This Lesbian's Guide
to Anime and Manga: Anime and Manga Basics
by P. Kristen Enos
(Updated January 9, 2010.)
Introduction:
Other sites
can and will do better jobs of going into detail
about the points below; I've only written what I
think basic beginners should know: meaning someone
like me at the time of when I started researching
anime. I welcome corrections and additions that
others feel may be important.
The first
thing I want to clarify is a bit of personal
vocabulary. I will use the word "project" or
"series" to collectively refer to a particular
creative universe, and you will see why in the next
paragraph. The only reason I don't always use the
word "series" is that it implies more than one of
something, and that does not always apply to every
creative endeavor.
The biggest
thing to keep in mind is that a single project can
have different incarnations in the media. And not
all of the these incarnations are set in the same
"universe" and/or "timeline." For example, a movie
version could be a sequel or prequel or retelling
or alternative universe version of a television
series of the same project. In fact, unless I'm
aware of a connection beforehand, I usually assume
any incarnation of a project is in its own universe.
This is
important to keep in mind for lesbian analysis
because characters can exist in one book or anime
but not another in the same universe. And that
also means orientations can be different. I'm
not a believer of filling in the gaps between
"universes". I view Information and evidence
as being universe specific, instead of trying to
fill in blanks. (This will become more clear
when you come across analysis where this applies.)
Which form
comes first? That depends on the project, and the
marketing strategy behind it. And usually the
extreme success in one format will encourage
production companies to create additional releases
in the same format and/or a release in another form
for additional promotional life.
Anime
This is the
Japanese term for animation as we Westerners know
it. Even though the Japanese use this word to refer
to any type of animation (regardless of country of
origin), for definition purposes, I use it to refer
to projects created in Japan, or have strong
Japanese influence.
Anime
usually comes in these forms:
TV Series
-- Just like your Saturday Morning Cartoons in
the sense of extended storylines which can be shown
with a new episode almost weekly. I've noticed that
episodes for series tend to come in sets of 13 (half
season), most being 26. What's amazing about the
Japanese market is that the popular series can
number episodes into the triple digits, which rarely
happens in the U.S. market. Unfortunately, due to
the tight scheduling and high demands of televised
production, the quality of the animation tends to
suffer the most of all of the formats, but because
of the extended time coverage, the added amount
of story time can make up for that.
OAV/OVA
-- "Original Animation Video", what we know as
"Direct to Video" releases. I added OVA because I've
seen that acronym sometimes show up on official
packaging (intentional or not, I don't know -- and I
admit I use them interchangeably.) I've found that
most material originally distributed this way (or it
could just be the particular ones I've chosen to
view/purchase) tend to be a lot "racier" in content,
such as showing more nudity and adult situations,
most likely due to the "private home viewing"
luxuries of this format. This format also tends to
be one-shots or extremely limited episode releases.
Movies
-- Theatrical releases of a series. (Think
"Spirited Away".) Animation quality tends to be
the best for obvious reasons. I've also found that
most movies I've accessed are usually about an hour
long, but I did read on some sites that
double-billing with another project's movie is not
uncommon.
And
then you have the following special versions:
Games
-- Such as on Playstation and other electronic
systems. This is the format I know the least about,
but from what little I've read, it seems these gives
viewers the "create your own storyline" option with
you being the main character of the story. And it's
not uncommon for an anime version of a game to be
created for specific promotional purposes.
Live
Action -- Think Lynda Carter as "Wonder Woman"
or Hugh Jackman as "Wolverine" and you get the idea.
Books
Manga -- This is the
Japanese version of American comic books. From what
I've understood, the Japanese market has many
magazines and anthology books which carries
serialized versions of different manga series. If a
series is successful enough, it will be collected
and sold as a book volumes by itself. Also key to
most printed material from Japan, the pages flow
from right to left, with the book covers being "on
the back" as we Westerners know it.
Bilingual
Comics -- Manga book volumes with both Japanese
and English text. The intended audience of these
are Japanese people who are trying to learn English
as well. At this point, I'm only aware of those
produced by Kodansha Publishing, one of the leading
publishers in Japan. I prefer them to the English
only versions released in the U.S. And the series I
am currently reading are the popular titles as "Card
Captor Sakura" and "Love Hina".
Film
Comics -- This is the printed book format of the
anime. Since it's very possible for the anime
version and manga version to be extremely different
from each other even though it's for the same
series, this format allows a storybook retelling
more faithful to the anime.
Art Books
-- If you ever go shopping in stores or online,
you will notice art books for sale and they are
exactly that: devoted to the art of a particular
series. Although, most tend to focus on a particular
format, meaning one art book may focus on the art
for an anime version of a series, and another may
focus on the manga art. They may also contain
character model sheets, interviews with creative
parties, and brief episode guides. I like these
because some of the popular series also collect
artworks used in promotional materials, or (if
they're cheap enough), I'll buy a spare copy to tear
apart and hang particular pieces on my cubicle wall
at work -- to help me through the day.
Doujinshi
Doujinshi
-- Fanfiction (or "fanfic" for short) is when
fans write their own tales involving their favorite
characters as a labor of love and devotion. The
content can vary greatly as well as quality (plus a
push on the boundaries of appropriateness in
character behavior.)
