How to Tackle a Nue (aka Anime)

Abstract

As a research subject, Japanese animation or anime is like a nue, an imaginary Japanese bird that has the head of an ape, the torso of a raccoon, the tail of a snake, and the limbs of a tiger. Depending on the perspective from which you are looking at it, and what you want to see in it, you can academically approach anime from numerous angles. Furthermore, contemporary anime is increasingly and inextricably entangled with other media, such as manga, videogames, novels, and live-action films in terms of content, distribution, and consumption. As such, it is very difficult to single out anime as a research subject. The global popularity of anime in the past twenty years adds a further twist by introducing numerous voices from fans and scholars from different parts of the world as well as Japan.