SOR theory. Research limitations/implications: Theoretically, the study applied SOR theory and blended thematic and image analyses to gain a comprehensive understanding of anime convention attendees' experience and categorized the attendees' emotional status as positive or negative to reflect their overall evaluation. Practically, this study highlighted some complaints from attendees and provided suggestions for operators. However, the study focused only on large anime conventions in the USA; future studies should compare attendees' experiences with small and large conventions or anime conventions worldwide. Originality/value: The study utilized UGCs to understand the key patterns essential to attendees during anime conventions in the USA and applied SOR theory to its investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the labor model and working conditions of animators in the anime industry during the 1970s and 1980s. It examines the shift from valuing artistic originality to valuing technical skill and craftsmanship, as well as the impact of market forces and consumer demand on the industry. The article emphasizes the importance of considering the perspectives and experiences of animators in understanding the transformation of the industry. It also discusses the rise of Original Video Animation (OVA), labor shortages, the concept of talent, limited retakes, and the decline of creative freedom. The article concludes by discussing freelance work and the significance of networking and collaboration in the industry. Further research is suggested to fully comprehend the effects of these changes on the industry and its workers. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the process of script development in the anime industry, with a specific focus on the collaborative environment known as the writer's room. The author draws on participant observation of two anime series to explore the social dynamics and consensus-building involved in script development. The article emphasizes the importance of stakeholder consensus and the influence of negotiated social values and relationships in shaping scripts. It also discusses the roles of producers, studio staff, and writers in the script development process. Overall, the article provides insights into the complexities and challenges of script development in the anime industry. [Extracted from the article]

Multimodal examples of Japanese language input (such as ‘manga’ and anime) have now become the default choice for curriculum designers, material developers, and classroom teachers to make learning ‘fun’. More traditional written only text-based materials are now in direct competition with such materials. While there has been a comfortable relationship in additional language (L2) teaching between using text and image, for example, pictures, fuzzy felt boards, and now much more sophisticated technology (e.g. Rosetta Stone™) to explicitly teach the lexico-grammar, the proliferation of ‘manga’ in Japanese language textbooks and as stand alone course materials, for example, has largely been left unproblematized.In this paper I explore three issues to using material examples of Japanese popular culture in the Japanese language classroom and beyond. First, I focus on ‘manga’ as a case study and relate it to a course that I have been teaching for the last five years using ‘manga’ as artefact. Second, I explore how using ‘manga’ and other J-pop artefacts can impact on how the notions of legitimacy and appropriateness are linked to constructions of learner and teacher identities. Third, I will introduce the concept of what I’ll call ‘soft power pedagogy’ as a way of theorizing the use and potential abuse of ‘manga’, anime and other examples of Japanese popular culture in and out of the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Manga and anime are commonly regarded as media products geared primarily towards entertainment and merchandising opportunities. However, some are capable of offering critical commentary on society, humanity and more broadly, life itself. Following the lead taken by the 'God of Manga' Tezuka Osamu in "Seimei-hen" in "Hi no Tori" ("Life" in "Phoenix", 1980), a number of manga and anime have produced unsettling images of clones and hybrid beings, particularly those resulting from organ transplantation. These works question, typically ahead of the technology of the time, the value of life, the integrity of its form, and its immunity from commodification. In spite of their fictionality, these narratives are associated with a great sense of reality and immediacy, due in part to rapid developments in biotechnology, computing and engineering. At the same time, humanity itself appears to have changed along with these developments and the fictional narratives can be said to embody fears, hopes, and dreams concerning life and its significance. They deal with a range of pressing social and ethical issues, especially those related to the self and its multiple boundaries, whilst entertaining their readers and viewers. Using several narratives as exemplars, this paper will explore the use of biotechnology in manga and anime as devices in envisioning 'life' - what it may be, how it is formed and how it could be dealt with, at the individual as well as collective level. In doing so, the paper will demonstrate how these manga and anime narratives and others like them are relevant in a wide range of contexts despite their apparent linguistic and cultural specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Leisure/Loisir: Journal of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper will re-examine current AV translation practices from a film studies perspective through director