Global Fandoms

Subversion and Reification of Cultural Identity in Global Fandoms Susan Noh

As nations continue to open up to the global market and invite the commercialization and appropriation of native texts, a renegotiation process regarding the power dynamics of cultural influence for both native producers and international consumers occurs. In the context of the anime fandom, these power dynamics become particularly subversive, as fans/consumers often become the primary vehicle of translation and cross-cultural communications, despite the fact that many international fans are not from the text’s country of origin. In particular, this subversion is exemplified through the informal translation practices of the anime fandom, where fans take Japanese texts and translate them for non-Japanese speaking fans, often for no monetary compensation. Whether these fans can be considered valid interpreters of anime culture is a point of contention that will be discussed in this paper.

By constantly interacting with media subcultures abroad and creating social practices and vernaculars specific to the worldwide fandom, anime fans create nation-like global community that simultaneously consumes, destroys, and recreates cultures in a manner that suits their local environment. I conclude that international fandoms like the global anime fan community are sites that may have the potential to undermine national boundaries, despite the fact that local cultures continue to exercise hegemonic influence over our cultural identities.

Jingyi Gu is a graduate student at Georgetown University pursuing her Master's degree in the Communication, Culture and Technology program. Her research focuses on transnational popular culture and fan culture from comparative studies and gender studies perspectives. She can be reached at [email protected].

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ithin the past few decades, In this paper, I will explore the ways in international media corporations which the Japanese anime fandom in the have opened themselves up West has become a site of contemporary toW the global economic markets, inviting globalization, where fans have the potential the commercialization and consequent to subvert and reconstruct the “flow of displacement of native media texts. The symbolic systems of meaningful ideas, transnationalization processes of these images, and goods” (McKevitt 2010, 895). narratives and the localization methods in The performative aspects of the anime fan which the content is translated and made community encourage the proliferation of palatable for foreign communities complicate hybrid cultural practices that are enacted in the notion of consumer citizenship in fandom spaces, such as anime conventions relation to the politics of cultural identity and meet-ups. In particular, I will explore formation. As information/communication the role of fans as the primary purveyors technologies and popular social media of Japanese animation culture for the platforms like YouTube ease the barriers of West, as they take it upon themselves to be access to international media and art, passion translators and spin-off content creators. communities have organically risen which In conclusion, I will support the claim celebrate these mediums and the national that these liminal arenas of intercultural cultures that have allowed these narratives play are an integral part of the negotiation to exist and thrive outside of their intended procedures of a fan’s cultural identity. In native audiences. Contemporary examples the process of re-commodifying anime and include the anime fan community, which related Japanese pop culture phenomena celebrates Japanese animation, in regard to for a non-Japanese audience, the role of its distinct aesthetics and narratives. Often, Japanese culture in the Western fandom is by extension, anime fans develop a broader simultaneously deprived of its sociocultural interest in Japanese culture. These media and historical roots, which may lead to manifestations of national soft power have accusations of inauthenticity in the fandom become a kind of cultural capital in the space. However, despite these blatant acts global economy, and those nations that have of appropriation and re-appropriation that adopted the ability to accommodate for occur, there is a simultaneous manifestation global tastes are often awarded monetarily of a new kind of hybrid culture that arises and through global recognition for their from these passion groups that is unique from efforts. Within the context of this essay, I both Japanese culture and Western cultures. will refer to the groups that celebrate and By shamelessly borrowing and altering support international media as “global local Japanese texts and re-localizing them fandoms.” Fandoms are voluntary passion for the Western fandom’s consumption, communities that form around a particular fans become agents of cultural exchange, subject of interest, whether it is video games, apart from the hegemonic influence of movies, fantasy worlds, activities, franchises, formal localization industries. One way etc. In this context, global fandoms include they achieve this is by borrowing common those passion communities that rise around Japanese narrative tropes and words and subjects whose origins come from different making them into a concept, usually in nations and have constituents that span the form of memes or repetitive linguistic national boundaries. practice (interlanguage). In this form, concepts that may be foreign to the West can be subsumed into the transnational

