From Hello Kitty to Pokemon to Sailor Moon, Japanese animation has infiltrated American pop culture.
Although the colorful Japanese Anime characters attract mostly children and teenage girls, modes of animation have become incredibly sophisticated, proving Anime to be much more than just child's play.
Susan Napier, professor of Asian studies and Japanese literature at the University of Texas in Austin spoke to Duke students Thursday about the breadth of Japanese animation and its recent popularity. In Japan, animation covers a range of diverse genres including lighthearted romantic comedies, fantastical science fictions, and dark philosophical narratives.
"Animation is the new medium for the 21st century," Napier said. "With the advancements and developments in the fields of computers and advertisements, animation has become a more dominant component of our culture. Anime offers something different from Hollywood. It does not cater to one particular age group and it appeals to a wide range of audiences."
Its comprehensive appeal has filtered not just into Western culture but even at Duke, where literature students are studying Anime. The appeal has gone outside of the classroom as well--Duke's Anime club members gather informally on Friday nights to watch and review Anime movies.
Junior Melissa Lim, a member of the Anime club, attributed the proliferation of Anime to marketing and universal broadcasts. "One reason for Anime's recent popularity is due to [the number of] American [television] channels, such as the Cartoon Network," she said. "It is not like normal cartoons. It presents more sophisticated themes."
Other club members said they are attracted to Anime's art form. "Anime touches on topics that U.S television and movies don't touch with a 10 foot stick," said sophomore John Fang, noting that Anime explores a variety of themes--such as the role of violence in society, the horror of warfare and the decay of society--through a more expressive medium with greater imagery.
Napier said fans love the animation form's unique visual effects. "By presenting the symbolic metamorphosis of objects in conjunction with a stimulating and exciting narrative it taps into the unconscious and other fields that cannot otherwise be explored."
Sophomore Vincent Mao attributed Anime's popular appeal to its philosophical components and clear-cut symbolism. "[Anime] allows its audience to relate to the situations it presents on a deeper level," he said. "There is a lot of symbolism in Anime, it makes you think."
Napier's book, Anime From Akira to Princess Mononoke, was released in Japan Sunday after selling 10,000 copies in America. "That is unheard of for an academic book," said Negar Mottahedeh, assistant professor of literature. "She is like a rock star throughout the world."
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