The popularity of anime/manga in Japan.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by kireikoori

^ Your words seem to strengthen my assumption that dorama is more popular than anime. Am I right?

Actually, I would say they`re pretty much on par. With drama though, there is no stigma attached to watching them - so people will discuss them freely with friends, etc.

[ILOVEJAPAN]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I think that a lot of people automatically assume that anime is hugely popular in Japan just because it`s *from* Japan.

It`s just another form of media. It really isn`t all that particularly special, really.
Normal people will watch an anime here or there, and read manga every once in a while.

Just like people will watch a soap opera here or there, or read a fashion magazine every once in a while.

Anime doesn`t take up much time on normal tv - sure, you can get an anime only channel via satellite or cable, but you can also get a 24 hour golf channel. It doesn`t mean everyone watches it.
On normal broadcast channels, series have one episode a week. Little little kiddie shows aren`t even usually on every day. It really is a very tiny percentage of programming, and anime "fans" are really a very very small percentage of the population. It`s silly to assume that fringe culture is mainstream - like cosplay, otaku, etc.

I`d say that anime and manga are no more popular that any other type of media.

Some interesting satistics:

weekly manga sales are higher in Japan then yearly comic sales (of any kind) in america.

In Japan they sell enough Gundam models for every single person in the country to have at least 3.

I know you live in Japan so you probably know more then I do,
but does it make sence that they make so many with such high quality if it didnt sell well?

There are probably just a few that are really popular that everyone has seen and the rest still sell incredibly well but just among otaku, who probably try to keep there obsessions secret.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by ILOVEJAPAN

Some interesting satistics:

weekly manga sales are higher in Japan then yearly comic sales (of any kind) in america.

In Japan they sell enough Gundam models for every single person in the country to have at least 3.

I know you live in Japan so you probably know more then I do,
but does it make sence that they make so many with such high quality if it didnt sell well?

There are probably just a few that are really popular that everyone has seen and the rest still sell incredibly well but just among otaku, who probably try to keep there obsessions secret.

Manga sell. But they fit into the niche of magazines and newspapers elsewhere. Most people read a manga series or two. That does not equate being a rabid fan.

Outside of Japan, it seems that reading manga or watching anime automatically marks you as a fan. It has a special sort of feeling. In Japan, however, it`s just another type of *media* and not a *genre* as it has become elsewhere.

For example - let`s say we have person A. Person A likes, hmm... Let`s say, golf.
Person A plays golf on the weekends. They subscribe to a golfing magazine, and watch famous golfing events on tv. They also read a golfing manga.

Manga is just another form of media. They would NEVER call themselves an anime or manga fan - because they`re not reading it *because* it`s a manga, but because it is about something they`re interested in.

If you`re interested in something, and subscribe to a magazine that covers that topic.... Does that make you a "Magazine Fan"? No - because the magazine is just a media. You`re a fan of the *content*.
It works the same way with manga. It`s JUST a media type.

Gunpura have been sold for 20 some years. Most people who make them make TONS of them. Sometimes 100s. How many have been sold over a period of 20 years really has nothing to do with much of anything... Especially when those that have sold the most in the past have been the 500 yen, aimed at gradeschooler types.

I never said that there is NO popularity to anime and manga. What I said was that it is JUST another media type.

[ILOVEJAPAN]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

For example - let`s say we have person A. Person A likes, hmm... Let`s say, golf.
Person A plays golf on the weekends. They subscribe to a golfing magazine, and watch famous golfing events on tv. They also read a golfing manga.

Ok we are pretty much on the same page. I didnt mean to say that it was EXTREMLEY popular and everyone in Japan is obbesessed.

All I meant to say it that random people who arent necasarily otaku will just casualy pick up a manga here and there (which now I understand is pretty much what you are trying to say too)

But I do think just that fact alone makes it HUGE in Japan (compared to the rest of the world).

I dont think there is any other country where random people will just pick up some manga casualy if they are not otaku.

Although, I do still beleive there is alot more otaku in Japan then anywhere else (but I dont think its like half the population or somthing absurd like that). They have actualy had funearals in Japan for manga charaters. There has got to be at least a little more otaku in Japan.

Now are we in agreement?