The Soul of Anime: Collaborative Creativity and Japan's Media Success Story

In The Soul of Anime, Ian Condry explores the emergence of anime, Japanese animated film and television, as a global cultural phenomenon. Drawing on ethnographic research, including interviews with artists at some of Tokyo's leading animation studios--such as Madhouse, Gonzo, Aniplex, and Studio Ghibli--Condry discusses how anime's fictional characters and worlds become platforms for collaborative creativity. He argues that the global success of Japanese animation has grown out of a collective social energy that operates across industries--including those that produce film, television, manga (comic books), and toys and other licensed merchandise--and connects fans to the creators of anime. For Condry, this collective social energy is the soul of anime.

Author: Ian Condry
Publisher: Duke University Press
Published: 02/11/2013
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.10w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9780822353942
ISBN10: 0822353946
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Anthropology | Cultural & Social
- History | Asia | Japan
- Social Science | Popular Culture

About the Author

Ian Condry is Associate Professor of Comparative Media Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of Hip-Hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization, also published by Duke University Press.