GROWTH OF ANIME AND MANGA

What Caused the Rapid Growth of Anime And Manga?

What Caused the Rapid Growth of Anime And Manga?

Introduction

It has been a long time since the Japanese anime existed. Nowadays, everyone is familiar with Japanese anime and manga. Anime was originated from Japanese comics called Manga; in addition, Manga started in the 19th Century in Japan. Over the years, the manga evolved in terms of style and vivacity of colours (Gravett, 2004).

In the early years, Manga was based on fantasies including gods, dragons, super heroes and space ships. In the beginning of the 1990s, anime became popular outside of Japan and in the Western world as well; especially in America. As the distribution of anime became widespread in the Western world; it came to be known as japanimation.

Discussion and Analysis

The literal meaning of the term manga is “rambling image.” It was formulated from a fashion of Japanese wood engraving photographic print; ukiyoe, that normally demonstrated beautiful courtesans, sumo wrestlers and actors. The current form of Manga's is the fusion of Japanese drawing proficiencies and Western techniques. Manga gained popularity after the World War II; when Osamu Tezuka created a manga by adapting various fictions, and molded it into the vivid computer graphic breed.

This modification was prior to the creation of 1952's popular anime Astro Boy; which pioneered the modernistic creative style (Hall, 2007). Despite the fact that every artist had their distinct style of manga; certain common characteristics were present in all of them. These characteristics included the portrayal of peculiar teenagers, powerful men and captivating women. Since the beginning of 1990's till 2000's; there was a rapid addition in the market demand for anime throughout the west (Clements & McCarthy, 2001).

The anime industry considerably grew with a major gain by issuing licenses of several anime movies, anime series and OAVs at a modified rates and the advancement of Animax through the biggest 24-hour anime network in the world. Animax broadcasts its programs across various countries; these countries include Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Latin America, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (Kraft, 2003).

In the year 1993, American anime industry was only making meager profits; but, after a decade the demand for anime burgeoned increased across the country. These rapid advancements augmented the figures over 100 million dollars. Currently, the anime market in the United States has gained ample popularity. According to statistics, in the year 2010, the accumulated worth of the anime market is approximately $160-$200 million (Scheldt, 1996).

The reasons for the growth of anime and manga

There are several reasons why anime became more popular than conventional cartoons across the globe. Despite the Japanese cultural portrayal in anime and manga; they proved to be more appealing to the audiences. The portrayals in anime and manga are subjected to rapid popularity, especially in the adolescents. However, the familiarity of anime and manga is not restricted to the adolescents; but, it has been successful in attracting adults over a period of time (Hall, ...