DOCSLIB.ORG

Welcome to the World of Dears, an Comedy Ecchi, Harem, Space Alien Anime. About a Year Ago a Spaceship Crashed in the Shallow Waters of Tokyo Bay

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Welcome to the World of Dears, an Comedy Ecchi, Harem, Space Alien Anime. About a Year Ago a Spaceship Crashed in the Shallow Waters of Tokyo Bay Welcome to the world of DearS, an comedy ecchi, harem, space alien anime. About a year ago a spaceship crashed in the shallow waters of Tokyo Bay. On board were 150 aliens that people called DearS, for dear space friends. Since then the Japanese government has accepted them as citizens and started homestay programs to get the DearS accustomed to life on Earth while they wait for rescue. The DearS believe that there is no rescue coming as they are just products and easily replaceable. Truth is, a massive civil war broke out and destroyed the empire they came from. Thus rendering them the only known survivors. For the safety of all DearS kind, the current Watcher placed the Gate into stasis and hid her among the Zero Numbers before entering stasis to prolong her own life until the next Watcher comes of age. For their part the DearS have made a secret deal with the Japanese Government to trade Zero Numbers for residency. The government does a variety of experiments on these poor Zero Numbers. But all this is kept from the public’s knowledge. You start the same day that 000-3901-0, also known as Ren, will be lost in transport to a government facility. She will later today and found by Takeya Ikuhara, and average high school student with a strong distrust for aliens and swears her eternal loyalty to him for saving her from being hit by a truck. This starts the entire plot of the series involving their relationship as annoyed master and unwanted slave. For reference, the entire anime takes place in a month while the manga takes place in less than a year. At the end Takeya and a large group of DearS leave to travel space. Location: Japan. You start in the same city that the show and manga take place in. ​ Origins Drop In Any other option can be used as a drop in if desired. ● You have a family and friends Age: Student Free ● You have responsibilities 11+1d8 ● You have resources You are a local student at either the nearby middle school or high school. The adults around here are not the wisest or most professional. Expect teenage drama. ● You have a job Age: Adult Free ● You’re an adult, so act like one 20+3d8 ● You have skills and a history You are a local of the town. You graduated from the local school and most people know you. You even have a job, friends and maybe a family. ● You belong to the colony Age: DearS 100CP ● An alien to this world 11+1d8 ● A slave DearS are aliens created to be slaves. They are property. They all know that they must serve a master. Now you also have the drive to serve and be praised. Pick any class in the colony except Watcher and the Gate. ● Levitation of self and objects General Powers shared ● Flight (through manipulating levitation) by all DearS – Power ● Healing others (cannot heal bullet wounds) strength varies between ● Faster learning speed the individual. ● Empathy Perks Student Adult DearS Five Minute Language Good Grades Profession Learning A proper student knows that to get good grades they have to DearS have a natural knack for Gain a common profession. 100CP study, but that is boring. This learning new languages. With Baker, tailor, fish merchant, or perk will just give you the just a few minutes and enough even a teacher. You now know all knowledge of an A rank high written material you can master the basics of the job. school student for whatever any language. setting you find yourself in. Not Because You’re Special Surprise Encounter Perfect Slave Some people mean well, but are just a bit rough around the You have all the training of a You always seem to be around edges. But people know you proper slave. Cooking, cleaning, when something interesting have a softer side if they can just “nursing” and more. With this 200CP might be happening to others. get past your barriers. People you can quickly become your Basically makes you a frequently will be more willing to look past master’s favorite slave. Expect recurring side character. your screaming and yelling as see lots of praises. you as you really are. Romantic Target Surprisingly Good At The Job Improved Power This isn’t the best harem perk, so don’t expect to have loads of Take one of your innate DearS women fighting for you as that For some odd reason you are powers and crank it up a few doesn’t happen in this setting. great at your job. Your methods notches. This is a minor ability to draw may be unorthodox, but they get 300CP Example: Mui can levitate a table interesting people of your results. Be wild, crazy or just lazy or couch, while Ren can levitate preferred gender and start and you can still be in the top 5% everything in a classroom with friendships and gaining a crush of your profession. ease. and maybe eventually love down the line. I’m Her Master! By The Power Of Ecchi The Gift Most places don’t look too kindly Odd that a teacher can wear on owning slaves. Now, people lingerie and force students to By promising yourself to another and governments will tend to read her erotic fan fictions in you can create a link that turn a blind eye to your class and still keep