Anime Research Articles

How Does Jade Dynasty Become a Big IP? Mapping Digital Media Ecology in Contemporary China

Abstract Jade Dynasty (Zhuxian) emerged as one of the pioneering and most celebrated online novels of the early 2000s in China. First serialized online in mainland China around 2002 and later published as a book series in Taiwan between 2003 and 2007, JD has been expansively adapted across various media forms, including video games (from 2007 to the present), TV dramas (2016), films (2019), and animation series (starting from 2022). Scholars acknowledge it as a pioneer in the transmedia adaptation of Chinese online novels, highlighting its significant IP (intellectual property) impact. In the realm of transmedia storytelling, scholars have pointed out different production modes, including media convergence, media mix, and “affective modules” regulated by digital platforms. Referring to the emphasis on media connections made in the studies of media mix and the issue of intermediality indicated in IP, this paper investigates the digital media ecology manifested in the transmedia system of the Jade Dynasty. By examining the online fantasy novel in the early 2000s, the video game in the mid-2000s, and the animation series in the 2020s, this study argues that each stage represents significant turning points in the contemporary Chinese digital media industry.

“The Aesthetics of Film and Television” under the Theory of Visual Metaphor: Taking Howl's Moving Castle as an Example

Howl's Moving Castle is a film by the famous Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, depicting the story of Howl and Sophie's redemption of each other and their joint endeavour for peace against a backdrop of fighting. A large number of symbolic visual symbols are used in this film, which give visual impact on modelling through exaggeration and representation, and also better promote the characterisation and the development of the storyline. Taking Howl's Moving Castle as an example, this paper turns from the popular topic of characterisation explored at home and abroad to the visual representation technique, and explores the treatment of the film's visualisation by mining the symbolic meanings in different contexts. Vision is the most important form of the senses in cinema. This paper discusses how to perfect the visual expression effect and make reasonable use of symbolic metaphoric rhetoric, so as to enhance the meticulousness of the visual effect, enrich the amount of information in the scene, and improve the texture of the film.

Images of Russians in the Japanese pop culture (on the example of anime)

The article seeks to identify and analyse the ways of depicting Russians in the contemporary Japanese pop cultural texts. The following anime series were chosen as the object of the study: Black Lagoon; Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor; Hetalia Axis Powers; Bungou Stray Dogs; Yuri!!! on Ice; How Heavy are The Dumbbells You Lift?. The author of the article considers different stereotypes related to Russia and its inhabitants, and also covers such issues as age and gender, appearance and language, lifestyle and character traits of the Russian characters.

Examining children's perceptions of AI-enabled interactive media characters

Young children may develo\\attachments or perceive realism in television characters due to interactive techniques like faux eye contact and pretend interactions during video watching. As artificial intelligence (AI) advances, the potential for real-time, contingent interactions with characters has emerged, potentially reshaping children's perceptions of these characters as responsive entities. This article presents findings from two experiments conducted as part of a multi-year project aimed at integrating AI into television animation series. In this project, the main characters of the series ask children questions, listen to their responses, and provide responsive feedback. The findings suggest that interactive characters, which engage viewers through contingent dialogues, are perceived as more human-like. Follow-up analyses also revealed that the opportunities for contingent interactions with the media character were the primary reason that drove such perceptions. This study contributes to advancing understanding of the mechanisms underlying children's evolving relationships with interactive media characters, a trend likely to gain prominence in the years to come.

Directive Speech Acts and Its Response on Japanese Anime “Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken”

This study aims to classify the directive speech acts used by the character Rimuru Tempest in the anime Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken and analyze the responses of interlocutors to these directive speech acts. The research employs a qualitative descriptive approach, with data collected from character dialogues across episodes 1 to 15 of the anime. The data were analyzed and categorized based on Namatame's (1996) directive speech act theory. The findings indicate 24 instances of directive speech acts, categorized into five types: commands (meirei), with 11 occurrences; requests (irai), with 5; prohibitions (kinshi), with 3; permissions (kyoka), with 3; and suggestions (teian), with 2. Additionally, 18 responses to these directives were positive, while 6 were negative. Analysis suggests that the relationship between the speaker and the interlocutor influenced response types. Results also show that the character Rimuru Tempest predominantly used requests (irai) in their directives.

