My experienced of manga and anime

Autoethnography is a form of self-reflective, it is quiet a new concept and method. It ‘is an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) in order to understand cultural experience (ethno) (Ellis, C, Adams, T E, Bochner, A P 2011, pp273). So in order to understand my experience of looking at manga and anime in different countries, we should start with a little bit of my background of how I first experienced manga and anime. My first experience of anime come at an early age of 8. At that time, a lot of cartoons that broadcasted on television in Thailand is Japanese anime and the first anime I remembered watching is Digimon Adventure. At that time, I have no idea whether it is Japanese anime or cartoons from other countries. It is one of my favorite anime of all time. I can remembered that it was broadcasted at 19:30 and I usually eating my dinner in front of television, watching Digimon Adventure. That is my first experienced of anime I can remembered and I had watched countless animes (maybe cartoons, I really don’t know what is what at that time).

For manga, the first manga I read was when I’m in year 7. I didn’t buy that manga but it is a manga that some left it under the table I was sitting and that is the first time I read from right to left. However, the first manga series that I can remember is Katekyō Hitman Reborn! (Reborn). Similar to the first manga I read, I did not buy it. In year 9, a friends who sit next to me bought a manga call Reborn. He bought it every time new volume came out and that is the first time that i follow a manga, seeing it story line and seeing character development of manga.

Even though I already experienced many manga and anime since I was young, I actually start to really like manga when I read One Piece. After reading One Piece, I start to read a lot of manga and get hooked in manga style of comic and arts.

Now, after looking at manga and anime circulation in many different countries around the world and compared to my experienced, I found that there are many factors and reasons why manga and anime will become popular or not and every countries have its own factor that limited the popularity of manga and anime. Some of the factor and reason why manga and anime are popular or not are :

• Public exposure of manga and anime
• accessed to manga and anime
• interactions with other who share the same interested in manga and anime

One of the most important reason is whether anime was broadcasted on television or not. If it was on television or other mainstream media, a huge number of consumer will have a chance to experienced anime and decided if they like this style of art or not. The reason why we should look at anime that broadcasted on television is because in most countries, manga become famous because of anime. For example, in France, manga became popular when many original Manga linked to popular Anime such as Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon were published and that is when the Manga boom in France began (Vanhee, O 2006).

Similar to many countries, manga in Thailand also became popular because of anime. In Thailand, anime is broadcasted on television almost everyday for very long time and a lot of people have been exposed to it and liked it. However, the problem is that it is hard to get a hold of manga as finding a store that sell them is hard especially in a small town (another factor that determine whether manga will be popular or not). In Bangkok, where I live, finding manga is relatively easy. At my school, there is a old lady who would set up her shop and sells manga near the school gate. There are also many stores that sells manga both in department store and other stores around the city. Another example of this can be see in South Korea where finding manga now is still a bit hard but it was a lot harder to find manga in the past. From 1945 – 1998, Koreans had no legal way to access original manga as South Korea enacted a laws that restricting the distribution of Japanese media.

 

Reference

Ellis, C, Adams, T E, Bochner, A P 2011, ‘Autoethnography: An Overview’, Historical Social Research, vol.36, no.4, pp273-290.

Vanhee, O 2006, ‘THE PRODUCTION OF A ”MANGA CULTURE” IN FRANCE: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A SUCCESSFUL INTERCULTURAL RECEPTION’, accessed 10/09/2014.

Manga VS Manwha

In Korea, Japanese manga is becoming more popular but Korean manwha is also gaining popularity all around the world. Manwha is a Korean term for comics or print cartoon but outside of Korea, manwha is referring to South Korean comics. However, because of the history between Korean and Japan and the value of patriotism, manga in Korea is not as popular as other countries in Asia.

Comic culture began to flow into Korean peninsula from Japan during the colonial era (1910-1945) but manga start to fade after the year 1945. In 1945, South Korea enacted the laws that follow with many other laws to restricted the broadcast and distribution of content which is including CDs, games, manga and any other that media coming from outside the country. The laws did not specify any countries but the content of the laws was aimed at Japanese media. As a result, Koreans had no legal way to access Japanese media until 1990s. Even though all Japanese media was banned in South Korea, manga still available for people to buy and read in South Korea. Until early 1990s manga were being circulated in South Korea as manwha by hiding any Japanese elements in order to avoid criticism, for example, by changing authors name in to Korean. Manga were legal to publish in South Korea in 1998 when the law was revision, the revision allows comic book and Japanese version of comics publishing.

