Research question - Why do people in the West like anime and manga?

Pyro

Pyro

Power Star
Figured that this would be the appropriate board.

So yeah, I'm doing a research project, and one of my research questions I specifically made to get other people's inputs on the subject. My presentation is just on the broad subject of Japanese anime and manga. All I need are some answers to the question. And yes, I did ask the mods.

Thanks in advance.
 
I think it's because people are interested in other cultures. Humans are naturally curious and we wonder what other countries and cultures watch/do in their spare time.

Others may just like the art style. Anime has a very distinct style and maybe it appeal to some people because they really like that style.

Then there are the people who have weird obsessions with Japanese culture. You know the type I'm talking about.
 
I don't care where something's from as long as it's good.

But at the same time, there are quite a few strange Japanese things that appeal to me because they're strange.
 
This is actually a good question I never pondered before.

The reason why I like anime and manga is because they suit my interests of fantasy. I know that not all of them are fantasy, but the ones that are, I enjoy. I guess that's about it.
 
I like anime and manga because they appeal to me, whereas most western animation and comics don't.
 
Because the West (or at least America) has a very diverse culture, and therefore it's logical that some portion of its population would enjoy anime and manga?
 
Well, the thing here is that you're grouping all of manga and anime into one big group.

Manga are just Japanese comic books, and anime are just Japanese cartoons. Sure, there are many stylistic differences from American and British works because of cultural differences, but in the end they're still just comics and cartoons. Japan just has a particularly good industry that rivals America's, I'd think.

Of course there is definitely a large audience that enjoys these two "genres" because they enjoy the cultural appeal of Japan, as they certainly have different systems from us. It's also important to remember that Japanese anime and manga appear to be a lot more explicit than they are in America.

Of course, I'm not an anime expert. I've only seen one anime.
 
New Super Mario said:
I still don't get why people hate English dubs when they aren't even Japanese.
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Simple: when you watch dubs, you're not watching the creator's intent, you're watching an interpretation of it.

And I say that as someone who watches both dubs and subs, depending on the show.

Plus you get shows like Detective Conan where the dub Americanized the character names.
 
Aiko Heiwa said:
New Super Mario said:
I still don't get why people hate English dubs when they aren't even Japanese.
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Simple: when you watch dubs, you're not watching the creator's intent, you're watching an interpretation of it.

And I say that as someone who watches both dubs and subs, depending on the show.

Plus you get shows like Detective Conan where the dub Americanized the character names.
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I know, but when people complain about the voices, they are obviously not going to sound the same. They're two totally different languages.
 
New Super Mario said:
I still don't get why people hate English dubs when they aren't even Japanese.
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Lots of people hate dubs because of the '4kids effect' (ie. extreme 'americanisation' and censorship)

I guess I do because of the culture interest, the style appeals to me and because I just enjoy watching it a lot of the time.
 
Phantom L said:
New Super Mario said:
I still don't get why people hate English dubs when they aren't even Japanese.
Click to expand...
Lots of people hate dubs because of the '4kids effect' (ie. extreme 'americanisation' and censorship)
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Also, to me, there are certain movies and such that just don't work dubbed.


Stuff like Grave of the Fireflies or Barefoot Gen.