The Japanese Anime One Piece Drives Chinese Teenagers to Engage in Cross-border Consumption of Its Anime Peripherals

As One Piece has evolved into a global cultural phenomenon, particularly resonating with a strong fan base in China, it has become increasingly essential to delve into the underlying factors driving Chinese teenagers’ cross-border consumption. This exploration is particularly relevant within the broader context of globalization and the rapid growth of digital commerce. This study investigates the impact of the Japanese anime One Piece on the cross-border consumption behavior of Chinese teenagers, with a particular focus on their purchase of anime peripheral products. Through a combination of questionnaires and interviews, this study employs thematic analysis to decipher the potential factors driving this behavior. The findings suggest that Chinese adolescents are motivated to purchase One Piece by several factors, including the convenience and accessibility of international shopping, the allure of unique, rare, and collectible merchandise, and the symbolic status conferred by the high prices of cross-border products. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the cross-cultural consumption patterns prevalent among Chinese adolescents.

Non-health-targeted promotions and step counts of smartphone-based mall walking program users

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic changed lifestyles and raised concerns regarding physical inactivity among adults. Mobile health interventions for physical activity may be a potential solution. However, the effects may diminish over time. This study investigated whether incorporating non-health-targeted promotions into an existing mobile health-walking program could stimulate users to walk. Methods We used nationwide cohort data of smartphone users participating in a shopping mall walking program in Japan. We focused on existing users registered in the program until October 31, 2022. A Japanese anime tie-in promotion was conducted by the shopping mall company from December 3 to 25, 2022, offering additional rewards alongside the regular program. We collected step count records of existing users 1 month before and after (November 1 to December 2, 2022, and December 26, 2022 to January 31, 2023, respectively), and during the promotion period. Propensity score matching was applied to ensure balance in the baseline characteristics of existing users in terms of gender, age, and pre-promotion program participation frequency. Next, we analyzed the association between participation in the promotion program and the average daily step counts during and after the promotional period using mixed effects models for repeated measures, while adjusting for the same covariates. Results Among the 18,156 users included in the study, 13,386 (73.7%) were women, with a mean (SD) age of 45.2 (12.7) years, and a mean (SD) pre-promotion program participation frequency of 9.7 (9.6) per month. During the promotion period, the participants walked 87 (95% CI: 50-125) more steps per day than non-participants, after adjusting for covariates. No clear association was observed 1 month post-promotion. Conclusions These findings indicate that non-health-targeted promotions may be short-term motivators for existing app users to walk. Ongoing monitoring is necessary to assess the long-term impact. Key messages • Mobile health intervention effects may diminish over time. • A non-health-related promotion could stimulate existing mall walking program app users to increase their daily step count temporarily.

The Geopolitical Imaginaries in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale and Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick

This paper explores the geopolitical imaginaries in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851) and in the Japanese science fiction animation titled Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick (1997-1999) by the Japanese animation artist Osamu Dezaki. Although it is an adaptation of Moby-Dick, the setting of Hakugei has been creatively changed from the sea to space. In the mid-nineteenth century, when Melville chose the sea as the setting of his quest novel, the sea was inextricably intertwined with the nineteenth-century myth of U.S. expansionism. Melville presents a double vision of imaginary islands in the South Sea and the actual geopolitical relationships between existing transatlantic countries. Yet in the second half of the twentieth century, especially in the wake of Transpacific tensions, the sea as a place of quest among Japanese writers could not be delineated in the same kind of prefigurative language used by Melville, such as by drawing on symbolism. Instead, the animation reflects a Cold War psychology that was prevalent among Japanese after the defeat of World War II. As this paper suggests, Hakugei displays both fear and hope for the geopolitical transformation of the Pacific Rim countries and their future safety by choosing outer space as a site for the fable. It is in this way that the Japanese animator Dezaki draws on Melville’s Moby-Dick as a source text by engaging geopolitics, anti-war psychology, and uneasiness toward expansionism. Melville’s pacifism can be argued for as major transcultural influence, at the very least, driving Hakugei’s anime characterization. In fact, going beyond drawing on certain characters, including Ahab, Dezaki retains Melville’s anxiety over the proximity of creation and destruction in yet another era of increasing concern for world peace.

Animations, videos and 3D models for teaching space-group symmetry

A series of animations, videos and 3D models that were developed, filmed or built to teach the symmetry properties of crystals are described. At first, these resources were designed for graduate students taking a basic crystallography course, coming from different careers, at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. However, the COVID-19 pandemic had the effect of accelerating the generation of didactic material. Besides our experience with postgraduate students, we have noted that 3D models attract the attention of children, and therefore we believe that these models are particularly useful for teaching children about the assembled arrangements of crystal structures.

