ESSAY: WHAT IS ANIME? An existentialist Essay

What is anime?

• A style.

• A genre and a Medium

• A region-based form of animation and animation production

• An art form

• Animation made in Japan

How do we figure out how to define anime? By “The Famous Look”? By The Production Method? By Where’s It’s Located and Produced? By the nationality and ethnicity of the staff, artists, and creators who make it

Well, we know anime is a very REAL thing. A very profitable, aesthetically appealing, complex, and entertaining thing. But can it be so narrowly (or in some instances, broadly) defined, simply due to how popular it is and has become?

Technically speaking, pretty much all anime is rooted in 2 Things (there are others but here’s some): Japanese technique, and co-production. All anime, by nature is transnational and collaborative, and is therefore a more traditional form of what industry vets and industry fans refer to as “co-production”. A production done in two separate locations (for instance, a title can have production done in Tokyo, but the dubbing of what Americans see is done in Los Angeles, California.

There is a danger in defining anime too narrowly, as that can lead to an exclusionary attitude among diehard fans.

But there is also a danger of defining anime too broadly as well, which could potentially, in the worst case scenario, lead to any and all animation eventually being qualified as “anime” which just isn’t the case.

I believe the solution lies somewhere in the middle.

But one of the main things about defining anime, one question we all must ask ourselves and everyone else about anime, is the big one: WHO, if anyone, gets to DEFINE anime? Certainly there is no limit to how many people have partaken in this discussion? I would say something like “Only the Japanese and Japan can define anime!” but that’s not right either, seeing as part of what gave anime its general definition to begin with (other than Wikipedia, and including on Wikipedia, king of definition) has be vocal online American fans to begin with, from day one. So Americans (even if it’s “only” in articles in the press, websites, and message board forums) have come to give anime just as much definition as it’s Japanese production companies, at least in terms of PR power and thought influence. So why are we so picky about who gets to make it, but not who gets to define it? Wouldn’t that be a little hypocritical, theoretically speaking? Would it not?

If there’s anything I’ve learned from observing otaku and anime and anime production industry, community, and culture, it is the fact that just like the production of Japanese anime needs to be defined collectively, by gauging majority opinion. No one person should define WHAT anime is, no matter how highly opinionated they are. If there’s one thing I learned from online, it’s the power of collective collaboration. Defining anime shouldn’t be a product of rogue cultural, business, media, internet, or fan opinion. If there’s ever going to be an agreed upon definition and meaning of anime, it needs to be a team effort. EVERYONE should agree on it. Include most fans and industry people in an extensive, FRIENDLY, and thoughtful, but also analytical debate (NOT ignorantly hostile) debate, and there MAY one day be a collective consensus of what exactly anime is and what qualifies as anime.