With the flow of manga into Korean peninsula during the colonial era, manga has influence Korean artist into creating their adaptation of manga. ‘the comics literacy of Korean readers and authors was formed in three ways: via adaptations of Japanese manga, by the distribution of pirated “how to draw manga” books, and through the spreads of comics by domestic artist who used manga style’ (Berndt, J, Kümmerling-Meibauer, B 2013, p88)

Manwha has been gaining a lot of popularity over the past few years. South Korea’s mawha related products were worth about US$133 million in 2011 which is an increase of 40 percent from 2009. Manwha is now being publish in North Africa, North America, South America, Europe and in Asia. Coming with the Korean wave, Korean Popular Culture (KPC) has been gaining enormous recognition around the world. The cultural items involve many things, such as, dramas, shows, K-pop, fashion and South Korean comics, manwha. South Korea’s government are now promoting manwha with a hope that it will take the place of Japanese manga.

Now, let us look at manga in South Korea. As manga just became legal to buy in 1998 and a popualrity of reading manwha and cartoons online (Webtoons), manga might be struggling in South Korea. Even though there are many store that sells manga and anime, many of the comic convention still focus on content from South Korea. For example, Comic World which is the biggest comic related convention in south Korea is focusing on manwha. Comic World is a event that being held quiet often both in Seoul and Busan. The convention is to celebrating ‘all things manwha‘. There is also The Seoul Animation Center, it is the first theater in Korea that devoted to animation and it also have cartoon museum, exhibition hall and many other things. The Seoul Animation Centre seem to be focus on animation from Korea but it also have Japanese anime.

Reference

Berndt, J, Kümmerling-Meibauer, B (ed.) 2013, Manga’s Cultural Crossroads, Routledge, United Kingdom.

Hong, S, Kim, C H 2013, ‘Surfing the Korean wave: A postcolonial critique of the mythologized middle brow consumer culture in Asia’,

History of Anime and Manga in France

Manga and Anime culture has its up and down since it first arrived in France. Now, Manga and Anime are part of culture in France and it is also very popular there. From the end of the 1970’s intercultural relations between France and Japan was mainly through Manga and Anime. Anime first appear on French TV since the middle of the 1970’s and it became very successful. However, these Anime were not so much perceived as Japanese product and there was not any Manga that related to these Anime. Manga became visible as a distinct cultural product because of Anime. Between 1988 and 1977 when French commercial channel TF1 broadcast Saint Seiya, Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon, Manga became more popular since 1994-1995 when many original Manga linked to these popular Anime were published and that is when the Manga boom in France began (Vanhee, O 2006).

However, Manga and Anime popularity start to disappear in 1997. Manga and Anime were considered bad and not good for children and it have dangerous psychological effects. Many adult were also afraid of French economy decay when compared with the rise of Japan culture. They feared the invasion of a cultural offer that they couldn’t control. As a result of these critique and pressure from many, the main TV channels stop broadcasting anime from 1997 and replacing it with American and French cartoons.

Anime start to appear again in 2002, mostly on cable TV channels. It start with a fan who disagree with critique  and the stop broadcasting of Anime. ‘These fans elaborated underground networks of distribution'(Vanhee, O 2006, pp3). They became cultural experts in this area. As many fans grew older, they gain access to financial and other resource to promote and legitimate ehat they love and that is Manga and Anime. Many fans even started Anime companies and becoming the industrial leader today.

Currently, Anime, Manga and Japanese culture in general is quite popular in France. Japan Expo 2013 attract more than 200,000 people. This number show that a lot of French interest in Japanese culture and that result in many Japanese restaurant in France and many many store sale Manga and Anime, they even selling Anime at a supermarket. Here are some of Manga and Anime store in Paris.

Manga sales in France have stayed stable or positive even when Manga sales dropped in The U.S. but according to the report, Manga sales in France dropped 7.2percent in value last year(2013). About 40 percent of new releases in France in 2013 was Asian comics book and majority of the Asian comics licensed in France are Japanese Manga; of 1,555 released in 2013, 1,456 were Manga (Japan), 79 were Manhwa (Korea), 9 were Manhua (China).

Reference

Vanhee, O 2006, ‘THE PRODUCTION OF A ”MANGA CULTURE” IN FRANCE: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A SUCCESSFUL INTERCULTURAL RECEPTION’, accessed 10/09/2014.

Anime and Manga in U.S.

