What is Anime
Anime is a Japanese style of animation using either hand drawn or computer generated imagery. It has a distinct style different then that of western animation and has a target audience ranging from pre-teens to adults.
Difference between Anime and Western animation
With western animation or cartoons being primarily an American product, and anime being a product of Japan the setting and style of the two forms are very different.
Both are forms of animation however compared to most western animated shows, which are aimed at a younger audience, anime often has a more mature storyline targeting teenagers and adults. While it is common for western animated shows have adult themes they are often presented in a way that is culturally considered appropriate for the younger audience. Anime however does not shy away from the use of blood, graphic imagery, violence, and strong emotional scenes.
Death note is one of my favourite series and has been adapted into many forms since it's original conception in the 2003 manga including:
-
an anime
-
four Japanese live action movies
-
a live action drama
-
two novels
-
three video games
-
a musical
-
an american live action movie in progress
In 2016 an online poll was conducted by a fan of the Death Note series and in ten days five hundred people entered the poll and described their favourite mediums of the series with anime being the most popular. In this survey the majority of the fans were between the ages sixteen and twenty, and the majority had been a fan of the series for between two and five years.
Pop Culture Theories
The aristocratic theory of mass culture describes popular culture as being lesser then that of high culture and a threat to civilization. It often blames aspect of pop culture for downfalls of society, this perspective can be applied to anime as will be discussed in relation to the Tokyo subway sarin attack incident.
The socialist theory, which describes the relationship between industry and consumer capitalism. In this theory there are products which are owned by corporations and marketed to consumers. In America there are only a few big named corporations which are responsible for most of the movies we see today. There are several big named studios in Japan such as Toei Animation, Sunrise, and Aniplex. Some who have licensors overseas such as FUNimation and VIZ Media. From my personal experience popular anime do not appear to come from one studio, however there are some studios that are large and produce more anime than others.
The dialogic theory of popular culture, counters these arguments by addressing that there is an open relationship and dialog between the producers and consumers of popular culture. The producers provide a product for consumption, and the consumers take the product and change it. With fan made videos, artwork, and other methods to show how they want the product to be interpreted and show their love of the product producers are left to respond and adapt to the consumers.
With so many variations of the Death Note series the producers have to work with what the consumers love about the original work, but also adapt to what they want from it incorporating new material and responding to the consumer's wants. In this way Death Note has a strong dialog between the consumers and producers.
It is also worth noting the numbers fan fictions, videos, and fan art that have been made inspired by the Death Note series on websites such as Fanfiction, Archive of our own, and Tumblr.