The cultural significance of Manga and Anime
Anime and Manga are two different ways to
narrate a story. Both come from Japan and are closely related, but they are
ultimately two different things. They have often been accused of stereotyping
violent and sexual content. In reality, however, anime, as well as manga,
includes humorous children’s stories, science fiction robots, and fantasy
creations.
Manga translates as “graphic novels” or
“comics”, although such words cannot capture fully the richness and
diversity of this genre. Today, manga covers a remarkable range of subjects,
such as action, romance, science fiction, sports, eroticism, food and history.
What is the difference between Manga and Anime?
They are not identical fields – manga can be defined as Japanese comics, but anime includes the full range of the Japanese art of “animation”. They have become representatives of the distinctive Japanese contemporary aesthetics and visual culture. Many believe that manga is the origin, the creative spirit and energy that created the anime, at first, and later on all the video games and commercial products that flooded around the world and it was through the anime that the wider world audience became familiar with the complexity of Japanese visual culture. Academics and critics have linked anime and manga with various aspects of Japan, such as motherhood, architecture, social life and customs, gender, homosexuality, popular culture, history and religion. One of the most famous anime experts, Takamasa Sakurai, claims that Japanese anime has become widely acceptable due to its unconventional nature, which broke the view that “anime is something that only children would want to watch. “Anime fans around the world claim that they love the intensity and complexity of its stories, with a plot that is extremely difficult to predict.
