What country besides Japan is the best to be an anime fan?

[Marcus H.]

^ I didn't mean that Shingeki was accessible to TV, though. I mentioned it because there's just so many cosplayers of it when it was still hot, and Comic Alley sells jackets with the iconic Survey Corps emblem.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by RichardFromMarple

I was wondering how much Anime & Manga makes it to South Korea, almost all the series I've seen profiled on MyAnimeList have Korean dubbing artists in the voice credits.

Mexico & some of the other Latin American countries had an anime boom in the 1990s, & I wondered if interest in anime had been maintained.

I thought Japan is SK's mortal enemy or something. I heard about South Koreans liking anime too, but not sure if it's underground to avoid risks of Moral Guardians going BEAST MODE on Korean anime/manga fans. After all, they're still in quite the bad blood even though Japan has apologized for WW2 atrocities many times. Not sure about their alliance vs China though.

Sure, Korean manwha and anime has been competing quite well with Japanese manga and anime, but time will only tell if they can beat Japan in that industry. I mean, K-Pop >>> J-Pop for most people here in our country, but that's why there's anime.

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

^ I didn't mean that Shingeki was accessible to TV, though. I mentioned it because there's just so many cosplayers of it when it was still hot, and Comic Alley sells jackets with the iconic Survey Corps emblem.

Even shirts and bags with SC emblems were the fad, too. I can still see people wearing SC emblems every now and then on my way to work and back home.

[RichardFromMarple]

Originally Posted by judasmartel

I thought Japan is SK's mortal enemy or something. I heard about South Koreans liking anime too, but not sure if it's underground to avoid risks of Moral Guardians going BEAST MODE on Korean anime/manga fans. After all, they're still in quite the bad blood even though Japan has apologized for WW2 atrocities many times. Not sure about their alliance vs China though.

Sure, Korean manwha and anime has been competing quite well with Japanese manga and anime, but time will only tell if they can beat Japan in that industry. I mean, K-Pop >>> J-Pop for most people here in our country, but that's why there's anime.

Even shirts and bags with SC emblems were the fad, too. I can still see people wearing SC emblems every now and then on my way to work and back home.

IIRC the Manwha insdusty had a bit boost when there was a cultural boycott of Japan in the 1970s-80 & manga & anime was more or less banned.

I spot the SC logo in some odd places since I became aware of the series.

[roxybudgy]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

I heard the licensing firms there have to suffer with very strict censorship laws.

Aside from games and porn, censorship isn't really that much of an issue. At least, it has never affected getting anime/manga releases here.

I remember buying Azumanga Daioh DVDs, and a few were rated MA15+ meaning that the content was suiltable for mature adults age 15 or above. But unless specifically requested by the original rights holder, our anime and manga releases are generally censorship-free.

[Marcus H.]

Aside from games and porn, censorship isn't really that much of an issue. At least, it has never affected getting anime/manga releases here.

I disagree. I've seen many cases where censorship is too strict (blurring out a girl's cleavage), inconsistent (drowning out the view of a girl's panties in one scene, then leaving it exposed on the next) or downright ridiculous (cutting out entire scenes like in the Animax broadcast of K, which had no closing theme due to Neko's nudity in the closing theme sequence).

[roxybudgy]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

I disagree. I've seen many cases where censorship is too strict (blurring out a girl's cleavage), inconsistent (drowning out the view of a girl's panties in one scene, then leaving it exposed on the next) or downright ridiculous (cutting out entire scenes like in the Animax broadcast of K, which had no closing theme due to Neko's nudity in the closing theme sequence).

I suspect we may be talking about different countries here. I was referring to Australian releases of anime and manga, and I have never heard of such edits being made by the Australian licensing companies. If the local licensing companies do release something that is edited, the edits are usually made by either the Japanese or US companies that they license (sub-license) from, as opposed to being a requirement of local regulations.

[BRG Choy]

I don't really know for Latin America, but as far as western countries are concerned, I'd rather be an anime fan in France than in the US or worse, in Canada.

[Archon_Wing]

It's probably gotten worse in the US as the overseas industry doesn't seem as strong. That and the constant moral crusaders who are rather intolerant of things from other cultures despite the whole melting pot talk.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

It's probably gotten worse in the US as the overseas industry doesn't seem as strong. That and the constant moral crusaders who are rather intolerant of things from other cultures despite the whole melting pot talk.