26 • gnovisjournal.org Global Fandoms media flows and are made palatable for engage in, such as fan translation and communities across national lines. meme creation, act as a means for fostering a dialogical relationship with a foreign Driven by a largely participatory culture, text, and encouraging the development anime fandom is unique because there is a of a hybrid culture within the anime fan need for continuous localization processes community. Thus, I will explore whether in order to make the content accessible to this hybridism is an affective factor in one’s those who live outside the country of origin. cultural citizenry or merely a means of These efforts are primarily sustained by the reifying cultural boundaries that is unique enormous fan community that labors out of to the context of the global anime fandom love, often engaging in translation or other and their social practices. semiotic practices specific to their fandom for no monetary compensation. This, in turn, Fandom Scanlation Practices and creates an alternative subcultural economy Fans as Purveyors of Japanese that allows for global fandoms to proliferate. Culture When foreign subjects continuously act as intermediaries that define and redefine In order to analyze the cultural significance of cultural texts from different nations for fandoms on one’s self-identity, we must first their own consumption, the ways in which understand the development of international global fandoms can affect and complicate fans as purveyors of Japanese culture, and the concept of consumer citizenship not simply one-dimensional consumers. within multicultural societies becomes Contrary to “traditional” depictions of fan apparent. Fandoms, and the consumer identity, which often emphasize anti-social identity narratives that are formed within behavior, fans tend to be meshed into a web them, whether derived from their beloved of sociality even before their initiation into a texts or from other fans, are comparable fandom. This is particularly true for the case to the formative narratives that are created of globe-spanning fandoms that center on by citizens in order to cement national international texts. For Japanese anime and and cultural cohesion. It is a nuanced and manga ( Japanese graphic novels), content multilayered process, combining practice, did not enter the American market until ideology, and repetitive indoctrination to the 1970s, when VCRs began to proliferate create a core sense of collective identity. in households (Napier 2007, 134). Content According to scholar Nestor Garcia initially trickled in through grassroots Canclini, people often “ignore the sites methods, often by individuals who had the of consumption where the aesthetic means of getting anime VHS to the States foundations of citizenship take shape” through connections abroad. Despite the (Canclini 2001, 151). cultural and linguistic gap, initial viewers were drawn to the unique visual style of the In order to address this claim, I offer that small selection of videos that circulated via global fandoms, and in particular, the word of mouth. By the late 1970s, anime global anime fandom, is one such site of had a small following at science fiction symbolic consumption that deeply affects conventions, where individuals began a fan’s understanding of citizenship in a to recognize the appeal of joining this manner that orients communal identity subcultural niche with exclusive and ritual- towards internationalization. Specifically, like processes in which anime fans regularly the linguistic practices that anime fans engaged (Napier 2007, 134).