Evergreen Avengers: Nature and Kaijū in the Twenty-First Century

After a decade of dormancy following the release of Tōhō Studios’ Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), Godzilla and other kaijū burst back onto the scene with Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla (2014). Several American sequels and a television series set in Legendary’s MonsterVerse quickly followed over the next ten years. Meanwhile, Japan’s Tōhō used their radioactive creation’s global success to reignite their own films with Shin Godzilla (2016), an animated trilogy, and Godzilla Minus One (2023). Short-format media like Chibi Godzilla and Godziban also circulated thanks to streaming services. Similarly, Godzilla’s longtime competitor Gamera also emerged from hibernation in an animated series produced by Kadokawa Corporation, Gamera Rebirth (2023). But how do these new installations relate to or depart from their predecessors’ predilection to address environmental concerns? This article continues the ecocritical analysis of kaijū eiga, expanding it to the 2010s and 2020s, as a coda to our duograph Japan’s Green Monsters (2018). This article picks up where we left off, examining the recent releases from an ecocritical standpoint. This analysis reveals that today’s films remain steeped in environmental commentary, but both fragmented and updated for the new concerns of the twenty-first century.

Ramadhan Themes in Islamic Education Using Upin and Ipin Media

General Background: Audio-visual media are crucial in education, enhancing students' understanding and retention. Specific Background: In Islamic Religious Education (IRE), particularly during the Ramadhan fasting theme, effective use of audio-visual media can engage students actively. However, there is a gap in knowledge regarding their application in elementary schools. Aims: This study examines how teachers at Jagul State Elementary School utilize audio-visual media, specifically the animated series "Upin and Ipin," in IRE. Results: Through descriptive qualitative research, findings indicate that the implementation of audio-visual media significantly improves students' learning outcomes, as evidenced by increased motivation and comprehension. Novelty: This study highlights the effective integration of engaging audio-visual materials in religious education. Implications: The research suggests that incorporating audio-visual media in IRE fosters a more dynamic learning environment, encouraging educators to adopt innovative teaching methods to enrich student experiences. Highlights: Enhanced Engagement: Audio-visual materials like "Upin and Ipin" actively involve students in the learning process. Improved Comprehension: The use of audio-visual media significantly boosts students' understanding of Islamic concepts. Dynamic Learning Environment: Incorporating innovative teaching methods fosters a more effective and enjoyable educational experience. Keywords: Audio-Visual Media, Islamic Education, Ramadhan, Student Engagement, Learning Outcomes

Singlish in focus: a personal view from Downstairs

ABSTRACT The status of Singlish in Singapore media is a site of conflict between the government and the populace. Linguistic control in Singapore, as a strategy for managing national identity and cohesion, is not new. However, understanding the regulation of Singlish in television and cinema elucidates the media’s role in Singapore’s language policy. Singlish validates the lived experience of Singaporeans in media representations, yet the government discourages its use. This paper examines the language use in the first two seasons of the adult animated series Downstairs (Han) to explore Singlish’s role in local media as a conduit of cohesion, division and transgression. Brief comparisons are made to three prominent movies released in the same period: A Land Imagined (Yeo), A Long Long Time Ago 3: Diam Diam Era and A Long Long Time Ago 4: Diam Diam Era 2 (Neo). Singlish neutralizes identity markers like ethnicity, culture and nationality but emphasizes boundaries of class, education and perceived success. Singlish, as a language of disempowerment and marginalization, symbolizes anti-establishment attitudes and solidarity against English-speaking status. Downstairs demonstrates how language differentiates class, expresses cultural values and addresses social issues, empowering its satire in interrogating the typical Singapore experience.

Impoliteness and Gender: An Analysis Of Animation Series Family Guy Season 20th

This study examines the use of impoliteness strategies and their relationship with gender in the animated series "Family Guy," with a specific focus on the 20th season. The objective is to determine whether the creators differentiate the use of impolite language between male and female characters and which gender employs these strategies more frequently. Using Jonathan Culpeper's 1996 frameworks, impoliteness strategies were categorized into five types: bald on record, positive impoliteness, negative impoliteness, sarcasm, and withhold politeness. A qualitative descriptive method was employed to analyse dialogues transcribed from the animations. The findings reveal six instances of impoliteness from Lois Griffin, including three bald on record utterances, two positive incivility utterances, and one withhold politeness utterance. In contrast, Peter Griffin exhibited 11 instances of impoliteness, consisting of one bald on record utterance, six positive impoliteness utterances, one negative impoliteness utterance, and three sarcastic utterances, with no examples of withhold politeness. The analysis indicates that female characters' impoliteness utterances are fewer than male characters, potentially due to limited screen time. However, the nature of Lois Griffin's impoliteness was similar to Peter's, suggesting that the creators did not design female characters to be more polite. This challenges traditional gender stereotypes regarding language use.

