Anime and the 90's Generation

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Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby StarTrinity009 » Tue Nov 08, 2011 12:34 am

Hi all. I'm doing a survey for my COM 321 class. Completing this survey would be greatly appreciated.

Please answer the following:
1. Do you believe the 90’s generation has had an impact on what anime is popular in the U.S.? Explain yes or no.
2. Do you believe the 90’s generation has influenced the way in which anime is now viewed in the U.S.? Explain yes or no.
3. Do you believe the 90’s generation has helped spread “otaku” culture within the U.S.? Explain yes or no.
4. In general, within the context of the United States, how would you describe the relationship between the 90’s kids and anime? During the 1990’s and/or today?
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby kireblue » Tue Nov 08, 2011 3:31 am

1. I don't think that the 90's have impacted what particular series are popular today, but it have impacted the popularity of anime in general. The 90's were the the first time in America where anime started becoming mainstream. In the 90's, everybody had heard of Pokemon, and most children were a fan of Pokemon. And unlike Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon, Pokemon proved that anime could be a very popular business. If all 3 of these series had failed in America, the American anime industry would only be a fraction of what it is today. And I should point out that the anime boom of the 2000's was greatly influenced by the internet boom, but it is no coincidence that it happened during the teenage years of the kids that grew up with Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball Z. Those series laid the groundwork in the minds of an entire generation. Unlike other generations, the kids that grew up in the 90's aren't intimidated or turned off by characters that live in a foreign land, have unfamiliar names, and huge saucer eyes.

2. I don't think that the 90's have influenced how anime is viewed. Today, most anime is watched on a computer via some kind of streaming. The changes in the way that anime is viewed is directly related to the changes in the way that mainstream television is viewed. Although, its important to mention that Anime fans are usually really early adapters. Anime fans were really the first group of people to abandon television and switch to watching streams. Also, according to survey information gathered by Funimation, a much larger percentage of anime fans own a blu-ray player than the average percentage of Americans in general.

3. Definitely yes. Since kids from the 90's are now adults, they can now spend money on anime merchandise and not only keep the industry alive, but also mold it for future generations. Many kids in the 90's didn't have parents or older siblings that supported or understood the anime craze. Now, the 90's generation are the parents and older siblings. I work at a daycare, so I occasionally overhear conversations about what is popular among kids today. But I was so surprised when I heard a 7 year old singing Nyan-Cat last week. And I actually try to spread the culture by occasionally bringing in a anime move for them to watch (usually a studio ghibli film).

4. The relationship between the 90's kids and anime is much more accepting than any previous generation. In my own case, I never even saw the big eyes of anime characters as odd or unusual. Not only were Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z my very first anime series, they were also one of my first animated series in general. The fact that they had huge eyes seemed normal to me since I hadn't yet been exposed to anything else.
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby kireblue » Tue Nov 08, 2011 4:54 am

If you are writing a paper or a report on anime, JapanAmerica is a really good book to read. Coincidentally, Crunchyroll just started a sale on it http://www.crunchyroll.com/deals/book-japanamerica-969
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby BasharOfTheAges » Tue Nov 08, 2011 8:14 am

Define "90's Generation" - one would assume you mean people born in the 90s (who wouldn't have been old enough to really "get into" anything until at least the early 2000s), which kinda invalidates most of the points kireblue here just said, but without any concrete definition to go on, you're not going to get precise feedback.
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby CodeZTM » Tue Nov 08, 2011 8:24 am

1. Do you believe the 90’s generation has had an impact on what anime is popular in the U.S.? Explain yes or no. :
I don't think so. To me, the world of popular anime in the United States is reflective of the more popular series in Japan. Business deals with Adult Swim are also a big part of this, since they're the ones that are most noted for anime on the air.

2. Do you believe the 90’s generation has influenced the way in which anime is now viewed in the U.S.? Explain yes or no.: Not really. To me, the varying anime that are now airing in the US show how they're targeting a variety of audiences to try and fit all kinds of different personality. Like any generation, the people of the 90's are wildly different from each other. The few similarities that we might have mostly affect our tastes in what we viewed as children, which anime really didn't hit for the majority of us.


3. Do you believe the 90’s generation has helped spread “otaku” culture within the U.S.? Explain yes or no.:
I don't believe so. "otaku" means overly obsessed individuals with anime. That kind of behavior is caused generally by addictive personalities and doesn't have much to do with a generational pattern. Granted, US Otaku are perceived a lot different than Japanese Otaku, so i may be wrong here.


4. In general, within the context of the United States, how would you describe the relationship between the 90’s kids and anime? During the 1990’s and/or today?