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Import companies did not begin to comes with experiencing overwhelming officially bring anime into the United violence. LGBTQ anime fans have often States until 1989. Prior, “fan communities cited shows like Sailor Moon as safe havens existed solely because of grassroots, do- where they could gain exposure to positive it-yourself initiatives” (McKevitt 2010, depictions of alternative sexualities that 896). However, anime fandom’s humble are typically not seen in Western media beginnings encouraged many of the (Fujimoto 2015). The cultural gap expressed participatory practices that continue to through animation was one of the primary define the dynamics of the transnational reasons anime fans were drawn towards community today. For example, the practice these foreign texts. However, as American was fan-subtitling and the ensuing piracy media companies took on anime dubbing practices that allowed underground cultural projects for a wider national audience, many markets to flourish through peer-to-peer of the provocative elements that made anime networks. Most importantly, however, such a captivating medium for viewers were these communities ultimately made anime altered to conveniently fit American cultural content more accessible to a larger audience. standards, ultimately sterilizing them of the subversive and seductive content that Recognizing the growing popularity of appealed to non-Japanese viewers in the anime outside of Japan, television stations first place. abroad began to air a handful of popular anime shows, such as Sailor Moon and One particular egregious example of this Dragon Ball Z, in the United States. What sterilization was the American version television stations deemed worthy of airing of the “gateway” anime show: Cardcaptor heavily mediated how anime fans in the Sakura, which was shortened to Cardcaptors. early to late 1990s were introduced to anime. This original Japanese production was Certain franchises benefited from being compelling in its positive depictions of gay “gateway” shows for fledgling fans, and the relationships, characters that refused to be influence of large corporations continued to configured conveniently within the gender shape the structure of the global fandom. binary, and its strong female protagonist. Fans today often cite franchises such as However, when popular channels, such as Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Neon Genesis Cartoon Network and WB Kids ultimately Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop and Akira as the aired the American adaptation, it was clear shows that drew them into the world of that they had actively tampered with the Japanese anime , establishing these shows as narrative. Romantic relationships between the canonical texts for anime fans. homosexual characters were changed to be “just close friends” and gender fluid For many fans, these shows were not only characters were forced to be confined the gateway to anime, but to Japanese within the binary of male/female. Most culture itself. The values that these shows notably, in order to make a male character presented were starkly different than the the predominant presence in the show, norms of American cartoons, both in the there was an active process of devaluation level of complexity of narrative and the of the female protagonist (Cubbison explicitness of the creators’ explorations 2005). Examples of this devaluation in the of otherwise “taboo” content. Examples of American adaptation include: the removal of such content include alternative sexualities the female protagonist’s name, Sakura, from and the realistic depictions of trauma that the show’s title and the elimination of certain

28 • gnovisjournal.org Global Fandoms episodes in which the male character was reined in by the boundaries of the nation- not shown at all. Reception of the Western state – boundaries, both real and imagined” adaptation was largely negative by fans who (McKevitt 2010, 905), such localization had seen both versions: “fan objections to practices headed by media corporations the Americanization of Cardcaptors were show how these boundaries continue to be so strong, that [its producer] Nelvana and a hegemonic force in confining and altering its distributor Pioneer Entertainment (now the original narrative in order to suit local Geneon), which distributes a substantial values. percentage of the anime available in English-speaking countries, were compelled The cases of Cardcaptors and Sailor Moon to release subtitled-only VHS and DVD are only two examples of many where the versions of Cardcaptor Sakura as well as western localization practices were less VHS and DVD versions of Cardcaptors” about the desire to showcase the unique (Cubbison 2005). cultural values of Japan and preserve the integrity of its narratives, and more to do Other massively popular franchises, such as with active censorship. This trend led to Sailor Moon, underwent similar alterations the proliferation of fan-subtitling practices, when exported to the United States. Due to otherwise known as “subbing,” which is the localization practices, all of the characters’ process of creating informal translations original Japanese names were converted for international texts, usually done by to English and were scrubbed of most small passion communities, often for no Japanese-centric cultural indicators. In monetary compensation. Unsatisfied with particular, relationships implying alternative these egregious changes in narrative, fan sexualities and gender performances that “scanlation” and “subbing” communities went against Western cultural standards began to flourish not only from the desire were altered in a manner that would have for “free” content, but also from a code been deemed acceptable for the American of conduct that members of the fandom public audience. Similar to the example developed for themselves. Fan-subtitling of Cardcaptors, the original Japanese was not only about bringing anime content title, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, directly to those who could not access it otherwise; it translated as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, was also about maintaining the integrity of was altered to just Sailor Moon because of the original text to the best of their abilities the contradictory message that it sent to the (Lee 2009, 10). intended female audience. In the gendered approach that media production companies In this way, piracy and the informal often take with Western children’s media, localization processes that are fueled by the words “pretty” and “soldier” are rarely fans have played a huge role in structuring seen together. The decision to remove these “regional confluences of popular culture seemingly contradictory concepts altogether by facilitating and accelerating the may have been an informed business decision, diffusion of popular culture products and but continues to reify cultural boundaries by images throughout restrictive conditions” removing what is so attractively subversive (Otmazgin 2013). The combination of about the ideology, aesthetics and narrative the ease of access to these “controversial” complexity of anime. Though it may be materials and the implied affirmations the case that in recent years, “media has of alternative lifestyles (LGBT, gender become deterritorialized and [is] no longer expression, and so on) found in many of the