her job. With surpasses the normal DearS ownerships and treat it similar to this perk you will no longer get in master/servant relationship. You 600CP having professional, non-slave, trouble for your lewd antics as and your master now share all servants. How people react to long as it stays in the range of emotions between each other. this depends on what kind of ecchi. Outright lewd will break And k now the location of one master you are, but you won’t these protections. Expect people another at all times. face any stigmas for owning to enjoy the show at best or slaves. annoyed at worse. Undiscounted Perks Colorful Hair and Eyes Good Looks 50CP DearS can have any color hair and eyes. Now you What kind of jump doesn’t have an option to can too. Pick a color and you get that. improve your looks? You are now an 8/10. Items Student Adult DearS Baby Rabbit Sexy Clothing Suit and Collar Every DearS has a large red collar and a personal latex looking suit. The clasp on the collar can be This is a cute little bunny. And activated to store your clothing unlike the one in the manga this A complete collection of the inside of it thought the power of 100CP one can eat anything organic and sexiest clothing and lingerie. alien science. You can also use won’t die from feeding it the this to quickly store and change wrong thing. outfits as well as stretch the collar to store small items in a hammerspace pocket. Unlimited porn Motorcycle Some kind of hover scooter Added to your warehouse is an adult video section. This will update for every jump you visit With this, you receive a to constitute what is viewed as Honestly don’t know much about motorcycle designed as you wish. pornography. Mrs. Mitsuka this one, but the anime opening It has unlimited fuel, always has 200CP Yoshimine might show up from shows Ren flying around on an extra helmet for another rider time to time to add her own some sort of flying scooter. Now and you can import another homemade movies before you can have one as well. motorcycle you own. vanishing. She would be delighted if you watch and reviewed her videos. House Place of Business Crashed Spaceship To have a good job is to have a place to work. You now own such a place. Bakers get a bakery, Congrats, you just bought a This traditional Japanese style, teachers get a fancy certificate crashed ship on par with the two story home is now yours. that they can use to get a job at same the DearS arrived in. It is Fully paid off, it comes with an any school. broken and will remain broken old dried up well in the backyard 400CP You can expect a bit more profit for at least a year. Alternatively and small collection of bonsai as you can get by with 10% less you can import another ship for trees. resources and still come out with this or use it as an entrance in Can import a different home if the same quality of product. And other jumps. Surely, it will be an you like. as long as you don’t try to run it impressive entrance. into the ground, your business will always stay in the black. Undiscounted Items Melon Bread Coffee DearS Food This is an endless supply of Pretty self explanatory. You just You now have an endless supply wonderful food for DearS. For gained an unlimited supply of of melon bread. Which is good, as DearS this is top tier gourmet every type of coffee known to DearS appear to love this stuff food. While for humans it will man and some only known to and tend to eat a lot. make their eyes bleed and pass aliens. out. DearS DVD / Manga Jumper’s DVD/Manga Super Bouncy Balls 50CP Collection Collection A game DearS play to show off Enjoy the source material for Do you enjoy watching your for their masters is to chase these this setting.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Origins of the Magical Girl Genre Note: This First Chapter Is an Almost
    The origins of the magical girl genre Note: this first chapter is an almost verbatim copy of the excellent introduction from the BESM: Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book by Mark C. MacKinnon et al. I took the liberty of changing a few names according to official translations and contemporary transliterations. It focuses on the traditional magical girls “for girls”, and ignores very very early works like Go Nagai's Cutie Honey, which essentially created a market more oriented towards the male audience; we shall deal with such things in the next chapter. Once upon a time, an American live-action sitcom called Bewitched, came to the Land of the Rising Sun... The magical girl genre has a rather long and important history in Japan. The magical girls of manga and Japanese animation (or anime) are a rather unique group of characters. They defy easy classification, and yet contain elements from many of the best loved fairy tales and children's stories throughout the world. Many countries have imported these stories for their children to enjoy (most notably France, Italy and Spain) but the traditional format of this particular genre of manga and anime still remains mostly unknown to much of the English-speaking world. The very first magical girl seen on television was created about fifty years ago. Mahoutsukai Sally (or “Sally the Witch”) began airing on Japanese television in 1966, in black and white. The first season of the show proved to be so popular that it was renewed for a second year, moving into the era of color television in 1967.
