Patrick W. Galbraith

Moe is a huge cultural phenomenon and one of the driving forces behind the enormous success of Japanese anime and manga—not just in Japan but now throughout the world. In Japan, avid fans of manga comics, anime films and video games use the term Moe to refer to the strong sense of emotional attachment they feel for their favorite characters. These fans have a powerful desire to protect and nurture the youthful, beautiful and innocent characters they adore—like Sagisawa Moe in Dinosaur Planet and Tomoe Hotaru in Sailor Moon. They create their own websites, characters, stories, discussion groups, toys and games based on the original manga and anime roles. Author Patrick Galbraith is the world's acknowledged expert on Moe and a journalist based in Tokyo. For this book, he interviewed twenty important figures in the world of Japanese manga and anime to gain their insights on the Moe phenomenon. These interviews provide us with the first in-depth survey of this subject. Galbraith uncovers how Moe is influencing an entire generation of manga artists and readers. For those new to anime, manga, and youth culture in Japan, he discusses what constitutes the ideal Moe relationship and why some fans are even determined to marry their fictional sweethearts. He reveals key moments in the development of Moe, and current and future trends in the spread of Moe works and characters from Japan to other parts of the world. The Moe Manifesto provides an insider's look at the earliest Moe characters such as Ayame by Tezuka Osamu. The book has over 100 illustrations of the most famous Moe characters, many in color, and it is sure to delight manga and anime fans of every age.

An Insider's Look at the Worlds of Manga, Anime, and Gaming

The Moe Manifesto

"In this ethnographic study of Otaku-- a loose category referring to intense fans of Japanese animation, games, and comics-- conducted in Akihabara, the electronics-turned-pop-culture neighborhood of Tokyo, author Patrick Galbraith traces the evolving relationships of mostly male-fans with imagined female characters. The term otaku, he argues, is frequently pathologized, to mean alienated or introverted persons - usually male - who have difficulty having real relationships and thus retreat into a world of their own imagination and control. Galbraith wonders why the form of a relationship that focuses on an animated character is more problematic than other kinds of fan attachments - crushes on pop music stars or a deep investment in Star Wars or Harry Potter. Through his engaged ethnography at the height of the interest in maid cafés and animated female characters in the early 2000s, he is able to historicize this fandom in an empathetic and detailed way, showing that what many have taken to be a single and peculiar psychological phenomenon was actually a complex, quickly evolving pop culture phenomenon. The affective relationships of the fans (seen as 3D) and the characters (2D, even when they are in three dimensions) is seen as a shifting and ordered form of closeness, a closeness between humans and animated characters. Galbraith urges us to explore rather than denigrate these relationships."--Provided by publisher.

Otaku and the struggle for imagination in Japan

Jason G. Karlin

"Spend even a day in a major Japanese city like Tokyo or Osaka and you won't be able to ignore them: 'idols,' or heavily produced and promoted men and women who perform across media genres and platforms. They appear in magazines and advertisements, perform on TV and on stage, recorded and live. Though central to the workings and experience of media in Japan, idols have unfortunately had only a marginal place in the scholarship. This collection offers the most complete and compelling account of one of the most fascinating and least understood aspects of Japanese media culture today. It brings together a group of interdisciplinary scholars who engage the study of media, gender and celebrity. Sensitive to history and the contemporary scene, essays cover male and female idols, production and consumption, industrial structures and fan movements." -- Publisher's description.

Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture

Since its formation as a girl group in 2005, AKB48 has become a phenomenal success and institution in Japan. Having originally recruited fans with photocopied fliers and daily performances in the Akihabara area of Tokyo, AKB48 now saturates Japan. Its members--nearly 800 of them, including five sister groups and four so-called "rival groups" across Japan, as well as six sister groups in other Asian cities--appear in print, broadcast, online, and social media; in advertisements and on products; at home and on the train; on- and off-screen. AKB48's multi-platform omnipresence is characteristic of "idols," whose intimate relationship to fans and appeals to them for support have made the group dominant on the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart in the 2010s; they hold several records, including most consecutive million-selling singles sold in Japan. A unique business model relentlessly monetizes fans' affections through meet-and-greet events and elections, which maximize CD sales, and their saturated presence in the media. At a time when affect is more important than ever in economic, political, and social theory, this book explores the intersection of idols and affect in contemporary Japan and beyond.

AKB48

The first comprehensive look at Japan's otaku collectors, including peeks inside their rooms and visits to their favorite stores.

Otaku Spaces

Based on ongoing fieldwork in the Akihabara neighborhood of Tokyo, specifically a targeted subproject from 2014 to 2015, this book explores how and to what effect lines are drawn by producers, players and critics of bishōjo games. Focusing on interactions with manga/anime-style characters, these adult computer games often feature explicit sex acts. Noting that the bishōjo, or "cute girl characters," in these games can appear quite young, legal actions have been taken in a number of countries to categorize and prohibit the content as child abuse material. In response to the risk of manga/anime images encouraging underage sexualization, lawmakers are moved to regulate them in the same way as photographs or film; triggered by images, the line between fiction and reality is erased, or redrawn to collapse forms together. While Japanese politicians continue to debate a similar course, sustained engagement with bishōjo game producers, players and critics sheds light on alternative movement. Manga/anime-style characters trigger an affective response in interactions with their creators and users, who draw and negotiate lines between fiction and reality. Interacting with characters and one another, bishōjo gamers draw lines between what is fictional and what is "real," even as the characters are real in their own right and relations with them are extended beyond games; some even see the characters as significant others and refer to them using intimate terms of commitment such as "my wife." This book argues for understanding the everyday practice of insisting on lines, or drawing a line between humans and nonhumans and orienting oneself toward the drawn lines of the latter, as demonstrating an emergent form of ethics. Occurring individually and socially in both private and public spaces, the response to fictional characters not only discourages harming human beings, but also supports life in more-than-human worlds. For many in contemporary Japan and beyond, interactions and relations with fictional and real others are nothing short of lifelines.

