Not too long ago, lots of mainstream news outlets were running articles that had headlines like, "Biff! Bam! Pow! Comic Books Aren't Just for Kids Any More!" These articles were often poorly researched, superficial fluff pieces that expressed great surprise that modern comic books had four-letter words, graphic violence, and provocative themes. The idea that comics were a valid form of expression on their own and were a medium that had been shackled into a genre and an age group never seemed to occur to most of the writers of these articles.
The documentary film Anime: Drawing a Revolution might as well have been titled, Biff! Bam! Pow! Cartoons Aren't Just for Kids Any More! It may also be best if you walk into this hour-long documentary, which airs on Starz tonight at 9:00 PM (Eastern/Pacific), knowing that it's not really about anime at all, but rather about the co-opting of anime into mainstream American culture. It has little interest in the art and artistry of anime, focusing instead on how the American entertainment industry reacts to anime and borrows from it. It doesn't do a very good job explaining that, either, but knowing this ahead of time will reduce exasperation from otaku or general animation fans, and also temper any mistaken impressions from those who watch this in the hopes of gaining understanding more about anime.
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The documentary film Anime: Drawing a Revolution might as well have been titled, Biff! Bam! Pow! Cartoons Aren't Just for Kids Any More! It may also be best if you walk into this hour-long documentary, which airs on Starz tonight at 9:00 PM (Eastern/Pacific), knowing that it's not really about anime at all, but rather about the co-opting of anime into mainstream American culture. It has little interest in the art and artistry of anime, focusing instead on how the American entertainment industry reacts to anime and borrows from it. It doesn't do a very good job explaining that, either, but knowing this ahead of time will reduce exasperation from otaku or general animation fans, and also temper any mistaken impressions from those who watch this in the hopes of gaining understanding more about anime.
Read More Article...
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