If anything, the people that grew up in the 90's are probably a lot more tolerable with anime than those before. This may be a regional thing for me, but anime is generally known as "those violent porn cartoons". But people that grew up in the 90's and watched DBZ/Pokemon/Digimon/Beyblade know differently. They realize that only a small percentage of the total world of anime. I think that anime, as time passes, will be more open to the US audiences.
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby JaddziaDax » Tue Nov 08, 2011 12:18 pm

I'm with Bashar on this, since I was a teenager in the 90s I would see it vastly different than kids born in the 90s..
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby BasharOfTheAges » Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:16 pm

Another example of the ambiguity of this concept: http://www.xkcd.com/973/

To explain:
Spoiler :
The concept of "MTV Generation" in the linked comic makes reference to the 80s, but people of the "MTV Generation" were born in the 70s. The concept of a "Generation" in this sense, is the group of people coming of age (i.e. the 10-20 year old demographic) during a defined period of time. The MTV generation is in their 40s now.


The people born in the 90s were the primary market this huge dubbing boom has sought to monetize at conventions and other fan gatherings, while people of the "generation" of the 90s (teens at the time), helped create the demand that got the dubbing industry going, and the generation of the 80s, really took most of today's conventions and fan gatherings from the college basements and holiday inn back rooms the generation of the 70s founded them at to the massive convention centers of today.
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby StarTrinity009 » Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:26 pm

Actually, I already have that book. I have that one, Japanification, Otaku, and Japanese Visual Culture. ^-^" They're my textbooks for my Japanese Popular Culture class. I'm using them for the COM 321 class.

kireblue wrote:If you are writing a paper or a report on anime, JapanAmerica is a really good book to read. Coincidentally, Crunchyroll just started a sale on it http://www.crunchyroll.com/deals/book-japanamerica-969
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby SatoshiSakura » Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:38 pm

1. I don't think that the generation had any impact on what's popular today. I'm going with the assumption that you mean children born in the 90's, not the ones that were already teenagers at the time. At that time, the big anime was mainly Pokemon, but Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon had a good number of fans. So based on that, and the anime in the US today, Bleach, DRRR, FMA, Bakugan, etc, you see completely different kinds of anime.

2. Not at all. Like kireblue said, anime viewing changed the same way that regular tv viewing has changed, though I think we tend to use it more than the average person. An anime fan is more likely to watch on the computer than tv in general, so one generation wouldn't have made an impact. You had the generation that watched on video, then the generation that watched on tv, now it's online, it just goes with the times.

3. Yes! It's easy enough to see an example of this by going to any con. The demographic will for the most part be high school kids and up, the group that got exposed to anime in the 90's. I think as a group, they're the ones that contribute most positively to the otaku culture, what with the merchandise and manga sales, not to mention anime movies that get into theaters, Ponyo, Pokemon, The Secret World of Arrietty...I feel like the 90's group is who those are primarily aimed at.

4. I think that 90's kids see anime as anime, whereas the kids from today just think it's another kind of cartoon. ( I know from personal experience with a cousin who think Dragon Ball Z Kai is American) For today, I think we see anime as more than anime, more of a cultural experience, because once you get past the story lines, you see actual Japanese culture, and I think that's part of the relatioship between 90's kids and anime.
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby StarTrinity009 » Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:52 pm

I actually let the concept of generation be open on purpose. Generation is not clearly defined, so stating that can very well be a part of your response. In my analysis, I'm focusing more on kids who were watching anime on WBkids, not knowing it was anime. However, this survey is just asking anime fans in general what they think. Honestly, it's not really a survey. I just called it a survey, so not too many people would bother to respond. xP It's more like interviews really. I'm looking for qualitative data. ^^"

BasharOfTheAges wrote:Define "90's Generation" - one would assume you mean people born in the 90s (who wouldn't have been old enough to really "get into" anything until at least the early 2000s), which kinda invalidates most of the points kireblue here just said, but without any concrete definition to go on, you're not going to get precise feedback.
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby BasharOfTheAges » Tue Nov 08, 2011 9:12 pm

StarTrinity009 wrote:I actually let the concept of generation be open on purpose. Generation is not clearly defined, so stating that can very well be a part of your response. In my analysis, I'm focusing more on kids who were watching anime on WBkids, not knowing it was anime. However, this survey is just asking anime fans in general what they think. Honestly, it's not really a survey. I just called it a survey, so not too many people would bother to respond. xP It's more like interviews really. I'm looking for qualitative data. ^^"

BasharOfTheAges wrote:Define "90's Generation" - one would assume you mean people born in the 90s (who wouldn't have been old enough to really "get into" anything until at least the early 2000s), which kinda invalidates most of the points kireblue here just said, but without any concrete definition to go on, you're not going to get precise feedback.

first off, don't top-quote.

more importantly, though, intentionally being imptecise in your questioning and not clarifying what you mean when asked is the best way to get meaningless, garbage data.... That is, if your purpose is to determine a consensus of opinion on those questions. If the purpose lays elsewhere, for instance to just generate meandering conversations around a certain topic so you can lift the ideas to write a paper, it wouldn't matter if anyone had any idea what the hell you were really asking.
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby 8bit_samurai » Tue Nov 08, 2011 9:45 pm

DBZ, Pokemon, and Sailor Moon aren't anime, they're cartoons. At least, that's what I thought those were when I was growing up in the 90s. Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, Cowboy Bebop, Berserk, now those were something else. I didn't really learn about the term anime and it's definition until I started watching adult swim, and even then, it took awhile to sink in.

