Screen shot from the "One Piece" television series. Here Luffy shows off his amazing stretching power. Photo courtesy of Toei Animation

Hollywood Heads East: the Business of Japanese Animation and Comics

Interview by Bobby Okinaka

The 2002 Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature was awarded to "Spirited Away," a film by Japan's master animator Hayao Miyazaki. The recognition of the film marks two milestones. First, that Japanese animated films are commercially viable to screen in American theaters and second, that the artistic quality and complex storytelling is first-rate and deserving of such a high honor.

"Shonen Jump" is a Japanese comic for boys that started translating their most popular series and selling them in America in November, 2002. Photo courtesy of Shonen Jump

The success of Japanese animation, also known as anime, in crossing over to the American market is not just limited to distribution in theaters. On cable, Cartoon Network and TechTV air blocks of dubbed Japanese anime series. Anime movie DVDs and home videos are sold in nationwide chain stores like Best Buy and Walmart. Manga, the comic book version of anime, are now translated and sold under the titles, "Shonen Jump" and "Raijin." Based on the widespread appeal of this form of Japanese entertainment, anime and manga can truly be called a "worldwide cultural phenomenon."

Ron Morse, the Paul I. Terasaki Professor of US/Japan Relations at UCLA recognized that his history students were interested in more than just Japan's past. They wanted to know about what is currently happening in Japan, especially with pop culture like anime and manga. But he realized that this kind of information is hard to access in America.

"There is a growing market in the United States for this (anime and manga), so why not help Americans understand how they do it by listening to the people who do it, the writers, artists, and animation company executives," said Morse in an interview with APA.

Professor Morse took his idea and organized a lecture series and workshop through a joint effort between UCLA Extension and Cal State University Northridge to examine the impact of anime and manga as a global entertainment business.

Key to pulling off this international event was the involvement of the Tokyo Foundation. The Japan-based think tank was able to fly in top Japanese animators, producers and business leaders to lecture on the past, present and future of anime and manga. In addition, the workshop offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance for aspiring animators to work with a Japanese professional in developing and creating their own manga.

The kickoff event for the lecture series was a free symposium titled, "Entertainment Goes 'Pop': The Future of Manga and Anime Entertainment" held at UCLA on September 27, 2003. The keynote speaker was Kimindo Kusaka, the Chairman of the Tokyo Foundation. With a translator by his side, Kusaka examined the differences between Japanese and Western animation. For example, childhood is seen as a time of innocence and fun. The anime and manga that target children tell stories from a child's perspective and don't rely on the slapstick comedy that is used in American animation. Also, another departure from American comics is that the leading characters are not always super heroes but they are usually common folk stuck in real life situations.

Japan's leading futurist goes on to explain some of the themes in Japanese anime and manga that give the form its unique identity. According to Kusaka on the Japanese point of view used in storytelling, "It is a philosophy that stresses effort, friendship and victory." However, he adds, "It is not good to gain 100% victory, stop at 70%," to explain that total victory over an opponent is not virtuous nor beneficial to the victor. "The desired end is a spiritual deepening or betterment rather than a physical victory or material success," he finishes.

In taking questions from the audience, the mother of a fan of anime wanted to know why there was so much violence in anime. Kusaka answered by saying that there are many kinds of anime and manga that target a wide variety of audiences from kids to teens to adults. He used an example that if an American saw a samurai movie, he might think that all Japanese are samurai when in fact during the feudal period, samurai were a very small percent of the population. Some anime do contain extreme violence and sexual situations, but those are only intended for an adult audience.

The second keynote speaker was Shinji Shimuzu, a producer for Toei Animation of the highly successful young boy's title, "One Piece." He provided a short breakdown of the series, how it was developed and some of the keys to its success. In the six years since the story was first published in "Shonen Jump," the story about the adventures of a boy pirate and his crew of friends who sail the world in search of treasure has appeared in a weekly magazine, in book form, in a television series that currently stands at 170 episodes, in four feature films, and video games! The book form has 29 volumes that have sold 82 million copies and counting. There is even a store in Japan that only sells "One Piece" character goods and products.

Shimizu was followed by a panel of Americans who are part of the picture in bringing anime over to the United States. The panelists consisted of Don Murphy, a film producer, Stuart Levy, founder and CEO of Tokyopop, Keith Boesky, founder of the Video Game Department at International Creative Management, and Charles Hirshhorn, founder and CEO of G4 Media. The panel generally agreed that anime has arrived in America and now it's just a matter of how to bring more titles over from Japan and expand the market in America. Their main concern was how to adjust the content to fit within an American cultural context.

Anime and manga, however, have arrived in America. It's arrival wasn't a big "pop," but over the past ten years, the audience base, both children and adults, for Japanese entertainment has grown substantially. All you have to do to see some proof is log onto Google.com and type in "anime." By the huge number of websites out there, it is more than evident that the anime boom has indeed arrived.

From a business point of view, there are now joint ventures between American and Japanese companies to create anime for the American market. From a creative point of view, anime is influencing the way stories are being told in America, two good examples being the movie "The Matrix" and a brand new kid's cartoon called "Teen Titans." Lastly, from a cultural point of view, it's not hard to notice how different Japan is from America when you watch a film like "Spirited Away," but as Kusaka said so earnestly in his presentation, "Without talking we can understand each other, (anime) is a form of heart to heart communication."

October 10, 2003