Okay, pop quiz, we're gonna play a game called is it anime
I'm gonna show you clip and you're gonna tell me is it anime so first we got this and I mean,
This is the oldest trick in the book Panty and Stocking. Yeah, it looks like a cartoon butts. Come on
It was made by Gainax Hiroyuki. Am I she's teamed for the may trigger. So is it anime?
Yeah, of course the next we got this which you know, it looks exactly like anime moves like anime
But it was made in China and China's obviously not Japan. So is it anime?
No, even though this looks exactly like any other anime I'd watch and lastly we got this and I think this is pretty obvious
I mean, this is just Batman. It's an American cartoon
So obviously it's not anime actually
Hold on a second
This movie return of the Joker was actually animated by TMS entertainment
That featured works from the likes of Hiroyuki Ali Yama who worked on other feature films like Akira?
So um, is it anime?
Fuck for years
now the debate of what does and doesn't count as anime has been a prevalent discussion in our community that has been played with
heated debates of how we should correctly label and categorize certain shows while the technical origins of the word anime is and always has been
just the Japanese word for
animation that hasn't stopped it from being used as a label here to describe shows and movies in a certain subculture the
Subculture of animation and comics from Japan and while most people in the fandom knew what you meant when he talked about anime the exact
Definition has always been a bit
Vague I think there's been enough discussion now around our community that most people are aware that it's not that simple
Whether you talk about breaking down anime by its art style
Intended audience ethnic origin of creative staff country was produced in it's all very muddy
If you have a personal clear-cut definition of what anime is I?
guarantee
There are dozens of examples that will break your rule or have some shows that fall into your rules that you wouldn't really be happy
Calling anime at all because that's just how broad this medium is
however
there hasn't really stopped the majority from agreeing that shows like Teen Titans or avatar while obviously
Anime inspired were not anime as they weren't from Japan and for the longest time
That was the consensus no matter what discussion points were brought up with the general agreement
Being anime is just animation that was made in Japan though over time
I've seen that way of thinking slowly changing our community right now
It feels like we're in a crossroads where the perception of what anime is and the usage of the word is shifting to the extent
Where if avatar had been made in the coming years, I believe there's a good chance
It could have been considered an anime as the need to correctly categorize anime and its general definition changes in the current environment
And to understand why I think it's important to understand why we felt the need to correctly categorize it in the first place as fans
I'm sure I speak for a lot of us who grew up watching anime when I say that we were drawn to it because it
Felt different I could tell there was something that separated the likes of Hey Arnold
Dexter's Laboratory and Ed Edd and Eddy to Dragon Ball Z Digimon and
Cardcaptors and when I grew order and actually got properly invested into the medium anime was this strange exotic
Foreign thing that you couldn't find anywhere else not just the art star they had a unique way of telling stories
Directing action, it was weird
it was the only place which did 2d animation that didn't just appeal to kids and because of this being an anime fan meant
something because it meant that you into a medium that not many others were and I feel like this is where a lot of the
Desire to categorize anime comes from for the longest time that wasn't really a concept of a casual anime fan
So when you said you were into anime there was a clear distinction between these shows and everything else
So even when things like Avatar Teen Titans came along there was a simple line we could draw that served as a point of common
interest for us to gather around we were into foreign media that came from Japan and these
Didn't come from Japan but things have changed
drastically
As the fandom and medium have grown that point of common interest between anime fans has dwindled not only has the fandom become a much
Larger less unified group, but anime itself has just become a more accepted medium for mainstream entertainment. There are a casual fan
There are hardcore fans
You got Christoph Waltz asking kids in the I she's single Elon Musk
casually wearing a khaki Guri shirt the whole
Subculture of anime has expanded so far past just the small group of nerds watching these these cartoons and this appeal has grown too wide
to fit under one umbrella
Not only that but the industry itself is far closer to our shores and it ever has been
Crunchyroll are on the production committee to a handful of shows every year
Netflix are just straight-up funding their own original projects radient is an anime airing right now that is based on a manga made by a
French dude FLCL season two and three were only available in English dubbed months before a Japanese broadcast
Thus right if Japanese viewers wanted to watch it early. They would have had to watch it with Japanese subtitles
Not to mention the increasing number of international staff members that are now actively working in the industry held the other day
I was lucky enough to hang out with Kevin
penguin an Australian bloke who composed the soundtrack to made an abyss one of the most critically acclaimed anime orestes of
2017 that was recorded in a sound studio in Vienna
Austria
huh, the era where anime was this exotic foreign thing that we had no involvement or influence in is dying as other countries get more
Actively involved in the industry shifts from a purely Japanese one to an international one
And as we see this shift, there's less of a need to strictly differentiate it based on geological origin
It becomes more remove until more of a concept
It becomes a brand something
You can't easily describe but can be instantly recognized and marketed as a thing that fits in with the culture we've created
And I don't mean to cheapen the cultural significance and history of Japanese animation is just as the medium evolves
That's kind of what it's starting to feel like and I know that's kind of a broad statement
So to explain where I'm coming from I'm gonna talk about the tale of two shows Netflix is Castlevania and crunchy rolls
Hi Guardian spice
These are two completely Western produced shows that been marketed towards an anime audience that couldn't have got a more polarizing reception
Castlevania for the most part was really well received in I on a mission unity
I've met so many people that had no idea wasn't produced in Japan and even those who did only had praise for how well it
Did with his action in animation even paying homage to legendary Japanese animators?