    [Show full text]
  • Manga Book Club Handbook
    MANGA BOOK CLUB HANDBOOK Starting and making the most of book clubs for manga! STAFF COMIC Director’sBOOK LEGAL Note Charles Brownstein, Executive Director DEFENSE FUND Alex Cox, Deputy Director Everything is changing in 2016, yet the familiar challenges of the past continueBetsy to Gomez, Editorial Director reverberate with great force. This isn’t just true in the broader world, but in comics,Maren Williams, Contributing Editor Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization Caitlin McCabe, Contributing Editor too. While the boundaries defining representation and content in free expression are protectingexpanding, wethe continue freedom to see to biasedread comics!or outmoded Our viewpoints work protects stifling those advances.Robert Corn-Revere, Legal Counsel readers, creators, librarians, retailers, publishers, and educa- STAFF As you’ll see in this issue of CBLDF Defender, we are working on both ends of the Charles Brownstein, Executive Director torsspectrum who byface providing the threat vital educationof censorship. about the We people monitor whose worklegislation expanded free exBOARD- Alex OF Cox, DIRECTORS Deputy Director pression while simultaneously fighting all attempts to censor creative work in comics.Larry Marder,Betsy Gomez, President Editorial Director and challenge laws that would limit the First Amendment. Maren Williams, Contributing Editor In this issue, we work the former end of the spectrum with a pair of articles spotlightMilton- Griepp, Vice President We create resources that promote understanding of com- Jeff Abraham,Caitlin McCabe,Treasurer Contributing Editor ing the pioneers who advanced diverse content. On page 10, “Profiles in Black Cartoon- Dale Cendali,Robert SecretaryCorn-Revere, Legal Counsel icsing” and introduces the rights you toour some community of the cartoonists is guaranteed.
    [Show full text]
  • First-Year Japanese Through Anime and Manga I
    ASIANLAN123 Fall 2015 First-Year Japanese through Anime and Manga I ASIANLAN123: Course Syllabus 3credits Instructor Yuta Mori Email: [email protected] Office phone: 734-936-8808 Office: South Thayer Building 5022 Office Hours: Tuesday 4:00-5:00 pm Course Description Friday 2:30-3:30 pm ASIANLAN123 is the first half of the accelerated first-year Meeting Time Japanese course taught through various types of media, mainly anime and manga. It is designed for students who have some Section1 previous knowledge of Japanese, but less than the equivalent of Time:12:00-1:00 one year’s study of Japanese at the University of Michigan. Classroom: 1265NQ Students will need to obtain a qualifying score on the placement exam to be placed into this course. However, students do not need Section2 any specific knowledge of anime and manga. Upon successful Time:4:00-5:00 completion of ASIANLAN123, students will take ASIANLAN124 Classroom: G311 DENT (First-Year Japanese through Anime and Manga II) in the following semester. ✦ The class meets THREE times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. What’s new about this course? Main Textbook The course will incorporate at length various media forms into "GENKI I" An Integrated Course in class activities to improve students’ language skills, as well as to Elementary Japanese Second Edition help students have fun. This approach will increase familiarity with aspects of both traditional and modern Japanese culture that are ✦ Make sure that you have the necessary for language competency. Second Edition! This course also encourages students to become autonomous language learners by providing online tools for self-learning (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • Manga As a Teaching Tool 1
    Manga as a Teaching Tool 1 Manga as a Teaching Tool: Comic Books Without Borders Ikue Kunai, California State University, East Bay Clarissa C. S. Ryan, California State University, East Bay Proceedings of the CATESOL State Conference, 2007 Manga as a Teaching Tool 2 Manga as a Teaching Tool: Comic Books Without Borders The [manga] titles are flying off the shelves. Students who were not interested in EFL have suddenly become avid readers ...students get hooked and read [a] whole series within days. (E. Kane, personal communication, January 17, 2007) For Americans, it may be difficult to comprehend the prominence of manga, or comic books, East Asia.1. Most East Asian nations both produce their own comics and publish translated Japanese manga, so Japanese publications are popular across the region and beyond. Japan is well-known as a highly literate society; what is less well-known is the role that manga plays in Japanese text consumption (Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco). 37% of all publications sold in Japan are manga of one form or another, including monthly magazines, collections, etc. (Japan External Trade Organization [JETRO], 2006). Although Japan has less than half the population of the United States, manga in all formats amounted to sales within Japan of around 4 billion dollars in 2005 (JETRO, 2006). This total is about seven times the United States' 2005 total comic book, manga, and graphic novel sales of 565 million dollars (Publisher's Weekly, 2007a, 2007b). Additionally, manga is closely connected to the Japanese animation industry, as most anime2 television series and films are based on manga; manga also provides inspiration for Japan's thriving video game industry.