Anime and manga are forms of

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informati ...

produced by the content industry of Japan. The

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

and manga industry forms an integral part of Japan's soft power as one of its most prominent cultural exports. Anime is a Japanese cartoon with a specific style of animation. Anime storylines can include fantasy or real life. They are famous for elements like vivid graphics and character expressions. In contrast, manga is strictly paper drawings, with comic book style drawings. Usually, animes are adaptations of manga but not the other way around.

Subculture

In Japanese, the word does not have the same connotation of oppositional culture as it does in English, so it is frequently used in situations where "

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...

" might be preferred by Westerners instead. In Japan, most works start out as manga, with the most successful titles receiving an . However, for overseas fans their first encounter with the subculture is typically through broadcast anime. It is common for a work to be distributed overseas via

fansub A fansub (short for fan-subtitled) is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program, typically anime or dorama which has been translated by fans (as opposed to an officially licensed translation done by paid professionals) and subtitl ...

s and

scanlation Scanlation (also scanslation) is the fan-made scanning, translation, and editing of comics from a language into another language. Scanlation is done as an amateur work performed by groups and is nearly always done without express permission from t ...

s, or unauthorized fanmade translations of anime and manga, respectively, before official translations become available. Typically, overseas fans will first translate the work into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French, and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

, and then into other languages using those as an intermediary. The legality of ethics of these fanmade translations has been hotly debated. Many of those involved refuse to profit from their translations out of principle, and destroy the copies once officially licensed versions become available. Some industry participants in both Japan and the United States have expressed tacit acceptance of fanmade translations, seeing them as a trial run for the American market. Other types of media such as

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

s and

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s are frequently associated with and considered part of the anime and manga subculture.

History

The explosive growth in Japan's soft power began in the 1970s, when it changed from a net importer to a net exporter of information. Prior to the late 1990s, the primary export of Japan's content industry was video games. However, beginning in 2000, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology recognized anime and manga as part of "traditional" Japanese culture, and the government began to promote them as part of its

Cool Japan refers to the aspects of Japanese culture that non-Japanese people perceive as "cool". The Cool Japan strategy is part of Japan's overall brand strategy, aiming to disseminate Japan's attractiveness and allure to the world. The target of Cool Ja ...

strategy, passing the in June 2004. The value of the anime and manga industry is estimated at US$5 billion as of 2008. Anime and manga were not widely marketed in the United States before the mid-1990s, with only a few titles available on network television. The rapid growth of the genre in the United States has led some commentators to deem it an American import rather than a Japanese export. Due to anime and manga's increased popularity overseas, various companies have begun catering to foreign audiences such as Kadokawa Corporation which has adopted the "Overseas first" policy.

Industry growth

Precedence Research, a research company for market insights, projects that the anime market will increase from $24.5 billion to $47.14 billion by 2028.

In other languages

In China, dongman () is a portmanteau of donghua and

manhua () are Chinese-language comics produced in China and Taiwan. Whilst Chinese comics and narrated illustrations have existed in China in some shape or form throughout its imperial history, the term first appeared in 1904 in a comic titled ''Cu ...

, used as an umbrella term for animation and comics. The term "dongman" is often mistakenly used to exclusively refer to the animation, while in fact it should include both the donghua and the manhua. When video games are included, the term used is ACG (), short for "animation, comics, and games". A further extension which includes light novels is ACGN, or "animation, comics, games, and novels". Another term for the genre as a whole is ''erciyuan'' (), meaning "

two-dimensional space In mathematics, a plane is a Euclidean ( flat), two-dimensional surface that extends indefinitely. A plane is the two-dimensional analogue of a point (zero dimensions), a line (one dimension) and three-dimensional space. Planes can arise as ...

". One of the most popular websites for ACGN content is bilibili.

References

{{reflist

Subculture

History

Industry growth

In other languages

See also

References