Animé/Manga Literate?

Shiro Yui

Brigade Leader
Although this was initially posed to the videogame industry, what factors must be considered to be labelled as ‘Animé/Manga Literate'?

Firstly, what qualifies some as Animé/Manga Literate’? Would one need to be cultured in the history of those industries or can anyone with no prior knowledge qualify? Also, what could this mean in terms of those who review Animé & Manga, are they even qualified?

Finally, In terms of academic study, what particular intellectual properties would you consider essential if you wanted to become Animé/Manga Literate’? Is AstroBoy essential as it formed the basis of modern Manga or can something such as Deathnote provide just as much relevance?
 
Dude is this for some uni/college essay and your getting us to do your home work?

Read/watch what you like and like what you read/watch, thats what I say.

In conclusion Do you own homework........... :lol:
 
Homework? I wish I studied Japanese literature, I just thought it was an interesting topic as opposed to the endless alternatives such as;

‘What is your favorite................... zzzzzzzzzzz’
 
HiroYui said:
Also, what could this mean in terms of those who review Animé & Manga, are they even qualified?
Are you doubting somone's authority? (I can't remember how to spell it in the South Park way) :lol:

You gotta respect your anime classics, which means you'll probably talk about Ghibli too much and maybe a little on Akira. In terms of manga Tezuka's the 'God of manga' in Japan so you can probably never over-emphasise on him as I feel he's never gotten full recognition in the west.

It might help if you were born and raised in Japan as well to get all the cultural references as well, but as I doubt many of us are in that situation we'll just have to make do. :wink:
 
I’d say that in order to call yourself Anime/Manga literate you require only a few basic bits of knowledge. Firstly, knowing the difference between the two is essential. Then just some familiarity with things such as Studio Ghibli, Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion and a few other of the significant producers and series/films. Finished off with the ability to define most of the different genres such as Shojo, Shonen etc. Oh and maybe you should know things like that Manga is generally read right to left, perhaps what chibi or super deformed style is. But that kind of base knowledge qualifies you as Anime/Manga literate in my book.

Once you start learning the history of the subject in any depth and have the desire to write reviews I reckon you are then more of an enthusiast or even expert.

And if homework had ever been this interesting I might have turned up at school a little more often!!
 
HiroYui said:
Although this was initially posed to the videogame industry, what factors must be considered to be labelled as ‘Animé/Manga Literate'?

For a start, they would need to spell anime correctly - it's romanisation is not accented. They would also need to realise that anime and manga are not proper nouns and are therefore not capitalised.

HiroYui said:
Also, what could this mean in terms of those who review Animé & Manga, are they even qualified?

If they can express and articulate an opinion, and appreciate the medium, they are fully qualified to review a title in any field.

The most important factors are that they can write good english, and explain what they liked or didn't like about the title. Being a fan of a medium is important when you are reviewing titles for a niche audience. A TV guide reviewer can produce a good review of an excellent title like Laputa or a horrific one like Violence Jack. But they cannot produce a good review of a niche interest title, like say Chobits for a niche audience, because they don't have a frame of reference. They run the risk of dismissing somethign well loved to that audience, or overly enthusing about it due to its sheer novelty.

Its interesting to see how many 'conventional' reviewers cope well with quality anime shows such as Zipang, Kamichu!, Mushishi or any of the good mecha shows, like Macross Plus, War in the Pocket, Patlabor etc. Some of them are good, but many simply cannot appreciate or even understand them. TV anime is such a different beast from the well publicised (western) face of big budget anime movies like Akira, Ghibli stuff and Satoshi Kon's titles.

HiroYui said:
Finally, In terms of academic study, what particular intellectual properties would you consider essential if you wanted to become Animé/Manga Literate’?

For academic study you just need to be able to do historical research for encyclopedia type work, or art research. An Art Teacher can do academic study of anime and manga. They just have a huge amount of work ahead of them (the research bit).

This sounds way too much like Aryan prerequisites to setting a bar for 'real' anime/manga fans versus wannabes. Its the elitist argument all over again.
 
Laughing Manji said:
They would also need to realise that anime and manga are not proper nouns and are therefore not capitalised.

I didn’t know that. And even this very website fails anime/manga literacy by that token!
 
harkins said:
Laughing Manji said:
They would also need to realise that anime and manga are not proper nouns and are therefore not capitalised.

I didn’t know that. And even this very website fails anime/manga literacy by that token!
Where does it fail? I haven't seen any particular misuse of capitalisation except in some forum posts.
 
Gawyn said:
harkins said:
Laughing Manji said:
They would also need to realise that anime and manga are not proper nouns and are therefore not capitalised.

I didn’t know that. And even this very website fails anime/manga literacy by that token!
Where does it fail? I haven't seen any particular misuse of capitalisation except in some forum posts.