Lines and Life in a Tokyo Neighborhood

The Ethics of Affect

Moe is a huge cultural phenomenon and one of the driving forces behind the enormous success of Japanese anime and manga—not just in Japan but now throughout the world. In Japan, avid fans of manga comics, anime films and videogames use the term Moe to refer to the strong sense of emotional attachment they feel for their favorite characters. These fans have a powerful desire to protect and nurture the youthful, beautiful and innocent characters they adore—like Sagisawa Moe in Dinosaur Planet and Tomoe Hotaru in Sailor Moon. They create their own websites, characters, stories, discussion groups, toys and games based around the original manga and anime roles. Author Patrick Galbraith is the world's acknowledged expert on Moe and a journalist based in Tokyo. For this book, he interviewed twenty important figures in the world of Japanese manga and anime to gain their insights on the Moe phenomenon. These interviews provide us with the first in-depth survey of this subject. Galbraith uncovers how Moe is influencing an entire generation of manga artists and readers. For those new to anime, manga, and youth culture in Japan, he discusses what constitutes the ideal Moe relationship and why some fans are even determined to marry their fictional sweethearts. He reveals key moments in the development of Moe, and current and future trends in the spread of Moe works and characters from Japan to other parts of the world. The Moe Manifesto provides an insider's look at the earliest Moe characters such as Ayame by Tezuka Osamu. The book has over 100 illustrations of the most famous Moe characters, many in color, and it is sure to delight manga and anime fans of every age.

Moe Manifesto

Björn-Ole Kamm

Thiam Huat Kam

With the spread of manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese cartoons) around the world, many have adopted the Japanese term 'otaku' to identify fans of such media. The connection to manga and anime may seem straightforward, but, when taken for granted, often serves to obscure the debates within and around media fandom in Japan since the term 'otaku' appeared in the niche publication Manga Burikko in 1983. Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan disrupts the naturalization and trivialization of 'otaku' by examining the historical contingency of the term as a way to identify and contain problematic youth, consumers and fan cultures in Japan. Its chapters, many translated from Japanese and available in English for the first time – and with a foreword by Otsuka Eiji, former editor of Manga Burikko – explore key moments in the evolving discourse of 'otaku' in Japan. Rather than presenting a smooth, triumphant narrative of the transition of a subculture to the mainstream, the edited volume repositions 'otaku' in specific historical, social and economic contexts, providing new insights into the significance of the 'otaku' phenomenon in Japan and the world. By going back to original Japanese documents, translating key contributions by Japanese scholars and offering sustained analysis of these documents and scholars, Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan provides alternative histories of and approaches to 'otaku'. For all students and scholars of contemporary Japan and the history of Japanese fan and consumer cultures, this volume will be a foundation for understanding how 'otaku', at different places and times and to different people, is meaningful.

Historical Perspectives and New Horizons

Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan

Otaku - Japan's anime nerds, game geeks and pop-idol fanboys - originates from a polite second-person pronoun meaning 'your home' in Japanese. This guide offers an insight into the subculture of Cool Japan - from cosplay to anime, manga, videogames and more. With over 500 entries - including common expressions, people, places, and moments of otaku history - this is the essential 'A to Z' of all the facts Japanese pop-culture fans need to know! Otaku: Nerd; geek or fanboy originates from a polite second-person pronoun meaning 'your home' in Japanese. Since the

An Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan

The Otaku Encyclopedia

From computer games to figurines and maid cafes, men called “otaku” develop intense fan relationships with “cute girl” characters from manga, anime, and related media and material in contemporary Japan. While much of the Japanese public considers the forms of character love associated with “otaku” to be weird and perverse, the Japanese government has endeavored to incorporate “otaku” culture into its branding of “Cool Japan.” In Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan, Patrick W. Galbraith explores the conflicting meanings of “otaku” culture and its significance to Japanese popular culture, masculinity, and the nation. Tracing the history of “otaku” and “cute girl” characters from their origins in the 1970s to his recent fieldwork in Akihabara, Tokyo (“the Holy Land of Otaku”), Galbraith contends that the discourse surrounding “otaku” reveals tensions around contested notions of gender, sexuality, and ways of imagining the nation that extend far beyond Japan. At the same time, in their relationships with characters and one another, “otaku” are imagining and creating alternative social worlds.

Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan

Otaku: Nerd; geek or fanboy. Originates from a polite second-person pronoun meaning "your home" in Japanese. Since the 1980s it's been used to refer to people who are really into Japanese pop-culture, such as anime, manga, and videogames. A whole generation, previously marginalized with labels such as geek and nerd, are now calling themselves otaku with pride. The Otaku Encyclopedia offers fascinating insight into the subculture of Cool Japan. With over 600 entries, including common expressions, people, places, and moments of otaku history, this is the essential A to Z of facts every Japanese pop-culture fan needs to know. Author Patrick W. Galbraith has spent several years researching deep into the otaku heartland and his intimate knowledge of the subject gives the reader an insider's guide to words such as moé, doujinshi, cosplay and maid cafés. In-depth interviews with such key players as Takashi Murakami, otaku expert Okada Toshio, and J-pop idol Shoko Nakagawa are interspersed with the entries, offering an even more penetrating look into the often misunderstood world of otaku. Dozens of lively, colorful images--from portraits of the interview subjects to manga illustrations, film stills and photos of places mentioned in the text--pop up throughout the book, making The Otaku Encyclopedia as entertaining to read as it is informative.

Patrick W. Galbraith

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