John Lichtle

April 1998

COM 301

Advanced Communication

Research Paper

Before I go into the intricacies of the history of Japanese animation in the United States I feel I should explain to those of you who do not know anything about it, what exactly Japanese animation is and where it comes from. Also, I would first like to explain my background in this field.

I have been watching Japanese animation for just over four years. I have watched hundreds of hours of Japanese animation. I have been to three Japanese animation conventions in Chicago and Los Angeles. I have over one hundred Japanese animation tapes. I hosted and produced a local Lafayette, Indiana, cable show on Japanese animation. I have given numerous presentations and written several papers on the subject. After graduating, I would like to get a job in the U.S. working with Japanese animation.

Japanese animation or "anime" (Japanese word for animation) is any animation produced in Japan for a Japanese audience. This could include television series, direct to video cassette or laserdisc or full-length theatrical movies.

American fans of Japanese animation have adopted the word anime to use when talking about this subject. In fact, the sub-culture of Japanese animation enthusiasts has developed some words that only members in the in-group would understand. Japanese animation enthusiasts usually refer to themselves as "otaku". Again "otaku" is a Japanese word usually meaning you’re an enthusiasts in any field. People in Japan could be baseball otaku or gun otaku. But U.S. fans of anime just call themselves otaku. Otaku, ironically, has a negative connotation in Japan. Usually people are referred to as otaku only when they seem obsessed with their hobby. No one in Japan would refer to themselves as an otaku. The Complete Anime Guide defines otaku like this "o-ta-ku (say ‘Oh-TAH-Koo’) n. Term used to refer to fanatical devotees of anime or manga. Japanese speakers might use this term in a pejorative sense to denote someone lacking in social graces and breadth who is obsessive about a certain subject. Inside or outside Japan, this is a term to apply carefully. Some anime fans will unabashedly declare themselves otaku, while others may take offense at having the label applied to them."¹ Other vernacular used in this sub-culture would be: anime, manga, fandom, mecha, shojo, shonen, dojinshi and OAV, which all will be explained in greater detail later.

Now how does anime come to be in Japan? Most anime starts in the "manga" format. "Manga" is similar to a comic book. "Manga" literally translated means "stationary picture".² Most manga is serialized in a monthly magazine; some popular magazines are "Shonen Jump" and "Kodansha Afternoon". However, these magazines are read by people of all ages and all magazines are geared toward a certain taste. According to author Matt Thorn, "(M)anga (the English terms ‘comics,’ ‘comic books,’ or ‘cartoons’ don’t do justice to this medium) make up forty percent of all publications in Japan. Check out the top-selling magazines in Japan and you’ll have to look pretty far down the list before you find a non-manga magazine. And the range of subject matter and styles is as broad as the sales are high. Whether your tastes tend towards sci-fi, slapstick, history, baseball, romance, gourmet cooking or S & M, there’s a manga for you."³ The two broadest categories for manga is "shonen" (for boys) and "shojo" (for girls). Also there is dojinshi manga, which is manga produced by unknown artists or artists working outside the constraints of their own company. If the work is popular enough in this format then it will be published in soft-cover books or "tankubons" exclusively dedicated to that title. And if that format is popular enough the works will be published in wideban format or hardcover books. These books use higher quality newsprint than the monthly magazines, which are barely newspaper quality.

Usually, when a work has garnered enough attention a producer from one of the anime companies will like it and get it produced. Some anime, however, is not printed before going into animation. Some very successful series like Tenchi Muyo!: No Need for Tenchi or Armitage III did not appear in print form until after it had a successful direct to video run. Usually, some artist will pitch the idea to the production company. I assume that since the product is untested they can buy the title cheaper than a popular printed title. These direct to video releases are called "OAV" or "(Original Animation Video) n. Term used to describe an animated film or series created specifically for release on home video, as opposed to release in movie theaters or on television. This is a common form of distribution for anime inside Japan. Only recently has American-produced animation experimented with this format for titles like The Return of Jafar (a sequel to Disney’s Aladdin feature)"⁴ Sometimes a title will be made into a feature length film. Examples of this would be Akira, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Memories, X/1999 or Tenchi Muyo! Tenchi in Love!. A good majority of the movies are sequels to popular television series or OAV series like Tenchi Muyo! Or an example of a television show that has a movie sequel would be Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day. The most popular method to take manga and animate it is to make it into a television series. Television shows have lower production budgets than movies or OAVs. You can also make more episodes of a series with around twenty episodes per season. Neon Genesis Evangelion’s success with it’s television series and subsequent movie, I believe started this move back to television.

You may be wondering how you get your hands on anime in the U.S. Right now you can find anime in most Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and Suncoast locations. Most of these video renting or buying stores have an anime section (usually called Japanese animation, animation or Japanimation). So how did all this anime end up on the shelves ready to buy or rent subtitled or dubbed into English and neatly packaged? Several companies across the U.S. have sprung up to do this for us. Some of the companies names are Animeigo, Viz Video, A.D.V. Films, Pioneer, Central Park Media and Manga Video. These companies obtain the rights to Japanese titles through various methods. Viz Video acquired the rights to the titles Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku because the Japanese company that owns them, owns the rights to these titles in Japan. Manga Video acquired the rights to Ghost in the Shell by investing in the production costs of the original movie before it was made. Or, in the case of Pioneer, they are a Japanese company and they produced the anime in Japan so they of course own the rights in the U.S. as well. Or, all the companies put in bids and compete for the rights for a title.

Once the title has been purchased, the company will translate the script, then subtitle it. They also create versions with the Japanese dialog taken out and English voice actors put in the audio. Most otaku prefer subtitled, because sometimes some meaning is lost with the translation and the English voice actors have to match the mouth flaps of the character. Also, most otaku have seen the Japanese version already and may prefer the Japanese voice actors which are usually stars in their homeland. Most companies say dubs ("dubs" is short for dubbing, where the Japanese voice actors are out and the English actors in) out sell subs ("subs" is short for subtitled videos) 4 to 1 or 6 to 1 because the casually fan prefers the dubs. Also, the rental chains like Blockbuster only carry the dubs for rental. Therefore, dubs are cheaper to buy than subs, not because the production costs are higher, but because they outsell the subs.

Viz translates manga as well, and they acquired the rights for Japanese titles in a similar fashion. Viz also produces a monthly magazine exclusively devoted to anime called Animerica. They also produce a couple monthly magazines devoted exclusively to the translation of manga. In Japan, books flip from right to left, whereas in the U.S. books flip left to right. The American distributors of manga have to "flip" the images so they can create a book that flips from left to right. They also have to take the Japanese words out of the word bubbles and substitute them with the correct English translations. Protoculture Addicts is another magazine devoted to anime that is located in Canada. They have recently started translating manga into French. Dark Horse Comics also translates some manga titles.

