Influence of manga and anime on Western comics, animation and popular culture

Manga
Manga made its way to North America at the 1970s. Influence of manga on Western comic culture has been growing for the past 20 years. Because of the popularity of manga, many Western comics are inspired by them. American publishers also support publishing their own manga because they can have more control of the rights of the manga, including the movies and merchandises associated with it.

Manga-influenced comics
In 1993, Viz issued a new line, Amerimanga. Amerimanga represents American comics inspired by form and style of Japanese manga Some disagree with using the term manga in western comics because manga means comics published in Japan and doesnt apply to work outside Japan. Some also say that Amerimanga is America-centric The term Original English Language manga, or OEL manga, are widely used and known to refer to this type of comic, but the term only includes works published in English Global manga and international manga are now more acceptable to include all comics using manga style and published in languages other than Japanese

Manga influence on comics in the 80s and 90s

Early manga influence were seen in Western comics in the early 80s.
Example:
Ronin by Frank Miller

The Dirty Pair by Adam Warren

Ninja High School by Ben Dunn Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai Manga Shi 2000

Ronin by Frank Miller

Published by DC comics in 1983 Miller was inspired by the manga, Lone Wolf and Cub, by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima This comic is influential and it inspired other stories, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Kill Bill.

http://www.grovel.org.uk/ronin/

The Dirty Pair by Adam Warren

The comic is based on the Dirty Pair characters created by Hakura Takachiho. Studio Proteus purchased the right to create the comic, which is written and illustrated by Adam Warren The drawing style and color are very similar to Japanese manga and anime.

Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai

This comic is based on the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. The art work is inspired by Akira Kurosawa and his film Yojimbo. The comic is full of reference of Japanese history, folklore, and other culture references.. It also uses traditional Japanese naming, which put given name after family name. Usagi Yojimbo was tied with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in the 1980s, and they have crossed-over comics for both series.

Other titles in the 80s & 90s

Ninja High School by Ben Dunn

Manga Shi 2000 by Crusade

Anime-influenced Animation
The term anime has been used to describe animation produced in Japan Anime influence started to appear in Western animation in the 80s A lot of the animations are inspired by the work of Japanese master animator, Hayao Miyazaki Western studios has started to use some anime style, such as exaggerated facial expression, on their work In addition, western studios has collaborated with Japanese anime creators and studios to produce animation

Animatrix (2003)

Andy and Larry Wachowski , writers and directors of the Matrix trilogy, are very knowledgeable on Japanese anime, and the Matrix trilogy is inspired by it Animatrix is the most prominent collaboration example between American and Japanese animation production studios Directors, Andy and Larry Wachowski, invited some of their favorite Japanese animation directors to create Animatrix Five of the stories were written by Japanese directors, including Koji Morimoto, animation supervisor of Akira Seven of the nine stories in the movie were produced by Japanese studios, including Studio 4C, and Mad House

Avatar: the Last Airbander

Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino were inspired by anime like, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki

Avatar is a fusion of American animation and Japanese anime. Some of the critter designs are original, but the art design of Avatar is heavily influenced by anime, especially the color palettes.
The pacing of the show is a slow like anime, and the action is often done time-lapse frozen frame seen in anime Tasha Robinson commented that the style is three-quarters anime and one-quarter Disney TVAvatar blurs the line between anime and domestic cartoons (Robinson, 2006)

Anime Influence on Disney

Peter Doctor, director of the Disney animation Up, said that Japanese master animator Hayao Miyazaki has been an inspiration to his animation, and he got his inspiration for Up from Miyazakis animation Howls moving castles. (Although Howls is based on an English novel) In his interview, Glen Keane, the Disney animator talked about his anime influence on Disney, Well, it's hard to ever separate the huge influence that Japanese animation has had on me. I was just in awe of Miyazaki's work, and have emulated his sensitivity, his approach to staging. That had a gigantic impact on our films starting with Rescuers Down Under, where you saw the huge Japanese influence on our work. That's part of our heritage now, which we don't back away from. (Lee, 2010)

Other influences on pop culture

Many movies are inspired by manga and anime
In the Matrix trilogy, from the fighting and bullet dodging to the ambiguous ending are elements seen in anime. The story of Matrix is inspired by manga Ghost in the Shell There are many Japanese references in the movie Kill Bill (2003). The idea of a woman seeks vengeance against a gang is from a Japanese movie adapted from the manga Lady Snowblood

Other influences on pop culture

Some movies are adapted from manga or anime Astro Boy (2009), Dragonball Evolution (2009), and Speed Racer (2008) are some of the manga made into Hollywood films in the past decade Other popular manga, such as Bleach, Death Note, and Neon Genesis Evangelion are said to be in development