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“gateway” anime shows, like Sailor Moon, The Role of Japan in the Global Anime Cardcaptor Sakura, and Cowboy Bebop has Fandom made the anime fandom a place where minorities have found solace and positive The fundamental question in the legitimacy media representation. In this sense, anime of fandoms as a genuine mediator of can be seen as a site of resistance for certain cultural identity, is whether the in- Western values that are commonly imbued depth understanding of one’s passion in children’s cartoons. communities, is enough to overcome the fact that these experiences occur inside The comparative practices of how each an altered environment, where national culture deals with representations of history has been torn away, or at the very alternative sexualities and gender expression least, fundamentally changed, replaced reveal how joining an international fandom by a fragmented global subculture. The has the potential to explicitly impact and Japan that is represented within the anime develop one’s sense of identity (Hendricks fandom is not, by any means, the Japan that 2015). If fans are the advocates of these is the lived experience of actual citizens. Japanese cultural values at least in so far Part of the appeal of anime, according to as it is depicted within anime narratives, Japanese culture scholar, Koichi Iwabuchi, could one claim that their fandom has is the anime creator’s ability to neutralize altered their cultural identity through their the unfamiliar “cultural odor” of Japan development as consumer citizens? If there from their creations, and instead, replace exists a potential for the anime fandom to it with a global familiarity. In doing so, the alter one’s social values in regards to gender undesirable and unfamiliar odor becomes and sexuality representation in media, then a socially acceptable fragrance. Iwabuchi it may be that the socialization processes of defines cultural fragrance to be “the way in becoming an anime fan does play a role in which cultural features of a country of origin how we adopt sociocultural values through and images or ideas of its national, in most media consumption. If the figure of the fan cases stereotyped, way of life are associated is shown to be a purveyor of anime culture positively with a particular product in the for the West, and also a driving force for consumption process” (Iwabuchi 2002, preserving the integrity of the original 27). In other words, in ensuring that their Japanese narrative, then it may gesture production is not “too Japanese” for foreign towards a reorientation of the international viewers, but “Japanese enough” to provide fan community as agents of cultural an enticing and convincing view of the exchange and globalization, regardless of oriental other, anime is easily subsumed their national origins. In order to explore and dispersed into the global media flow. the fan’s role as an agent of cross cultural While this may explain why anime has been communication, it is necessary to first adopted without excessive resistance by so address the issue of the how “Japaneseness” many cultures, it problematizes the idea has been defined by globalizing processes that fans can engage with Japanese culture and what role Japan plays in the fandom, through anime in a genuine manner and can both as a concept and as the national origin in turn, be valid cultural interpreters. of the texts that fans so eager to translate, consume, and represent. Perhaps Japan, as an “authentic” cultural place, is irrelevant in the scope of the anime fandom. In many ways, fans fetishize and

30 • gnovisjournal.org Global Fandoms redefine “Japanese-ness” within the scope slang into colloquial dialects, those who are of their passion communities, which is most inside the fan culture soon become literate explicit at anime conventions. During these in these concepts, regardless of whether they conventions, people gather to celebrate have experience with the Japanese language, their love for the culture through events through participating and consuming the and artistic practices, such as cosplay, fanart, collective knowledge base of the community. fashion shows, concerts or panels, all of While these words and tropes sometimes which revolve around anime. Some larger have linguistic equivalents in the native conventions include displays of Japanese language of the non-Japanese fan, more culture that do not explicitly involve anime, often than not, these concepts are nuanced such as tea ceremonies, lessons in dance and specific to their cultural context, and forms that are only found in Japan, martial this literacy is something that fans can only arts demonstrations, traditional games and pick up through repeated exposure in anime more. narratives and fan-to-fan dialogue.

