Abstract:
This research covers Japanese animation and its popularity in the United States. It
focuses on hardcore fans for whom this animation has become part of their lives.
Using interviews of self-identified anime fans, this research explores how anime
fandom has become a part of American life despite originating in a different culture.
The information is analyzed through the theories of media anthropology, fan studies,
and subcultures of consumption to better understand the popularity of Japanese
animation in a country where few other non-native media have succeeded. Many fans
started watching anime as a way to assert their own identity. Anime was appealing
because of the digital community that supports fans even in remote parts of the
country and because anime differed from mainstream entertainment. Anime fans
differ in their actions based upon the age of the fans, with high school age fans very
vocal in their support and identification with anime. Older fans are more likely to
consider anime as only a limited part of their life. Anime has created an interest in
Japan among many fans, but this interest has little to do with the actual country and
more do with a perception of “Japan” as an exciting, exotic place.
