So far, in my posts, I have been writing about various kinds of anime fan behaviour and what goes on within the fan community.
Several scholars who look at fan behaviour have typically looked it through the framework of resistance (Matt Hills does a pretty good review of this approach in his book*). My own understanding is that this 'resistance' stems from fans refusing to interpret the media text in the way intended by the producers. This is a form of resisting the dominant code in the media text (I borrow this idea from Hall's (1980) # suggestion that the encoding of a message in a media text, i.e. the insertion of meaning in the media text, by producers is very much affected by dominant ideology).
While I agree that fans are active users in the way they interact with and interpret the media text, I see the issue as more of negotiation of meaning rather than resistance to dominant meaning. I see it as more of an issue of negotiation of the authority to interpret and add more layers of meaning rather than an issue of struggle for the power to decide what the text means. My personal observations suggest that fans do realise that they have limited power in what they can do to sway the direction of the plot of a media text. More often than not, one can see them lamenting the fate of a certain character in a show in forums (e.g. "Noooo! Why must XXX end up with YYY? I think XXX should have married ZZZ instead! What are the producers thinking??).
The concept of resistance also seems to suggest that producers and consumers are in two opposing camps. I do not really think that's the case. The respectful tone when referring to the original creators and the delight fans have expressed in being able to interview or talk with creators seem to suggest a great deal of love for the producers (until they threaten fans with legal action). I have to admit that fans do not seem to have much love for the middleman though (as can be seen in the torrents of negative remarks against Odex as well as possible collaboration between Viz and MangaHelpers). But that mistrust seems to have grown out of past unhappy dealings with the distributors. After all, Kristin Thompson noted the wonderful relations that the cast and crew of The Lord of The Rings had with fans.** Of course, it might have helped that Peter Jackson was a self-professed fan of The Lord of The Rings.
The fact that fans write in to producers pleading some plot change or the resurrection of certain characters, seem to me, to suggest an attempt by fans to negotiate plot development. Of course, if producers were to cater to every fan demand, then we could end up with a very weird television series or we could end up with fans being so satisfied with the main text then they probably will not explore other possibilities in fanworks. (Here I am assuming that fans engage in fanworks out of a desire to control the plot development. Of course, fans could probably engage in fanworks out of some other desire instead.)
Furthermore, it appears to me that the interpretation of characters and plots within the fan community (which in turn, affects how the characters are used in fanworks such as fanfiction, particularly in pairings) is very much negotiated by members of the fan community. Discussion threads devoted to individual characters or story arcs can be found on popular discussion boards where fans come together to offer their two cents worth on these characters or plot developments. Some fan interpretations have even gone on to become canon in the fan community and fan work. If we were to use the idea of fanworks as a manifestation of resistance of dominant readings here, then I would have to say it is pretty ironic that fans are adhering to dominant interpretations within the community itself!
Hence, to me, fan behaviour is really a negotiation of different types of readings of the media text rather than resistance to dominant readings. Of course, my research might prove me wrong and it could really just be an issue of resistance to power or I could unearth other issues that no one else has thought about.
* See Hills, M. (2002). Fan cultures between consumerism and 'resistance'. In Fan cultures (pp. 27-45) New York: Routledge.
#See Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/decoding. In Hall, S.,Hobson, D., Lowe, A., & Willis, P. (eds.) Culture, media, language. (pp.197-208) London: Hutchinson.
** See Thompson, K. (2007). The Frodo franchise: The lord of the rings and modern Hollywood New Zealand: Penguin.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Rise and Fall of Anime Fansubs
A professional translator cum anime fan made a video last year on fansubs (anime that has been subtitled by fans). The video (which shares the same title on as this blog entry) is available on Youtube. Here's the link to part one of the video:
Here are the other parts: 2, 3, 4, 5
I think the videos should be taken together with an online interview with the videomaker which would give people watching the documentary more insights to the videomaker's intent and purpose.
My interpretation is that the videomaker, Paul 'Otaking' Johnson, was seriously making a cry of protest against the current state of fansubs. I don't really see much information on the rise of fansubs (maybe about one minute in the first part?) although there is plenty of lamenting about how terrible fansubs nowadays are. His main grouses seem to be that fansubs nowadays are flashy, retain too much Japanese (and then uses plenty of notes that take up lots of screen space to explain the Japanese words and the context in which they are used), distracts viewers from the visuals and essentially are a way for fansubs to show off their expert understanding of Japanese as well as their fancy editing skills.