In these spaces, fans constantly communicate For example, within the past decade, the through an organically formed Japanese/ term moe has become a popular concept in English interlanguage that often mixes the lexicon of the anime fandom, both within Japanese phrases and tropes into English. Japan and abroad. Stemming from the Words and concepts like kawaii,2 moe,2 Japanese word moeru, which means to bloom tsundere,3 and senpai4 are just a few of the or to sprout. This word has been applied to many words that fans who do not speak the affectionate, but not necessarily erotic, Japanese, yet engage with fandom, have responses of fans to a certain archetypical come to understand from the collective character in anime narratives. Often, though vernacular. Whether to fill lexical gaps or to not exclusively, applied to female characters, serve as an indicator of cultural literacy, these moe is related to the feeling one gets when phrases are adopted into the fan’s regular viewing the transient figure of the bishoujo speech, typically through engagement with (young, attractive girl) and is a concept other fans. These are phrases that are often that has extended beyond just physical repeated in anime series across the board, appearance, to include vocal and behavioral causing them to be integrated into the fan characteristics that inspire affection and vocabulary of the native Japanese fandom warmth in a fan. To recognize the common as well. Fans who either have extensive tropes that make a moe-triggering character experience with the Japanese language or (i.e., vulnerability, energetic personality, are adept at discerning patterns within maidenly, etc.) and discerning the various anime narratives usually pick out these factors that lead to this fan affective response concepts and incorporate them into the is a kind of literacy in itself. lexicon that is often proliferated through online forums. Like with the adoption of

1 cute, loveable. 2 to bloom. Slang term for an affectionate reaction that a fan has to a particular archetype of character. 3 An archetypical character trope in anime where the character initially acts coldly, but develops into a more affectionate character throughout the course of the narrative. 4 Japanese linguistic signifier for an upperclassman or senior member within any formal and informal organization.

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According to Japanese pop culture scholar, concepts to communicate otherwise verbally Patrick Galbraith, moe is first and foremost inexpressible ideas, anime fans show a “a response, a verb, something that is done. cultural literacy that has been fostered Second, as a response, moe is situated in within the fandom, that gestures towards an responding to a character, not a character emergence of a hybrid culture. itself. Third, the response is triggered by fictional characters” (Galbraith 2014,This multimodal literacy transcends words, 5-6). Moe has become an amorphous and extending toward the semiotic practices abstract concept because it can be applied of translating the cultural significances of so widely to anime culture. Its usage image-based signifiers and tropes as well. requires a multilayered understanding The creation of this fan language stems not of visual and auditory cues, as well as an from one franchise or one region, but from in-depth knowledge of anime character global participation and the ever-expanding tropes, in order to understand how this compilation of popular anime works that affective response comes into being and fans relentlessly draw upon. Much like is consumed. Regardless of the rather a traditional foreign language, non-fans ambiguous and elusive definition of moe, who are not literate in Japanese, and more many fans use the term in regard to their specifically, anime culture, will not be able to favorite characters, because it fills a lexical find meaning in this mish-mash of hybrid gap that cannot otherwise be expressed in linguistic and image-based practices that a fan’s native language (Bloem 2014, 9). fans seamlessly traverse through. In being able to internalize and use these

Fig 2-4: Massively popular memes within the anime community. An example of fan interlanguage and multimodal literacy. http://m.memegen.com/4zwgs0.jpg, https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/ originals/05/d0/46/05d046694f64a20604f4686914ec94de.jpg, http://i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/ original/000/007/426/Gasai_Yuno.jpg, all accessed 09/20/2016