I kinda heard/read somewhere that it was the more mature themed anime that made anime more mainstream in the US during the 90s before the internet boomed it's popularity. Something like that at least.
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby StarTrinity009 » Tue Nov 08, 2011 9:50 pm

BasharOfTheAges wrote:
StarTrinity009 wrote:I actually let the concept of generation be open on purpose. Generation is not clearly defined, so stating that can very well be a part of your response. In my analysis, I'm focusing more on kids who were watching anime on WBkids, not knowing it was anime. However, this survey is just asking anime fans in general what they think. Honestly, it's not really a survey. I just called it a survey, so not too many people would bother to respond. xP It's more like interviews really. I'm looking for qualitative data. ^^"

BasharOfTheAges wrote:Define "90's Generation" - one would assume you mean people born in the 90s (who wouldn't have been old enough to really "get into" anything until at least the early 2000s), which kinda invalidates most of the points kireblue here just said, but without any concrete definition to go on, you're not going to get precise feedback.

first off, don't top-quote.

more importantly, though, intentionally being imptecise in your questioning and not clarifying what you mean when asked is the best way to get meaningless, garbage data.... That is, if your purpose is to determine a consensus of opinion on those questions. If the purpose lays elsewhere, for instance to just generate meandering conversations around a certain topic so you can lift the ideas to write a paper, it wouldn't matter if anyone had any idea what the hell you were really asking.


Sorry! I didn't notice the top thing. I meant no offense, but my goal was the last part of your statement. I just wanted to generate a couple of examples on how people may read into the questions differently. Kireblue and others read them as kids born during the 90's. You and JaddziaDax thought about being teens in the 90s. It's a quick scenario showing the complexities involved in the subject. Also, of those who I know were born in the 90's, I wanted to see what they had to say about the matter. Sorry again! I'd love to hear your perspective though. ^-^
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby 8bit_samurai » Tue Nov 08, 2011 10:47 pm

After reading the questions again (and again), I probably should answer better

Please answer the following: wrote:1. Do you believe the 90’s generation has had an impact on what anime is popular in the U.S.? Explain yes or no.

As I said, a little bird told me (most likely advertising now that I think about it) that more mature anime had made anime more mainstream prior to the internet boom, which helped it become more mainstream. As for genres, I would think it would depend if the anime of the '90s had influenced the anime/manga creators of today or not. It would probably be better to ask them (or watch their interviews or whatever) instead of asking the audience.
Please answer the following: wrote:2. Do you believe the 90’s generation has influenced the way in which anime is now viewed in the U.S.? Explain yes or no.

As for dubbing, I suppose it would depend if the anime is thought to be popular enough to be dubbed for overseas, which means it would depend if the individual series was influence by the (creators of the) anime of the '90s or not.
Please answer the following: wrote:3. Do you believe the 90’s generation has helped spread “otaku” culture within the U.S.? Explain yes or no.

I have no idea.
Please answer the following: wrote:4. In general, within the context of the United States, how would you describe the relationship between the 90’s kids and anime? During the 1990’s and/or today?

Again, I have no idea. I was born in '85. Cartoon Network and adult swim were my portals to anime. Anime piques my interest because it usually brings something different than what western media has to offer, not that western media doesn't pique my interest as well. They're both usually a hit and miss.
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Re: Anime and the 90's Generation

Postby Qyot27 » Tue Nov 08, 2011 11:16 pm

8bit_samurai wrote:Again, I have no idea. I was born in '85. Cartoon Network and adult swim were my portals to anime.

Ditto, except that I'd replace 'Cartoon Network' with 'Sci-Fi Channel', and 'Adult Swim' with 'original-era Toonami'. Note that, the stuff those showed tended to be anime from the 80s or early 90s, not stuff that was currently getting produced. Gundam Wing was the newest thing I recall Toonami showing then, and that was still from 1994 or 1995. Also note that Western broadcasting did in the past and still does pigeonhole anime fans into only wanting action series of some sort, and just like in 'the old days', if you want drama, romance, or comedy series, 9 out of 10 times that means you have to go somewhere other than standard cable.

Today's anime fandom has virtually instant access to stuff currently airing in Japan. Granted, so did my demographical grouping due to the mass proliferation of digisubs ca.2002-2004, but at that point (and for those that got into digisubs in the late 90s, or were involved in the fansubs-on-VHS era) there was a greater technical barrier to entry (and waiting times of usually one week from air to available sub, if not longer - but it was still the same season in most cases). If you enjoyed that privilege then, you knew how to work the technology needed. Nowadays, with YouTube or the now-common trend of same-day or 1-day delayed official streams, this is reduced. It's practically ubiquitous now. It were the previous generations that laid the groundwork and pushed us to what we have today, and it's the 'born in the 90s' group that knows it primarily through those channels. For their impact, I think we have to wait a few more years, IMO.
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