Presentation PA #64

The Mainstream Anime Culture and the 21st Century. First of all, Happy New Year 2001 to you all from the staff Protoculture Addicts Magazine! And we are now officially living in the 21st Century! Right now, Japanimation is really literally spreading all over the world very rapidly (with the exception, maybe, of the Islamic Middle East), thanks to the Internet, and it has surely become a part of the mainstream entertainment pop culture. Japan has many great cinema directors, actors, singers, etc., but they are not as popular as Pikachu, because anime, the moving drawn pictures, charms almost all citizens of this planet!

It has been 40 years since anime showed up in Japan (the first TV anime, Astroboy, arrived in 1963) and the anime culture keeps rising and rising without any apparent decline. So, the question is, “What kind of anime work will be popular in the 21st Century?” Anime, as well as cinema, is the true reflection of our time.

In this issue, PA#64, we are introducing you to many high-quality new anime shows like Ordian, Gatekeepers, Angel Links and Crest Of The Stars. Compared to the heroes & heroines of the past (who used to be goody-goody characters who fight against the evil forces), all the characters in those shows are now portrayed as humans who can make mistakes and have “Dark Sides”. Ruriko, one of the main characters of Gatekeepers, is most human, for she gets used by an evil doctor, who takes advantage of her dark side and weak personality. Those shows tell us that we, Humans, are the source of evil, because we have destroyed a large part of Earth’s nature. Also, many anime shows emphasize “true friendship”. Why? In Japan, or many parts of North America, Europe, even China, one family might have only one or two children. In the past, in the large families, members of the family helped each other, but how can one child help himself when hardships occur? Friendship does count and it has become a very big deal in anime today. All the shows’ characters from all different races and backgrounds are trying to cope against hardships with friendship (they can no longer count on kinship). I think this theme will continue in the anime of this century and let’s hope this trend will spread globally. Even in shows like Card Captor Sakura, Doremi, Digimon, etc., magical powers are shared by friends to communicate better and a lot of video games are also shared among friends. A manga character, Kintaro (from Salaryman Kintaro ), says “Friends are my life!”

One more thing. Anime, as well as manga books, has received cultural recognition in Japan by all ages (adults watch anime as a matter of fact), so in Japan today there is a word, “Kid Anime”, to distinguish children’s shows from adult shows. What a difference! Just a while ago, I never dreamed that the anime culture could become mainstream culture, even in Japan. Now that we are in the 21st Century, let us see what kind of anime works will become popular!

Miyako Matsuda

If only the people who don't understand the anime phenomenon and keep talking about violence in anime (like in a recent New York Times article) could see it the same way we do... Don't misunderstand: there is violence in some anime, but why do those people see ONLY the violence and the sexuality in anime? There are so many other aspects in it! With the growing popularity of anime in North America (and elsewhere in the world) -- obvious, if we consider the number of anime showing on TV and the huge amount of DVD releases (I can't believe that some say anime is just a fad and that even anime in Japan is on the decline! Anime might be changing, evolving, but I bet it is here to stay for a long time!) -- we still have a lot of work to make those people understand the complexity and beauty of Japanese animation. As first reading, I would definitely recommand them our book Anime: A Guide To Japanese Animation [1958-1988] which has finally been published! (just joking! -- but what a relief to have finaly finished this project! It's REALLY an essential reference...)

This issue is covering a couple of the new titles that Bandai is bringing to North America in 2001 (Angel Links and Crest Of The Star) as well as Salaryman Kintaro (manga & live-action TV show), GateKeepers, Ordian and Street Fighter Alpha (just released by Manga Entertainment). This issue also offers “Anime World” articles (the remaining parts of the Fantasia and Montreal's World Film Festival reviews, The Modern Japanese Music Database Part 8), overviews of recent anime shows (“Anime Stories” on A.D. Police, Angel's Egg, Inu-Yasha, Love Hina and War Flag Of The Star), the usual Reviews (of the latest Anime videos, Manga, live-action movies and Model Kits), and the latest news! Enjoy!

NEXT ISSUE (PA#65, coming late March/early April): spotlights on Bandai's popular series Saber Marionette (J, J Again, R and J To X) and movie Dark Soldier D, as well as the second part of our coverage on Turn A Gundam (episodes #28-50). Plus “Anime Stories” on Boys Be..., Furi Kuri, infinite Ryvius, NieA_7 and One Piece !

Claude J. Pelletier