MORE MILK, FEWER FARMS, and REGIONAL CONCENTRATION: MAPPING TRANSFORMATIONS IN CALIFORNIA’S DAIRY INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT The transformation of California’s dairy industry is a prime example of structural change in agriculture. The state has been on the leading edge of changes in the geography of food and agriculture for 150 years, and many characteristics of modern large-scale agriculture emerged—or reached their culmination—in California. We examine the spatial transformation of dairy production in California as a window into the potential futures for the dairy industry both within California and elsewhere. We use data from county agricultural reports and USDA Censuses of Agriculture data to demonstrate, through a series of original maps and animations, the dramatic increase in production of milk, the rapid fall in the number of dairies, and the spatial redistribution of the industry over the past 40 years. These visualizations reveal illustrative spatial patterns and insights into rapid changes in the geography of dairy production—and agriculture more generally—within California. Based on these visualizations and analyses, we propose a framework for understanding the intersecting phenomena of dairy transformations in California: regional concentration, industry consolidation, and farm-level intensification. In explaining how these processes are nested, overlapping, and multiscalar, we offer an account of past and current trajectories, while examining the applicability and implications of these findings for other dairy-producing regions into the future.

Myth and Cyber: A Study of the Narrative and Visual Language of Chinese Cyberpunk Anime Films

Abstract The cyberpunk genre started a new trend in Chinese anime movies after 2020, represented by the hugely commercially successful New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021). Unlike Western cyberpunk, which focuses on portraying the future as a subcategory of science fiction, Chinese cyberpunk anime chooses to look back, fusing ancient myths with cyborgs, which is called myth-cyberpunk, reconstructing traditional Chinese culture, and broadening the boundaries of cyberpunk. This paper focuses on spatial construction and characterization in Chinese cyberpunk anime films. It traces the influence of Western cyberculture on Chinese animation and the uniqueness and local innovation of the Chinese side. Importantly, it examines the role of audience participation in the processes of cultural encoding and decoding, as proposed by Stuart Hall, to understand the dynamics behind the growing popularity of cyber animation in China. This paper aims to interpret the evolution of the cyberpunk style in Chinese animations, its reception, and its deeper societal motivations, offering insights into the unique allure of Chinese cyberpunk anime within the contemporary socio-cultural context.

Artistic images as a reflection of changes in Japanese society: Dr. Kosaku Tokita in the anime "Paprika" by Satoshi Kona

The aim of the study was to trace how Japanese animation follows changes in society and reflects them through the prism of the author's vision. We have already studied this aspect using the example of a female artistic image. The subject of our current study is the artistic image of a modern man; the object was the image of a Japanese man in the anime "Paprika" by director Satoshi Kon. The novelty of the study can be defined as the introduction of new, previously unpresented material into scientific circulation. We did not find any works on the study of the male artistic image in Satoshi Kon's anime "Paprika". Compared to all the images of men in the anime "Paprika", it is the artistic image of Dr. Kosaku Tokita that turned out to be multifaceted, unusual, complex, and, along with national traditional features, in many ways innovative for Japanese anime of the early 21st century. This allows us to say that the place of the main male character in the anime "Paprika" by Satoshi Kon is certainly given to Kosaku Tokita, "mixing" the typical characteristics of traditional images and adding notes of modernity. By creating an artistic image, Satoshi Kon generalizes elements of real characters. Such an unusual artistic interpretation for Japanese anime is a confirmation of the fact that an artistic image is, first of all, a reflection of the world, society and culture. Satoshi Kon is a representative of Japanese society, which is rapidly changing, and Japanese culture is changing, its traditional images that have existed in the Japanese cultural space for centuries. The European viewer, due to the fact that the anime genre has gained wide popularity, naturally immerses himself in the environment of Japanese realities along with the fact that he is familiar with Western nuances, which are sufficiently saturated with modern Japanese animated films.