Other influences on pop culture

Manga and anime fans call themselves otaku. In Japan, the word means geek, but fans in America use the term to describe devoted manga and anime fans Otaku becomes a subculture. Many high schools and colleges have anime club for people who share the same interest to get together As the popularity of manga and anime increases in America, anime conventions, or anime con, are formed. Anime con are mostly run by fans, and its a place where fans put up shows and share anime related items, Japanese food, and other products

Cosplay is one of the most attracting. Fans dress up like their favorite characters, and some of them reenact the famous scenes in anime.
Source: http://an1merevolution.weebly.com/index.html

Some Reasons of the Influences

In Western culture, comics are thought to be made for children. The variety of manga changes the notion. Manga readers are broader and include men, women, adult, and young children. Therefore, manga can reach more audiences and have more influence. Also, superhero comics dominate the comic industry. The Manga provide different kind of genre to cover a variety of topic and interest

Some Reasons of the Influences (cont.)

Japanese government supports and promotes manga overseas The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has been using Japanese pop culture in their public diplomacy policy as part of the culture diplomacy project

In 2007, the Ministry established the International Manga Award to promote manga overseas. All entries must be manga created outside Japan
The award enhanced the understanding of Japanese culture by foreign artists, and winners are offered a free trip to Japan for the ceremony and a cultural tour to learn the history, art, culture, nature, and food of Japan

Japanese influences on American culture? or America influences on Japanese culture?

Some argue that America comics influenced Japanese manga/anime before manga influences American comics
Toei bought the right from Marvel to recreate Spider-Man for a Japanese TV series in the late 70s. The Japanese Spider-Man can pilot a giant robot to defeat villains. This is a mixing of Japanese mecha with American superhero The famous mangaka, Masakazu Katsura, has used references of Batman in his manga. One of his manga, Shadow Lady, is heavily influenced by Batman

Further Reading

Japanamerica By Roland Kelts

Ive come across this book when I was looking for information. I have not read it, but it seems like it has more information about this topic.

References
Accomando, B. (2009). Interview with Up director Peter Doctor. Retrieved from: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/may/29/interview-director-peter-docter/ Anime News Network. (2006). Tokyopop to move away from OEL and world manga labels. Retrieved from: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-0505/tokyopop-to-move-away-from-oel-and-world-manga-labels Baisley, S. (2005). Nick premieres Avatar in hour special Feb. 21. Retrieved from: http://www.awn.com/news/television/nick-premieres-avatar-hour-special-feb21/page/2%2C1 Comic Vine. (n.d.). Usagi Yojimbo. Retrieved from: http://www.comicvine.com/usagi-yojimbo/29-5907/

Donovan, R. (2003). Manga and the Matrix: Japan's cultural and linguistic influences on the Matrix series Upfront. Retrieved from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NTN/is_46/ai_108722582/
Graillat, L. (2006). America vs. Japan: the influence of American comics on manga. Retrieved from: http://refractory.unimelb.edu.au/2006/12/04/america-vs-japan-theinfluence-of-american-comics-on-manga-ludovic-graillat/

Imdb.com. (2012). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com

Infinite Jester. (Jul. 15, 2009). Frank Millers Ronin: your everday dystopic, postapocalyptic, time-traveling, masterless-wondering-samurai-turned Ronin tale. Retrieved from: http://infinitejesterings.blogspot.com/2009/07/frank-millers-roninyour-everyday.html Lee, M. J. (2010). An exclusive interview with Glen Keane. Retrieved from: http://movies.radiofree.com/interviews/tangled_glen_keane.shtml

References (cont.)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. (2007). Establishment of the international MANGA award. Retrieved from: http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2007/5/1173601_826.html

Nickelodeon Magazine. (n.d.). In their elements. Retrieved from: http://www.musogato.com/avatar/magazine/avatarmag1_scan08.jpg

Redpill. (2000). Mike Arias. Retrieved from: http://www.intothematrix.com/rl_cmp/rl_interview_arias.html Robischon, N. (2003). The fast picture shows. Retrieved from: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,442366,00.html

Robinson, T. (2006). Avatar: The last airbender. Retrieved from: http://web.archive.org/web/20060509143256/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/anime/sfw1 2366.html
Rose, S. (2004). Found: where Tarantino gets his ideas. Retrieved from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/apr/06/features.dvdreviews Ruh, B. (2003). The Animatrix and anime's burgeoning influence. Retrieved from: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/ruh030626 Strongbad87. (2005). Animerica: The anime invasion. Retrieved from: http://www.animesource.com/banzai/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=935 Tai, E. (2007). Manga outside Japan. Retrieved from: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/9/23/lifebookshelf/18898783&se c=lifebookshelf