I personally think that some of his criticisms are spot on-> the dazzling array of words at the opening and ending sequences of the anime which he term 'karaoke sequences' are indeed very distracting. However, there is no denying that Johnson's video seems to be rather subjective and a little biased. Johnson has only highlighted the flaws of current fansubs and the good points of professional subtitling as well as the good points of fansubs of yesteryear. Current fansubs are available a lot faster and visual quality is a lot better than fansubs of yesteryear. While this is due largely to technology, we need to take note that there has been effort made by fans to ensure that the subtitles are in sync with the audio and this requires great effort (trust me, I used to do video edits).
Moreover, Johnson's standards might differ greatly from the average anime fan's standards and expectations. Johnson tackles this topic with the view that anime ought to be localised when translated and ought to be accessible to as many people as possible. However, he seems to have forgotten that anime fandom remains very much a subculture (although anime is now available on mainstream television channels) and the anime fan community remains a closed one with some fans not being very eager to share anime with the general masses. In fact, according to Leonard (2005), this issue of whether to spread anime to the masses or to keep it to a closed group is not new and was present even in the early days of fansubbing. Not explaining the context is not very helpful to the average viewer or a person who simply views anime but is not very much aware of these undercurrents. After all, Geertz (1973)# noted the importance of context and how it is necessary to have "thick descriptions" of the situation and context for the audience to better understand and make sense of the situation. After all, a wink is just a twitching of one's eyelid and has no meaning unless one knows the context in which it occurs.
However, despite Johnson's evidence of the shortcomings of today's fansubs and his useful suggestions, I think it must be kept in mind that his video is laced with his own subjectivities. Perhaps he doesn't mean for his video to come across as objective or as a well thought out piece of research ( although I doubt that given that he mentioned he spent much time and effort on this with no monetary reward and the citations that he have of translation theories/theorists). Assuming that he does want people to acknowledge the effort he put in, I think he could have improve upon it (and reduce the amount of wrath he incurred from the fansubbers) by acknowledging his bias or at least show his attempt to reduce the bias his own interest might have generated in his analysis of fansubs, a challenge that Marshal and Rossman (2006)## noted that all qualitative researchers face. (yes, I consider documentary filmmakers qualitative researchers of sorts). It might be tedious but perhaps if Johnson had explained how he collected his data (especially the fansubs that he chose to analyse and raise as examples), his case might be more convincing. Fans were accusing him of selecting a biased sample and raised the fact that there are many fansub groups who create high-quality fansubs as well which he appears to have neglected.
Nevertheless, I must say this is an interesting video worth watching to get a (subjective) sense of the fansub scene for someone interested in anime. The fans' responses are also quite an interesting read on their own.
*See Leonard, S (2005) Celebrating two decades of unlawful progress: Fan distribution, proselytization commons, and the explosive growth of Japanese animation. UCLA Entertainment Law Review 12(2) 191-265
#See Geertz, C (1973) Thick description: Towards an interpretive theory of culture. In The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays (pp 3-30). New York: Basic Books
## See Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. (2006). The what of the study: Building the conceptual framework. In Designing qualitative research (4th ed.) (pp. 23-50). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Here are the other parts: 2, 3, 4, 5
I think the videos should be taken together with an online interview with the videomaker which would give people watching the documentary more insights to the videomaker's intent and purpose.
My interpretation is that the videomaker, Paul 'Otaking' Johnson, was seriously making a cry of protest against the current state of fansubs. I don't really see much information on the rise of fansubs (maybe about one minute in the first part?) although there is plenty of lamenting about how terrible fansubs nowadays are. His main grouses seem to be that fansubs nowadays are flashy, retain too much Japanese (and then uses plenty of notes that take up lots of screen space to explain the Japanese words and the context in which they are used), distracts viewers from the visuals and essentially are a way for fansubs to show off their expert understanding of Japanese as well as their fancy editing skills.
I personally think that some of his criticisms are spot on-> the dazzling array of words at the opening and ending sequences of the anime which he term 'karaoke sequences' are indeed very distracting. However, there is no denying that Johnson's video seems to be rather subjective and a little biased. Johnson has only highlighted the flaws of current fansubs and the good points of professional subtitling as well as the good points of fansubs of yesteryear. Current fansubs are available a lot faster and visual quality is a lot better than fansubs of yesteryear. While this is due largely to technology, we need to take note that there has been effort made by fans to ensure that the subtitles are in sync with the audio and this requires great effort (trust me, I used to do video edits).