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Barbara Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Barbara Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Lovers and (Boy) Friends: Shifting Identities in Japanese BL Manga Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/13c4t9vm Author Brown, Victoria Elizabeth Publication Date 2019 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Lovers and (Boy) Friends: Shifting Identities in Japanese BL Manga A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Asian Studies by Victoria Elizabeth Brown Committee in charge: Professor Sabine Frühstück, Chair Professor William Fleming Professor Katherine Saltzman-Li December 2019 The thesis of Victoria Elizabeth Brown is approved. ____________________________________________ Katherine Saltzman-Li ____________________________________________ William Fleming ____________________________________________ Sabine Frühstück, Committee Chair September 2019 ABSTRACT Lovers and (Boy) Friends: Shifting Identities in Japanese BL Manga by Victoria Elizabeth Brown As academic scholarship on the Japanese popular media genre known as Boys’ Love has been focused upon the genre’s fan culture and female readers, this thesis project aims to move away from the fans and to the texts in order to explore how the genre is in conversation with changes in societal understandings of same-sex sexuality in Japan. Following brief introductions of four portrayals of men that are commonly found in Japanese popular media, three contemporary manga titles are analyzed to explore how the authors negotiate the narrative conventions of the Boys’ Love genre with the shifting understandings of same-sex sexuality vis-à-vis the visual appearance of the characters, the role of these characters in their fictionalized societies, and the settings wherein the narratives take place.
    [Show full text]
  • History 146C: a History of Manga Fall 2019; Monday and Wednesday 12:00-1:15; Brighton Hall 214
    History 146C: A History of Manga Fall 2019; Monday and Wednesday 12:00-1:15; Brighton Hall 214 Insufficient Direction, by Moyoco Anno This syllabus is subject to change at any time. Changes will be clearly explained in class, but it is the student’s responsibility to stay abreast of the changes. General Information Prof. Jeffrey Dym http://www.csus.edu/faculty/d/dym/ Office: Tahoe 3088 e-mail: [email protected] Office Hours: Mondays 1:30-3:00, Tuesdays & Thursdays 10:30-11:30, and by appointment Catalog Description HIST 146C: A survey of the history of manga (Japanese graphic novels) that will trace the historical antecedents of manga from ancient Japan to today. The course will focus on major artists, genres, and works of manga produced in Japan and translated into English. 3 units. GE Area: C-2 1 Course Description Manga is one of the most important art forms to emerge from Japan. Its importance as a medium of visual culture and storytelling cannot be denied. The aim of this course is to introduce students and to expose students to as much of the history and breadth of manga as possible. The breadth and scope of manga is limitless, as every imaginable genre exists. With over 10,000 manga being published every year (roughly one third of all published material in Japan), there is no way that one course can cover the complete history of manga, but we will cover as much as possible. We will read a number of manga together as a class and discuss them.
    [Show full text]
  • Lolita Fashion, Like Other Japanese Subcultures, Developed As a Response a to Social Pressures and Anxieties Felt by Young Women and Men in the 1970S and 1980S
    Lolita: Dreaming, Despairing, Defying Lolita: D, D, D J New York University a p As it exists in Japan, Lolita Fashion, like other Japanese subcultures, developed as a response a to social pressures and anxieties felt by young women and men in the 1970s and 1980s. Rather than dealing with the difficult reality of rapid commercialization, destabilization of society, n a rigid social system, and an increasingly body-focused fashion norm, a select group of youth chose to find comfort in the over-the-top imaginary world of lace, frills, bows, tulle, and ribbons that is Lolita Fashion. However, the more gothic elements of the style reflect that behind this cute façade lurks the dark, sinister knowledge that this ploy will inevitably end, the real world unchanged. Background: What is Lolita Fashion? in black boots tied with pink ribbon. Her brown If one enters the basement of street fashion hair has been curled into soft waves and a small hub Laforet in Harajuku, Tokyo, one will come pink rose adorns her left ear. across a curious fashion creature found almost exclusively in Japan: an adult woman, usually Although the women (and occasionally men) in in her late teens or early twenties, dressed like Laforet look slightly different, they all share the a doll. Indeed, the frst store one enters, Angelic same basic elements in their appearance: long, Pretty, looks very much like a little girl’s dream curled hair, frilly dresses, delicate head-dresses doll house. The walls and furniture are pink or elaborate bonnets, knee-socks, round-toed and decorated with tea-sets, cookies, and teddy Mary Janes, round-collared blouses and pouffy, bears.