In the early days of "fandom" (word used by otaku to describe the entire anime sensation) you could not get anime at Suncoast or Blockbuster. Anime in stores like this just started happening in the last couple of years, but you could still buy anime. Some comic book stores carried it or you could order through a mail-order catalog with a few titles. But most otaku’s collection of anime was from "fansubtitlers" or "fansubbers" and the tapes are called "fansubs". Fansubbers are fans of anime who, idealistically, subtitle anime and distribute it without making a profit. Fansubbers need a computer, a copy of the anime (preferably on laserdisc, for better copy quality), a couple of VCRs, and a character generator. The person or persons will get someone to translate the script of the anime for them. Then time the subtitles to come up on the VHS copy. Fansubs are notorious for being crudely done.

Fansubs were important early because of the lack of American companies buying titles to distribute in the U.S. Or the problem of the poor quality of translation and edited titles, that were messed up to "conform to an American audience" (like the title Warriors of the Wind). Fansubs are still important today because they distribute titles like: Marmalade Boy and Rurounin Kenshin, that are "too" Japanese or too long (both series have over 70 episodes, most television series are in the 30 to 40 range, 3 to 8 if they are OAVs). They also distribute forgotten series like Video Girl Ai (I still do not understand why any company has not bought this excellent OAV series). Or the title is too expensive like Memories (which is asking for no less than one million dollars for the U.S. distribution rights, no U.S. anime company can afford this).

Usually, there is a long lag time between the time the title is released in Japan and until an American company signs it. In this space fansubbers usually distribute copies for no profit waiting to see if the title is bought or not. Usually, they will stop distributing copies once the company has announced that they have the rights to that title now. The fansubbers get cease and assist orders if they do not. American companies do not like fansubbers because they feel that they lose customers who buy the fansubs and then do not buy their commercial release. Fansubs, however, do attract fans to series they might not have heard of otherwise.

The history of anime in the U.S. is longer than most people would think. And Speed Racer was neither the first nor the only one until the 1980’s. The very first anime to hit the American airwaves was Astro Boy in 1963. Astro Boy’s "plotline, set in the year 2000, concerned the Institute of Science’s Dr. Tenma (all of the names were changed for the American market, Dr. Tenma became Dr. Boynton), who out of grief over the traffic accident death of his own young son, built a rocket-powered robot in the dead boy’s image. The robot, Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy and Astor Boynton III), had in addition to the usual super-strength and ability to fly (he also) had the capacity for human emotions. But Dr. Tenma soon became irritated that his mechanical ‘son’ would never grow into manhood, and eventually sold the creature to a circus (shades of Pinocchio). Atom was brutalized in the Robot Circus by greedy Ringmaster Hamegg. He was rescued by kindly Dr. Ochanomizu (Dr. Packadermus J. Elefun), who adopted him and took him to the Institute of Science. Already programmed by Dr. Tenma to be ‘a good boy’, Atom was influenced by Dr. Ochanomizu’s goodness and altruism into adopting a life of crimefighting—a not inconsiderable task, since his foes included mad doctors, space aliens, mind control freaks and an evil giant robot known as ‘Colosso.’"⁵

Astro Boy "debuted on Fuji TV on 1 January 1963, as Japan’s first animated TV series, and later moved to the NHK Network. In all, 193 half-hour episodes were produced. When NBC Enterprises purchased the series for American TV, rights were initially secured for 52 installments; ultimately, a total of 104 programs made it to the States". Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy’s manga creator, influence in anime is obvious even today, "Tezuka drew nearly all his manga characters with huge, saucer-like eyes—a style soon adopted by virtually every other Japanese animator."⁶ This style of "optical elephantiasis"⁷ is still prevalent today.

Other titles in this first wave of anime coming to America in the 1960’s include: 8^th Man (1965), Gigantor (1966), Prince Planet (1966), Marine Boy (1966), Kimba The White Lion (1966) (also created by Tezuka, the people with the rights to this anime, Tezuka died in 1989, are suing Disney for stealing ideas from this title for The Lion King), The Amazing 3 (1967), and Speed Racer (1967).

Here is some historical background on Speed Racer: "In the original 1960s Japanese comic book created by Tatsuo Yoshida, Speed Racer’s high-tech car was the star as indicated by the title Mach Go Go Go; Go being the Japanese word for ‘Five’, which explains the number 5 emblazoned on the side of the auto. Speed’s original name was Go Mifune, after legendary Japanese film star Toshiro Mifune, and that explains the letter ‘M’ on Speed’s helmet and jacket. Go Mifune competed in worldwide racing events on behalf of his father Daisuke’s Mifune Motors. Working on behalf of Daisuke’s (Pops Racer in the American version) organization was his wife Aya (Mom Racer), Go’s kid brother/mascot Kuo (Spridle), and an extended family of close friends and coworkers: Go’s girlfriend Michi Shimua (Trixie), mechanic Sabu (Sparks), and a comedy-relief monkey (complete with cute cap) named Senpei (Chim Chim). Casting an ominous shadow over the action was a mysterious figure, the Masked Rider (Racer X), who popped up sporadically to save Go Mifune from the various dishonest racers, master criminals and foreign spies that plagued the hero. Unbeknownst to Go, the Masked Racer was actually his older brother Kenichi, who for a complexity of top-secret reasons (including an implied death sentence from his own government!) was compelled to divorce himself from the rest of the Mifune Family."⁸

"The serialized program, distributed by K. Fujita Associates, ran in prime-time on Japanese television, then was picked up by American distributor Trans-Lux for stateside distribution in 1967".⁹ Speed Racer can still be seen today on television on the Cartoon Network or it can be bought on videocasette, distributed by F.H.E., Family Home Entertainment.

The second wave of anime came in the late-70s early to mid-80s. The first anime I ever saw was Battle of the Planets (1979). It’s Japanese title "Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) was well-received Japanese animated series which ran in its own country from October 1972 to September 1974.

"The fantastic popularity of the first Star Wars in 1977 put the sci-fi genre in great demand, and soon several American animation companies were drawing up plans to get their characters suited up, helmeted, and rocketed into the stratosphere. The first producer on the syndicated scene was gameshow distributor Sandy Frank, who acquired the ready-made Gatchaman, hired Hanna Barbera veterans Jameson Brewer and Alan Dinehart III to adapt the scripts into English, edited out the more graphically violent passages, commissioned new animation of an R2D2-like robot character named ‘7-Zark-7’ (and his ‘dog’, ‘1-Rover-1) to narrate and bridge the continuity gaps left by the trimming, and retitled the whole package Battle of the Planets.

"Set in the 21^st Century, the Sandy Frank version of Gatchaman centered around the exploits of G-Force: five young heroes who sported bird costumes and traveled the cosmos in their supership. The fact that all the Gatchaman action took place on Earth didn’t deter Frank—one of his additions was a stock shot of the team’s fighter aircraft, the Phoenix, now called a spaceship, which was often shown flying through space. G-Force was a protective squad commanded by Mark (the characters did not have last names) the Eagle, and consisting of four war orphans: Jason the Condor, Tiny the Horned Owl, Princess the Swan and Keyop the Swallow. Headquartered beneath the seas of Earth at Center Neptune, the G-Force spent the better part of it’s time rallying together to stem the megalomaniacal inclinations of Zoltar, insidious leader of the Spectra monsters trying to conquer the galaxy, and the mysterious Luminous One, leader of the planet Spectra.