Moreover, Johnson's standards might differ greatly from the average anime fan's standards and expectations. Johnson tackles this topic with the view that anime ought to be localised when translated and ought to be accessible to as many people as possible. However, he seems to have forgotten that anime fandom remains very much a subculture (although anime is now available on mainstream television channels) and the anime fan community remains a closed one with some fans not being very eager to share anime with the general masses. In fact, according to Leonard (2005), this issue of whether to spread anime to the masses or to keep it to a closed group is not new and was present even in the early days of fansubbing. Not explaining the context is not very helpful to the average viewer or a person who simply views anime but is not very much aware of these undercurrents. After all, Geertz (1973)# noted the importance of context and how it is necessary to have "thick descriptions" of the situation and context for the audience to better understand and make sense of the situation. After all, a wink is just a twitching of one's eyelid and has no meaning unless one knows the context in which it occurs.
However, despite Johnson's evidence of the shortcomings of today's fansubs and his useful suggestions, I think it must be kept in mind that his video is laced with his own subjectivities. Perhaps he doesn't mean for his video to come across as objective or as a well thought out piece of research ( although I doubt that given that he mentioned he spent much time and effort on this with no monetary reward and the citations that he have of translation theories/theorists). Assuming that he does want people to acknowledge the effort he put in, I think he could have improve upon it (and reduce the amount of wrath he incurred from the fansubbers) by acknowledging his bias or at least show his attempt to reduce the bias his own interest might have generated in his analysis of fansubs, a challenge that Marshal and Rossman (2006)## noted that all qualitative researchers face. (yes, I consider documentary filmmakers qualitative researchers of sorts). It might be tedious but perhaps if Johnson had explained how he collected his data (especially the fansubs that he chose to analyse and raise as examples), his case might be more convincing. Fans were accusing him of selecting a biased sample and raised the fact that there are many fansub groups who create high-quality fansubs as well which he appears to have neglected.
Nevertheless, I must say this is an interesting video worth watching to get a (subjective) sense of the fansub scene for someone interested in anime. The fans' responses are also quite an interesting read on their own.
*See Leonard, S (2005) Celebrating two decades of unlawful progress: Fan distribution, proselytization commons, and the explosive growth of Japanese animation. UCLA Entertainment Law Review 12(2) 191-265
#See Geertz, C (1973) Thick description: Towards an interpretive theory of culture. In The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays (pp 3-30). New York: Basic Books
## See Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. (2006). The what of the study: Building the conceptual framework. In Designing qualitative research (4th ed.) (pp. 23-50). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Hitler Goes To Japan
That's the cover for the Japanese manga version of Mein Kampf, the book originally written by Adolf Hitler. The manga version has apparently sold over 45,000 copies in Japan and is being published as part of the Manga de Doukuha series (except I'm not sure how many people would really think of Mein Kampf as a literature classic).
The publisher's attempt to 'reformat' classic works* into manga form reminds of how television programme formats, instead of content, are being sold to foreign markets. This is mostly seen in reality or variety television programmes. Take for instance, the success of UK's sale of its Pop Idol format to many other countries. We see this happening in Singapore too when MediaCorp sold its Project Superstar format to Malaysia and Vietnam.
In the case of the manga Mein Kampf though, what changes is the format rather than the content. Nevertheless, I feel that these 2 sets of happenings highlight one thing in common, which is how there is a need for change in order for cultural products to cater to an audience from a different culture. Some changes might not be extensive such as mere translation, others require tweaking the format (such as the Mein Kampf manga to appeal to Japanese readers) while others require retaining the format but tweaking the content to contextualise it (another example would be the many versions of Ugly Betty). I personally think this boils down a lot to how culture shapes our understanding as noted by Clifford Geertz# who saw culture as something that functions to help us make meaning.
Changing formats or content helps capture the varied nuances that are expressed differently in different cultures and reduces the loss of meaning that can occur through mere direct (and usually thoughtless) translations. [which is likely why manga fans prefer fan translations because usually more thought about context and nuances are put into fan translations than the 'official' translation by licensees or distributors].
Of course, there are other issues involved such as costs incurred and also the concerns about cultural imperialism as cultural products from certain countries become more widespread. But those really are issues that I shall (hopefully) tackle in another post.
