There are unnoticed differences that go under the radar due to its subtlety. Animanga ultimately is produced in Japan, so for now many of the shows can’t help but be influenced by many Japan life lessons of children, Japan adult etiquette, and Japan world design. Especially those that are placed in the modern day world. There are vibrant colors with an action packed style unique in its line art and full color look. It offers a unique experience to people raised on North American Cartoons through its Japanese Animation differences. It is of course hand drawn and people in North America compare it to shows such as Disney or Warner Bros in its target market of kids and children. But animanga is definitely not only targeted towards kids and children, but to a wide age range of viewership that spans to teenagers and young adults... and even explicit adult content. It may seem like cute is dominant, but there is deep stories that are somewhat adult themed when you compare the cultural differences of what is acceptable for younger audiences. It starts to make you think if the outward appearance of many characters are much deeper than the typical North American show. As a warning it is important to check out the storyline of a animanga before recommending the content to another.
There is a missing market in North America for the Teenage and Young Adult market of animation shows, and for that is the reason it is one of the most interesting content around to those markets in North America. In Japan, the animations targeting those age groups is just about saturated, but in North America there is plenty of room for more competition and quality shows. Its also attractive for its foreign elements and diverse subject matter in subgenres that give a sense of exploration to the viewer in those age groups and often deal with characters paving their way in life, romantic pursuits of mutual love, dealing with hard emotional hardship, and adventures of obtaining a goal with all its challenges. Even though there are many shows that have this content in America it isnt produced in the way of animanga in its story telling and presentation. In Yokai Watch, the idea of spirits and death is intricately woven into the storyline. For instance, the yokai presented in this story were all alive with physical bodies at one point, but they became Yokai after they died. As Yokai, they can only be seen by certain individuals, but their presence can still be felt. This ties into the Japanese belief that deceased individuals are still present spiritually if not physically. Because the Yokai cannot be seen, they are usually blamed for various phenomena that occur, such as negative attitudes in people, lost items, and other unexplained occurrences. In Japan, death is viewed through mostly through the Buddhist viewpoint that death is viewed as a natural part of life. Japanese children are taught from a young age that their ancestors are always present and should be respected. Japanese parents teach their children that there are special rites performed to honor the dead, including praying at the family altar (butsudan) and making offerings of incense and food for the ancestors. Japanese parents also take their children to the family grave to clean the grave and offer flowers, especially during special occasions such as New Year’s. In this way, Japanese children learn to understand that death is a natural part of life and not something to be feared. In North America, on the other hand, death is viewed as more mysterious and is more often a topic which is not discussed around children. When family members die in an American family, parents tell their children that the deceased “went on a long trip” or “went to heaven”. Parents in American families generally hide the truth about death from their children due to a concern that knowing the truth would harm their children. In truth, this ends up harming the child as they grow older, as it is generally more difficult for them to accept the idea of death as something natural. Its evident that the cultural lessons that are taught to North Americans and Japanese are worlds different from each other. In America, shows show characters learning how to decide for themselves, understanding things for themselves, and making decisions that further express the character as showing strong signs or growth of being an individual. What is surprising is that even when it comes to a family it shows characters working individually to a larger goal of the family. This of course isnt bad, but its slightly different than a teamwork approach which is the Japanese outlook on things. Many Japanese are told to be independent, but as children and in children shows it is emphasized to have a closeness to the family in many scenarios a North American would feel uncomfortable. This grouped family closeness can be seen in the public family bath “onsen” where family members all bath naked with each other and showing warmth through scrubbing each others back and shown as passive love. While in america most kids bath and their mom or dad are fully clothed while washing them, eventually the child grows older and bathes alone, while in Japan the age differences dont usually effect the families bathing naked together practices. Those are just a few of the many hidden messages that come with the shows in animanga, but they are not bad, but they are foreign concepts to consider as they are taught throughout many of the animanga that exists. Viewers of Animanga who are aware of this can understand what is appropriate by making decisions on content for their children, since many online rating systems are culturally questionable due to content appropriateness depends on the persons acceptance of foreign content. Hopefully the points are taken as a small guideline of what to look at while seeing if a show is personally appropriate.
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