"Eighty-five half-hour episodes of Battle of the Planets (whittled down from the 105 original Gatchaman episodes) were ready for Monday-through-Friday telecasts by the spring of 1978."¹⁰ I was a mere seven years old when this show hit the air and I loved it.

Recently another Gatchaman series appeared on the airwaves called Saban’s Eagle Riders. Also, recently 3 OAVs titled Gatchaman were released on home video, by Urban Vision.

Other titles that made it to American television sets during this second wave are: Star Blazers (1979), Force Five (1980), Thunderbirds 2086 (1983), Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984), and Robotech (1985).

The third wave of anime to hit the shores of America was led by these series: Ronin Warriors (1995), Dragon Ball (1995), Saban’s Eagle Riders (1997) and Sailor Moon (1995). The most popular of these series among otaku is Sailor Moon. A good portion of the people dressing up like their favorite anime characters for the masquerade, dress up like characters from Sailor Moon, especially the female Sailor Soldiers (females and frightening enough, so do the males).

"Sailor Moon premiered in Japan in March 1992 as the 46-episode Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) and continues to produce sequel series there to this day: Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon R (Feb. 1993 – Mar. 1994, episodes 47-89); Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon S (Mar. 1994 – Mar. 1995, episodes 90-127); Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon SS (a.k.a. SuperS; Mar. 1995 -- ?, episodes 128-166; and Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episodes 167-200. True to its origin as a shojo (girls’ comic) by creator Naoko Takeuchi, Sailor Moon is a television series aimed chiefly at teenage girls, featuring like-aged girls in the lead roles fighting against and invasion from another dimension, the Negaverse, led by a Snow White-style queen, Queen Beryl. Queen Beryl spends a great deal of the original series hovering over a crystal ball making menacing gestures with her long red fingernails and ordering around her handsome, mostly male, lieutenants."¹¹

Otaku have been generally dissatisfied by Sailor Moon’s American release, produced by D.I.C. Entertainment. When it was distributed it was not given favorable time-slots, if given one at all. The show was aimed at young teenage girls here, so the more violent elements and the lesbian love affair between two of the Sailor Scouts had to be cut. The ratings were not favorable and the series was cancelled in the U.S. But because of more favorable time slots in Canada the series became a big hit.

This third wave of anime in the U.S. was also marked by an increase of the home video market and video rental. I will go into defining the different categories anime falls into and introduce you to some of the titles in those categories.

The first category I will go into, my favorite, is the comedy/romantic comedy genre. The title that convince me that anime was worth watching was the television series Kimagure Oranji Rodo (Caprious Orange Road, otaku just call it Kimagure Orange Road or KOR). I had seen a few other titles but wasn’t hooked until I watched the first episode of this series. This series to date has had one television series run lasting three seasons and totaling 48 episodes. The series ran through 1986 to 1988. These were never available in the U.S. market except through fansubs. Last year, people who are fans of this television series banned together and we convinced Animeigo to start a sign-up web page where people could say they wanted to buy this series. They asked for 1,000 laserdisc orders and 500 video cassette orders. Late, last year we reached that goal. Now, sometime late this summer, this series will be available commercially in the U.S.

Following the television series run was the movie called: Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day. This movie has been available through Animeigo since 1988. Following that was 8 half-hour OAVs. These have been available in the U.S. through Animeigo since 1989, in a four volume set, the movie being volume #5. In the summer of 1996 a new KOR movie appeared titled: New Kimagure Orange Road: Summer’s Beginning. This will be available through A.D.V. Films May of 1998.

The television series follows junior high-school student Kyousuke Kasuga. His family had just moved to a new town. His family has to move frequently because he and his two twin sisters have special telepathic abilities (referred to in the series as simply as the "Power"). They move whenever their powers are accidentally discovered so they aren’t labeled as freaks. Apparently, Kyousuke and his siblings have inherited their powers from their mother who has passed away leaving their "powerless" father to raise them. The use of the power is just a way for Kyousuke to get into unusually comic scenarios. The crux of the story is the relationship he has with two girls, Hikaru and Madoka. Hikaru and Madoka are best friends. Hikaru the bubbly, outgoing one and Madoka being the mysterious, quiet one. Hikaru is immediately smitten with Kyousuke. Madoka likes Kyousuke too, but doesn’t show it because she knows how Hikaru feels. So the three of them get along being friends until high-school. They go on for 46 episodes of Madoka getting jealous and Hikaru almost finding out that Kyousuke likes her best-friend. Kyousuke isn’t sure whom he likes and therefore the love-triangle is allowed to continue making you wonder who he will end up with.

Madoka, in episode 47, says she is going to meet her first love underneath the tree they had their first kiss under six years ago. Kyousuke gets jealous and accidentally travels back in time. He gets in various troubles in this time stream with the younger version of Madoka. He coaches Madoka on what her likes in girls, influencing her. He also buys her the red straw hat that was flying through the air and he caught for her on the first day that they met. Giving Madoka her first kiss underneath that tree. Finally, Kyousuke’s grandfather has to send Madoka back in time because she is leaving Japan to go to her father who is sick in the U.S. Kyousuke, meanwhile, slips into a Frank Capraesque alternate world where Kyousuke was never born. In doing so he had to tell Madoka of the family secret of the "powers" that they have. Kyousuke says he’ll wait for Madoka to come back from America. He explains everything to Madoka and they relive their first kiss under that tree in the current timeline. That ends the series, but what will happen with Hikaru.

The movie goes into this and Kyousuke and Hikaru share their first kiss and Madoka is furious. Kyousuke then tells Hikaru that he is in love with Madoka and can’t see her anymore. Hikaru doesn’t take it very well and Hikaru gets very upset with Madoka as well. Hikaru and her parents move away at the end of the movie and things seem pretty well tied up.

The OAVs animated some of the manga installments that didn’t make it into the television series. Then, KOR creator Izumi Matsumoto started writing KOR novels a few years back. So far he has written three all together. The first novel was made into the movie: New KOR: Summer’s Beginning. A new character designer was hired and the characters have a whole new look. The story takes place several years later since the last movie so the new look makes sense. They have retained the original Japanese voice actors, however. The story starts with Kyousuke in Bosnia, working as a photo-journalist, in one timeline. He is missing because of the war going on there. In the earlier timeline, Kyousuke is hit by a car and in danger of dying. Kyousuke is doing some time traveling ending up three years into the future. Kyousuke meets Hikaru who for the past three years had been living in New York trying to become a Broadway actress. She is in town trying out for a play. Hikaru has now grown into a young woman, a lot different looking than the girl he once knew. Kyousuke learns that in this timeline he is missing in Bosnia. Hikaru doesn’t understand why he isn’t with Madoka and why everyone thinks he is missing. Kyousuke and Hikaru have dinner together and Kyousuke gets drunk and passes out in Hikaru’s hotel room. Hikaru climbs into bed with Kyousuke and Kyousuke moans in his sleep for Madoka. Madoka tracks them down, the next day, and is furious with Kyousuke for not coming to see her. Madoka and Hikaru hug because they have not seen each other for several years. She realizes that this is the younger version of Kyousuke because Kyousuke’s grandpa calls her and explains it to her. The three of them go down to the hotel pool and Hikaru declares that she is still in love with Kyousuke and she is still going to try for him. This starts the love-triangle up all over again. Kyousuke still hasn’t figured out how to get back to his timeline. The Kyousuke of that timeline is found and returns to Japan. With the combined strength of two Kyousukes they are able to send him back to his injured body and he is able to recover from the car accident.