Patch-free streaming contrast-rebalanced dichoptic cartoons versus patching for treatment of amblyopia in children aged 3 to 5 years: a pilot, randomized clinical trial

BackgroundWe developed and tested a dichoptic treatment designed for younger children that can be viewed freely and involves a dichoptic manipulation of a popular animation series that enables contrast-rebalancing without disrupting fusion. Our aim was to assess whether this novel amblyopia treatment is superior to patching in children aged 3-5 years. MethodsA total of 34 children with amblyopia were randomly assigned to contrast-rebalanced dichoptic cartoons (4 hours/week) or patching (14 hours/week) for 2 weeks. Children in the cartoon group continued watching cartoons for an additional 2 weeks. Designed to target the youngest and most treatable children, the dichoptic cartoons presented the entire scene to the amblyopic eye at 100% contrast, while the fellow eye view was presented at reduced contrast with the main character omitted. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), stereoacuity, suppression, and manual dexterity were measured at each visit. ResultsAfter 2 weeks, improvement in amblyopic eye BCVA was greater for dichoptic treatment than for patching, with a mean improvement of 0.11 ± 0.08 versus 0.06 ± 0.09 logMAR, respectively (P = 0.04). Stereoacuity, suppression, and manual dexterity did not improve significantly more in the dichoptic group than the patching group at 2 weeks. After 4 weeks of dichoptic cartoon treatment, mean visual acuity improvement in the dichoptic group was 0.16 logMAR (95% CI, 0.10-0.21). ConclusionsIn our study cohort, a contrast-rebalanced dichoptic cartoon was more effective than patching in treating childhood amblyopia after 2 weeks. Dichoptic cartoons that rebalance contrast to overcome suppression provide an additional treatment option for amblyopia in young children.

Research on External Manifestation of Character Existentialism in Chinese Animation in the New Media Era - Taking The Outcast, Killer Seven and Incarnation as Examples

Existentialism, after over a century of development, has evolved from a philosophical idea into a way of life. In recent years, a group known as "refined egoists" has emerged in both reality and animated works. The appearance of these extreme existentialists who ignore social responsibility reveals that in this era of transition between old and new ideologies, existentialist thought has awakened in people's value systems. This article intends to analyze the external manifestations of character’s existentialism in animation works to summarize the reflections of objective phenomena in reality and to discuss the contradictions and problems that the current young generation are facing between themselves and society. This article uses qualitative research methods to analyze representative characters from three animated series, The Outcast, Killer Seven, and Incarnation, and uses a thematic analysis method that combines existentialism theory to summarize the external manifestations of characters in terms of their internal conflicts, conflicts between individuals, and conflicts between individuals and society. These manifestations include the denial of determinism, affirmation of subjectivity under relative justice, identification with minority groups, denial of authority, and autonomous choice of values. Young generation people are confronted with unprecedentedly great uncertainty and insecurity brought about by the freedom of choice, as well as the social reality of the gradual awakening of existentialist consciousness in contemporary society.

Anti-Tales in Question: A Study on “Cinderella” of The Grimm Variations (2024)

The Grimm Variations is an episodic anime series released on Netflix in April 2024. The series is composed of six classical stories of fairy tales inspired by the Brothers Grimm stories, from Cinderella to Little Red Riding Hood, from Hansel and Gretel to the Town Musicians of Bremen. The nature of the variations in the series does not come from the transfer of the stories as they are, but rather from certain changes in their content. The shifting rendition in each episode, however, comes with what we might call “a dark twist” and poses the question of “what if” Cinderella was not depicted as a passive heroine, and the Little Riding Hood was the one that hunts the wolf? These varied questions and answers are what classify this series as the composition of anti-tales, a phenomenon that is succinctly utilised by the feminist subversions of classical misogynistic stories. A comprehensive study of all episodes would be such a vast subject for this article. Therefore, this article limits itself to the critical standing of the first episode, “Cinderella”. The purpose of this article is to investigate the critical feminist standing of the Cinderella story as an anti-tale in its 2024 rendition on a comparative basis with the classical story of the Brothers Grimm version.

Promoting analytical thinking skills development in elementary school students through animated cartoons

Traditional educational settings often struggle to engage students and cater to their individual needs when cultivating analytical thinking skills. This study addresses this challenge by exploring the potential of animated cartoons to enhance analytical thinking among elementary students. The research aims were to develop an animated cartoon format that encourages analytical thinking, evaluate its effectiveness, and investigate students' application of analytical thinking. Using cluster sampling, 2258 students were selected from 44 randomly chosen schools in Thailand's Mekong River Basin. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, utilizing document analysis, format suitability assessment, and an analytical thinking skills rubric. Data analysis involved qualitative summaries, descriptive statistics, and comparisons of pre- and post-intervention assessments. The findings revealed that the developed 3D animated series “Tang Na's Analysis" significantly improved students' analytical thinking skills, with high format suitability and good quality analytical thinking post-intervention. This study highlights the potential of animated instructional media to stimulate higher-order cognitive functions and make complex concepts accessible, contributing to the integration of engaging technological tools in education to nurture essential thinking skills.