The Rise and Fall of Anime in the Middle East -Part 1

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The History of Japanese "Anime".
The rise of Anime in the Middle East.
Masculinity in Anime personalities.

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Abstract

　In recent years, the evolution of the work in the anime industry in Japan has challenged the traditionally held perceptions of masculinity among the male demographic in the Arab world. In light of this evolution, this thesis will explore the consequences of such changes and their cultural impact on passionate anime followers in the Arab world by first defining what masculinity is through the existing literature, tracing the historic evolution of anime in the Arab world, gathering and analyzing interview data from candidates, and then forming conclusions and recommendations of the anime industry based on the gathered data.

　Since anime is a global rather than a regional phenomenon, this study will be important in stressing the responsibility anime creators have to satisfy a global audience, especially in relation to masculinity, and shed light on the previously ignored perceived qualities of masculinity by the audience of the Middle East. The study will assist in expressing many of the grievances identified by anime fans in the Middle East by sampling their feedback on selected questions, thus building a basis for future study.

The Rise and Fall of Anime in the Middle East

Introduction

　Anime is a Japanese animated production which was produced and created after World War II. It was first hand drawn and created by Osamu Tezuka. Anime which comes from the abbreviation, animation, has made a global as well as a local impact in the market, which in turn has created a large audience. Anime was first aired on television networks and was then formatted into VHS tapes, DVDs, Video CDs, and has also appeared in cinemas. Finally, it could be watched for free via live stream networks due to the creation of the internet. Anime was different from American cartoons in that it had more diversity of art, and different production methods and techniques which has been upgraded through time due to technology. The production of anime does not only focus on animation, but also on story, as well as camera effects, different angle shots, and different art styles used for character proportion like large eyes to make the characters more beautiful and also used in displaying various emotions. As time progressed, Japan had created famous production anime companies such as Studio Ghibli, Gainax, and Toei animation. The majority of DVD sales have been international, and anime has been viewed in most developed countries around the world, so much so that the voice acting has been changed from Japanese dub to English dub, or Japanese dub with subtitles in English. Osamu Tezuka’s creations have become famous major characters in the anime industry. Creators such as Go Nagai, Shinji Nagashima, Hayao Miyazaki, Katsuji Matsumoto, Akira Toriyama and many more are also famous creators. All around the world people have been watching anime, and one special area where people have accepted Japanese technology and culture is that of the Middle East.

　Anime appeared in the Middle East during the late 1970s, or more precisely it was the 1980s when it was introduced to the Arab region not in the Japanese language, but in Arabic, changing the language from Japanese voice acting to Arabic voice acting. Due to this remarkable acceptance, anime has risen, and more and more fans are watching anime, buying tapes and DVDs, and watching anime online. The anime culture has not only focused on anime, but also to games that are played, which has greatly increased its value. Game tournaments, anime and game cosplay, anime and game seminars, and anime illustration have increased heavily after the year 2010 when Kuwait made the announcement to join a gaming tournament in Japan called “TOUGEKI” for the first time. Through this, more people from Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia have become interested in animation and games.

The Middle East has been conservative in the past, with the government censoring anime due to their moral point of view, yet people still bought un-cut movies due to the aid of bootleggers as well as the help of the internet. Yet, what made anime famous in the Middle East was not just the art and storyline, but because of the fact that the characters had masculinity. The main protagonist was strong-minded, masculine, protected the female or the love of his life, and sacrificed everything for her. Famous anime such as Igano Kabamaru, Grendizer, Berserk, Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken), and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, are but some of the masculine anime that have been part of the anime rise in the Middle East. The idea that the man is the sadist and the female is the masochist has the idea of old Arab tradition. Cultural values among other things also add into the fact of the religion. In traditional Arab culture, boys are brought up and taught to act and talk like a man bearing responsibilities, and not teaching their children about sex and sexuality. Yet, after anime and movies had been released, young Arabs were indulged into wanting to study these types of things.

　As time progressed, anime changed, not just by art, but also by the main character becoming weaker, more feminine, and de-masculinized. This was due to wanting to please the “OTAKU”, the people who made these requests. Due to this fact however, anime popularity had gradually begun falling in the Middle East, the main reason being because the main character gradually was becoming weaker.

　In my paper we will look at the history of anime, from when the Japanese first created anime, to the rise of anime in the Middle East, to how masculinity in anime dominated the Middle East, to how Arabs view masculinity, and finally to the fall of anime in the Middle East, ending with the conclusion.