Another excellent title in this category would be Tenchi Muyo: No Need For Tenchi! This series actually has two plot lines. The thirteen OAV series came first. Then a television series was created with the same character designs and personalities but they start the series over again and use a new story. There has also been a new television series. I won’t go into the OAV series storyline since it seems that they have abandoned it. The television series starts with a high-school boy, Tenchi. As he is walking home from school he witnesses two spaceships crashing. He goes over to investigate and finds Ryoko, who convinces him that, a space pirate is chasing her and forced her to crash. After Tenchi's grandfather defeats the "space pirate", wearing a robot like shell, with his wooden sword, the crumbling suit reveals that the space pirate is actually Space Police Detective First Grade, Mihoshi. Mihoshi provides identification proving who she is and a wanted post for master criminal Ryoko. Ryoko could leave but has developed a crush on Tenchi and decides to stay. Mihoshi sends a distress signal, which is picked up by Princess Ayeka. As it turns out Ryoko and Ayeka are rivals from way back. They go into outer space and destroy each other's ships crashing back to Earth. The rest of the supporting cast ends up back at Tenchi's house out in the country, including: Sasami, Ayeka's younger sister (who has her own spin-off series with another storyline called Magical Girl Pretty Sammy; Washu, the mad-scientist bent on figuring out Tenchi's hidden powers; Ryoki the show's mascot, half-rabbit, half-cat; and the new character who wasn't in the OAVs, Kiyone, Mihoshi's Galaxy Police partner.

You cannot talk about the genre of romantic comedy anime, without talking about Rumiko Takahashi. She has sold more manga than any other female artists in Japan. She is among the top five of all-time selling artists. She has sold over 100 million of her comics in Japan alone. Her three television series: Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku and Ranma ½ have all been big hits in Japan. Each series has well over 100 episodes (except Maison Ikkoku, it only had 96 episodes).

"Urusei Yatsura (1981) has long since been established as one of the most enduringly popular animated comedy series of all time. First published in comic form when Takahashi was only 21 years old, the manga version of Urusei Yatsura (usually translated as ‘Those Obnoxious Aliens’) eventually went on to sell over 22 million copies in Japan alone, establishing her as one of the comic world’s preeminent storytellers. The animated version of Urusei Yatsura was almost as popular, airing on Japanese television from 1981-’86 and going on to produce some 197 half-hour television episodes, eleven OAVs, and six animated movies.

"The story of Urusei Yatsura is as follows: Japanese schoolboy Ataru Moroboshi, oft-described as the ‘world’s unluckiest teenager’, is randomly chosen by computer one day to be Earth’s champion in a game of intergalactic tag with the princess-daughter of the invading aliens, the tiger-skin bikini-clad Lum. If Ataru can catch her, the Earth will be spared. If he fails, then it’s an eternal time-out for humanity.

"The zaniness of the story and its army of wacky characters are only the surface of Urusei Yatsura, however, as the main driving force or engine of the story is really the developing relationship between the hotly jealous Lum and the fumbling, lecherous Ataru. The appeal of a bikini-clad beauty like Lum is obvious, but what’s Ataru’s appeal? By presenting Ataru as a loser among losers, not necessarily a bad person but definitely one who can’t seem to help making all the wrong choices, Takahashi creates a story which is touching and somehow resonant to anyone who’s ever wished for an attractive, unconditionally loving mate to appear out of nowhere and change their life forever."¹² Most of Urusei Yatsura is available through Animeigo.

Takahashi's second animated television show was Maison Ikkoku. Although the shortest of her television series (96 episodes) I believe that this is her strongest work. The television series ran from 1986 to 1988. The story is simpler with no aliens or magical powers. The story follows Yusaku Godai. He lives in a run down apartment building (named Maison Ikkoku) with noisy, meddlesome neighbors, who torment him for kicks. He is studying to retake the college entry exams. In his first attempt, he failed which makes him a "ronin" which translates to "masterless samurai" but for him it means student without a school. He cannot study in his apartment because of his neighbors so he is about to move out when the beautiful new manager comes to move in, Kyoko Otonashi. Their relationship slowly evolves over the 96 episodes. We see that Kyoko is not ready to get romantically involved with anyone because she was recently widowed. She also has another paramour, the tennis instructor, Shun Mitaka. Mitaka is everything Godai isn't. Mitaka is rich, smooth, athletic, everything a woman would look for in a mate. Godai is poor, indecisive, irresponsible, and not someone would think would be a good catch. Godai also has two other paramours who think Godai is the center of the universe, which makes Kyoko very jealous. The television series wraps up the series but a movie followed which chronicled a time period in-between the last few episodes.

Takahashi's next romantic comedy was Ranma 1/2. Ranma 1/2 ran from April 15, 1989 to September 25, 1992 and ran for 161 episodes. Ranma has had eleven OAVs and three movies to date. The story focuses on the title character, Ranma. Ranma and his father, Genma, were training in China when they fell into some mysterious, magical pools. These pools curse whomever falls into them. The person is transformed whenever they are splashed by cold water. When they are splashed with cold water they transform into whatever had died in that pool centuries ago. They are able to transform back to their original self when splashed by hot water. Ranma fell into a pool that transforms him to a sixteen-year-old girl. Since Ranma is male this is quite embarrassing. Genma fell into a pool that transforms him to a giant Panda, which he doesn't seem to mind too much. Later, characters introduced later turn into piglets, ducks and cats. Ranma arrive at the Tendo dojo where Genma has promised his kid in marriage to one of Tenma's daughters. When they arrive, Ranma is in female form and they are quite confused. After they explain the curse it is decided that Akane, Tenma's youngest daughter will marry Ranma since they are closest in age. Because of an earlier misunderstanding about Ranma's sex the two get off to a bad start and openly detest each other. Secretly, you think they actually like each other. Ranma’s childhood rival, Ryoga (who changes into the little pig), who develops a crush on Akane complicates the romance. Also, it seems that in exchange for food Genma has promised Ranma to marry several peoples’ daughters and these fiancees keep appearing. Ranma's strengths are the wacky, romantic comedy, made more interesting with all the transforming. But another plus is the martial arts fighting duels as well. Maison Ikkoku and Ranma ½ is available through Viz Video.

