Manga and Anime

In the animation field today it can be extraordinarily difficult to find an artist or animation house that wasn't, at least in one way or another, shaped by Manga or anime. The stylization and complexity of movements have both eased their way into our media. Looking at the styles companies like Disney and DreamWorks use there is a distinctly Manga inspiration behind the design of the eyes, and the exaggerated ways that characters move and interact with one another. Perhaps the reason these styles are so effective for children's movies and the often outlandish plot lines of manga is the simplified form allows for a heightened suspension of disbelief. Considering the popularization of manga in Japan came post World War 2 the assumption can likely be made that a great portion of the population would be looking to escape from their own realities and experience another, one that they could easily insert themselves and leave everything else behind. The style and archetypes present in most manga lend itself greatly to this use. The main characters often being not as complex and even sometimes bland, allowing for those reading them to easily substitute themselves for the main character. This idea coupled with the accessibility of early manga, and a societal norm for both children and adults to enjoy it could explain why manga has persisted as the wildly popular medium it is. As opposed to the United States where comics are often considered something that kids read, or that "nerds" only enjoy, the normalization of manga allows for it to be a much more diverse and successful field. Another aspect which makes anime and manga perhaps more desirable than American Comics is the concept that not only a small group of Mutated or Super-humans matter, but that all people matter. In manga one of the reasons many main characters are so bland is to highlight the notion that all people have value, all people have something to offer and contribute, no matter how small or menial their lives appear to those on outside. All people have a talent and place, and we all simply need to find ours, and accept that.