The History of Anime

Fredrik L. Schodt explains that in 1853 the United States employed an armed fleet led by Commodore Perry to force Japan from its’ seclusion from the world. Yet, by doing so, it caused a revolution in all areas of life in Japan, including art. Over the next 50 years, Japan prospered in an evolution from feudal kingdom to modern industrialized nation. There were two highly skilled European cartoon artists during this era, A British man by the name of Charles Wirgman (1835-1891), and a French man by the name of George Bigot (1860-1927). Charles Wirgman married a Japanese woman and lived in Japan until his death. Throughout his lifetime, Wirgman witnessed intense events, including a violent attack on the British legation by a group of dissatisfied samurai, which he witnessed while hiding underneath the floor. In 1862 he published a British-style humor magazine, “The Japan Punch”, for the foreign public in Yokohama. The Japan Punch was a text which explained the early separation of Europeans, who rarely mentioned the world outside of the foreign area of Yokohama. It contained cartoons drawn by Wirgman, which depicted the unglamorous style of the British.[1]

George Bigot reached Japan in 1882 and taught art at an army officer’s school. He was even more ostentatious than Wirgman. His name was “Biko” in Japanese, which means beautiful. He married a geisha, who wore a kimono and Japanese sandals. Bigot was always in trouble with the Japanese authorities, and being that artists were forbidden to criticize the government, his actions seemed brave and stimulating. The Japanese were blessed to have Bigot and Wirgman as mentors, both of them being outstanding cartoonists and successful artists from which the Japanese could learn perspective, anatomy, and shading. They developed the social and political cartoon system in France and England, of which included the “British Punch”, and the “Honore Daumier”. Wirgman inserted word balloons for his cartoons and Bigot arranged the sequence, to create the narrative outline.[2]

The Japanese who interacted with the Westerners acquired new printing technologies. Woodblock printing was expensive and took time, but later, copperplate printing, zinc etching, lithography, metal type, and photoengraving, made the printed word and cartoon a true achievement for the people. After the arrival of Wirgman and Bigot, the Japanese began publishing their own humor magazines and newspapers modeled after the West, and artists began using pen instead of brush. The more famous of these Japanese humor magazines was “Marumaru Chimbun”, made in 1877, and inspired by “The Japan Punch”. This showed the speed in which the Japanese learned from the West, and the magazine reached a similar level to Wirgman’s and became close to the “British Punch”. By the end of the 19th century, the Japanese cartoon shifted from Europe to the United States, where political cartoons were popular, and there, Joseph Pultzer of the New York World was experimenting with color add-ons and the first comic strips with panels and word balloons were made.[3]

After some years passed, two famous Japanese cartoonists appeared; Rakuten Kitazawa (1876-1955), and Ippei Okamoto (1886-1948). They helped promote and accustom American cartoons and comic strips. By 1902, due to their influence, comic strips grew in popularity in American newspapers. Kitazawa made the first episodic Japanese Comic strips with recurring characters called “Tagosaku” and “Mokube Sighting in Tokyo”. It was published in the “Jiji Manga (a current events manga)”, a full colored Sunday complement modeled after the United States. Okamoto worked for years at the Asahi newspaper, drawing social and political cartoons, and helped promote the idea of being a cartoon journalist. When Kitazawa and Okamoto arrived, the cartoon became more of a hobby with the goal of becoming a successful artist. Okamoto’s art style was freer and more of a Japanese style than Kitazawa’s, and he was flexible, creating art for adults, children, and creating chronicle comic strips.[4]

 

Japan’s dream was to modernize, but it did not come without social disturbance, especially over economic discernments. Many artists were radicalized by the problems they saw and decided to work in the “proletariat”, an agitprop genre of cartoons and comic strips. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the government’s new police ideology, the Orwellian “Peace Preservation Law” learned to control those who had rebellious ideas. They did it by threatening the editors, and more than one magazine was forced to close. Also, most of them were compulsory to self-censorship. Arrests were made of editors who did not follow the law, and it happened frequently that employees were jailed because they often took the blame in order to save the company. These laws encouraged artists to work in safe genres, which resulted in the rise of children’s comics as well as erotic comic strips for adults.[5]

When World War II started for Japan in 1937 during the attack of China, military control spread across the country, before ending with the defeat of Japan in 1945. During the endless dark war, and annihilation of people, artists joined the war effort by creating propaganda art against the enemy. The government proficiently subjugated and took control of the Japanese inclination for factionalism. Leading up to World War II, it was impossible for an artist to be successful as a professional without being in a group.  In the 1940s, after rebellious groups had been destroyed, umbrella organizations formed such as the “New Cartoonists Association”. After Pearl Harbor in December 1941, artists were not banned from working, and were active in the way of creating comic strips that were harmless and promoted a nation of unity, drawing single piece cartoons that demeaned the enemy and also worked in the government and the military creating propaganda to use against the enemy.[6]

