Illinois State University ISU ReD: Research and eData Theses and Dissertations 10-25-2018 A Pokébalancing Act: The Management Of Japanese Cultural “odor” In Pokémon Nicholas Raes Illinois State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Raes, Nicholas, "A Pokébalancing Act: The Management Of Japanese Cultural “odor” In Pokémon" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 1022. https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/1022 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A POKÉBALANCING ACT: THE MANAGEMENT OF JAPANESE CULTURAL “ODOR” IN POKÉMON NICHOLAS RAES 216 Pages In this project, I analyzed two seasons of the Pokémon anime to discover patterns of cultural “odor” management employed by the show’s producers and editors. In the first season of Pokémon , the producers of the anime included many symbolic representations of Japanese cultural artifacts within the visual features of the show. However, between the Japanese and US versions of the season, most instances of Japanese linguistic text were either “scrubbed” from scenes entirely or replaced with English text. These techniques struck a careful balance between including and excluding Japanese specificity within the first season, subtly expressing to non- Japanese audiences the Japanese origin of the show. However, in the twentieth season, producers removed symbolic representations of Japanese culture almost entirely – replacing these instead with symbols indicative of Hawaiian culture. This study traced the patterns of techniques used within these two seasons to manage this cultural “odor” to implicate the ways in which aspects of culture in television shows can prompt audiences toward developing interests in other cultures. KEYWORDS: anime; cultural odor; Japan; Japanese culture; Pokémon A POKÉBALANCING ACT: THE MANAGEMENT OF JAPANESE CULTURAL “ODOR” IN POKÉMON NICHOLAS RAES A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE School of Communication ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY 2018 © 2018 Nicholas Raes A POKÉBALANCING ACT: THE MANAGEMENT OF JAPANESE CULTURAL “ODOR” IN POKÉMON NICHOLAS RAES COMMITTEE MEMBERS Phil Chidester, Chair John Baldwin Lauren Bratslavsky ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my parents, Charlie and Mary Raes and Marjorie Mayer, without them none of this would be possible. I would also like to thank my committee members: Dr. Chidester, Dr. Baldwin, and Dr. Bratslavsky, for all of the hard work they have done in helping me get this project finished. Also – Nichole, Haley, and Alyssa thank you for your support as well as your understanding toward my multitude of stresses and thank you Jorgi for being a great mentor. I’d also like to thank Gerard and Jeremy for keeping me focused and sane during the rough patches. To Justin, Travis, and Griffin thank you for keeping me in good spirits for most of this process. To my undergraduate advisors, Trudi Peterson and Kate Zittlow- Rogness, thank you very much for believing in my ability and motivating me to take the plunge into grad school. Furthermore, thank you to Satoshi Tajiri, whose dream project influenced me to explore cultures outside of my comfort zone. Without any of you, I doubt I would be in the spot I am today. Thank you very much. N.R. i CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 A Survey of Existing Research 8 Globalization and Localization 9 Orientalism 13 Anime 15 Cultural Odor 17 Pokémon 21 Methodology 25 Thesis Outline 27 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 28 Globalization and Localization 28 Glocalization 35 Orientalism 39 Cultural Odorless-ness 49 Anime 62 History of Anime 63 Defining of Anime 66 Anime's Cultural Influence and its Japanese Specificity 68 Anime in the Local and the Global 70 Pokémon 73 ii History of Pokémon 74 Pokémon as Transmedia 77 Pokémon as a Social Phenomenon 78 Pokémon as Japanese 83 Conclusion 89 CHAPTER III: METHODS 91 Background of Anime's Broadcast in the United States 91 Background of Pokemon's Broadcast 92 What are Pokémon? 94 Description of the First Season's Setting 96 First Season Character Summary 97 Description of the Twentieth Season's Setting 99 Twentieth Season Character Summary 100 Episode Analysis 100 Japanese Content 101 Selection of Episodes 102 Conclusion 103 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS 104 Background of Season One 104 Management of Cultural "Odor" 105 Analysis of Episodes 107 Landscape 109 Japanese-ness in Clothing, Architecture, and Food 112 iii Japanese Cultural Knowledge 126 Diegetic Text 137 Names and Puns 146 Background of Season Twenty 152 Analysis of Episodes 154 Landscape 154 Japanese-ness of Food, Clothing, and Architecture 155 Japanese Cultural Knowledge 158 Polynesian-ness 163 Conclusion 164 CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION 167 Implications 180 Future Research 182 Conclusion 184 REFERENCES 187 APPENDIX: LIST OF EPISODES EXAMINED 215 iv CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION As a fan of the Pokémon franchise, I have continued to be interested in the globalized aspects of the production and marketing of this pop cultural phenomenon. I wanted to discover whether, if over time, the anime Pokémon was deliberately edited or otherwise altered to reflect “international taste” in conforming with extra-cultural notions concerning children’s television shows. As this program has been on the air for over 20 years, I investigated whether there have been perceivable differences in the amount and type of editing between the Japanese and the English versions of the program between its first season and its most recent season (Season 20). In the late 1990s through the early 2000s, the popular cable network Cartoon Network ran a programming block consisting primarily of Japanese anime. This block known as Toonami was presented during the after-school hours between four and seven o’clock on weekdays and consisted of a rotating schedule of translated shows from Japan such as Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Dragon Ball Z alongside American shows like Batman: The Animated Series and Thundercats . As an avid television watcher during the height of the block’s popularity, I could tell the difference between the Japanese anime and the Western animated television shows, but I could not articulate how I knew the difference or why I preferred the anime over the other shows. Furthermore, as animated programming did not, and does not, have to concern itself with matching dubbed voice acting over the lip movements of its actors, it is one of the most ubiquitous genres that have been localized around the world. As Western conventions of animation “state” that cartoons are for children, this localization and dubbing mostly affected children who watched these shows. When watching shows such as Pokémon on other channels, I could also tell that this anime contained alterations from its original Japanese language to the Westernized translation. 1 For instance, in one episode of Pokémon a character mentioned his affinity for jelly doughnuts but held up an armful of rice balls as emphasis. The localization of lingual references for a Western audience indicates an identifiable difference between the two cultures. Per Katsuno and Maret (2002), localization is “the process of adapting a global product for a specific market” in which translation is a key component (p. 82). The Westernized translation indicates a lack of confidence with American audience’s ability to conceive of cultural differences in an animated medium. However, other cultural signifiers such as text on signs, specifically Japanese flags, and other food products gave the impression of difference to me. While watching these entertainment programs, this perceived difference between cartoons from my own culture and animation from abroad made me feel like I was discovering something about another land far from my own experiences. This feeling of discovery was consistently extended every time I watched or re-watched an episode of an anime. It was more salient when I watched series with subtitles but was nonetheless present in anime that was “dubbed” in the English language as well. In consuming a program that was not produced through the American cultural context, my experience with translated media from Japan inspired me to uncover the ways in which these transmediated programs were adapted for Western audiences. Although these programs were initially produced for the consumption of Japanese audiences, they nevertheless found their way around the world, translated for other cultural audiences. However, during the processes of translation, linguistic subtleties and iconographs are inevitably altered for the purpose of Western consumption. What remains to be found, however, is the level, frequency, and intentionality with which these changes occur amongst the industries and individuals that translate these programs. 2 As an avid watcher of anime, I still prefer to watch these programs in their original language alongside subtitles rather than dubbed with English voices because I believe that subtleties in linguistic and cultural references are lost in the translation process and therefore “lose” some of the artistic intent behind the programs’ production. Furthermore, because I watch these programs in their original language without edits made by an intermediating