Special Ingredients: Naruto is Coming, Look Forlorn

I just learned today that Naruto, one of the anime’ titles that I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on, is coming to American, and I couldn’t be more irritated. In fact, I usually find myself cringing when a really hot series comes bounding into America, the series that I stupidly fall in love with. It’s happened so much that I don’t even bother protesting anymore, since my feeble e-mails to American distrubution companies (as well as the feeble e-mails of thousands of other diehard anime’ fans) is no match for the allure of the mass market and its potential millions. There’s simply no contest.

Let me explain the situation for those who aren’t familiar with the politics of modern Japanese animation distribution in America. Over the last three years, anime’ has really hit a cord with the America mainstream. For the years before that, the market was limited to a relatively small market of nerds who discovered by chance the wonders of anime’.

The only titles that were popular are probably familiar to a lot of you non-anime’ fans, titles like Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, and Digimon. Before these titles could be introduced into mainstream America, however, they had to be sanitized and fitted for American consumption. All “objectionable” content and a lot of Japanese cultural references were toned down so viewers wouldn’t be confused or offended. Hey, being confusing or offensive doesn’t make the bread; just look at our account balance.

This enraged many dedicated fans, who began to resent these “Americanized” shows for being both censored and too popular. To understand this, you must get into the mindset of the dedicated fan. To them, anime’ is something special, something that’s unique and foreign, something they’re not used to. Most of all, to them, anime' doesn’t feel like a product, but rather art, a reflection of a culture’s heritage and identity, not some generic commercial product manufactured to make as much money as possible without adding anything to the pool of human accomplishment. In a sense, anime’ fans feel privileged to behold such an art.

When an anime’ hits the American mainstream, however, the situation changes. For one, with exposure to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of viewers, these shows lose at lot of mystique and artistic credibility, at least in the eyes of the dedicated fans. How unique and radical is it to follow a show that half the country knows about?

The biggest problem, though, is the editing. Every little snip of footage or overlaying of text is an alteration of art, changing the material as if saying it’s not good enough for broadcast. Dedicated fans refuse to accept these changes as a positive, and with good reason. In fact, the policy of censoring anime’ could provide some insight to our child-rearing culture here in America. Most of the titles broadcast on television here were broadcasted in Japan in their unaltered form, saying a great deal about the differences between what Americans and Japanese define as appropriate for children.

There’s a huge difference between what goes here and what goes there as far as content is concerned. In Japan, the general attitude is that some violence and slight sexual innuendo is acceptable for shows viewed by children. Some anime’ on television features intense violence, nudity, and (sometimes explicit) sexual content, and while these shows aren’t aimed at a younger audience, they are certainly accessible. In fact, many vices that Americans try to hide from their children, like alcohol, cigarettes, and pornography, are offered in vending machines or sold out in the open. While it’s illegal for children to purchase these, it’s very easy to acquire these items, but generally they don’t attempt to, because (get this) THEY KNOW THEY’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO.

I know a lot of Americans are laughing it up at this, but kids are actually avoiding vice in Japan because they know that it isn’t right. This is one of the advantages of Japan's honor-based society: youngsters will give up going after these vices because they don’t want to risk shame. And besides, with all of these items sold right out in the open, they lose a lot of attraction.

But getting back on the subject, animation is respected as a valid expression of art in Japan, and is fairly commonplace in most facets of Japanese culture. With that mentality in mind, animation in Japan can feature involved, deep, and sometimes offensive stories and content, because animation is treated like live film. Like film, there’s animation intended for specific demographics, and some titles aren’t appropriate for younger viewers. Of course, what’s considered appropriate for younger viewers in Japan is at odds with what’s appropriate here in the states, which is where the debate comes in.

Animation here is treated like disposable children’s entertainment that must be sanitized before it’s allowed out the doors. And I’m not just talking content, I’m talking storyline. The American animation industry has been recycling the same basic storylines since the industry’s creation without enough variety to hold off the disbelief.

Obviously, there are exceptions. It’s hard to argue the validity of The Simpsons and Family Guy as worthy and entertaining shows, but these are aimed at adults and are comedies, something animation is better known for. Even children’s shows like The Fairly Odd Parents have there moments, but, again, these are comedies (I don’t consider Sponge Bob Squarepants all that good, since it’s basically a clean version of Ren and Stimpy with an underwater motif). Three-dimensional animation has seemingly kicked things up a notch with high-quality films like the Shrek movies and The Incredibles, but there’s still a lot of pandering crap gussied up with slick new animation. Look no further than the Donkey Kong Country animated show from 1999 or Jimmy Neutron for prime examples.

So why can’t the American animation industry seem to put out thoughtful shows consistently? I think the stereotype animation carries here has a lot to do with it. Since animation is almost always aimed at kids, the animation company executives don’t see a whole lot of point in shoveling a lot of money into the shows, only the images, which, arguably, aren’t that good looking in the first place. Even if a particular show clicks, as did Sponge Bob, there’s really no point in pouring any more effort into the show itself, since kids are entertained by what little is there and will insist that their parents buy them the merchandise. Merchandising is ridiculous in Japan too, but usually there’s substance behind the brand.

However, I think the lax content mentality has begun to bite the American animation companies in the butt. Kids seem to be demanding more, whether because of the lack of freshness or the influence of key anime’ titles that were leaked into the American mainstream, most notably Dragon Ball Z. The American animation industry executives noticed how much better Japanese animation was compared to their own, so instead of charging their own animators to come up with more thoughtful work, they decided it would be more cost effective just to take someone else’s work and alter it for the American mainstream. I’m not even going to get into all of the new America works that pathetically try to copy Japanese style. Believe me, that’s another article.