After World War II ended with the defeat of Japan, publishers around the country were in complete disarray. The old-style hardback comics that were published were very expensive for children. Dozens of small companies appeared in the rival business center of Osaka, publishing “Red Book” comics, extremely cheap comics with red ink covers, printed on rough paper, and then sold on the streets. Artists were not very well paid, but were given freedom. Among them was a young medical student by the name of Osamu Tezuka, who revolutionized and awakened Tokyo companies to a new potential in the comic industry. In 1947, Tezuka was 20 years old when he created a comic called, “Shin Takarajima”, which in English was called “New Treasure Island”. Based on a script by Shichima Sakai, Shin Takarajima was 200 pages long, had a creative page layout, clever sound effects, and used a beautiful spread of frames to show a single action, almost like viewing a movie, and readers were amazed. The sale of the comic reached an estimated 400,000 to 800,000 people without publicity.[7]

As time passed, Osamu Tezuka’s work became so well-known and famous that he was known as the “God of Manga” for his popular comics. Osamu Tezuka had a creative imagination and he drew over 150,000 pages of comics and created 500 different works, creating over 1,000 famous characters. One of his most recognized works is called “Mighty Atom”. It first appeared in the series titled, “Ambassador Atom” which started in short installments from April 1950 until March 1952 in the monthly boy’s magazine, “Shonen (boys)”, and was published by Kobunsha.[8]

Mighty Atom aired on January 1, 1963 all over Japan through television, exciting viewers. The show was aired at that time in black and white, and was smooth compared to Disney animation from America, which in contrast looked more static. It was Japan’s first animated TV series, and the manga series was a huge success among children who attended grammar school. The animated series gave a strong boost in making Mighty Atom more popular.[9]

When Osamu Tezuka passed away on February 9, 1989, at the age of 60, it brought shock to all of Japan, especially to the older generation of Japanese people who during the postwar period watched his manga and animation. The Japanese people already had to deal with the passing of their beloved Showa Emperor the previous month, but Tezuka’s death seemed greater and with deep sorrow, and there was endless coverage by the news media. On February 10th, after Tezuka’s death, Japanese national newspaper, “Asahi” wrote the “Mighty Atom’s Message”, advising young artists to pick up the torch that Tezuka held, and continue to spread the values of his popular work.[10]

The rise of Anime in the Middle East

 

Japan rose after the end of World War II, impacting the world with its modernization to the West, especially with the creation of anime. Anime dominated not only the internal markets in Japan, but also internationally with the global market by translating a dubbed Japanese animation to various languages for customers to view and enjoy. Languages included English, Italian, French, Spanish, Korean, and Chinese, and subtitles were placed so that the viewer could watch and listen to the anime in Japanese.  The listener could listen to the splendid voice acting while reading the subtitles from the various countries. Japanese animation companies not only focused towards Western countries, but also focused towards the conservative region in order to spread its business. One of these regions was the Middle East. During the 1980s, the Middle East (Gulf Countries), had a close relationship with America as well as the rest of the world in an effort to keep up with modernization. Goods were also imported from foreign countries as well. Though the Middle East had a strong relationship with the Western world, it had its view on Islam as not being segregated from politics, and the amount of censored media or things such as kissing, sex, and immoral fashion shown to the public depended on your location. During the new age, Arabs who were born in the 1980s or earlier were educated in private American schools. They watched American cartoons such as G.I. Joe, Tom and Jerry, He-Man, Thunder Cats, Transformers, etc. Most Arab people could understand the cartoons since most of them could speak both English and Arabic. Due to this, Arab’s were heavily influenced by the American capitalistic market, as well as the masculinity of the characters shown in the cartoons. This influenced how children imitated the main characters and sub-characters. As time passed, a new competitor emerged from the Far East, the Land of the Rising Sun. Japan. A new type of cartoon was created, and it was named “Anime”. Since most Arab people could not speak Japanese, the Japanese paved the way for their product to be introduced to the Middle East by changing from Japanese voice actors to Arabic voice actors, so it could easily be introduced to the Arabian culture. A new creation was introduced called “Arabime”, and it was a combination of Arab and anime.