*Borrowing that phrase is more out of convenience's sake rather than out of any firm belief that all the works that the publishers are 're-publishing' in manga format are objectively classic works.*
#See Geertz, C (1973) Thick description: Towards an interpretive theory of culture. In The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays (pp 3-30). New York: Basic Books
Thursday, September 24, 2009
MangaHelpers' Business Plan
About a week after I wrote a post on the Odex incident in Singapore, there was a leak of MangaHelpers' (an online scanlation site) attempt to commercialise/monetise their website.* Apparently, the owners of MangaHelpers drafted a business plan which they had planned to send to Viz Media, an American publisher/distributor of manga. Apparently, an e-mail by one of MangaHelpers' key personnel was also sent to someone within Viz. MangaHelpers' founder Taylor Matthews has since come forward to explain the MangaHelpers team's stance.
However, it appears from the flood of comments that has come in that the majority of the fans are not convinced that MangaHelpers is not selling out the translators and the fan community. I think one fan articulates the concerns fans have regarding a possible collaboration between Viz and MangaHelpers to use MangaHelpers as a commercial distribution channel most aptly here:
#30 by arslan (上級員 / Jyoukuuin / Sr. Member)
Posted on Sep 24, 2009
The problem is simple. Once manga companies are involved in the scenario, the community loses control. Either scanlation groups work with the companies or they leave and find a new place. The question of fans being reimbursed for their translations and scanlations is answered rather vaguely. The companies on the other hand, can use this media to make profit. The people who choose not to get along with the model, are suspicious, or simply reluctant get weeded out. Most of the people do scanlations because they like it, and not for commercial reasons. Making things commercial puts pressure on them, limits their control of their work and they work as 'cheap labor' in essence. This, obviously, offends the fans. Then their is the feeling of being used for profit if they are paid little to no money compared to what professional translators or scanlators get paid, even though the fans do a job just as good and closer to the original material. So, I hope you can see what the problem is.
On the flip side, there are a few who think there is nothing wrong with MangaHelpers becoming the "iTunes of manga" probably because it makes the downloads legitimate and might be a step to improving fan-producers relations and might not be a sellout altogether. As one fan points out:
#15. by Finestela (RAW Providers)
[Permalink]
Posted on Sep 24, 2009
Seriously... has anyone actually READ over the whole thing?
I read it three times now, and no where did it mention anything about selling out scanlation products or whatever. This thing is merely a plan to use MH as a distribution center for commercial digital copies of various series. While it did mention the possibility of becoming a bridge between freelance groups and copyright holders, it it not the main focus of this proposal.
So seriously, read before you start running your mouth. If you have something constructive to say, then go ahead, please. Otherwise, pure ranting is just silly and unproductive.
It appears that MangaHelpers would be putting the brakes on this business plan as Taylor noted that the leak has changed the whole situation and essentially suggest that distribution is going to be the same for now. I think this reinforces how powerful the fan community is and that to be part of this community (whether to service it or just being a fan), you have to abide by the unspoken rules of this community which is something observed by various researchers such as Henry Jenkins and Amber Davisson in their research on fan culture.
Aspects of respecting the fan community and unspoken rules pervades lots of fan activities from fanfiction writing (responding to reviews) to well this example. But how does one know where the boundaries are when fans themselves within the community appear to have differing views? How does one juggle that tension then when engaging in fan activities? Hopefully, that is something I can figure out more about as I continue in my research.
*Please note that the term 'commercialise/monetise' used here is rather subjective and might not necessarily reflect the MangaHelpers owners' intent. However, this is how I understand the situation.*
However, it appears from the flood of comments that has come in that the majority of the fans are not convinced that MangaHelpers is not selling out the translators and the fan community. I think one fan articulates the concerns fans have regarding a possible collaboration between Viz and MangaHelpers to use MangaHelpers as a commercial distribution channel most aptly here:
#30 by arslan (上級員 / Jyoukuuin / Sr. Member)
Posted on Sep 24, 2009
The problem is simple. Once manga companies are involved in the scenario, the community loses control. Either scanlation groups work with the companies or they leave and find a new place. The question of fans being reimbursed for their translations and scanlations is answered rather vaguely. The companies on the other hand, can use this media to make profit. The people who choose not to get along with the model, are suspicious, or simply reluctant get weeded out. Most of the people do scanlations because they like it, and not for commercial reasons. Making things commercial puts pressure on them, limits their control of their work and they work as 'cheap labor' in essence. This, obviously, offends the fans. Then their is the feeling of being used for profit if they are paid little to no money compared to what professional translators or scanlators get paid, even though the fans do a job just as good and closer to the original material. So, I hope you can see what the problem is.