    [Show full text]
  • Yaoi Vs. Bara Notes • Sections O Disclaimers (Set the Mood) Not
    Yaoi vs. Bara Notes Sections o Disclaimers . (Set the mood) . Not going to really focus on yaoi so much as bara since so many already know what that genre is o What is yaoi? . Very Basic Overview ‘Made for women by women’ o Of course, other grps. of ppl. can enjoy it, but let’s keep it simple ^.^; Features male/male relationships o Usually in a romantic light Oh, the doujin Shonen ai/yaoi o Shonen ai originally used to associated with pederasty in Japan but early 1970s to the late 1980s was used to describe the rising subgenre of shojou, primarily by the Year 24 Group, about ‘beautiful boys in love’ Began as doujin in doujinshi markets in Japan in the late 1970s/early 1980s In the beginning, whereas Shonen ai were original works, yaoi was doujin of shonen anime/manga . Very basic overview of yaoi genre tendencies Effeminate guys o Usually, not always Usually more on the fanservicey side with the portrayal of couples o i.e., since hot guys are awesome, hot guys with other hot guys is even more awesome . 1 guy, okay; 2 guyz, hellz yeah! (More often than not) unrealistic portrayals of homosexual couples o Don’t even get me started on the “rape as love” aspect so many yaoi have as proof of this Typically, porn with plot Stories often melodramatic Uke/seme dynamic o With the shy, reluctant uke & the domineering, aggressive seme Also: shipping Escapist nature o Most settings tend to be in places/’idealized world’ where homosexuality isn’t necessarily frowned upon Similarly, yaoi manga shows portrays a more idealized version of gay male couples from a women’s perspective .
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Manga for Librarians
    PRESENTS AN INTRODUCTION TO MANGA FOR LIBRARIANS In cooperation with Hello, we’re We’re extremely excited to now have our entire digital book list available to libraries through OverDrive. Kodansha is one of the leading publishers in Japan, and one of the largest in the world. While we are a general publisher, we are also one of the major publishers of Japanese comics, or manga, with a long and distinguished history of releasing some the most popular titles in the world, including such classics as Sailor Moon, Akira, and most recently, Attack on Titan. This brief introduction covers manga titles available from our U.S.-based manga imprint, Kodansha Comics, which publishes selected manga from our broader Japanese list into the English-reading world. While the wide variety of genres (for all audiences) and long, complex storylines of manga can be bewildering for the uninitiated, we hope to break down some basic concepts here. In particular, we hope you take away from here a few key points about manga, and in particular digital manga, if you’re not familiar with them already: MANGA ARE THE KIND OF COMICS YOUNG WOMEN LIKE TO READ. Unlike most Western comics, manga is made for all categories, catering to all audiences, from young children to adults, girls and boys. In particular, manga has exposed the stereotype in North America that girls don’t like comics and are often the preferred type of comics young women like to read. MANGA SPEAKS TO TEENS. That said, teenagers are the core demographic of manga in the West.