There was a debate between the old generation and the new generation of Arabs as to when anime came to the Middle East, some believing it to be in the 1980s or earlier. Mohammed Samer Shaeed, age 23 from Syria said, “Well, I think that it came before I was born, and of course my family watched in on TV. There were many anime TV shows that were translated into Arabic. Even my own father used to tell me about the anime he watched during his time.”[11]

Jaafar Mansour Sheshtari, age 20 from Kuwait said, “Anime came to the Middle East when I was already born, so it was in the 1980s, and the quality wasn’t that good.”[12]

 

Explaining further why anime was famous in the Middle East, Mohammed Samer Shaeed said, “I think it’s the endless possibilities in anime and the things you see in anime you can’t see in real life. It’s where you can escape reality and go to a different world and children can be amused by what they see.”[13]

Jaafar Mansour Sheshtari stated, “I believe anime is famous in the Middle East due to Grendaizer. This was the first global anime to become famous in the Middle East. Our relatives watched Grendizer. My father, mother, grandfather, and neighbors all know and love Grendizer because it’s in Arabic”. I asked, “Why do Arabs only love Grendizer, and not Gundam or Macross?” He replied, “Because Arabs only liked Grendizer and did not like other robot anime. When Popeye was introduced to the Middle East, Arabs of the older generation started calling any cartoon “Popeye”. Why? Because the first cartoon that came to the Middle East was Popeye. “Grendizer” is what I started calling Japanese cartoon anime when I was 15 years old, due to the internet. Popeye came before anime.”[14] Jaafar added, “In the beginning, we used to watch anime by TV broadcast, which was dubbed in Arabic so viewers could easily understand it. Around 1995 to 1998, special TV channels called “Space Toon” were created. It showed anime in Arabic, but sadly, most of the material was censored, so we bought VHS tapes from the local video stores, but these were also censored. But going back to Space Toon, Space Toon made a new channel called Space Power in 2005 or 2006, where they showed anime in Japanese but the subtitles were in Arabic, which was a new thing. Sadly though, it was still cut, and that’s the reason why I decided to buy un-cut anime from black market video stores, as well as the reason I tend to watch my anime streamed online.”[15]

Hussain Al- Baghli, age 21, from Kuwait said, “The anime industry came to the Middle East in 1970 or 1980, and we watched it at home on TV. The famous anime programs in the Middle East were, Captain Tsubasa, Combattler V, Space Conan Boy (Hayao Miyazaki), and Grendaizer, which were all dubbed in Arabic. The Arabic voice actors of the past were much more talented than today’s voice actors. The reason why anime is famous in the Middle East is not just because of its focus on the story, but also the art style, which is very different and unique, the emotions, as well as the violence.”[16]

Aziz Al- Suhely, age 30, from Kuwait explained his view on why anime is famous in the Middle East saying, “Anime itself shows different viewpoints when telling their stories, and the varied stories are from the creators themselves. You always tend to look at the story of the character. For example, you try to find a character that is similar to you, so you enjoy the anime more, and in regards to American cartoons, they don’t use relatable characters, but in Japanese anime, they put the bad guys, the ugly, the hero, every type of personality you could find so that you can relate to the character.”[17]

Tarek Al- Kandari, age 18, from Kuwait, explained that “Anime became more famous in the Middle East because of the internet. In the past, it wasn’t that popular because not many people had access to the internet, but now, with the use of streaming, this is possible. What made people want to watch anime was because the characters had masculinity, not only because of the personality of the character. For example, Grendaizer, Igano Kabamaru, and Combattler V. Kabamaru’s bodies look thin and feminine, but their personalities have masculinity.”[18]

[1] Frederik L. Schodt, The World of Japanese Comics (New York: Kodansha USA 1983), 38

[2] Idib., 40-41

[3] Idib., 41

[4] Idib., 43

[5] Idib., 51

[6] Idib., 55-56

[7] Idib., 62

[8] Frederik L. Schodt, The Astro Boy Essays, (California: Stone Bridge Press, 2007) 16.

[9] Frederik L. Schodt, The Astro Boy Essays, (California: Stone Bridge Press, 2007) 55.

[10] Frederik L. Schodt, The Astro Boy Essays, (California: Stone Bridge Press, 2007) 6

[11] Mohammed Samer Shaheed, interview by Ahmed Al- Baroody, American University of Kuwait, February, 17, 2014

[12] Jaafar Mansour Sheshtari, interview by Ahmed Al- Baroody, AUK, February, 17, 2014

[13] Mohammed Samer Shaheed, interview by Ahmed Al- Baroody, AUK, February, 17, 2014

[14] Jaafar Mansour Sheshtari, interview by Ahmed Al- Baroody, AUK, February, 17, 2014

[15] Ibid.,

[16] Hussain Al- Baghli, interview by Ahmed Al- Baroody, AUK, February, 17, 2014

[17] Aziz Al- Suhely, interview by Ahmed Al- Baroody, AUK, February 21, 2014

[18] Tarek Al- Kandari, interview by Ahmed Al- Baroody, AUK, February 21, 2014