On the flip side, there are a few who think there is nothing wrong with MangaHelpers becoming the "iTunes of manga" probably because it makes the downloads legitimate and might be a step to improving fan-producers relations and might not be a sellout altogether. As one fan points out:
#15. by Finestela (RAW Providers)
[Permalink]
Posted on Sep 24, 2009
Seriously... has anyone actually READ over the whole thing?
I read it three times now, and no where did it mention anything about selling out scanlation products or whatever. This thing is merely a plan to use MH as a distribution center for commercial digital copies of various series. While it did mention the possibility of becoming a bridge between freelance groups and copyright holders, it it not the main focus of this proposal.
So seriously, read before you start running your mouth. If you have something constructive to say, then go ahead, please. Otherwise, pure ranting is just silly and unproductive.
It appears that MangaHelpers would be putting the brakes on this business plan as Taylor noted that the leak has changed the whole situation and essentially suggest that distribution is going to be the same for now. I think this reinforces how powerful the fan community is and that to be part of this community (whether to service it or just being a fan), you have to abide by the unspoken rules of this community which is something observed by various researchers such as Henry Jenkins and Amber Davisson in their research on fan culture.
Aspects of respecting the fan community and unspoken rules pervades lots of fan activities from fanfiction writing (responding to reviews) to well this example. But how does one know where the boundaries are when fans themselves within the community appear to have differing views? How does one juggle that tension then when engaging in fan activities? Hopefully, that is something I can figure out more about as I continue in my research.
*Please note that the term 'commercialise/monetise' used here is rather subjective and might not necessarily reflect the MangaHelpers owners' intent. However, this is how I understand the situation.*
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Odex Incident
Those familiar with the anime scene in Singapore would probably have heard of the "Odex saga" (I think the Wikipedia entry is a pretty good summary of the incident, hence the link to that entry).
There are various interesting issues involved in here. Some of them have been raised in the wikipedia entry itself such as the issue of possibly citing fair use as a defence for downloaders who are not heavy downloaders. The part where it is mentioned that one of the conditions for citing that defence would be to prove that the download subsequently boosted the commercial viability of the anime industry. This reminded me of something that I read recently about Toby Miller's suggestion that perhaps the pirated DVDs/VCDs (of Hollywood films) industry in China is actually helping to boost the commercial viability of Hollywood by creating an sense of anticipation in the market and indirectly creating demand for film-related merchandise. This is especially the case in China because there's a quota on the number of foreign films allowed in China which means that not every single Hollywood blockbuster gets to be screened in China. So ironically the pirated DVDs market allows the audience in China to view those films that aren't screened in China (cheaply) and can help create buzz for it.
Interestingly, this might be the case in Singapore considering that anime series usually get aired in Singapore quite a while after they have been first aired in Japan (and the US), especially on free-to-air television.By then, most avid anime fans would have caught their favourite series from the fansubs that they've downloaded from the Internet. I've personally noticed that merchandise for an anime series hit stores before the series get aired in Singapore (or even if the series doesn't get aired in Singapore). To be fair, I do notice more buzz for a particular series and its related merchandise after it gets officially aired in Singapore but I would think that's simply because it has now reached a wider audience who wouldn't have bothered to make the effort to source for the anime online.
I was actually mildly surprised by the legal action taken by the anime studios, considering how tolerant they are of the doujin market in Japan (where fairs are held to openly hawk these items) and how some mangakas (manga artists) like Clamp started out producing doujinshi. I wonder if this means they will take further action in other non-Japanese markets where there's quite a bit of anime downloading activity going on and what this entails for media producers-consumers relations.
In Singapore's case, I suppose we can wait and see how the court case of anime studios vs anime downloaders will pan out when hearing begins...