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With its own kind of “language” and literacy, protagonist’s life is reflective of the national as well as a unique set of ritualistic practices, and economic vulnerability that arose due perhaps it’s not too much of a leap to see to events following World War II and fandom as a kind of subcultural “nation.” economic malaise of the 90s (Napier 2005, In fact, as though fandom is a foreign 219). For the Japanese, “apocalypse seems nation in itself, Japan often sends cultural both personal and suprapersonal, a disaster ambassadors to these conventions, viewing visited upon both the individual and the them as intercultural spaces. Guests include collective” (Napier 2005, 256). Many notable Japanese rock bands, fashion celebrities, anime works, including films likeGrave voice actors, idols, and industry professionals. of the Fireflies and Princess Mononoke and These efforts are seen as necessary, in order popular series like Neon Genesis Evangelion, to make cultural ties with the fans that act as portray these themes explicitly, often using primary meaning-makers and interpreters unstoppable god-like beings and mechanical of Japanese culture to foreign communities. personas as antagonists that decimate both a character’s physical body and psychological The common thread between all of the state. It is not coincidental that these works cultural displays within anime convention are considered foundational to modern spaces is that they are all entirely anime, because they speak to the post- performative. Western absorption of modern sensibilities of cultural identity and Japanese influences in the past has been the ambivalent position that Japan has in “primarily decorative and involved the regards to technology and outside “foreign” borrowing of Japanese motifs and design influences. This ambivalence is also reflected elements. Oriental views provided the West in the Western imagination of Japan, as it with spectacle” (Holborn 1991). Whether remains a kind of imaginary space that is anime and the global fandom continues almost always either a romanticized and this tradition and simply imbibes in the nostalgic vision of Japonisme or a country spectacle-ridden illusion of Japan, or is doomed to the ravages of a techno- genuinely connected in some manner to a orientalist dystopian future (Napier 2005, global culture that subsumes both the West 24). However, as younger generations of and Japan remains unanswered. Japanese continue to separate themselves from the traumatic events of the past and One manner in which to tackle this incorporate themselves deeper into a more question is to consider whether anime has globalized culture, the enduring relevancy of some nuclear core that is representative of this apocalypse-centric identity comes into “Japanese-ness” beyond the performative question. aspects, that is inaccessible to foreign viewers. In Napier’s essay on the thematic resonance Of course, Japan is not the only country to of “apocalypse” in anime and its reflection focus on apocalyptic themes as a central form on Japanese identity, she posits that Japan’s of national identity formation. The World turbulent wartime history, rapid rise to Wars of the 20th Century also brought modernity, and catastrophic events like about similar traumatic sentiments in the the atom bombing, have deeply impacted West, which consequently led to dramatic Japanese identity, tying it to the idea of shifts in cultural identity, particularly for apocalyptic pain and suffering. The fatalistic nations like Germany. More recently, the approach that is often seen in anime when 9/11 terrorist attacks in America and the powerful outside forces encroach upon a allegorical image of burning skyscrapers has