Kon Satoshi's full-length animated feature Sennen joyû (Millennium Actress, 2001), a film that employs, and expects, a fairly deep and broad knowledge of Japanese history and culture. In this film, where the protagonist recounts her life in movies in a realistic historical setting, cinematic imagery becomes the primary medium of communication. Narrative action and dialogue, considered the main components of cinema by many viewers, take a back seat. The real "story" is the history of one of Japan's proudest cultural products: live action cinema, particularly that of the "golden age" of the 1950s and 60s. The aim of this paper is not simply to "translate" for the uninitiated viewer the many components of Millennium Actress that cannot be efficiently communicated through standard subtitles. Instead, this film is an ideal vehicle for demonstrating the shortcomings of current AV translation, which is primarily text-based. As recent studies show, technology-savvy "fansubbers" are using methods that challenge not only how we think about subtitling, but the process of AV translation itself, a practice usually defined by its tendency to truncate and delete. By examining the English subtitled version of Millennium Actress in the context of emerging translation strategies and technologies, this paper will propose a concept of AV translation that rejects this discourse, and more fully incorporates non-verbal methods of exchange and communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I analyze the animated television series Puella Magi Madoka Magica based on a variety of literary critical methods: neo-noir criticism, feminist epistemology and studies of technoscience, and discussion of utopia/dystopia imagination. My focus is on the depiction of desire and hope, as two interconnected but potentially conflicting concepts, in Madoka Magica which presents different philosophical edifices related to them as one central narrative tension. On the other hand, the feminist methods I utilize will demonstrate how the “genre subversion” the series introduce can be read alongside with not only magical girls’ struggle against their fates in the fiction but the real power structures and asymmetries in (post-)modern society. By highlighting the difficulties to resist a future and ethics imposed from the standpoint of dominant social groups as well as the attempt to solve such impasse by the series, the paper argues that Madoka Magica, while not committing itself to the creation of a radical alternative to the existent political or economic systems, has nonetheless affirmed the possibility and importance to have hope for futures that are yet to be imagined.

First translated into Persian in 1949, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is among the most popular works of American fiction in Iran. Although the anti-US policy of the post-1979 political system has tried to erase the manifestations of the previous period’s American influence, Iranian interest in Huckleberry Finn has been increasing. There are more than twenty Persian translations of the novel, most of which belong to the post-1979 period. After a short survey of Twain’s early reception in Iran, the present paper focuses on two major translations of Huckleberry Finn as well as a stage adaptation of the novel. It also elaborates on the role that Huckleberry Finn no Boken (1976), the Japanese anime based on the novel broadcast on the Iranian state TV, has played in the Iranian reception of the novel, as indicated by the Iranian play’s capitalizing on the Japanese anime’s widespread popularity. The paper concludes with a note on questions of censorship, Afro-Iranians, and the nation’s dire need of its own novel on the Iranian Jim.

In 1980s Japan, a struggle between the old guard, harmonious collective mentality and the idealism of the new breed of independent, rebellious youngsters became illustrated in anime. Three examples of Japanese animated series that televised this struggle were acquired, repackaged, rewritten, and rebroadcast in America by Carl Macek under the one name -- Robotech. Robotech, the American TV series, is a hybrid in and of itself with its Japanese-created visuals married an American-rewritten storyline. In addition to the show's own mixed heritage, Robotech contains multiple interracial and interspecies (human and alien) couples and hybrid offspring. This paper explores the hybrid nature of the American Robotech animated TV series and how the Eighties' generational struggle in Japan manifests itself through two hybrid, interspecies characters: Dana Sterling and Marlene/Ariel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper focuses on three anime movies and their respective soundtracks: Ponpoko: The Heisei Tanuki War (Heisei tanuki gassen ponpoko, 1994, director: Takahata Isao, music: Shang Shang Typhoon), Ghost in the Shell (Kôkaku kidôtai [literally: Mobile Armored Riot Police Against Chaos Attacks], 1995, director: Oshii Mamoru, music: Kawai Kenji) and Princess Mononoke (Mononoke hime, 1997, director: Miyazaki Hayao, music: Hisaishi Joe). The choice of these anime movies falls back to the fact that at the time of their release, they marked undisputed milestones in the history of the anime genre due to their powerful expression modes and idealistic foundations. The music of these three anime movies is comprised in the stress ratio between two concepts - "domesticating plagiarism" and "hybridizing authenticity" - in the quest for identifying their contribution to overcoming classical dichotomies such as original-copy and West-East. While anime soundtracks can be observed from a variety of perspectives - as a medium, a genre, a technique, a form, an ideology or an