Consumption of Manga and Anime in U.S. is very high and it is very popular. Finding Manga and Anime in U.S. is quiet easy compared to other countries, such as India. There are a lot of Manga and Anime store around the countries and there is also a website that help you find the store. Manga and Anime is very popular in U.S. and North America, according to ICv2, 55 percent of graphic novel that was release in North America in 2008 was Manga.

Popularity of Manga and Anime come from the fact that it is easy to find a store that sells them and it is also easy to buy online. Many big stores such as Kinokuniya, Walmart, Best buy and Barnes & Noble do sell Manga in their store. Even though U.S. have a long history of comics dominated but ‘you now may have to go to the bottom shelf to find your favorite Spider-man or Batman title’. Online is another great place to but Manga and Anime. One of the biggest online store Amazon also sell Manga and Anime and sometimes at lower price.

Now, let us look at fan and fan culture of Manga and Anime in U.S. Fan of Manga and Anime can interact with each other through website or at convention. There are a lot of Manga and Anime related conventions that being held in U.S. One of the biggest Anime Conventions in U.S. is Anime Expo with estimated attendance of 61,000 in 2013. Internet has provide fan with ability to interact with other who share the same interest and that is why huge amount of activity is taking place online. Fan can interact with each other when they meet in the convention that being held or online. There are countless Anime and Manga club in many cities all around the country. There are at least 15,000 website related to Manga and Anime listed on Google. Furthermore, an online community website Livejournal hosts 425 communities focusing on Anime and 395 communities focusing on Manga. Nowadays, fan not only just consume the content but they also creating content such as fan art or fan fiction.

After exploring and looking at Manga and Anime culture in U.S., its occur to me that Manga and Anime is very popular which is quiet surprising. I know that Manga and Anime is quiet popular but i don’t know that it is this popular. I presume that superheroes comics is dominating U.S. market but Manga actually more dominating (In 2008, 44 percent of the North American graphic novel sales is Manga).

There are many reasons why I believe Manga and Anime became popular in U.S. One reason is because fan can feel that they are not alone and there are a lot of people that share the same interest and it is also easy for them to interact with each other. Another reason is because of the mainstream exposure to Manga and Anime which is easy to find and access. Many stores sells Manga and Anime including big store such as Walmart and it is also easy to access and read online, many Anime also broadcast on television. In some countries, Anime is hardly broadcast on television or other mainstream media and that result in small number of new Anime or Manga consumer because they don’t know what its like, only someone who have friends that interested in Manga and Anime or someone who watch it on other media will be it consumer because they will know what its look like and decide whether to like it or not. On the other hand, many Anime has been broadcasting on U.S. television and that result in huge number of people see it and many might like it and become Manga and Anime fan. HERE are some of the anime on U.S. television from 1963-2008.

 

 

Manga and Anime in India

Each week, I will be focusing on one countries and looking at Manga and Anime culture in that country. I will look at Manga and Anime fandom, how they interact with each other and also how they receive the content, foe example, is there any television channel that broadcast Anime or how they receive a Manga.

I will be focusing on India this week. After looking at many articles and fan site. I found that Anime and Manga popularity is increasing. However, finding source of Manga and Anime legally is quite hard. Not many store in India sell Manga and finding store that selling Anime is even harder and it is not available in video rental store. Anime become popular after Animax India launch in 2004, with the arrival of Animax and increasing popularity of Anime, many children’s channel had increase their number of Anime.

Manga and Anime fan in India interact with each other through social media, club and event. India have many event that related to Anime and Manga. In 2011, India host it first ever Comic Con and India will host its 5th Comic Con in 2015. Comic Con is not only event, there are many other event such as Anime Con. There are many Manga and Anime club in India, for example, The Bangalore anime and manga fan club have more than 2000 members even though they only have 500 members 2 years ago. Another big club is Mumbai Anime Club, this club host many event and they also have more than 2000 members.

Picture from Mumbai Anime Club Cosplayers

My experience of reading Manga and Anime is usually through website but I was first experience Anime through TV. My first Anime is probably Digimon and it is still one of my favorite Anime. For Manga, during my high school, many of my friends was reading Manga and I read it when they finish or when I have noting to do at school and thats is when I start to like Manga. Finding Manga and Anime is not too hard in Thailand. There are many store that sell them and many poplar store that sell movies usually have Anime section. Which is a lot easier to find compared to India and Australia (I never see store that sell Manga or Anime).

This song from Digimon Adventure 02 brings back so many childhood memory.