So much for the freedom some Americans talk about so much but do not practice it. They claim to be in favor of diversity and yet are OH SO INTOLERANT about things from other cultures in the name of Christian America (TM).

That, and some US fans still think that Japanese anime must somehow conform to American standards (all MCs must be OH SO BADASS they can kill everything in one freaking hit and ABSOLUTELY NO WHINING ALLOWED) even if American culture is VERY different from Japanese culture.

Well, I congratulate this kind of American fans because they now got pretty much what they wanted in the form of One-Punch Man.

[Archon_Wing]

One Punch Man seems pretty good, and popular on both ends from what I've seen.

[Guardian Enzo]

Without doing any serious research on this topic, I would have said that the non-Asian country that's most anime-friendly is France. It seems more popular there than anywhere else, and they seem to get manga licenses no other Western country gets.

That said, places like Singapore, Taiwan and China are almost surely easier places in which to access anime, with a greater mainstream cultural presence.

[Nicaea]

Community wise it should be the US. In Europe (taking the UK slightly out of consideration) you don't have that much chances to run into anime fans irl. While the same goes for the US, there's still a bigger chance there, given all the amount of cons and stuff. But yeah, censorship is a thing.

[Sackett]

Originally Posted by judasmartel

So much for the freedom some Americans talk about so much but do not practice it. They claim to be in favor of diversity and yet are OH SO INTOLERANT about things from other cultures in the name of Christian America (TM).

That, and some US fans still think that Japanese anime must somehow conform to American standards (all MCs must be OH SO BADASS they can kill everything in one freaking hit and ABSOLUTELY NO WHINING ALLOWED) even if American culture is VERY different from Japanese culture.

Well, I congratulate this kind of American fans because they now got pretty much what they wanted in the form of One-Punch Man.

Freedom of the press does not mean freedom from criticism.

We are free to enjoy manga and anime.

Other Americans are free to criticize and disapprove.

Still other Americans are free to like certain types of manga and anime and dislike other types of manga and anime based entirely on their own preferences and with complete disregard for Japanese aesthetics and culture.

That's how freedom works.

Even the censorship that people are complaining about is being done by companies looking to maximize their profit, not by the American government. Freedom of the press also means not requiring companies to publish material in the format and with the level of censorship that you think is best. They are free to follow their own choices just as you are.

[RichardFromMarple]

Originally Posted by Nicaea

Community wise it should be the US. In Europe (taking the UK slightly out of consideration) you don't have that much chances to run into anime fans irl. While the same goes for the US, there's still a bigger chance there, given all the amount of cons and stuff. But yeah, censorship is a thing.

I'm not sure of cosplaying photos online are a good indication of the level of anime awarement, certainly France has more than a few conventions.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by Sackett

Freedom of the press does not mean freedom from criticism.

We are free to enjoy manga and anime.

Other Americans are free to criticize and disapprove.

Still other Americans are free to like certain types of manga and anime and dislike other types of manga and anime bases entirely on their own preferences and with complete disregard for Japanese aesthetics and culture.

That's how freedom works.

Even the censorship that people are complaining about is being done by companies looking to maximize their profit, not by the American government. Freedom of the press also means not requiring companies to publish material in the format and with the level of censorship that you think is best. They are free to follow their own choices just as you are.

Indeed. American fans of manga and anime are free to enjoy whatever they want as much as their critics are free to criticize their taste in entertainment.

It's just so grating how the Christian Right (TM) demonizes pretty much everyone who enjoys Japanese Anime and Manga, all in the name of Christian America (TM). Now I understand why people laugh hard at them.

[Sackett]

Originally Posted by judasmartel

Indeed. American fans of manga and anime are free to enjoy whatever they want as much as their critics are free to criticize their taste in entertainment.

It's just so grating how the Christian Right (TM) demonizes pretty much everyone who enjoys Japanese Anime and Manga, all in the name of Christian America (TM). Now I understand why people laugh hard at them.

Well, I don't know what your experiences are, but I've never heard of the Christian right in America targeting anime or manga.

Are you sure you aren't conflating some personal experiences with the greater world?

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by Sackett

Well, I don't know what your experiences are, but I've never heard of the Christian right in America targeting anime or manga.

Are you sure you aren't conflating some personal experiences with the greater world?