Of course, the executives don’t want to offend parents. Since anime’, even anime’ intended for the family, can contain elements that parents here would find offensive, like violence, nudity, sexuality, profanity, or other mature themes, alterations to existing anime’ are almost inevitable. America is obsessed with shielding their children from the harsh realities of the world, like the fact that people contain blood and private parts, until they reach the elusive “right age.” And there’s no way these parents are going to let some “cartoon” go and “corrupt” their children by showing them “inappropriate” material. Let the real world do that!

And then there’s the Japanese cultural references, which could alienate viewers, who most executive types firmly believe are too stupid to comprehend and enjoy other cultures. Whether it’s stripping away the Japanese names from the characters and replacing them with more American names, relocating the title to a neutral or American setting, or tearing out the clever Japanese jokes and replacing them with standard America ones, rest assured more than personally offending snippets hit the cutting room floor. If it offends the cultural norm, it’s outta there.

My personal peeve is the alteration of anime’ music themes. This is something that annoys me to no end. At some point, distribution companies actually took the time and effort to translate the original Japanese language lyrics of the music and have professional singers adapt it to English with some success. Now, they throw the original music to the wind and make up “hot and new” music to attract the customers. Let me tell you, after hearing the Kinnikuman trucker song about flatulence or the One Piece hip-hop, I lost what little respect I could have had for these companies.

This is what really strikes a nerve with devout anime’ fans: the act of alteration is almost like kicking dirt in the face of the original creator and the animation staff. The fact that the American executives are altering these works to make it more suitable for their audience almost makes it seem like the original work is inferior or unfinished.

And then you get the fans of these altered works. Even though I realize we all begin somewhere as anime’ fans, I still find myself annoyed at their tendency to prioritize fandom of a single series that they happen to discover. Ironically enough, I was a big Tenchi Muyo! fan way back when I started getting into anime’, but it wasn’t long before I branched into other titles. A lot of current new fans swear unquestionable loyalty to a particular series without compromise.

Compound this with the fact that dedicated anime’ fans treat their hobby as a private and unique fan club. Interestingly, anime’ fans want anime’ to be respected, but not popular among the mainstream. The Americanization of anime’ that we’ve been seeing, as well as the mainstream promotion of “normal” anime’ by anime’ companies, has made dedicated fans jaded, for their sacred temple is being violated by heathens and posers.

It’s mentality like this that may doom Naruto, a big series in the anime’ fan community, to rejection and resentment that Dragon Ball Z faces today. DBZ became a sour note for note for the anime’ fan community because of its immense popularity; even I’m hesitant to watch it, even though my only criteria for enjoying an anime’, or any title, is that it’s good. I fear Naruto will meet the same fate. I’ve already heard the term “Narutards” being flung around, and the series hasn’t even premiered here in America yet.

There isn’t much I can do from where I’m sitting outside of offering some humble advice to fans new and old. To the newbies, I inform you that you’re whining brats and we hate you. No, wait, that’s not right at all. Well, it is to some of the dedicated fans, so that notion is what we’re going to have to shatter. I ask that if you want to be considered an anime’ fan, that you actually watch some of the other anime’ that’s out there. It’s all right, great, in fact, to have your preferences. In fact, the first anime’ you see that hooks you is very special. It’s just not a good idea to tout yourself as an otaku just because you have a fanatical devotion to a few series.

But that’s all right too. If you only want to be a fan of Naruto or Cowboy Bebop or Dragon Ball Z, that’s your prerogative. You’re really missing out on all that’s out there in the vast universe of anime’, but hey, to each his own. If you want to stick within your comfort zone, that’s perfectly fine. Just don’t act like the entirety of anime' has been bestowed on you because you viewed a couple of popular series.

As for the dedicated fans, I know you’re afraid of being seen in the “mainstream,” but just remember that popular anime’ is generally popular because it’s good. If you turn your back on a series because a lot of Americans like it, you’ll be missing out on some incredible experiences, like Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece, and, yes, Naruto. You should never be embarrassed because of what anime’ you watch. That goes for all of you.

And it may not do any good, but if a distribution company does something that you don’t like, tell them, whether it’s a poor dub track, editing a show, holding out on a Japanese language track, or whatever. The problem is, the angry letters of a few thousand dedicated fans aren’t going to stop the profit march of these companies, who are staring at the millions of potential mainstream customers who want to consume cartoons, not animated art. That doesn’t stop me, though; I’ve let 4Kids Entertainment have my righteous wrath a few times, despite the fact that they keep hiding from me. Cowards.

My overall message is to evaluate anime’ on the basis of it’s content, not it’s popularity. I’m not suggesting it’s right that distribution companies should deface art for maximum profit. Sure, it’s a means to and end, but do the ends justify the means? I, and thousands of fans, say “no,” but the companies and consumer dollars say “yes.” Meanwhile the actual mainstream consumers don’t seem to care.

My point for the moment is to demand that Naruto (and any anime’) be left intact, even if that’s an impossible goal for the distribution companies. And remember: just because Naruto is poised to be “the next Dragon Ball Z” doesn’t mean it’s automatically bad. In fact, DBZ isn’t bad because it’s popular, it just gets a bad association because of the single-minded, fad-crazed fans that watch it and the fact that it’s arguably no longer unique or foreign. Don’t let the politics of anime’ (or at least the politics of what is fashionable to watch, no matter if you’re a mainstream fan or a diehard fan) get to you, or you’ll end up mistrusting and disliking the hobby as a whole. In closing, just watch the damn anime’ and decide whether or not YOU like it and not whether or not you should like it. Thank you.