 

This one from Digimon Adventure

After looking at many sites and learning about Manga and Anime culture in India, I think that there are many limitations for it to gain popularity. As finding Manga and Anime in store is hard, many have to go to online source in order to read or watch Anime and Manga. They also have to be able to read Manga or watch Anime in English because finding the source for Manga and Anime is already hard but finding it in Hindi is even harder. Furthermore, one of the best TV channel for Anime (Animax) is not available on most DTH operators now and that result in people have less exposure to Anime. With less Anime, new viewer who never experience Anime before won’t be able to know if Anime is good or not and thats make it so that Anime will only popular in a small circle of people who already experience Anime but Anime and Manga popularity in India is increasing and Animax might be back on DTH operators.

Reference

Pillalamarri, A 2014, ‘Japanese Cultural Influence Grows in India’, The Diplomat, 29 August, accessed 1/09/2014, http://thediplomat.com/2014/08/japanese-cultural-influence-grows-in-india/ 

Tanna, S 2012, A Study of Circulation of Manga and Anime in India, accessed 1/09/2014,http://asiancultureindustries.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/a-study-of-circulation-of-manga-and-anime-in-india-shilpa-tanna.pdf

 

Amnesty International.

Amnesty international is a global movement organization with more than 3 million supporters, members and activists in over 150 countries and territories. Their main focus is on human rights with vision that

every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards

They are independent from government, political ideology, religion and economic interest. They does not accept any fund from government or political parties, most of their income is from individuals around the world. Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961 and they begin to work in Thailand after The Thammasat University Massacre. The Thammasat University Massacre was an attack on student and protesters that occurred on the campus of Thammasat University and at Sanam Luang in Bangkok. After this massacre, Amnesty International started a campaign to release the prisoner of conscience and they have been working in Thailand ever since. They use many digital media such as Facebook, Youtube and their website to voice their demands and stories. They have Facebook page for different countries, for example, they have Amnesty International Australia which is in English and Amnesty International Thailand (In Thai). They also have Amnesty International Thailand Youtube channel. They use these channel to show what they are doing and to express their idea. For example, right now they have a campaign to ending torture. Therefore, they have a article and video about this in their website and their Youtube channel.

This is their video on ‘Ending torture’ which is post on Amnesty International Thailand Youtube channel.

 

Reflective

Amnesty International is peripheral in a sense that they provide information and they focus on something that outside mainstream media’s interest. However, after looking at their website and reading some of their story, I think that what Amnesty International think is good or right is base on ‘western’ ideology. I do agree with what Amnesty International is doing but I think they shouldn’t base what they do on certain ideology. They shouldn’t think that their way is better and the rest of the world should be the same. According to Appiah, there are 3 key ideas about cosmopolitan and I think Amenesty International should follow these ideas(1997, pp617-639).

1. To care about people’s right and welfare even if they are not one of us, from same society.
2. To be willing to learn from them – to accept we may be wrong.
3. To be willing to allow them to be wrong.

Something that other countries do or believe might be wrong (in our eyes) but we should respect the different in culture and values.

Reference

Appiah, K A 1997, ‘Cosmopolitan Patriots’, Critical Inquiry, vol. 23, no. 3, pp617-639

Group Project: JRPG, Manga, Anime

Group members

Alex Belle

James Ayre

Pakkapon Potranandana

So our idea is to look at manga, anime, jrpg and compare it to Western comics and rpg. We think that JRPG tend to have a anime or manga look to them and with a focus on main story and character development, it make us think of JRPG as a game version of anime or manga. As manga shows value of Japanese in focus on a story and character development than action in RPG games or Western comics. Manga is usually paced a lot slower than Western comic, with less emphasis on action. Western comics will usually dedicate full-page spreads to action while manga tend to dedicate full-page spreads to emotional reactions. We found that these different are very similar to the different between JRPG and RPG. So we thinking of looking at these different, also looking at fandom and different between manga and anime of the same series (Naruto manga vs Naruto anime) 

G-Dragon

Celebrity is a person who being private in public. It is hard for them to separate public life and private life as people view them as public figure and they want to know what he or she is doing or what they up to all the time. However, it is not just a fan who want to know what celebrity is doing but celebrity also want to share their life with their fan because it is a way to show their public self image and improve their popularity.

G-Dragon with his group members.

Kwon Ji Yong or known by his stage name G-Dragon (Yong is Korean word for dragon, Ji sound similar to G, hence, the name G-Dragon), is a South Korean rapper, songwriter, producer, model, fashion designer and a leader of one of the biggest K-Pop groups, Big Bang. Big Bang is ranked fifth of Korea’s top 10 celebrity by Forbes. G-Dragon or GD has been in music industry ever since he was 6 years old and debuted as leader of Big Bang in 2006. He involved in composing and writing song for many of Big Bang’s song and many song for his solo career.