Other excellent titles in this category would be: Video Girl Ai, Slayers, Oh My Goddess, Here is Greenwood and Irresponsible Captain Tyler.

Most of those titles listed above would be considered shonen anime. An immerging important sub-category under romantic comedy would be shojo anime. "Shojo manga tend to focus on the human relationships. Heterosexual romance is the most common motif, but it is not the only one. Friendships, family relationships, and romances between boys are also common. Even romances between girls have become less taboo in recent years. Most are set in high schools or middle school, and many deal with the kinds of situations readers themselves may experience. To be sure, they are slicked-up versions of reality, but compared with most shonen manga, the stories overlap with the lives of reader’s considerably."¹³

One excellent example of this is the television series Marmalade Boy. Yoshizumi Wataru wrote Marmalade Boy’s manga. Typically women write shojo anime. The television series aired from March 13, 1994 to March 9, 1995 and had 76 episodes.¹⁴ The story follows high-school teenager Miki Koishikawa and her troubles in everyday life. Her parents come back from vacation and announce that not only are they getting divorced but they are swapping partners with another couple and they are all going to live together. To make matters more complicated the other couple also has a like aged offspring, the handsome Yuu Matsuura, whom she falls in love with. Various other characters are introduced that try and break Yuu and Miki apart.

Another example of shojo anime is Fushigi Yuugi. Fushigi Yuugi’s manga was written by Watase Yuu and was published in Shogakukan’s Flower. She will be one of the guests of honor at Anime Expo ’98, this summer. Viz Publications recently acquired the rights to the manga for the U.S. There are 106 manga episodes. The manga was made into an animated television series which ran from April 6, 1995 to March 28, 1996 and produced 52 episodes.¹⁵ "Fushigi Yuugi, ‘Mysterious Play’, is the story of a fifteen year-old girl named Miaka Yuuki, a third year junior high student getting ready for high school examinations. When she and her best friend, Yui Hongo, visit the National Library, they discover an old Chinese book called ‘The Universe of the Four Gods’. When they turn the page, they are pulled into the story inside the book. There, they are saved from slavers by a young man with the (kanji) character of ‘the ogre’ (oni) on his forehead. Yui mysteriously disappears in a red light and finds herself back in the library…without Miaka."¹⁶ American companies are clamoring for the rights for this series in the U.S. but no company wanted to announce it had acquired the rights for the television series at Anime Central Anime Convention.

The genre of action and adventure is probably the most popular of the categories in the U.S. right now. The titles you could list in this category would be numerous. I will concentrate on my favorites.

You cannot talk about this category without talking about Hayao Miyasaki. "NHK (Japanese television network, like ABC or NBC) had a survey on the best ten Japanese movies a few years ago. In first place was Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai. Second was Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, if I remember correctly. But there’s a rumor that Nausicaa was really the first place winner, but those involved in the process thought it would be a disgrace to Japanese movies if a piece of animation came in first and fixed the votes."¹⁷ Hayao Miyasaki was creator, writer and director of Nausicaa (1984). His films tend to be the highest grossing films in Japan for that year. His latest release Princess Mononoke went beyond that last summer. "As of the end of September, 10.9 million people have seen the film, and it’s grossed 9 billion yen (~US $75-90 million, depending on the exchange rate)."¹⁸ "Even in its 10^th week of release, its grossing 800 million yen a week. Based on this figure, according to my reference materials, at the 20^th week of release at the end of November, this number would be 18 billion-yen. The distribution revenue, based on this, would be 10.8 billion-yen. The previous movie with the highest distribution revenue was ET’s 9.4 billion yen, so it’s almost certain that Princess Mononoke will reach the top spot for Japanese movies."¹⁹ I checked more recent statistics on the internet and confirmed that Princess Mononoke is now Japan’s all-time highest grossing movie. We had Titanic they had Princess Mononoke. I think this should confirm that Hayao Miyasaki is one of Japan’s best animators.

Miyasaki’s other works include: My Neighbor Totoro (1988) (currently his only work available in the States through Fox Video), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) (will be available through Disney, this September, possibly a run on Sunday night’s ABC’s Disney slot), Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) and Porco Rosso (1992). Princess Mononoke will be released in theaters this summer with Disney distributing the movie. Should be interesting to see how that goes. Word is that Princess Mononoke is more violent than previous Miyasaki films, and may not be suitable for younger children. I’m not sure how Disney, of all companies, is going to market a violent cartoon. Later, I will be covering in more detail the deal between Disney and Miyasaki’s company Tokuma and it’s influence on anime.

He is a summary of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. "One thousand years after most of the world was destroyed in a holocaust known as the Seven Days of Fire, scattered fragments of humanity struggle to survive. Contaminated lands have produced giant forests of poisonous plants populated by giant insects. Nausicaa is a princess in the Valley of the Wind, a small area sheltered by an ocean breeze from the ever-expanding forests. But events outside the peaceful valley soon make the area into a battleground. A craft from the large, industrial state of Tolumekia crashes near the valley, leaving no survivors other than the greatest terror of the ancient (industrialized) world, an organic weapon of mass destruction known as a God Warrior. To possess this weapon, the great powers of the region are prepared to destroy the valley. It is Nausicaa’s duty to prevent the destruction of the valley and the revival of the God Warrior."²⁰

The following is a summarization of Kiki’s Delivery Service. "This beautifully animated tale of a young witch who, like all witched at age 13, leaves home to find her place in the world. She takes with her a few belongings, her father’s pink radio and her black cat Jiji, with whom she can speak. Unfortunately she is not well prepared for any career. She knows nothing of potions or magic other than flying. Upon arriving at a large city, she finds a home with a family who operates a bakery. Kiki is given a room above the store, and she makes deliveries on her broom to customers.

"This movie has some fantastic city scenes and the usual fantastic flying sequences found in most Miyasaki movies. It is a bittersweet coming of age story rather than an adventure story."²¹

And this is a summary of My Neighbor Totoro. "Totoro is a movie set in the countryside of Japan shortly after the war’s end. It revolves around two girls who move the countryside with their father to be near their mother who is in a nearby hospital. The children explore their new surroundings and discover the totoros, magical forest spirits inhabiting the tree in their yard.

Totoro is set in a Japan that is now hard to find. Many of these rural areas no longer exist and the movie is a reminiscence of sorts to a simpler time."²²

No doubt that this film was inspired from Miyasaki’s own childhood. His mother was very ill when her was a child and spent nine years in a hospital.

Miyasaki does about forty percent of the artwork in his productions. Because of his demand for such high quality work, he again announced his retirement at the press conference to promote his new movie.

The next series I will discuss is Vision of Escaflowne. "Titled Tenku No Escaflowne (The Vision of Escaflowne—The literal Japanese/English translation is Escaflowne of the Sky. However, the eye catch shows The Vision of Escaflowne in Romaji. Go figure!), it has, since its apparition, revolutionized the concept of techno-fantasy anime.

