Comments on: Ask John: Why do Americans Love Dark Anime?

By: GATS

GATS — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:58:51 +0000

“The typical American otaku is a teenager, someone at his or her most emotionally unstable period of life and experiencing the first feelings of rebellion and desires to aggressively define personal identity. ”

What, no Linkin Park jokes?

Anyway, you forgot to add a third reason, which is that if we wanted cutesy all-age friendly toons, we’d just pay for the Disney Channel.

By: seanny

seanny — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:46:50 +0000

I also suspect that we (Americans) like post-modern works, which are sometimes dark and/or grim (Madoka Magica, Evangelion TV), but not necessarily (Suzumiya Haruhi). Of course all of those are big hits in Japan as well, so it’s hard to say.

When was the last time a “dark” anime made a big splash internationally while being ignored in Japan? I sometimes wonder if the US preference for dark/cool/edgy/alternative stuff like Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell is a last-generation thing. Has the overseas fandom embraced contemporary anime of that sort like Mardock Scramble and Redline?

By: animefan34

animefan34 — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:02:24 +0000

Excellent article John. I wish more of the so-called “anime and manga critics” in the Western fandom would have even a third of all your knowledge and expertise.