gnovis • 33 Volume 17, Issue 1 • Fall 2016 left a deep impression in the minds of the If apocalyptic trauma and pain is no longer millennial generation who grew up with the an inherently Japanese facet of national cultural and economic uncertainties that identity, then it may be the case that the followed the tragedy. nuclear core of anime that once represented “Japanese-ness” may no longer exist, or it Consequently, these shifting sociocultural may be something else altogether. Iwabuchi features are reflected in American media as has suggested that the core feature of well, such as with the rising popularity of Japanese identity in the postwar modern the classic good versus evil superhero genre era, ironically, is the ability to constantly in cinema and young adult dystopian fiction. consume foreign cultures and appropriate In short, I would argue that apocalypse them in a manner that suits Japanese is no longer a unique characteristic of a localism. It is the ability to absorb the local Japanese identity, but a global one. cultural hegemonic forces of the West and Perhaps it can be argued that the nature transform it into something that is uniquely of such trauma differs depending on the “Japanese.” Cultural hybridism, far from tragedies inflicted upon a nation, but that being a force that creates liminal spaces observation also begs the question whether within Japanese culture, is one that reaffirms those differences matter in the face of national boundaries and cultural purity, the apocalyptic. In Elaine Scarry’s book, at least in the national rhetoric of cultural The Body in Pain, she explains that “pain, identity formation (Iwabuchi 2002, 57). If more than any other phenomenon, resists this is symptomatic of anime as well, then the objectification in language” (Scarry despite the global reach of the fandom, it 1985, 5). Pain can only be expressed with is because of anime’s remarkable ability to abstractions and allegories, and is ultimately, be localized and forcefully re-nationalized not shareable, because pain and suffering within a myriad of communities that has led actively dismantles the structure of language. to its massive rise in popularity. In this sense, Therefore, it may be the case that in the face local practices and unbridgeable national of apocalyptic trauma and pain, nuance and boundaries may still be a dominating feature expression become null and void. Pain, and within global fandoms instead of a unifying more specifically, apocalyptic pain, simply international convergence of cultures. exist as global white noise, regardless of physical and ideological boundaries, and is a Local Practices, Global Identity fundamental building block to a globalized culture. In regards to new, global-spanning It remains unclear whether local practices media, animation has become a potent differ vastly from one another depending medium in representing abstractions and on national communities or how much spectacle, which makes it all the more influence national boundaries exert over the convincing in representing ideas that refuse international anime fandom. Certainly, there to be put into words. Combined with the is a minority of nations that actively censor willingness to explore a provocative array Japanese cultural products. By leveling the of thematic elements, and distinctive visual usual boundaries, the circulation of anime and cinematic styles, it may be the ability content tends to be quite steady, even if to portray human suffering and emotion it is in the form of a digital black market. convincingly, which has allowed anime to Likewise, the fundamental fan practices spread globally. that have been fostered by a participatory culture, such as creating original fan content,

34 • gnovisjournal.org Global Fandoms scanlations, subbing, conventions, and Anime and Japanese media manifestations informal meet-ups seem to be comparable of soft power such as video games continue across national lines. These practices to act as an entry point for further cultural ultimately revolve around the processes study for many fans. Particularly driven fans of localization; however, having common often go on to learn the Japanese language source materials and social practices are a or other cultural arts in order to expand gesture towards a cohesive cultural body that their knowledge. By devoting themselves has learned to undermine the oppressive to a deeply participatory culture, fans use influence of national boundaries. Of course, their skills in order to translate and interpret the particularities of one’s experience as a anime culture for those who cannot easily fan will always be mediated by those that access the content, transforming themselves are most closely associated to her; however, into agents for the global circulation of the consistent need for the necessary major these media texts. Through their fan culture, localization activities mentioned above they create a community that spans national within the anime fandom seems to be boundaries and affects cultural identity suggest that there is a degree of uniformity through their linguistic practices and desire and cohesion fostered by a network of to participate and engage with a global shared interests, regardless of nationality. community. Fans and their desire to protect the integrity of native texts inform a kind Local practices continue to be a dominating of consumer citizenship as they consume force in characterizing the anime fan’s certain ideologies present in the anime that experience outside Japan, which indicates they translate and work with. In turn, they that the dynamic of global media flows are able to present an alternative viewing does not move in a unilateral direction from experience to others that is subversive and local to global. Instead, it goes from local to perhaps, even more genuine, than what is global, and then back to local, reintegrated provided for by corporate media localization into a different context. While the local teams in the United States. As more people continues to be the dominant hegemonic who are outside the national boundaries of factor of our cultural identities, the anime anime become cultural intermediaries, it fandom is an example of how certain will be interesting to see how this affects liminal sites can challenge fans to become anime culture for the native market and hybrid cultural individuals through their what new discursive practices will occur participation in a transnational network. between different national fandom spaces.

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