aesthetics -, the current research endeavor brings in the foreground the ideological-aesthetical parameters of anime soundtracks, particularly and directly derived from the individual visions of their respective composers and refering unmistakenly to the magic and the deeper levels of significance of animation as a means of expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manga and anime may no longer be the 'new kids' in wider media culture but they are relatively new texts for study in the secondary English classroom. Manga and anime support teachers in their work towards inclusive classroom practices and build multimodal literacies but the cartoony face of the medium belies a depth of analysis required and layers of sensitivity needed in navigating these texts with students. How do English teachers respond to the emergence of manga and anime texts, translated and dubbed in English, when these texts become part of their classroom curriculum and culture? This paper uses a case study of two metropolitan high schools to explore how unexpected text choices brought about deeper insights for these English teachers in the ways they perceived their students' identities, as readers and consumers of manga and anime texts, within a Quality Teaching and learning environment (NSW DET, 2003; Prumm & Patruno, 2016). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes into account the aesthetic-ideological dimensions of two animation works released in 2013 -- Frozen (Walt Disney Pictures, dir.: Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee) and The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Kaguya-hime no monogatari, Studio Ghibli, dir.: Takahata Isao) -- within broader Soft Power endeavours on an international level via specific artistic strategies such as emotional ambivalence, the dynamic reconsideration of legends and myths, the subtle highlighting of the spirallike dialectics of cause and effect. Its goal is to point out the intricate levels comprised by the phenomenon of the "feminine self" as media-related construction in the unstable stress-ratio between individual aspirations and historic-geographical embedding. Thus, it becomes obvious that beyond being a physical appearance with clearly defined standards of "inside" and "outside", the "feminine self" is a highly personal concern, related both to the socio-cultural context of its emergence and to the economic-political path of its development. In times of the ubiquitous Cool Self symptomatology, the reinvigoration of local myths and legends provokes a nostalgic U-turn towards a more classical worldview with the simultaneous intellectualisation of popular culture encompassing the rather conservative message that love, happiness and existential fulfilment are more than ever individual choices in latemodernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the improvement of material living standards, spiritual entertainment has become more and more important. As a more popular spiritual entertainment project, film and television entertainment is gradually receiving attention from people. However, in recent years, the film industry has developed rapidly, and the output of animation movies has also increased year by year. How to quickly and accurately find the user's favorite movies in the huge amount of animation movie data has become an urgent problem. Based on the above background, the purpose of this article is to study the new visual expression of animation movies based on artificial intelligence and machine learning technology. This article takes the film industry's informatization and intelligent development and upgrading as the background, uses computer vision and machine learning technology as the basis to explore new methods and new models for realizing film visual expression, and proposes relevant thinking to promote the innovative development of film visual expression from a strategic level. This article takes the Hollywood anime movie "Kung Fu Panda" as a sample and uses convolutional neural algorithms to study its new visual expression. The study found that after the parameters of the model were determined, the accuracy of the test set did not change much, all around 57%. This is of great significance for improving the audiovisual quality and creative standards of film works and promoting the healthy and sustainable development of the film industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper lists several web sites on Japanese popular culture. Dentsu Institute of Human Studies provides information on different Japanese media ranging from video and arcade games to television and radio and from magazines to computers. It includes the outline of the White Paper on Information Media which summarizes the information for publishing, broadcasting, films, music and so on for a given year. Kinema Club is an informal group of scholars studying Japanese cinema and other moving image media which was formed out of the shared need for bibliographic information. It has information on holdings in North American libraries, links to Japanese production companies, film festivals, actors, data and search engines, a guide to film specialty bookstores in Japan and how to find prints in the U.S. Anime Web Turnpike has a searchable list of hundreds of links to anime on the web. Japanese TV Guide provides the schedule for about ten days of programming for different regions of Japan; also sorts by genre. Kodansha has links to the e-zines Friday, HotDog PRESS and Young Magazine as well as information about the magazines and comics that it publishes. Ronza is an opinion monthly published by Asahi on political and social issue. Its site provides table of contents for latest issue.

