As an older millennial, Japanese culture is something I grew up with. Watching anime was a niche and expensive hobby (that or for nerds who figud out how to torrent).
Today it seems all kids know game characters like Mario and Sonic. They also know Luffy, Goku, Naruto, Anya, and many other anime characters. It's no longer special to watch anime as a kid or teenager. It's completely normal.
Absolutely woven into the fabric of life for young people now. You even see references to it, even niche stuff, in mainstream entertainment (there was a joke about "hentai" anime porn in Westworld, for instance.)
It’s surreal to see so many people outside of Japan so openly into manga now. I work for a publisher in Osaka doing translation and lettering, and it can be kind of frustrating how this moment of things synchronizing, people engaging with everything down to even a niche recent mangaka, just goes over the heads of some of the corporate wigs making the calls on the direction of it. That’s just how it tends to go, and I’m endlessly fascinated by this never ending “gap” between the people interested in the entertainment coming out of Japan and the entities making it happen, but I can’t help but imagine how much more it could be if there were things like an interest in multilingual marketing, more active involvement in conventions outside of Japan, etc.
I wholeheartedly agree. I just had a conversation with a PR person at a publisher and they sounded shocked to hear Americans were cosplaying as their characters in New York. Part of this is due to the fact the big ones outsource most of their foreign efforts to local agents/entities/companies, but c'mon....
I ache over the outsource game… every time I open a manga localization at a stand and see “Lapin”… it’s beginning to feel like the publication version of tiktok cringe bait (but worse as it lacks the irony angle). I’m grateful where I’m at is transitioning to 100% in house after my team’s efforts, but it’s a slow change for sure
During my decade in Japan during the late eighties and early nineties, I also took note of the diversity gap from the queer perspective. The notion of 出る釘が打たれる really hit home. That said, my (Japanese) husband and I are still hoping to return to Japan, to retire there, and the changes I've seen since leaving in 1998 are encouraging. Japan is still my future.
Things are improving on that front, but much more slowly than the US, and in a real patchwork kind of way (like, Shibuya granting same-sex marriages that the government didn't recognize.) But... progress?
As an older millennial, Japanese culture is something I grew up with. Watching anime was a niche and expensive hobby (that or for nerds who figud out how to torrent).
Today it seems all kids know game characters like Mario and Sonic. They also know Luffy, Goku, Naruto, Anya, and many other anime characters. It's no longer special to watch anime as a kid or teenager. It's completely normal.
Absolutely woven into the fabric of life for young people now. You even see references to it, even niche stuff, in mainstream entertainment (there was a joke about "hentai" anime porn in Westworld, for instance.)
It’s surreal to see so many people outside of Japan so openly into manga now. I work for a publisher in Osaka doing translation and lettering, and it can be kind of frustrating how this moment of things synchronizing, people engaging with everything down to even a niche recent mangaka, just goes over the heads of some of the corporate wigs making the calls on the direction of it. That’s just how it tends to go, and I’m endlessly fascinated by this never ending “gap” between the people interested in the entertainment coming out of Japan and the entities making it happen, but I can’t help but imagine how much more it could be if there were things like an interest in multilingual marketing, more active involvement in conventions outside of Japan, etc.
I wholeheartedly agree. I just had a conversation with a PR person at a publisher and they sounded shocked to hear Americans were cosplaying as their characters in New York. Part of this is due to the fact the big ones outsource most of their foreign efforts to local agents/entities/companies, but c'mon....
I ache over the outsource game… every time I open a manga localization at a stand and see “Lapin”… it’s beginning to feel like the publication version of tiktok cringe bait (but worse as it lacks the irony angle). I’m grateful where I’m at is transitioning to 100% in house after my team’s efforts, but it’s a slow change for sure
During my decade in Japan during the late eighties and early nineties, I also took note of the diversity gap from the queer perspective. The notion of 出る釘が打たれる really hit home. That said, my (Japanese) husband and I are still hoping to return to Japan, to retire there, and the changes I've seen since leaving in 1998 are encouraging. Japan is still my future.
Things are improving on that front, but much more slowly than the US, and in a real patchwork kind of way (like, Shibuya granting same-sex marriages that the government didn't recognize.) But... progress?
Yes, I’m keeping a tight watch on things. But remember, the approach in the United States was equally patchwork until the 2015 Supreme Court ruling.
Hiroko posted another take on the experience of visiting the convention on her newsletter: https://blog.hirokoyoda.com/p/i-went-to-an-american-anime-convention