Maybe I just read too much FSTDT and concluded too quickly that the Christian Right is targeting Japanese anime and manga based on only a few comments.

Anyways, we're getting left field here, so it's safe to say there are only select few anime-friendly places anywhere you go.

Such is a sad reality every anime fan comes into grips with.

[Archon_Wing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmNb3xJFzkc

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3...igious_beliefs

Only in the US can this be taken seriously by anyone, but of course if Harry Potter can get targeted, a lot of anime stands no chance. Though I suppose it really shouldn't be "religious right", rather simply reactionary fundamentalists (I suppose you could call them far right) that seem to wield a bit of power.

This being said, it varies on location. In the US, anime and manga seems much more easier to deal with in public in areas with larger East Asian populations just because it will get sold around these parts more but there's no real way for me to confirm this. This is my experience because my first exposure to anime was through Chinese subs from Hong Kong and there is also plenty of anime access over there to the point where it wasn't really anything special. Hell, I didn't even think of Doraemon as Japanese until I grew up.

Originally Posted by Sackett

Freedom of the press does not mean freedom from criticism.

We are free to enjoy manga and anime.

Other Americans are free to criticize and disapprove.

Still other Americans are free to like certain types of manga and anime and dislike other types of manga and anime based entirely on their own preferences and with complete disregard for Japanese aesthetics and culture.

That's how freedom works.

Even the censorship that people are complaining about is being done by companies looking to maximize their profit, not by the American government. Freedom of the press also means not requiring companies to publish material in the format and with the level of censorship that you think is best. They are free to follow their own choices just as you are.

This is fair, but at the same time, the value of criticism is also subject to judgement. It is certainly fair to apply your own expectations and reasoning to a piece of work, but a lack of in-depth analysis of the cultural differences is just going to water down the value of said assessment-- if someone wishes to hold an opinion based on ignorance, they certainly can, but at the same time it can be called out as such. Now granted, I am willfully ignorant myself on certain matters and do not shy from conceding these things, but I think others do not and do so in an often violent and offensive tone.

Of course, I do not believe in cultural relativity as a excuse to do whatever, but I think their runs a point where one will fallaciously impose their own beliefs and culture on someone else. And that is not very nice at best and doesn't lead to meaningful exchange of ideas. There's a difference between using it to form your opinion and then using to form some kind it of psuedo-objective analysis as soap box.

[wontaek]

No country outside Japan can beat Korea for anime access. Korea is closest country to Japan in many ways, which makes things possible in Korea that just isn't geographically possible elsewhere. Korean anime cable company now has made arrangements with Japanese anime industry to air subbed, and sometimes dubbed version of the latest anime episode within 1 week of it first airing in Japan. Add in various anime streaming websites that has license to stream latest anime within 1 week with subs, ability to directly buy cable subscription into some real Japanese TV channels, and some website having official right to stream what is airing in real Japanese TV channels in real time, not even China nor Taiwan can compare to Korea in term of access. Many Japanese anime industry people, including seiyuus and anime music makers regularly come to Korea for special events they helped to produce, sometimes even to promote newest "products" in advance. So, despite all the scorns from the conservative minded people in Korea, I don't think there is any place in the world outside of Japan that is better to be an anime fan compared to Korea.

[NervZero]

Hey great topic... I think one of the main issues in the United States is that the anime that have become well known are basically porn... Fist of the North Star anyone....

Spoiler for to make a point:

dude cut off his finger and where did it go? yep...

I do know that the popularity of anime is growing we might not have the same numbers as we find in Japan or even other nations... But I think that has to do with the difficulty to legally watch a good anime here in the United States... I know personally have seen hundreds maybe even a thousand anime or it feels like i have seen a thousand... People in the United States associate anime with porn... I mean my wife did until I had her watch Clannad... Now she enjoys some anime she doesn't like all anime she hates all ecchi anime and I don't really blame her for that... because I don't care for them much myself... But that is kind of the problem here in the US all anime to those who have never seen a good anime are ecchi or fan service or porn... I think that is why anime is not "as" popular here in the US as it might be in other nations.... But I do think we have a large group that loves anime why else would we see so many sites where you can watch anime with english subtitles there is obviously a market for it or else these sites wouldn't exist in english.... I mean I can watch a new anime with english subtitles 2 hours after it airs.... This would not be possible if people in America were not watching anime...