Japanese
Animation in the West
Published
in Filmnews No.117, Sydney, 1995
By
now, many people have encountered an example of recent Japanese
animation. A popular cult image in the west has understandably
developed, evoking slimy tentacles, women in kinky machine
suits, gross monsters, nuclear explosions, dimensional warps,
cute faces, big eyes and crustaceous spaceships. However,
such an image is as accurate as saying all western movies
are like DIE HARD. Yet there are reasons why such an image
of Japanese animation persists.
They
germinate in two historical streams: one carrying Japanese
animated TV series into America; the other carrying Japanese
animation videos into Asian and Caucasian communities in
America and Hong Kong. Both streams are important because
they have provided the foundation for translating the material
for the west.
Since
the 60s, many Japanese TV animation series were economically
sold to America and packaged as if they were American product.
(This uncannily echoes Roger Corman's strategy of buying
cheap Russian sci-fi movies in the 50s and re-editing and
re-dubbing them with new footage to suggest that they were
American.) Many of these original Japanese TV series screened
in Australia between c.1965 and c.1973: ASTRO BOY, KIMBA
THE WHITE LION, THE AMAZING THREE, THE GOLDEN BAT, 8TH MAN,
PRINCE PLANET, MARINE BOY, SPEED RACER and GIGANTOR. However
these series - as distinctive as they were and are - were
marginalized by the monopolies held on animation production
by the likes of Hanna Barbera. Japanese re-dubbed series
did not infiltrate America TV again with such force until
the 70s explosion of robot action series (which were huge
in Japan in both the manga - comic - and anime - animation
- industries). Unfortunately, many of these 70s series were
radically cut up, rendering them sometimes nearly incomprehensible:
BATTLE OF THE PLANETS, G-FORCE, STARVENGERS and STARBLAZERS
to name a few.
Still,
a large and growing sc-fi fan market in America supported
these series which would boom in the 80s with not only more
Japanese series sold to American TV (GO-BOTS, CAPTAIN FUTURE,
etc.) but also facilitate the fan-oriented translation of
bootlegged videos of the many Japanese series which did
not sell direct to America. While this subculture was being
fostered within the comic book convention circuit across
America by the start of the 80s, Japan itself commenced
what would become a major boom in animation production.
This early 80s period is when not only were animated TV
series, TV specials and features being produced (more than
any other country in the world), but the OVA explosion virtually
redefined the market. OVAs - Original Animation Videos -
are titles produced as either one-offs or limited series
which are designed solely for sell-through. In other words,
they are not sold to TV for broadcast or syndication, nor
are they sold for theatrical distribution and exhibition
(though they may use these avenues for promotion of the
sell-through product).
By
the mid-80s, there was more animation being produced in
Japan (in all forms) than ever before. Much of this material
started to flow into the already-established sci-fi fan
networks in America, but also the OVAs were equally relevant
and attractive to Asian communities in Los Angeles and San
Francisco, and then later New York, Toronto, Houston and
Hong Kong. What with east-west multicultural proliferation
occurring on the college campuses in all these cities, it
was not long before American companies - many involving
fans from the convention circuit - sprung up to provide
subtitled OVA series for this growing market (companies
like AD Vision, US Manga Corps, Animeigo, Streamline, U.S.
Renditions, etc.). By the start of the 90s, most of these
companies and others were further stablized by the expanding
laser disc market in America, as well as the growing trend
in translating Japanese manga for the west (by companies
like VIZ, ACADEMY, EPIC, ANTARCTIC PRESS and DARK HORSE).
Interestingly,
there is an important technical reason for this Japan-America
connection: both countries employ the NTSC system for TV
broadcast and video tape recording. Pen pals and fan networks
could easily swap video dubs and get other friends to translate
the titles for them. It was not until the start of the 90s
that the manga and anime explosion hit the UK and its PAL
based system with substantial force - largely through MANGA
ENTERTAINMENT (a division of ISLAND COMMUNICATIONS) purchasing
already-translated material from the afore mentioned American
companies. Over the last few years, MANGA has specialized
in dubbing (as opposed to the initially-dominant American
strategy of subtitling OVAs) as a means of creating a discernibly
English take on the material. It is this material (a mix
of the English dubbed versions as well as some original
American dubbed versions) which is being released with growing
success in Australia by MANGA VIDEO, as well as titles by
KISEKI (licensed here in Australia directly from the Japanese
company of the same name). Also, most major Australian cities
have PAL Chinese video stores and libraries in their Chinatown
districts catering to Chinese & Caucasian fans of Japanese
animation.
This
lengthy trailing of how Japanese animated titles get translated
into English is of importance because: (a) it explains why
only certain types of puerile sci-fi action material became
popular within American sci-fi fandom and hence the UK pick-up
of such titles; and (b) it provides a view of how audio-visual
media from one culture is transferred through the subcultural
terrains of another without the validated diplomatic exchanges
governed by film festivals and the like. This, of course,
is all part of developing cultural ties, and now there is
an expanding awareness in the west of the vast range of
manga and anime produced in Japan (historical, political,
girl-oriented, dramatic, experimental, underground, etc.)
which grows from the solid base established by the original
fanboy networks. And this is as good a point as any to introduce
Osamu Tezuka.
(The Filmnews article then reprints the introductory profile
on Osamu Tezuka from the Film Festival catalogue. To read
this go to Osamu
Tezuka: Glimpses of a Fantastic World.)