    [Show full text]
  • Manga Vision: Cultural and Communicative Perspectives / Editors: Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou, Cathy Sell; Queenie Chan, Manga Artist
    VISION CULTURAL AND COMMUNICATIVE PERSPECTIVES WITH MANGA ARTIST QUEENIE CHAN EDITED BY SARAH PASFIELD-NEOFITOU AND CATHY SELL MANGA VISION MANGA VISION Cultural and Communicative Perspectives EDITED BY SARAH PASFIELD-NEOFITOU AND CATHY SELL WITH MANGA ARTIST QUEENIE CHAN © Copyright 2016 Copyright of this collection in its entirety is held by Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou and Cathy Sell. Copyright of manga artwork is held by Queenie Chan, unless another artist is explicitly stated as its creator in which case it is held by that artist. Copyright of the individual chapters is held by the respective author(s). All rights reserved. Apart from any uses permitted by Australia’s Copyright Act 1968, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the copyright owners. Inquiries should be directed to the publisher. Monash University Publishing Matheson Library and Information Services Building 40 Exhibition Walk Monash University Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia www.publishing.monash.edu Monash University Publishing brings to the world publications which advance the best traditions of humane and enlightened thought. Monash University Publishing titles pass through a rigorous process of independent peer review. www.publishing.monash.edu/books/mv-9781925377064.html Series: Cultural Studies Design: Les Thomas Cover image: Queenie Chan National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Title: Manga vision: cultural and communicative perspectives / editors: Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou, Cathy Sell; Queenie Chan, manga artist. ISBN: 9781925377064 (paperback) 9781925377071 (epdf) 9781925377361 (epub) Subjects: Comic books, strips, etc.--Social aspects--Japan. Comic books, strips, etc.--Social aspects. Comic books, strips, etc., in art. Comic books, strips, etc., in education.
    [Show full text]
  • Presentation Dilton Ribeiro (NYSBA Tokyo Conference 2019)
    Virtual Child Pornography, Human Trafficking and Japanese Law: Pop Culture, Harm and Legal Restrains∗∗ 1. Introduction This paper addresses whether virtual child pornography, that is, fictitious depictions of child-like characters in erotic comics, games or animation, could fall under the definition of human trafficking and be criminally banned in Japan. If that is the case, this paper seeks to answer under what circumstances could virtual child pornography (also known as lolicon) be criminally prohibited in Japan without breaching other legally protected rights such as freedom of expression. For this purpose, there is a brief overview of human trafficking based on international law and an analysis of how Japanese law regulates child pornography and obscenity. After, there is a literature overview on whether virtual child pornography could indeed cause any harm and whether international law establishes a clear prohibition of digital images of minors engaging in sexual practices. Finally, this paper addresses whether virtual child pornography could be prohibited in Japan in ways that it could be framed as human trafficking. The importance of naming certain criminal actions as human trafficking is threefold. First, it might provide further reasons for more severe criminal sentences. Second, it can send a message to the world that Japan is seriously addressing the global problem of human trafficking. Finally, labelling certain actions as human trafficking can foster domestic debates on trafficking and ways to protect victims and punish criminals. The conclusion is that Japan could follow the United State’s approach criminalizing virtual child pornography when images are indistinguishable from real children. Japan couldgo further and criminalize the production, distribution, and possession of these kind of realistic images as human trafficking.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Cool Japan Project and the Globalization of Anime
    THE COOL JAPAN PROJECT AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF ANIME AND MANGA IN THE UNITED STATES by Joshua Michael Draper Honors Thesis Appalachian State University Submitted to the Department of Cultural, Gender, and Global Studies and The Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts May, 2015 Approved by: Wei Xie, Ph.D., Thesis Director Alexandra Sterling-Hellenbrand, Ph.D., Second Reader Jeanne Dubino, Ph.D., Department Honors Director Leslie Sargent Jones, Ph.D., Director, The Honors College 1 The Cool Japan Project and the Globalization of Anime and Manga in the United States Abstract: This research paper will primarily discuss the impact that Japanese animation and manga have had on American popular culture and the subsequent cult following they developed. It will discuss what distinguishes Japanese animation from Western animation, how Japanese animation initially gained popularity among American audiences, and how it has subsequently impacted American popular culture. This paper will also focus on the subculture of otaku, a group of people known for their devoted following to Japanese animation and comic books. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relative popularity of Japanese animation and manga amongst American audiences as an example of globalization impacting the United States from another country. Keywords: anime, manga, soft power, Cool Japan, globalization 2 Introduction During the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese animation and comic books began coming overseas to the United States, where it soon gained popularity amongst a sizeable number of young Americans. Recognizing the economic potential of Japanese popular culture, in 2002, Douglas McGray, writing for Foreign Policy, wrote an article titled “Japan’s Gross National Cool”, highlighting Japan’s potential to be a global “soft power”, or a country that promotes itself through its cultural influence rather than by economic and military force.
    [Show full text]