Posted on 12/09/2004 10:24:12 PM PST by Simmy2.5
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer
TOKYO - Animation in America once meant Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Winnie the Pooh. These days, it's just as likely to mean Japanese fighting cyborgs, doe-eyed schoolgirls and sinister monsters — thanks in large part to people like John Ledford.
The 36-year-old American is one of the top foreign distributors of Japanese "manga" comics and animation, known as "anime," building his fortune on a genre that is rapidly changing from a niche market to a mass phenomenon.
Ledford, who's so busy his dubbing studio in Houston runs 24 hours a day, says the key to the success of Japanese manga and anime in the United States is their widely varied, cutting-edge subject matter.
"We're kind of like the anti-Disney," Ledford, a bespectacled, fast-talking man with a friendly smile, said during a recent visit to Tokyo. "Disney is very family type. We are appealing to the video-game, PlayStation, Generation X, Generation Y kind of crowd in America."
Although American animation releases, such as "Toy Story," "Shrek" and "The Incredibles," continue to wow audiences, they are largely aimed at children. Japanese anime and manga spans a wide range of topics, including science fiction, horror-thrillers and soap-operatic melodrama. At American video-rental shops, whole shelves are taken up by titles like "Ninja Resurrection," "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040."
One animation, "Ghost in the Shell" takes place in a futuristic world, where memories become individual identities that jump like spirits from one mechanical body to another, a dark science fiction that raises questions about death and the metaphysical threat from technology.
Another, "Apocalpyse Meow," chronicles the adventures of three brave rabbits fighting as American soldiers in the Vietnam War. The rabbits tromp through jungles dressed in camouflage and wielding machine guns, taking part in nightmarish battles amid smoking explosions and hovering helicopters.
Kathie Borders, who runs Wizzywig Collectibles, a store devoted to manga and anime in Ann Arbor, Mich., which carries Ledford's videos and books, says the popularity of Pokemon and YuGiOh! — perhaps the best-known characters — has propelled a boom in anime that's not only for the usually male, 20-something video-game-loving crowd. It's now drawing fans of all ages, and increasingly, women.
"They're fascinated by the difference in the culture," Borders said in a telephone interview, giving as an example stories starring Japanese schoolgirls. "They like reading something that's not the normal, run-of-the-mill story that they might have been used to."
The heroines may wear uniforms and go to schools that have strict rules compared to American schools, but universal themes, such as falling in love and growing up, transcend cultural boundaries, she said.
Ledford, who speaks a little Japanese, started out by bringing video games from Japan to the United States after dropping out of college. He later expanded into manga and anime.
His first anime deal was in 1992 for the cartoon version of his best-selling video-game "Devil Hunter Yoko," about a teenager who defeats goblins — an investment returned in full in just three months. More recently, Ledford's A.D. Vision Inc. has been taking part in funding for Japanese animation. His film unit now records $150 million in annual sales.
Ledford also has 1,000 manga books under license and publishes Newtype USA, the English-language version of a top manga and animation monthly magazine. His Anime Network moved from video-on-demand to a national cable network in July.
Manga and anime may not be for everyone with their heavy dosage of corny romanticism, blood-splattering violence and pubescent sense of erotica. But both are clearly no longer just for Japanese geeks as their counterparts in the United States, Europe and other parts of Asia simply can't get enough.
Shoji Udagawa, vice president at Kadokawa Pictures Inc., a major Japanese film studio, said Ledford understands anime and can help create works that will appeal to Americans as well as to Japanese. Americans tend to like anime with a darker ambiance such as those with robots, he said.
"He fits in well with Japanese but he has something that Japanese don't have," Udagawa said.
Bandai Co. Ltd., a major Japanese toymaker, and electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites). also distribute anime in the United States, such as "Gundam," "Astro Boy" and "Cowboy Bebop." But the established companies tend to look for sure winners, Ledford says, while he offers a broader lineup.
Pokemon alone earned about $29 billion around the world since 1997, and the U.S. anime business, including licensed character goods and box-office revenue, is estimated at $4 billion a year, according to the Japanese government.
Works like "Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyazaki, which won an Oscar and the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival, are helping raise anime's reputation.
Kelly Lamb, a 14-year-old Ann Arbor high school student, has never been to Japan but is an avid anime fan and sometimes makes her own anime-inspired costumes.
"It's so funny and so hysterical," she said of "Excel Saga," one of her favorites. "If you're really feeling down, it's so funny it cheers you up."
Pikachu is by far the cutest.
America has the biggest budgeted movies in the world.
Most nations spend on a single movie what an America studio will spend on just the advertising and wrap party.
Yup, I noticed! Hard not to when every time they showed up they were singing one of the openers.
I never did like the last closing song, it didn't have the emotional power of the second and third songs.
Pikachu's not cute, I don't like Pokemon but even so...
Cute: the animal forms of the Zodiac people in "Fruits Basket".
The Shinigami plushy forms in "Full Moon wo Sagashete" (and Takuto the Cat-Boy Shinigami is cute in his other form, too...)
Kon from Bleach is cute
Al, the little brother and suit of armor from Fullmetal Alchemist. His big brother Ed is hot, not cute.
I love anime... and I love anime guys who are cute-ish without being pretty.
I can't help but think of the South Park Chinpokomon episode when reading this.
Notice that they did not make my list...
The little fuzzy things in "Spirited Away" were cute...
you lost me...I don't have enough anime in my history.
Just started watching it a couple years ago when I married Mr. Melbell...who wants to be Japanese ;)
Anyone know where I can buy a REAL samurai sword that was actually used by a real samurai?
He would pee...
All your base are belong to us!
Is that based on Doc Smith's Lensmen?
Ebay?
It's scary, but for fun once I googled "sakabatou" (the reverse-blade sword Himura Kenshin of Rurouni Kenshin carries). You can buy "genuine replica sakabatou" for $100. All of them have comments about "just like the one Kenshin uses".
It's news to the all-knowing media. It's not news unless they tell us, you know.
Ok, anyway, that list is unfair. Two of the four are not licensed in this country, one has just started showing on Cartoon Network - but there's no excuse for not having seen "Fruits Basket". It's one of my three favorite shoujo (girls) anime.
And "Fullmetal Alchemist" starts releasing on DVD in February. I can't wait. I'm going to buy the one that comes with the empty art box to keep the series in.
I'm medium geeky. I don't go in for cosplay, but I will put my hair up in bishoujo styles if I know I'm not going out in public for the day. Sure makes my kids look at me funny, though.
http://quizilla.com/users/kattahdee/quizzes/Which%20Bishoujo%20Are%20You%3F/
Film production in Germany and Italy may have improved, but quite often they used an international cast and shot on poorly sound shielded sets/locations.
It was very common that the film was overdubbed after the film was completed. I will never comprehend the people who want to watch Fitzcaraldo (3 hours) in dubbed German (when you can clearly seeing the "Irish" main character played by Klaus Kinski speaking in English).
See above about high brows. They've actually risen to the level of "art snob" by expressing open disdain for those who can't see it through "their" eyes.
That quiz is a little biased toward... anime I don't watch, I guess. And honestly, any "Girls of anime" quiz without Honda Tohru is worthless.
Parents who deliberately try to embarass their kids around their friends have learned the POWER of geekdom.
The flip side of this is parents who strive to be "perceived as cool" by their kids' friends.
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