Statement of Purpose:Before I begin discussing the theme of this particular essay, regarding the categorical allocations of different shows under their designated viewerships, I’d like to first and foremost apologize for taking two weeks in delivering something I’d promised to post last week and to take the time to discuss the specific scope and intention of this project. The statement of purpose ran a little long so I have it hyperlinked above on a blog I set up specifically for this, so visit it if interested. If not, continue below.Preface:We often hear the terms “shounen”, “shoujo”, “seinen”, and “josei” thrown around (as well as “kodomo” on occasion) but what exactly do they mean? What’s their purpose, and do they always mean the same thing all the time?What is a demographic?Demography is, simply put, the study of population interests. Works of fiction do not exist in a vacuum, nor can they succeed in one when they exist within a field dependent on competition. This can be extended beyond the subject to just about anything: when a company specializing in, say, mountain bikes decides to promote itself, it would have to recognize an intended consumer base to orient its advertising and stay afloat. Money doesn’t just come to companies because they exist, they need a form of outreach that requires zoning in on consumer interests. Setting up a shop in a coastal, seaside town with plains and beaches for miles won’t make your mountain bike business any money, nor would it help if your billboards are making appeals to pregnant suburban housewives when, chances are, they won’t be riding your bike anytime soon, regardless of where you’re located.When it comes to television, this becomes a separate issue, one concerning the ambiguous and sometimes fluid subject of “key demographic” subscription: who your show is trying to sell itself to and what means you’re undertaking to make acquire the intended viewership is all a part of a process in making the most amount of money for production committees, licensors, broadcasters, publishers, merchandisers, and studios. Without pinpointing demographics, an established fandom, eager to spend on your yaoi audio dramas or moe dakimakuras, will jump ship to another franchise doing more for them and ultimately leaving you with a net loss, resulting in catastrophic underperformance for otherwise brilliant series like Bartender and Simoun. A well-known example of demographics affecting a franchise’s longevity came through when Harmony Gold’s reasonably well-received rebranding of Macross (under the name Robotech) for syndicated TV runs ultimately failed in the states when they bet their earnings on a Matchbox toy deal despite securing a predominantly older demographic that wasn’t interested in them instead of the children who they’d staked their livelihood on (among other blunders).What are “anime* demographics?Before I get into the nitty gritty, here are the basic terms we’ll be examining:Kodomo (for children, >13 yo)Shounen (for boys, 13-18)Shoujo (for girls, 13-18)Seinen (for men, 19-40+)Josei (for women 19-40+)These are the key demographics that are specifically named for manga and light novel magazines. To put into perspective, certain mainstream titles, such as Naruto and Death Note, ran on the pages of Shounen Jump, a magazine intended to be read by boys in their teens and is catering to its demographic in very specific ways. The issue with these terms, however, come in the form of their transition to broadcast and their general fluidity in appeal because of distinctions in how they’re framed: magazines run multiple series concurrently and will be contextualized by the content of different series found within the same issue. What was once a common practice in the modernist magazines and literary periodicals in the Western tradition, all the way up until the mid-1900’s as a form of reputable and common entertainment, no longer exists with nearly the same amount of presence so the comparison is a bit lost in translation. Assuredly, issues of The Yellow Book and Harper’s Weekly published to match target demographics in similar ways to the Shounen Jump of today: while you had the great tales of man’s rise above the wilderness in the works of Jack London contextualized by images of the Gibson Girl or the pin-up model running in the ad space, you now have the fabulous hot-blooded action sequences of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure running alongside spreads of Gravure models (nsfw), sometimes featured on the cover.While some magazines have taken to incorporating appeals to different genders and age groups (Shounen Jump in particular has begun to revel in what is now known as the Bishonen Jump Syndrome (warning TvTropes) to appeal to female readers) in order to expand their horizons, the television networks in Japan that feature late-night anime blocks cannot usually afford to be choosy with their audiences as many of them, such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, Nippon TV, etc., are public-access channels (with very few exceptions, such as pre-2010 noitaminA and Noise specifying in Josei programming). Whether late-night, early morning, or prime-time, the shows with the most success are either the ones marketed to the widest possible audiences, such as male-oriented action shows by way of Haikyuu or Blood Blockade Battlefront that contain appeals to the fujoshi crowd, or those that have a niche market cornered, such as Uta no Prince-Sama! or Infinite Stratos, but usually the former wins out in most cases. Even some of the more heavy-handed ecchi series, such as the adaptations of Shoukugeki no Soma and Bakemonogatari, have been flowing freely between male and female gaze when making the jump to broadcast, while some series focused on an idealized female romanticism, such as Ore Monogatari! and Akagami no Shirayukihime, have found audiences with men because of their humor or action sequences.What isn’t a demographic?Simply put: a demographic is not a genre. Misinterpretations often arise when popular online databases, such as MyAnimeList or Mangaupdates, list the above terms under genre headers and dedicate categories on their sites to listing shows, mangas, or novels under these labels as such. Prototypical and archetypal signifiers have begun to appropriate demographics into genre discussions and create generalizations that ultimately muddle and confuse their meaning, making it difficult to pinpoint a work’s origins or intention.While demographics themselves function more to establish how a series will make gains or achieve purposeful notoriety, especially in the business of magazine publication, they are also not, as mentioned above, concrete and unmoving representations of what will define a work. Works usually perceived as Seinen, such as Cowboy Bebop and Legend of the Galactic Heroes, will sometimes find themselves having adaptations and side stories published in Shoujo magazines, much in the same way that series like Princess Tutu and Star Driver have