"The reasons for Escaflowne’s success are many. However, two of them stand out. The first one is the story. Although definitely part of the mecha-paladin genre, it has the advantage of also including a large dose of romanticism, with love triangles (its rather a square in the case of the main characters!), tragic love stories and betrayals, etc., making it very attractive to both male and female audiences (guys often try to show no interest for romantic stories, but are enthralled by them all the same). Second the designs of both characters and mecha (anime term for machines of all kinds, usually large human operated robots). The character designs, by Nobuteru Yuuki, seem to be inspired by shojo manga and this fact seems to have had an influence on the ratings with female viewers.

"The story of Escaflowne takes place on Gaea, a kind of alternative Earth on which the inhabitants of Atlantis found refuge when their continent was destroyed. Fifteen year-old high-school student Hitomi Kanzaki, was taken there by accident when a Gaean boy of her own age, Van Fanel, was warped to Earth, then taken back to his world via the power of Hitomi’s mysterious pendant. Once on Gaea, Hitomi uses the precognitive powers that have been in her family for generations to help Van (who reveals himself to be the king of the small kingdom of Fanelia and a member of the Ryuujinbito, the Tribe of the Holy Flying Dragon, direct descendants of the Atlanteans) fighting the forces of the technologically advanced Zaibach Empire that have destroyed his kingdom and started a war of conquest."²³

Escaflowne had a 26 episodes run and has not yet been signed by an American company. Rumor has it that Bandai, who owns the rights to this series in Japan, may be entering the American market.

Another good action/adventure title is Rurounin Kenshin. Rurouni Kenshin was created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. It takes place in the Meiji Period of Japan. The Meiji Period began in an intense civil war in Japan roughly the same time of the American civil war. The old feudal system and samurais had been outlawed. People were no longer able to carry swords in public. The story follows the former samurai, Kenshin. He has a mysterious past and is trying to leave it behind. He meets Kaoru, a young woman who is trying to maintain her father’s dojo and teach her family’s fighting style. The first few episodes deal with Kenshin helping Kaoru to defeat this evil man who is going around killing people saying he is using the fighting form of Kaoru’s family. Kenshin later agrees to stay at Kaoru’s dojo after she invited him to do so. Kenshin also happens to be a good cook and a good babysitter for Kaoru’s younger sisters. In later episodes they make new friends, which inevitably leads to Kenshin defeating their enemies. Then his friends help defeat new enemies of new friends.

I enjoyed the action fighting style of this series as well as the historical information I gained from it.

Other excellent titles in this category would be Dirty Pair, Record of Lodess Wars, Gunsmith Cats, Lupin III and 3x3 Eyes.

The next genre I will write about is the category of cyberpunk and science fiction. Most of you are fimiliar with science fiction, but cyberpunk is not as well known. Cyberpunk is a sub-category of science fiction. Most stories take place in the future but they always don’t have to (stories like these taking place in the past are usually called steampunk, and usually deal with the industrial revolution of the 1800’s). The stories deal with technology out of control and threating to destroy humanity. The only good American example of this is the movie Blade Runner. In Blade Runner the androids are out of control and Harrison Ford’s character Jack Deckard must hunt them down and "retire" them.

One of the most popular of these cyberpunk titles is Bubble Gum Crisis. BGC is set in a futuristic Tokyo were one company dominates most of the important markets. One of them being manufacturing robot like creatures called "boomers". These creatures have the appearance of humans then can transform into powerful machines. The company, Genom, occasionally releases these boomers in Tokyo to test them. The Tokyo police don’t have the firepower to deal with these machines. Out of this arises a group know as the Knight Sabers, a group of four women who had designed battle suits with power and firepower compatible with these boomers. We learn that the group’s leader Silvia’s father helped designed the boomers. In case of his death, he left designs for these suits with his daughter to create a counterbalance to the boomers. One of the other Knight Sabers is named Priss, a name of one of the androids hunted down in Blade Runner and her band (she is also a rock singer) is called the Replicants, the name of the androids in Blade Runner.

The character designer of this series became very famous, his name is Kenichi Sonoda. He later went on to create character designs for other popular series and created his own title Gunsmith Cats. I have met Kenichi Sonoda twice and he is a big fan of America, especially Chicago where Gunsmith Cats is set. He said he fell in love with Chicago watching The Blues Brothers.

BGC was an OAV series that had its first release on 2/25/87. The original OAV series went to eight volumes. The eighth was released on 1/30/91. Animeigo has been releasing this series in the U.S.

The follow up to BGC was Bubble Gum Crash (1991). Bubble Gum Crash was not as well received and only three OAVs were made. These are also available through Animeigo.

There was also the spin-off OAV series AD Police. AD Police is the police division assigned to dealing with boomers. Leon McNichols was a minor character in BGC who was a member of the AD Police. This series covers his rookie year as a member of the AD Police force. This also had three OAVs. This title is available through Animeigo as well.

A.D.V. Films announced at Anime Central that they helped finance the new Bubble Gum Crisis television series that will be on Japanese television this October with a release date in the U.S. perhaps by next year. They, of course, will have the rights to this series in the States.

This series was responsible with getting a lot of early otaku into anime. It was one of the earliest hits for anime in the U.S. Every otaku is familiar with BGC. This series was so popular because of its attractive, sexy character designs and the fast paced action. The hard rock music was also a reason it was a big hit with the voice actress who sang for Priss becoming a star in Japan.

Probably the most famous example of anime is the classic movie, Akira (1989). Akira has been around long enough now that even people who are not interested in anime have seen this movie. This movie also was a video pick of the week by Siskel & Ebert in April of 1992. This movie had been available through Streamline Pictures. Orion Pictures had owned them but their financial standing has not been that secure lately, so I'm not sure where you can get this movie.

Akira is undoubtedly one of the most detailed and artistic anime ever made. The story, however, is a little hard to follow and not all that entertaining. Katsuhiro Otomo directed Akira and has quickly risen to one of Japan's premiere talents. Here is a brief synopsis of the plot; "Otomo creates a demonic future. Neo-Tokyo was flattened in 1996 when a top secret weapons experiment backfired: The mad doctors and crazed warriors of the first Akira Project had wanted to crack open the human mind and explosively release its untapped energy. It makes perfect sense (as it did in the Brian De Palma PSI-thrillers Carrie and The Fury) that the ideal candidates for these brain-fusion experiments would be adolescents, because their nervous systems are already turbo-charged. They go through Jekyll-and-Hyde seizures when their powers begin to erupt, like the standard hormonal crisis writ large. The fireball that engulfs Tokyo comes right out of the forehead of a twisted street kid. Now a gifted youngster, a put-upon gang-banger with a raging grudge against the world, has become the guinea pig of Akira Phase Two. All hell is about to break loose again -- Apocalypse 2."²⁴

Recently, Otomo directed the third part of the anime anthology titled, Katsuhiro Otomo presents Memories. He directed the short called Cannon Fodder and the style used is characterized as steampunk. The story is about a city and it's large cannons. Their entire city's culture is based on firing these cannons at an unseen enemy.