There are various interesting issues involved in here. Some of them have been raised in the wikipedia entry itself such as the issue of possibly citing fair use as a defence for downloaders who are not heavy downloaders. The part where it is mentioned that one of the conditions for citing that defence would be to prove that the download subsequently boosted the commercial viability of the anime industry. This reminded me of something that I read recently about Toby Miller's suggestion that perhaps the pirated DVDs/VCDs (of Hollywood films) industry in China is actually helping to boost the commercial viability of Hollywood by creating an sense of anticipation in the market and indirectly creating demand for film-related merchandise. This is especially the case in China because there's a quota on the number of foreign films allowed in China which means that not every single Hollywood blockbuster gets to be screened in China. So ironically the pirated DVDs market allows the audience in China to view those films that aren't screened in China (cheaply) and can help create buzz for it.
Interestingly, this might be the case in Singapore considering that anime series usually get aired in Singapore quite a while after they have been first aired in Japan (and the US), especially on free-to-air television.By then, most avid anime fans would have caught their favourite series from the fansubs that they've downloaded from the Internet. I've personally noticed that merchandise for an anime series hit stores before the series get aired in Singapore (or even if the series doesn't get aired in Singapore). To be fair, I do notice more buzz for a particular series and its related merchandise after it gets officially aired in Singapore but I would think that's simply because it has now reached a wider audience who wouldn't have bothered to make the effort to source for the anime online.
I was actually mildly surprised by the legal action taken by the anime studios, considering how tolerant they are of the doujin market in Japan (where fairs are held to openly hawk these items) and how some mangakas (manga artists) like Clamp started out producing doujinshi. I wonder if this means they will take further action in other non-Japanese markets where there's quite a bit of anime downloading activity going on and what this entails for media producers-consumers relations.
In Singapore's case, I suppose we can wait and see how the court case of anime studios vs anime downloaders will pan out when hearing begins...
Monday, August 24, 2009
Why Anime and Manga Fandom?
Hello, welcome to my blog! I'm a Singaporean Masters student who's planning to do research on anime and/or manga fandom for my Masters' thesis. While there is growing interest in fan studies, I noticed there appears to be little research on anime and manga fandom despite the growing popularity of anime and manga outside of Japan. Basically, if you are keen to talk about fandom or anime and manga,whether you are a researcher, fan or a producer, feel free to drop a note or just say hi in the comments section.
Having fallen in love with anime and manga since the age of 10*, I thought it would be fantastic if I base my research on anime and manga fandom, exploring something I'm interested in and contributing to existing literature at the same time. Of course, having an interest in this area helps makes research a lot less tedious and a lot more enjoyable too.
I personally believe that fans are a powerful group who help bring in a huge amount of the revenue that media companies make from film franchises like Stars Wars because of the how much merchandise they purchase. I think film makers are probably more aware of fans' purchasing power seeing how many of them did their promotional rounds at this year's Comic-Con. I think the growing awareness among producers of the need to cultivate fans is a rather exciting development. On the other hand, there seems to be growing tension between producers/distributors and consumers as well (as you'll notice in my later posts on this issue).
While consumers-producers relations are of interest to me, I'm hoping to explore issues such as fans' relationship with the anime and manga characters, relations and identity within the fan community and so on and so forth. Essentially, I'm not ruling anything related to anime or manga fandom out since my thoughts often run ahead of me and do not really enjoy being restricted. :)
*I have to confess that the first anime that got my attention was actually Sailor Moon. I still have the entire manga series nicely put away in an airtight container too.*
Having fallen in love with anime and manga since the age of 10*, I thought it would be fantastic if I base my research on anime and manga fandom, exploring something I'm interested in and contributing to existing literature at the same time. Of course, having an interest in this area helps makes research a lot less tedious and a lot more enjoyable too.
I personally believe that fans are a powerful group who help bring in a huge amount of the revenue that media companies make from film franchises like Stars Wars because of the how much merchandise they purchase. I think film makers are probably more aware of fans' purchasing power seeing how many of them did their promotional rounds at this year's Comic-Con. I think the growing awareness among producers of the need to cultivate fans is a rather exciting development. On the other hand, there seems to be growing tension between producers/distributors and consumers as well (as you'll notice in my later posts on this issue).
While consumers-producers relations are of interest to me, I'm hoping to explore issues such as fans' relationship with the anime and manga characters, relations and identity within the fan community and so on and so forth. Essentially, I'm not ruling anything related to anime or manga fandom out since my thoughts often run ahead of me and do not really enjoy being restricted. :)
*I have to confess that the first anime that got my attention was actually Sailor Moon. I still have the entire manga series nicely put away in an airtight container too.*
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