An adaptation and continuation of Inoue Takehiko's successful manga Slam Dunk (1990–1996), The First Slam Dunk (2022) opened to resounding success in South Korean theaters, becoming the most viewed Japanese film in the country (animated or otherwise), in April of 2023. Part of the film's success was due to the manga's immense popularity, published during the Cultural Ban when it was ostensibly illegal to disseminate Japanese culture. Between its critical role in the semi-legitmization of manga before the Japanese Cultural Influx and the inconsistent localization practices of publisher Daewon CI, Slam Dunk becomes an opportunity to observe an engaged site of dynamic interchange that troubles rigid borders of cultural flow. That hybridity, also evident in The First Slam Dunk, helps us understand the film's curious crossover success with the built-in audience of middle-aged fans and newer, younger female viewers. As pundits have noted, nostalgia is central to The First Slam Dunk, but like the original manga, the film's nostalgia does not observe strict boundaries of nation, gender, generation. Instead, it gestures to the broader experience that its eclectic audience shares, namely the post-crisis conditions of the last 30 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a comparative, cross-cultural, and multi-disciplinary study of two extinct animals, the Tasmanian tiger in Australia and the Hokkaido wolf in Japan, and their ongoing cultural 'presence'. The thylacine was last documented in captivity in 1936, and the Hokkaido wolf became extinct around 1900. Both faced rapid extinction due to anthropogenic factors associated with colonisation and modernisation, including eradication policies. Nonetheless, both animals have ongoing cultural and conservation significance. In Australia, the thylacine has become a symbol of redemption and conservation advocated for by devoted citizens who do not believe the animal is extinct. In Japan, the story of the Hokkaido wolf has been kept alive by Tezuka Osamu, a legendary manga/anime artist. Tezuka's life project was to change anthropocentric human-nature relationships through his work. These two animals have significant ongoing implications for conservation and sustainability. The Tasmanian tiger offers a new approach to conservation through the pursuit of 'Lazarus species'. The Hokkaido wolf provides an alternative ontology useful for rethinking human-nature relationships. Both point to the significant roles that different worldviews and emotional commitments can play for sustainable futures. They present new possibilities for reimagining extinction in the Anthropocene, showing that even extinct animals can give us hope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosplay, a portmanteau of the words 'costume' and 'roleplay', involves fans dressing up and acting out fictional characters, usually at fan-themed events. Previous research on cosplay and well-being has found that people who cosplay, compared to non-cosplaying anime fans, experience more positive well-being, in part because they are more likely to disclose their fan interests to others rather than hiding it. In the present study we expand upon prior research by testing whether fandom identification and attending events mediate the association between cosplaying (i.e. a sample of cosplayers vs. non-cosplaying anime fans) and well-being. The results provide evidence for a serial mediation model consistent with our predictions and with prior findings. We discuss implications for measuring well-being in fan communities, including both cosplayers and non-cosplaying fans, as well as the potential benefits of in-person contact with members of one's fandom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese film director, screenwriter, and animator Hayao Miyazaki created an intricate adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’s fantasy novel Howl’s Moving Castle (1986). Both the 2004 eponymous Japanese anime film and the novel seem to be set in the Edwardian era. The novel operates more as a fable, carrying traditional tropes of European folklore, while the film is closer to a dystopian alternate history. My paper examines how the adaptation, even though Japanese, manages to rework the story as a steampunk fantasy. The examination of the visual aspect of the anime illustrates how a Japanese adaptation of a British novel represents a steampunk story whilst bearing traces of the Japanese sense of apocalypse. The comparison of the source material and the film reveals a cross-cultural phenomenon: an engagement of typically Japanese animation components and an essentially British setting. This paper examines the film as an adaptation that operates with vastly differing plot elements: war and the exploitation of magical powers obtain much more important, sinister roles as subsidiary themes, especially in light of the fact that the Iraq war had started a year before the film’s release. This study, focusing on the thematic and visual components, identifies how a Japanese adaptation of a British novel gives a translation of a steampunk story whilst conveying a critique of modern wars.