The next title I will write about is not cyberpunk but more of a science fiction story. The title is Neon Genesis Evangelion. NGE is a 26 episode television series produced by Gianax. There have also been two movies to date titled, Evangelion: Death & Rebirth and End of Evangelion.

This series has been very popular and successful in Japan. Its popularity in the U.S. is gaining strength through the television’s release on video by A.D.V. Films. This series has had a lot of success because of its toy line. Also, the series had a very high production quality, above any television series airing. On the surface NGE may just seem like a monster of the week series, but its underlining messages about humanity make this series a standout.

"The story begins in the year 2015. Most of humanity died from the shift of the Earth axis from the ‘2^nd Impact’ in 2004. The ‘2^nd Impact’ was a meteorite that crashed in the Antarctic regions, as a result the axis shifted causing the melting of the polar ice caps and destroyed coastal cities creating monstrous problems such as civil war and economic stress as well.

"Reports from the UN Files are that some scientists actually were up in the Antarctic researching some kind of disturbance there. They found some kind of being or "Angel" stationed there and began their research. After the scientists left, and explosion occurred, hence the second impact. After that, an Angel suddenly attacks Tokyo 3, a specially planned city constructed in the Hikone area. After the scare, the UN commissioned a special agency called NERV to battle these mysterious Angels with phenomenal powers. Fifteen years later, NERV has built two experimental mecha to battle the Angels, and incidentally, one appears. However, they only have one pilot that has gone through training, Rei Ayanami, but she is wounded, so they frantically find another pilot, Shinji Ikari, who also happens to be the son of the ‘boss’ (Gendo Ikari) of NERV. However, without any training, Shinji totally annihilates the Angel unbeknownst to him."²⁵ He was knocked unconscious during the battle and the EVA (the aforementioned mecha) operates on its own.

I believe that this title above all others led to the great anime comeback to television. This series proved that you could create quality anime in a weekly series.

Other excellent titles in this category would be: Armitage III, Battle Angel Alita and Ghost in the Shell.

The next genre is what I will call "Adults-only" anime. This anime would be called pornography in this country. Because this style of anime is pornographic, I could not do any research on it over the internet because of my university’s policies concerning the access of such materials over the internet. Also, I do not enjoy this type of anime and have no interest in discovering anything more about it.

Some titles in this category would be: La Blue Girl, F3, Urotsukidoji Legend of the Overfiend and New Angel.

There have been a lot of positive things happening lately for anime staying as a presence in the U.S. market.

Billboard Magazine’s Top 50 Video Sales for August 24, 1996 showed the #1 video in America was Ghost in the Shell. Ghost in the Shell had just finished a successful run in some movie theaters across the country including Piper’s Alley in Chicago. After the success of its summer showings it immediately came out on video. This, I believe marked the first time a Japanese movie reached #1 on Billboard.

Another important event took place last year when the Disney/Tokuma deal was announced. Tokuma is the company that owns Hayao Miyasaki’s production company Studio Ghibli. All of Miyasaki’s previous films, except My Neighbor Totoro which was already released by Fox Video, were included in the deal, plus a few movies that Miyasaki was only the producer, plus his yet to be released Princess Mononoke. Miyasaki had been hesitant to reenter the U.S. market after one company acquired the rights to Nausicaa and hacked scenes out for no reason and changed everyone’s names and retitled it Warriors of the Wind. Disney acquired the rights to Nausicaa because their rights were for only a set amount of years and the company led my president Carl Macek, who is know president of Streamline Pictures, went out of business.

"In the U.S., when people think of animation, they think of Disney; in Japan…they think of Miyasaki.", said Joe Roth, chairman of Walt Disney studios. He went on to say "Miyasaki’s films feature the same kind of quality family entertainment that Disney has always strived to produce."²⁶

This deal is important to anime in the U.S. None of the companies currently distributing anime is as big as Disney. All the U.S. companies combined are not as big as Disney is. A lot of otaku are skeptical about this deal. I am not. Already Disney has announced that in September they will release the first of Miyasaki’s film on video, Kiki’s Delivery Service. Because of Disney’s influence and money they were able to get Kirsten Dunst (Interview with the Vampire, Jumanji and ER) to do the voice of Kiki. Disney has the kind of influence and money to market these movies and acquire famous, top-notch actors. The only problem I see is they might not promote it as anime because of the stigma such animation has. I do not think they will destroy the movies by "Americanizing" them because Miyasaki made sure, after he was burned last time, that his movies would not be edited and that he could have some creative control over them.

I believe Matthew Sweet help promote anime in the U.S. in the early 90’s. For his first single off his "Girlfriend" album he used extensive clips from the title Space Hunter Cobra. The song became a hit and the video earned heavy rotation on MTV. This was the first time I knew I was watching anime, because the VJs would explain where all the clips for his video were coming from. His second single "I’ve Been Waiting" also received extensive play on MTV. This video featured clips from Urusei Yatsura. The Village Voice proclaimed Sweet as "The Highest-Profile Otaku in the World". Sweet later admitted that when he chose Cobra he was relatively new to the anime scene. He also decided to stop making video with anime so he wouldn’t become known as the guy with cartoon videos. I believe that he was important in getting people into anime at the time.

In Japan anime is also experiencing an increase in popularity on television. "In 1975, there were 21 animated TV shows; in 1976, 23 shows; in 1977, 29 shows; and in 1978, 25 shows. The numbers were always in the twenties. But in 1979, the number went up to 38 shows. There were 43 animated shows in 1980. It went down to 33 shows in 1981. It further decreased to 27 shows in 1982. But in 1983, the number went up to a historical first of 44 shows. This was the result of the previous year’s Superdimensional Fortress Macross setting light to the next anime boom.

"For the industry, it’s a good thing for anime to become popular, and the number of animated shows to increase. But as a studio, such a thing torments us with a shortage of skilled animators.

"Now, our industry is entering yet another unheard of situation.

"As an aftershock of Evangelion’s popularity last year, the number of shows this fall is up to 58! I can only look at this figure in amazement. I have no idea who will be making these shows, at whatever studio, but from my experience, the majority of these shows will be disappointing. Some of them might even create a gap in the broadcast. As a reaction to that, next year around this time, the number of shows will probably have dramatically decreased. In fact, some predict there to be only twenty-some shows next year. I get the dark feeling that the industry will be setting yet another foot in the ruins."²⁷

Despite Mr. Ishiguro’s dark feelings some of the shows were hits. I believe shows were able to maintain the high level of quality because almost every company has stopped making OAVs. There has not been a big hit OAV in the States for quite sometime. Usually, all the top titles were OAVs like Bubble Gum Crisis and the first Tenchi Muyo series. Both of these titles now are television series. The studios are concentrating on television.