In Japan,
there is actually a built in market for this kind of
material in comic book form, known as doujinshi. An
additional difference is that these materials do
sell through legitimate channels.
Official Releases vs. Fansubs vs. Bootlegs
I felt compelled to put this
into a special section due to the flooding of
bootlegs in legitimate retail outlets as well as the
fansub circuit:
Official Releases
(My Strong Personal Preference!)
This is when a legitimate
distribution/production company in a country outside
of Japan buys the rights to a particular anime/manga
series to prepare it for domestic release. The
company may not necessarily care to be "true" to the
original version, with having a higher priority on
making as much of a profit as possible on a
franchise. It may sound cold and crass, but anime
and manga IS a business, just like any entertainment
form to the masses.
As much as "pure" anime fans
may not like it, that's where companies also take
what they consider to be calculated changes to
increase the domestic marketing potential, as well
as shy away from any controversy in an art form
that's usually considered "for kids." That's why
the Haruka and Michiru from "Sailor Moon" are
cousins, and "Cardcaptors" starts off with the
introduction of Lee, the lead boy character.
Although one can reasonably
argue that some changes may have shot themselves in
the foot -- like the fact that "Sailor Stars" is in
licensing limbo because there's no way you can
explain Haruka and Michiru as cousins in this final
season of the series -- at the same time, you can't
argue that they're making a heck of a lot of money
even with the changes they made. Your average Jane
and John Doe in America won't complain on something
that still entertains them, even if it's not true to
the original version.
Yet, at the same time, even
these edited versions creates awareness for the
original series that would not have happened
otherwise.
Some companies have
acknowledged the fact that there's a domestic audience for
BOTH forms, the domestically altered and the
"authentic" Japanese. That's why Pioneer is
released both cut and uncut versions of "Sailor
Moon" and "Card Captor Sakura". Everyone now wins
even though it does create a heck of a lot of
confusion.
However, the recent market
trends have shown that the days of having releases
of both subbed and dubbed anime is more of a luxury
than an assumed expectation. Dubbing costs
money that can't always be made back. (The
folding of some U.S. companies have proven that.)
Fansubs
Here's the theory
behind fansubs:
If a particular
creative work hasn't been licensed in a country for
distribution, fans in that country may take the time
and make the investment to get the services of a
translator, and then distribute copies of the
translated anime through various sources on the
basis that the receivers pays only for cost and
shipping. Once the announcement of a license has
been acquired for a production company, the
distribution of the fansub for that work should be
stopped and everyone should buy the copy of the
official release to show support (and usually
getting better quality to boot.) Bottom line is that
no profit is to be made by anyone who doesn't own
the rights.
Unfortunately,
even in this "best of intentions" scenario, fansubs
are still quite illegal because they are in
violation of international copyright laws,
regardless of whether or not you can read/speak the
original language.
There can still
be some drawbacks with the Official Releases, such
as editing for "cultural sensitivities", especially
if the same version for retail release is the one
that has been aired on television, which usually
adds more layers of editing. Even music has
been replaced in some U.S. releases. So then you may not get
"authentic" English language versions of your
favorite series. (As noted in the section above.)
Sometimes you
just can't win even when you try to do the right
thing and support domestic releases....
Bootlegs
For the
purposes of this site, I define bootleg material as
follows:
Any
person(s) who illegally distributes copyrighted
material for profit.
Their main target audience is the bargain hunter
and/or the unknowledgeable fan. This is nothing new
for ANY form of entertainment medium (and related
products) usually distributed for profit. It's well
known that bootleg copies of "Harry Potter" starting
surfacing in the market shortly before it's
legitimate release date in many countries.
The
resulting product is usually inferior in every way
possible, from the content itself to the packaging.
In the case of anime, for example, you'll be almost
guaranteed fuzzy packaging, marginal image quality
and really pathetic English subtitles. And more
often than not, the bootleg copy will come from
China. (Yes, I've unwittingly bought a couple and
am quite angry as a consumer because of these
factors. And that's not even touching the issues
related to the fact I'm a strong believer in the
ethics of artist/distributor compensation.)
The problem
these days is that with reproduction technology and
distribution channels becoming more sophisticated,
bootlegs can easily masquerade as legitimate
commercial releases. They even slap on the fine
print of "All Rights Reserved", which is interesting
since they never paid for the rights to begin with.
Many retailers (and consumers) may think their
product is a legitimate release, while those who do
know what they're selling will do it with a wink and
a nudge.
So what's
the long-term problem with encouraging the bootleg
market? I firmly believe in paying monies to the
right parties in order to encourage production
companies to bring over more material and make it
available on this side of the Pacific. This would
also encourage anime companies to create more
original material if they realize the overseas
market will support them for their money vested.
The bootleg market completely bypasses this system,
and the right people aren't motivated to
create/distribute more.
[By the way, this
page is copyright 2010 to P. Kristen Enos. Don't
copy please!]
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Beginners 102:
Target Audiences and Trends
What triggers my
lesbian analysis?
The List
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