Erm, well, ok, I think I'm probably wrong as I think I took it too literally. Sorry. I guess you're allowed to have a capital letter if it's the first word of a sentence or if everything starts with a capital letter. Anyway, I'll shut up and leave the spell checking to those better suited.
 
I suppose to be considered at least half way literate, you have to take an almost clinical approach to anime and watch genre-specific shows (regardless of your taste, like "Ichigo Mashimaro") if just to understand why that something is popular. Further more you will need to apply a keen eye to Japan's pop culture (that obviously dictates what we'll be seeing in this country within the next few years) - like right now, Japan's anime fans are obsessed with "moe" anime; try to understand why that is.

To take it further, research into the creative staffs behind each popular show would be required. You'll need to know about studios, directors, soundtrack composers and key animators (like Norio Matsumoto, I love his work).

As Laughing Manji has already said, it doesn't take much to become a reviewer. Beyond a high standard of writing (coherence and a sense of feeling is most important, as is a good grasp of grammar) you really don't need much more than that. Your knowledge of anime should naturally expand provided you maintain a keen interest and just research the shows you are interested in.
 
Laughing Manji said:
For a start, they would need to spell anime correctly - it's romanisation is not accented. They would also need to realise that anime and manga are not proper nouns and are therefore not capitalised.

Maybe that is true; however, that argument would have had some weight against it if you didn’t end your post with;

Laughing Manji said:
This sounds way too much like Aryan prerequisites to setting a bar for 'real' anime/manga fans versus wannabes. Its the elitist argument all over again.

So my initial questions can be considered as elitist and maybe pretentious, but your correction of my spelling of ‘Animé’ & ‘Manga’ isn’t?
 
HiroYui said:
Laughing Manji said:
This sounds way too much like Aryan prerequisites to setting a bar for 'real' anime/manga fans versus wannabes. Its the elitist argument all over again.
So my initial questions can be considered as elitist and maybe pretentious, but your correction of my spelling of ‘Animé’ & ‘Manga’ isn’t?

Um, I think it's more like he was saying that setting a level where those who are above it are "qualified" and those who are below it are not is rather elitist - which it is, really, creating an unnecessary distinction. His correction of your spelling isn't elitist as such, more anal (but accurate).

With respect to reviewers, I don't see why they would need any significant amount of knowledge to review anime or manga, as long as they're a good reviwer - that is, as long as they can write a balanced, helpful review of it.

I don't think I'd ever consider myself "anime/manga literate". I don't tend to phrase things like that :p .
 
I dunno.... I think it's important that if you're someone like Jonathan Clements i.e. a figurehead of the "Western anime movement", you need to be well versed (to a professional level) in everything anime. Perhaps HiroYui is just trying to understand why someone like Clements is considered an expert. It's not a matter of being a superior fan, I don't think any such thing exists.
 
OMG where to begin?

Anime makes reference to academic things in all kinds of ways. How would a Phantasy Star fan make the distinction between Rudo Steiner and the real Rudolf Steiner, for instance, or interpret a Zen concept of self-salvation through combat through Full Metal Panic's mecha battles? Or basic Kabbalistic principles in the HQ design in Evangelion? At least a general knowledge of mythology and theology, to say the least!
 
I'd say that there are some staple shows that one must watch, perhaps just to sample a large portion of animation studios.

I think that anyone passing themselves off as well-versed in anime because they've watched 127 episodes of Naruto, including fillers, is going to be badly caught out at some stage. Further to this, a good knowledge of classics is essential - including but not limited to Ghibli and Akira.
 
Paul said:
Perhaps HiroYui is just trying to understand why someone like Clements is considered an expert. It's not a matter of being a superior fan, I don't think any such thing exists.

Yes & No, In my opinion, I would consider Jonathan Clements as ‘anime/manga literate’, not to say that you have to be as educated as he is in all things anime to be so. I can also see that may consider the very question a stab at reviewers and figure heads such as Jonathan Clements.

Some of the suggestions made thus far have really made me contemplate whether or not I can even consider myself an anime fan in the first place, let alone literate in all things related. I suppose, instead of asking;

‘What factors must be considered to be labeled as ‘anime/manga Literate'?’

I should have asked;

‘Is it possible to be to be considered as ‘anime/manga literate', and if so, in what context?’

On a slightly out of context note, MonkeyFunk said that would you have to be totally ignorant of non-Japanese animation if we were to accept the notion of ‘anime literate’, wouldn’t that automatically make everyone from outside of Japan incapable of becoming literate in all things related?
 
Being a 'anime/manga literate' is an overstatement. As long as you love the anime you watch or manga you read, doesn't actually matter if you are literate or not. Just watched it and if you've read a review then see it with your very eyes and judge it for yourself.

Everyone has different preference, that's why a lot of anime are created to suit each desire. No one's dictating what to watch or not.
 
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