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Stylized comics become popular in Japan
During this period, stories that were told with a mixture of pictures and words were popularized, first in Osaka, which then spread through the rest of the country. Illiteracy was a problem within Japan during this period, and these stories, called "manga" helped introduce a younger generation to reading.
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Torrance, R. (2005, February 9). Literacy and literature in Osaka, 1890-1940. The Journal of Japanese Studies. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/178066) -
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Shojo Manga gains popularity
Shojo magazines and manga, which was primarily targeted at girls, popularized the recognizable big-eyed art style that is seen in the majority of modern anime. It utilizes the concept of "kawaii", meaning "cute" in Japanese. This concept is definitely a winner among the Japanese consumer market, as kawaii things are loved by all demographics in Japan today
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Toku, M. (2018). International Perspectives on Shojo and shojo manga: The influence of girl culture. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. -
Astro Boy anime is released
Astro Boy became the first anime to hit worldwide television. Created by a founding father of modern manga and anime, Osamu Tezuka, it was released as a manga first but took off when it was adapted to the screen. It used the same big-eyed art style that gained popularity not too long before. Because of these popularizations, anime often became synonymous with kawaii culture.
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Schodt, F. L. (2007). The astro boy essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the manga/Anime Revolution. Calif. -
Over 50 separate anime shows being aired on television
By this point, so many different anime series were being aired that anime had become an integral part of the Japanese television industry. Subsequently, it became an important part of the entertainment and marketing industries as well.
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Anime Industry Data: 日本動画協会. The Association of Japanese Animations. (1978). Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://aja.gr.jp/english/japan-anime-data -
"Otaku" subculture gains following
Anime, having gained a huge viewer base at this point, began receiving a fandom associated with it whos members call themselves Otaku. The Otaku subculture is even more massive today, and it clearly foreshadowed the growth of anime culture even further when it first began.
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(2013, July 3). 自分のことを「オタク」と認識してる、: キャリア: マイナビニュース. 自分のことを「オタク」と認識してる人10代は62％、％ | キャリア | マイナビニュース. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20130703184904/http://news.mynavi.jp/news/2013/04/27/076 -
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Anime grows in worldwide popularity
With home video being commonplace and Japan having already become a huge distributer of media and entertainment hardware, anime became easy to obtain worldwide on VHS. Japan's already booming economy grew even more when it started exporting large amounts of anime related goods.
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Patten, F. (1996). A capsule history of anime. Animation Magazine. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20200327014459/https://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.5/articles/patten1.5.html -
"Pokemon" anime series first airs
While anime was becoming increasingly popular on American broadcasting, Pokemon was released and became the most successful adaptation of a video game, ever. This further solidified the world's view on anime being inherent to Japan and Japanese culture.
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Bailey, K. (2016, November 17). Why the pokemon anime is the most... USgamer. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-pokemon-tv-show-is-the-most-successful-adaptation-of-a-videogame-ever -
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Anime gains footing in different industries within Japan
Anime, being heavily engrained in Japanese entertainment by this point, is also able to be seen growing in many other industries like advertisement, Food & Drug marketing, and clothing.
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Mak, Philip. (2020, September 16). From Adidas to Asos, why global brands seek out anime advertising. Toon Boom. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://www.toonboom.com/from-adidas-to-asos-why-global-brands-seek-out-anime-advertising -
Anime viewer base grows dramatically during pandemic
With a large selection of anime already being available on multiple online streaming services, when the Covid-19 pandemic began, people began spending a lot more time indoors and anime viewership heavily increased.
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Tsuneoka, C. (2020, November 16). The world is watching more anime-and streaming services are buying. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-world-is-watching-more-animeand-streaming-services-are-buying-11605365629 -
Anime shows among most popular TV shows worldwide
With anime growing in popularity evermore, it has not only done wonders for Japanese socioeconomics, it has also helped place Japan as a world leader in yet another field, entertainment production. It shows how something as obscure as an art style can shape a country's business and economic culture.
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Lacerna, M. (2021, December 10). Jujutsu Kaisen tops squid game, in social... CBR. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://www.cbr.com/jujutsu-kaisen-squid-game-wandavision-twitter-2021/