So a lot of people even though they know this wasn't made in Japan consider this an anime and as for High Guardian spice
So really what's the difference between these two shows from a production perspective
There's not actually much both our Western animation funded by streaming companies in an attempt to produce their own original content
That have no affiliation with Japan at all
So the more I think about it the more I think it's really just down to their marketing and branding Netflix is an all encompassing
Media Titan and Castlevania was marked it as an animation that specifically appealed to anime fans to them
It didn't really matter where it came from
They knew that if you liked this and this then you're probably gonna like this and that's all that really matters
so who cares if this shows under the anime tag with all these other shows from their perspective this is
Anime on the flip side. You have high Guardian spice where you can blame some of the fault of the lackluster announcement trailer
but at its core
I think a lot of you will agree with me when I say that High Guardian spy
Just doesn't look or feel like anime at all and there's no inherent
Problem with this except for the fact that it's being made by crunchyroll
So even if it's not their intention to make an anime
They can't market this to anyone else but an anime audience because it's crunchyroll
They are the anime streaming service their users. Are there for anime anime is?
their brand
If Cronshaw had made castlevania and netflix made hai Guardian spice there would be no controversy around it
But as it stands hi Guardian spice was so far removed from what their audience expected that of course
They received backlash for it and I actually think this was such a simple problem
A lot of the shitstorm could have been avoided if they'd just branded it a bit differently
Granted castlevania is already out and high Guardian spice is literally one announcement trailer
But I seem to remember that when Castlevania was announced it was met with excitement and curiosity
And hi Guardian spice won't even be the first American produced show. That's streaming on crunchyroll
But there was no controversy when they made the decision to stream Ruby on that platform and that just brings me back to my point
There is no technical divide between these two shows aside from one feels like anime and one doesn't and if watching
Castlevania feels the same as watching all the other seasonal anime that streaming who really cares going back to Avatar
the reason it was the show to spark the discussion in the first place was cause it was the first show that genuinely felt very
Anime despite being produced in America for primarily an American audience
But today what even is the intended audience when TV is no longer a factor and shows are being streamed
Internationally in multiple languages, which is why I think there's been a subtle shift in perception from you can call this an anime
It's not from Japan - yeah, whatever. I don't care where it's made
I'm still gonna put it in my top 20 list of anime last year
however
You view anime is hard to deny that we see the anime trademark and branding in a lot more places
used in ways that would appeal to our community doki doki was an internet sensation that capitalized on a darker look at waifu culture you've
Got league of legends hiring PA works to make an anime pv for them Hollywood is trying their damned hardest to make anime work in
Live-action shit if you want to sell me a product just brandy with some anime. Waifu's and suddenly I'm interested
Yeah, I'm that easy alright don't judge me and this is me only really focusing on Western attempts to to the fandom
But it equally applies to countries in the East
I think it's only a matter of time before we get a breakout hit Chinese anime
I think it's only a matter of time before we get some kind of korean manhwa
Adaptation hell having lived in thailand for the past two years
I've seen some really fucking talented animators in Southeast Asia
So I wouldn't be surprised if something eventually comes out from that region and when it does is anyone gonna care if we call this
An anime or that an anime and would that stop you from being interested in it?
Whether you do decide to simply categorize man, hua man far or webtoons Castlevania or King's avatar
There's no denying that these are all targeted towards the anime and manga
Subculture, it's all the same brand. So the question shifts from does this count as anime term or off?
Is this something that's gonna appeal to the anime fandom?
Which is what I feel the mentality of future productions will have in the matter
What country it's made in in the end the category of what counts won't be decided by some fictional scholars drawing the line of what?
Is and is an anime as much as the mods in our anime. I've tried to do so in the past
It's us it's what the general consensus agrees on and the exact word used such as this can shift depending on culture
Environment and time no matter how many times we were told that the word otaku had severe negative connotations in Japan
It didn't stop it from becoming an all-encompassing buzz word to describe anime fans here in the West shit
Does anyone remember when calling someone a weeaboo was a massive insult and now?
Everyone calls themselves a weeb I call myself a fucking wave
I am a fucking wave even though I've chosen to use the word brand to describe the entity anime is turning into I
Don't mean to say that it's just a brand anime is and always will be associated with Japanese animation and honestly
I don't think it should be any other way
But as we move forward
I believe that the clear definition and context we use the word in is just gonna get more muddled and broad because even if you
don't subscribe to the idea that anime should be this all-encompassing word that labels everything that remotely
Resembles the Japanese shows we grew up with the deeper you dig the more you see that from the beginning
anime has always been more than just a single art style a single genre a single way of storytelling a single method of
Animation and as time goes on more
They're just coming from a single country
Hey guys, will you go anywhere I do have a quick announcement this year?
I'm gonna be guesting up mo makan from May
23rd to 26th for those you that don't know merkon is an anime gaming and comic convention in Atlanta
Georgia with one of the biggest gaming halls in any convention
so if you want a chance to meet me there there's a link in the description where you can register and I'm looking forward to
It since it's my first time in that area of the state. So I hope to see you there
Anyway with that said thank you very much to our illustris just stare unless you're a sweet us from I'm sorry
I probably pronounced that very long epic Mik supreme Saiyan Nicholas Tatum
Mike
Elfin sisters one zero zero eight six and everyone else on my patreon to helping support me for this month and making this video possible
No further updates from me today
but for future reference
If you do want me to attend the convention near you the best thing to do is just to let your convention know I don't
Guess the too many conventions every year, but I look for any excuse I can to get out of the office and endowment
Anyway, that's it from me. I've been gigging and I'll see you all next time