Another reason why Japanese television can support this many shows, I believe is the start of late-night animated shows. These shows air around the time slots we associated with Conan O’Brien and Tom Synder. "Recently, there’s been an explosion of animated TV shows aired late at night. One TV station which has been single-handedly showing, in the evening, popular animated shows such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Pocket Monsters (a show that recently sent over 600 children to the hospital because it caused them to go into seizures after watching a scene containing rapidly flashing blue and red lights), and Tenchi Muyo! is showing one, and sometimes two, anime shows every night except on Sunday and Saturday. Starting this October, other TV stations will start showing late-night animated shows, too. This is a late-night anime boom of sorts.

"Of course, there were initial worries that only the fanatical adult anime fans would watch late-night anime. I think it must have been some kind of gamble. But in the end, the late-night show Elf o Karu Monotachi ("Those Who Hunt Elves'’) came out on the top of ratings for shows in its time slot. Its theme song CD ranked as a hit at the top of the charts. The manga became a bestseller in the tens of thousands of copies.

"This hit revealed that normal adults watch anime, too. That is, they used to watch anime when they were children, but as they grew up, they just stopped watching anime because there were no animated shows on during the hours in which they watched TV (late at night). Furthermore, since the late-night time slot is for adults, animators no longer had to be confined to the traditional children-oriented content, and they could make shows with adults in mind."²⁸

"I’ve been checking out the late-night shows, and from what I’ve seen in the past month, all the production companies are doing a good job. The late-night lineup is like this: Mondays, New Vampire Princess Miyu; Tuesdays, Berserk; Wednesdays, Deep Sea Legend Mermanoid, Ehrgeiz and Those Who Hunt Elves; Thursdays, Virus; and Fridays, Megami Tensei ("Goddess Reincarnate") Devil Summoner. A common element to all these shows is that they surely will be released on video as soon as the broadcast run is over. In other words, the producers are asking for shows with strong creative merit—ratings are secondary."²⁹

Other evidence of anime’s increasing popularity is the growing popularity of anime conventions. I have attended three conventions. Two of these conventions were in Los Angeles (or Anaheim), Anime Expo ’95 and Anime Expo ’96; and one was in Chicago (Rosemont, Illinois), Anime Central. The attendance for Anime Expo ’95 in Los Angeles was just over 2,000. The attendance for Anime Expo ’96 in Anaheim, California was just over 3,000. The West Coast is definitely the center for otaku. The attendance for the Chicago area’s first all anime convention was just over 1,100.

The set-up and activities at anime conventions are similar to sci-fi conventions. People walking around dressed up like their favorite anime characters (quite difficult to do since anime characters are drawings and not people in costume). Panel discussions to debate every possible topic (topics include what is the best blank tape brand, best VCR brand, how to subtitle anime, how to parody dub anime, one panel cast audience members to dub their voices into the anime). Screening rooms watching hard to find anime (usually fan-subs). Anime companies showing their latest titles. There is usually an official contested masquerade. There will usually be a game show (usually run by my friend Ryan Gavigan, if he isn’t running the show he’s winning it). There is a dealer’s room where you can purchase all sorts of merchandise that you would usually have to order through a catalog. One of the best parts of the conventions are the panels were the heads of the anime distribution companies talk about upcoming releases that they have just signed and the general state of the industry. But the best part of the conventions is the Japanese guests of honor. To actually meet the people who created these great titles and characters is a real honor. I have met Kenichi Sonoda at two conventions and have gotten autographs from him both times. I also got a sketch of two characters from Saber Marionettes J and Battle Arena Toshinden character designer, Tsukasa Kotobuki.

Recently, appearing at conventions has been Apollo Smile, "Live-action Anime Girl". Apollo and her team have created a manga featuring Apollo Smile. She dresses up in costume and performs at conventions, singing and dancing, her own songs.

Conventions are great places to promote anime. I expect when I attend Anime Expo ’98 that the attendance will be even higher.

I think that it is important for the future of anime for the companies to promote more female fans joining. I would say judging from surveys and attendance at anime conventions that otaku are 90% male. I bet that a lot of Japanese otaku are male but there are a lot of titles that are appealing to women as well like Maison Ikkoku, Fushigi Yuugi, Marmalade Boy, and Sailor Moon. I think this a market that is vastly untapped. Whenever I encounter a female fan or potential fan I always try to help them out with fan-subs or in anyway I can.

I conducted some interviews over the internet and asked some females what they liked about anime. "Q.: What do you like about anime? A.: It has an exotic flavor; I’m sure that was part of the initial attraction. But exoticity wouldn’t have been enough to keep me watching anime. I think the fact that it’s directed at older audiences rather that at children like most American animation helps a lot. Most American animation is simply cartoons. Most anime isn’t cartoons. It takes serious, adult-level plot lines and uses animation rather than live-action to express them. I wish that American animation would take its cue from anime because there are so many shows (in my opinion) that would work better if animated. Q.: What do you dislike about anime? A.: A lot of anime is directed at teenage males, and as a result, they tend to feature busty, scantily clad women. In fact, one (male) friend of mine jokingly says that he doesn’t think that the animators have ever seen a female breast in their lives because the proportions are so unrealistic. Also, I don’t like genres that emphasize violence and destruction. Violence enhances many excellent storylines (such as Fushigi Yuugi), but like some American movies, some anime seems to be created just for the sake of glorifying wanton violence. I also don’t like "etchi" anime (this is sexually explicit anime). Q.: Do you see any differences in what you like about anime and what male fans like? A.: To some extent I do. I tend to prefer romantic anime over action anime, while a lot of male otaku I know don’t like the romance nearly as much as the action. In my experience, male and female fans alike tend to enjoy comedies such as Ranma ½ about equally." ³⁰

"Q.: What do you like about anime? A.: I like the humor, the art (when it’s done well), the good stories (well, even the not so good ones if the other factors are strong), the music, and especially the interesting characters. But I have to admit, I look at the quality of the art first, and judge the other factors after assessing whether I like the art style or not. Q.: What do you dislike about anime? A.: I don’t like the obsessed fans who give anime a bad reputation, I don’t like dubbed American versions (I think subtitles work just as well), I don’t like the anime made solely to show how many naked girls they can squeeze into thirty minutes, I don’t like how expensive anime is,… Q.: Do you see any differences in what you like about anime and what male fans like? A.: I’m sure most of the male fans get much more enjoyment out of watching the anime with naked girls in it, but as for the regular anime, I think good art, humor, good story and music are what draws us in, male or female. There are certain shonen titles I like as well as shojo, and I know if guys who like titles in both types too."³¹

I also asked them if they felt anime had enriched their lives in anyway. Some found it as a good way to relieve stress. In Robyn’s case and mine, it led to our study of the Japanese language. And in Robyn’s case (not mind so far) traveling to Japan.

I believe that anime is a good hobby. And I believe that as long as the animators in Japan continue to consistently produce quality anime with adult-level storylines, anime will continue to sell in the U.S.