Animation is a reflection of folks' lifestyle via a set of signs and symbols in the cultural industry which can be a potential platform in contributing to the establishments of national identity. Western countries and Japan seem to be prominent pioneers which are becoming the most influential animation in the creative industry. Kluang Man was inspired by Batman & Robin, while anime style could be identified in Anak-anak Sidek, Yokies and Sang Wira in the late 90's. Apparently, these have proven that Malaysia is also not an exception. Datuk Lat, a well-known local cartoonist, admitted that Malaysian animation lacks a sense of identity in developing character design, especially amongst today's apprentice generation. Therefore, this paper will investigate the development of local identity focusing on the characters' physical design selected from the most prevalent animations in Malaysia. Content Analysis was used to analyze the characteristic differences between the five chosen leading characters. The results found that only Boboiboy's character is highly influenced by the Japanese styles especially the facial features and haircut. Nevertheless, Usop Sontorian, Bola Kampung, Upin-Ipin and Kampung Boy are still standing strong on their own while sustaining the local identity without the influence from other animations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the magical girl anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica, middle-school girls receive the power and responsibility to fight witches in exchange for making a wish. The series has connections to many different genres and narrative traditions within the realm of folkloristics. However, the folkloric genre most relevant to the ethos and aesthetics of Madoka is that of the fairy tale. Drawing on Bill Ellis's concept of "fairy-telling" and scholarship on new media composition, in this paper we seek to investigate labyrinths as acts of embodied composing--not lairs of evil or destruction but rather creative material memory work that negotiates grief and despair. Many of the series' action sequences unfold in "labyrinths," the magical spaces controlled by witches. By composing a labyrinth, witches can simultaneously reshape their environment and create a powerful statement about identity through personalized performance in narrative spaces that they control. In particular, we argue that both the frameworks of "fairy tale" and "new media" give us useful analytical resources for beginning to make sense of the intricately complex phenomenon of Madoka's labyrinths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Butlers, ‘the chief manservant[s] of a house’, remain one of the essential icons in Japanese ACGN (animation, comics, gaming, novels) culture, including Boys’ Love (BL), a genre featuring erotic or romantic relationships between men. In mainstream BL works, butlers are very often portrayed by writers and artists as capable, handsome and even sexy. Interestingly, even though they have to take their masters’ orders, they tend to be the ones who dominate the master–servant relationships. Based on Pamela Regis’s model of romance elements and Dru Pagliassotti’s study of BL writing formula, this paper examines the entangled relationship of love, lust and power between the master and his butler in Shoko Hidaka’s well-received BL mangaBlue Morning. The progressive development of bond and tension between these two protagonists indicates an emerging domestic partnership. Such a partnership, it is argued, fulfils BL readers’ expectation for ‘equal love’ by subverting and testing the limits of social conventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Miyazaki Hayao has achieved international renown for a succession of feature-long animations that have been noted for their visual flair and highly imaginative world-constructs. Many of the narratives in these films have been situated in fantasy worlds with often only a tenuous representation of the world as experienced in some conventional contemporary (or historical) sense. Yet beyond the surface of these figures and fantastical plot devices there is a clearly discernible stream of engagement with the past. Focusing primarily onSen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)of 2001, this paper critically engages with the leading commentaries on nostalgia and memory in Miyazaki’s work, contrasting the “culturalist” approach of Susan Napier with the “machinic” approach of Thomas Lamarre. In turn, the aesthetic theory of R.G. Collingwood, in particular his concept of “magic”, is employed to demonstrate how certain aesthetic devices within the film facilitate an imaginative engagement with the past, one that is subtle but nonetheless highly evocative of distinctive nostalgic emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Comic conventions have become a part of popular culture throughout the last decade, and libraries have capitalized on reaching out to this sector. The Palm Harbor Library (PHL) in Palm Harbor, Florida and St. Petersburg College’s (SPC) Tarpon Springs campus library teamed up to offer a two-day event named the Anime and Comics Enthusiasts Convention (ACEcon) that aimed to bridge their communities together with three central goals: increasing visibility of the institutions, educating the local community, and establishing the libraries as places of interest. This paper discusses how this informal partnership began, the benefits of an academic and public library partnership, and ideas on how this concept could be improved for future events In the spirit of collaboration and relationship building, the Palm Harbor Library (PHL) in Palm Harbor, Florida and St. Petersburg College’s (SPC) Tarpon Springs campus library (also called the Learning Resources Center) formed a unique, informal partnership. The communities of Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs, Florida, located in Pinellas County, are geographically close, located only 3.6 miles apart from each other. This proximity contributed to the feasibility of the partnership. This informal partnership had institutional support from the Director of the Palm Harbor Library as well as the Director of Learning Resources, Campus Provost, and Student Life and Leadership Coordinator at SPC’s Tarpon Springs campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]