He is also described as fashionista. His fashion has been influencing a trend among teenagers in South Korean and around the world. He has received many awards as a fashion icon and artist. He is also the only man selected as one of the ‘50 reasons why Seoul is No.1‘. It stated in CNN website that

‘Since debuting in 2006, the audacious leader of Big Bang has thrilled Seoul fashionistas with fierce fashion – Alexander McQueen silk skull scarves, wedge loafers, skirts!!…’

With all of these awards and achievement, he has become one of South Korean biggest celebrity. He has more than 3 millions followers in Twitter, more than 3 millions followers in instagram and almost 5 million likes his Facebook page. He is quite very active in social media as he uses those platforms to communicate with fans and show what he is up to. All of his social media is very active and it is a main way for him to interact with fan, he even release new song on a messenger app call ‘Line’.

If we scroll down his social media site such as Facebook or Twitter, we will find that even though he is a South Korean celebrity, most of his post and tweet is in English. One of the reasons for this is the fact that he is also very popular and famous outside South Korea.

Current Tweet trends in Korea and Japan

J-RPG games or J-RPG style games

One of the first games I ever play is probably Pokémon. At that time I have no idea who develop this game or what type of game it is. Whether it is JRPG, RPG or FPS. I just know that it is a game I enjoy. The first Pokémon game I play is Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition. This game was release in 1998 and I believe I got a English version of this game when I was 6 or 7 years old. However, when I’m grown up and heard of the term JRPG for the first time, I assume that J is Japan and JRPG game must be a RPG games that make in Japan with character in game have a characteristic of Japanese. But yesterday, I was watching this video and this video change my perspective of JRPG. While watching this video, Its make me think of many games that I have played and think of what type of game it is and why is it a JRPG or RPG games.

 

Reflective

-Before watching video on JRPG I assume that JRPG have to be a game that Is from Japan or developed by Japanese.

– After watching this video, I understand that JRPG game does not have to be from Japan. It can be from everywhere but it have to have some social factor or culture that related to Japan. However, JRPG games have a distinctive feature that is different from other RPG games. One is that JRPG games are usually a turn-based system with more focus on character development and main story of the game. Which make some of the game that have this feature but make elsewhere without Japanese social and culture feature a JRPG style games but not JRPG games. For example, a game such as Child of Light is a JRPG style game but not a JRPG game. As a video game journalist and senior editor at IGN, Colin Moriarty said that ‘It is not a JRPG by literal definition but it is a JRPG style of a game’.

– Another point that I have been thinking is that JRPG tend to have a anime or manga look to them and with a focus on main story and character development, it make me think of JRPG as a game version of anime or manga. As manga shows value of Japanese in focus on a story and character development than action in RPG games or Western comics. Manga is paced a lot slower than Western comic, with less emphasis on action. Western comics will usually dedicate full-page spreads to action while manga tend to dedicate full-page spreads to emotional reactions. These different are very similar to the different between JRPG and RPG. (more on Western comic vs manga here)

 

Reference

 

Chaoskiller2000, 2011, JRPG VS WRPG: The Difference and Why They Are Both Great!, accessed 8/8/2014, http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/chaoskiller2000/blog/jrpg-vs-wrpg-the-difference-and-why-they-are-both-/77299/

Hello :)

Hi, my name is Pakkapon Potranandana (nickname is Now) from Bangkok, Thailand. I’m in my third years of BCM degree, majoring in international media and communication. And yes, I’m still clueless about what I want to do after I finish this degree but I will probably continue my study marathon by study master degree somewhere in U.S or U.K.

I have interest in many things but what I like the most is gaming and travelling. I have been travelling with my family ever since i can remember. We have been to almost every place in Thailand and almost every continent in the world. So i have been to many place and experience many media from many countries. Another thing i’m interested in or like is gaming as I have been playing game for quite a long time.

I still not sure what topic I should be focus on because i still not 100% sure what digital Asia is and how to conduct auto-ethnography research but I hope that the next few week, I can get some idea from lecture or from reading other’s post. As I’m from Thailand which is Asia, I have been living in Asia media culture ever since I was born. Aside from Thai media, I have been playing, watching, listening and reading many things from other countries in Asia. Such as, Pokemon, Digimon Adventure, many manga and Korea / Chinese comic. I also watch a few Korea TV show such as Running man.

Anyway, If anyone have any idea of what i should be focus on, please let me know. 🙂