made the jump to Shounen magazines despite being primarily marketed towards teen girls. Likewise, even within magazines there can be shifts in demographic, such as the jump from Shounen to Josei for the Saiyuki Reload series and the jump from Shoujo to Seinen for Orange. As such, broad assumptions about a work’s style, theme, or presentation based on its demographic often rarely factor into just how accessible a series is to any gender or age group without studying the work itself.What aren’t “anime” demographics?To elaborate on my previous statement, I’ll make an attempt to distinguish between demographics and their perceived meaning when established as genres:Shounen: now synonymous with the battle formula, the term “Shounen” has become the colloquial shorthand for “Battle Shounen”, a format of action show that hosts a male protagonist with a focus on The Hero’s Journey or underdog style plotlines, usually featuring fan-service, team work, and lots of high-impact visual effects, e.g. One Piece, Nanatsu no Taizai, etc. The distinction arises between Battle Shounen and “Shounen” as a demographic when one considers the massive concentration of romance series, such as Nisekoi and Horimiya, as well as slice-of-life comedies, such as Lucky Star! and Watamote.Shoujo: now synonymous with the romance genre, the term “Shoujo” has become the colloquial shorthand for “Shoujo Romance”, a type of series that often hosts a female protagonist with a focus on her emotional unraveling upon encountering and ultimately securing a usually inaccessible (by way of being popular or of a higher rung of society) male love interest, usually featuring lots of sparkles, flowery visual effects, and love triangles, e.g. Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, Kimi ni Todoke, etc. The distinction arises between Shoujo Romances and “Shoujo” as a demographic when one considers the myriad of action thrillers, such as Trinity Blood and Shingeki no Kyojin: Kuinaki Sentaku, as well as plenty of mystery series, such as Ghost Hunt and Shinrei Tantei Yakumo.Seinen: a bit more of a catchall, the term “Seinen” is usually used to pigeonhole the decidedly more “mature” rung of dramas, such as works dealing with the psychological, the occult, or gritty crime dramas, e.g. Berserk, Mushi-Shi, etc. Truthfully, though, most of the representation that the demographic sees in its adaptations tend to be found in 4-koma gag comedies, such as K-On! and Himouto Umaru-chan, or works doused with comical eroticism, such as Kiss x Sis and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.Josei: now synonymous with the more dramatic side of the romance genre, the term “Josei” has become the colloquial shorthand for “Josei Drama”, a type of series that “often” (more mixed than other “genre demographics”) portrays an older female protagonist while centering its focus on her sexual unraveling as she falls in love during her pursuit of her career, usually featuring a slow pace, theatrical dramatics, and plenty of attractive older men, e.g. Paradise Kiss, Nodame Cantabile, etc. This demographic isn’t very popular, which lends to why it’s often misunderstood, but its frequent lack of proper labeling, at least when compared to other “genre demographics” leads to a lack of conversation surrounding its more action-packed adventure series, such as Michiko to Hatchin and Amatsuki.When it comes to the “kodomo” demographic, specifically, titles usually go by the “if it looks like a duck” rule wherein the time of day it airs and the art style usually help figure out what’s considered a show for children’s programming most of the time, such as with Chibi Maruko-chan or Brave Beats, but even this isn’t precise. The upcoming run of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 on the Sunday morning anime block reveals a lot about the wishwashy nature of what’s perceived as friendly for kids in Japan, given the series’ somewhat grim and ultraviolent portrayal or warlike settings (which is common across the MSG franchise). In less obvious instances, darker themes or more crass humor can be found throughout children’s programming that wouldn’t fly elsewhere, such as some of storylines in the Lovecraftian Digimon Tamers or the raunchy comedy of Crayon Shin-chan. Simply handwaving children’s programming as immature or incapable of appealing to adult viewerships is a mistake found throughout Western audiences.In conclusion:Demographics are a tricky subject to approach when considering anime for the same reason they’re difficult to navigate when looking at Western fiction. While it’s obvious where some things lies along the spectrum, the transition from source material to broadcast can make figuring out where something stands just that much harder, often resulting in all sorts of confusion as to why NANA isn’t a Josei despite its content, or what makes Tokyo Ghoul stand a notch above other “Battle Shounens” to the point where it found its home in a Seinen publication. In all reality, demographics simply help pin down a starting point for analysis and understanding with regard to what perspective we should take on an issue. Should we lambast Sword Art Online for its portrayal of male-female power relationship when the work is predominantly directed towards teen boys? What about Diabolik Lovers in its appeal towards teen girls? Is the meaning of Neon Genesis Evangelion or Shoujo Kakumei Utena lost in its attempt to speak towards teens despite their mature content, or is it purposeful that they aim younger? To answer these questions and to level a playing field for more academic discussion, demographics need to be understood as the nebulous yet sometimes important details that they are and how they occupy a different area of meaning than genres. To know demographics can sometimes mean knowing the whole point of a series, while in other cases it can mean nothing at all, yet it’s always something worthwhile to consider.So here’s the first part of the project, running a bit longer than I had hoped originally but I had fun with it so it’s all good. While it may not qualify for /u/faux_wizard’s Writing Contest, I implore you guys to take up the pen and come up with a subject yourselves; I’m interested to see what kinds of discussions we can have about works in the medium. :)Next month, give or take, I’ll be trying my hand at mecha anime under the same pretenses that led to this essay coming about, i.e. discussing what it is and what it isn’t. For that one, and subsequent genre studies, I’ll be constructing a recommendation table, so if you have any recommendations in particular send me a message with a link to the show and a two or three sentence blurb about why people should watch it and I’ll stick ‘er in there.I hope you guys enjoyed reading through this (godbless if you actually did) and I’ll answer any questions you may have in the comment section or on the blog I set up specifically for this. The post for this essay can be found here.Ciao~ ☆ http://ift.tt/22zId1X
No comments:
Post a Comment