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Uhh, did it? Japan had its heyday back when Super Mario and Pokemon ruled the world, but it's in decline now. Top search keyword in Japan itself in 2014: "Fro

Uhh, did it? Japan had its heyday back when Super Mario and Pokemon ruled the world, but it's in decline now. Top search keyword in Japan itself in 2014: "Frozen" (yup, the Disney flick). #2: "Yokai Watch" (heard of it? didn't think so). I'd say Korea has a much better claim to that title these days, although aside from Gangnam Style, the hallyu hasn't made that much of a dent on the United States. http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21611039-how-really-uncool-country-became-tastemaker-asia-soap-sparkle-and-pop http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21611039-how-re...

kiyoto 12y ago
It depends on where you look. If anything, anime/manga (or anything that is categorized/miscategorized under the Otaku category) are gaining wider adoption in the West by the day, and for music, "Baby Metal" is gaining traction: babymetal.net
- hga 12y ago
  Indeed. Echoing the comments that it's being normalized in the US, look at this bog standard argument against incremental gun control, unremarkable except for the penultimate panel: http://hsgca.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/compromise_v21.png http://hsgca.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/compromise_v21.p... Where in a closeup of the girl'a head she's shown with tareme eyes and ahoge hair, the latter a clue that she's foolish in some way (so is Belldandy). The artist DK clearly understood and used this visual language. That the Japanese also like Disney flicks, or echoing jmole, stuff from Korea, is hardly remarkable.
Torgo 12y ago
Anime and manga and Japanese video games are now completely mainstreamed into American culture, to the point where often releases are done almost simultaneously in both countries. And the popularity of Frozen is not a surprise, Disney movies were popular in the 80's and 90's too. Korea is having success worldwide, but haven't really dented Japan's media presence in the USA specifically. Gangnam Style is funny because Korea has dumped tons of money and effort into penetrating the USA and mostly failed, and then a funny video by a guy with no presumed capacity for international success literally became a household name.

kiyoto 12y ago

It depends on where you look. If anything, anime/manga (or anything that is categorized/miscategorized under the Otaku category) are gaining wider adoption in the West by the day, and for music, "Baby Metal" is gaining traction: babymetal.net

hga 12y ago
Indeed. Echoing the comments that it's being normalized in the US, look at this bog standard argument against incremental gun control, unremarkable except for the penultimate panel: http://hsgca.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/compromise_v21.png http://hsgca.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/compromise_v21.p... Where in a closeup of the girl'a head she's shown with tareme eyes and ahoge hair, the latter a clue that she's foolish in some way (so is Belldandy). The artist DK clearly understood and used this visual language. That the Japanese also like Disney flicks, or echoing jmole, stuff from Korea, is hardly remarkable.

Torgo 12y ago

Anime and manga and Japanese video games are now completely mainstreamed into American culture, to the point where often releases are done almost simultaneously in both countries. And the popularity of Frozen is not a surprise, Disney movies were popular in the 80's and 90's too. Korea is having success worldwide, but haven't really dented Japan's media presence in the USA specifically. Gangnam Style is funny because Korea has dumped tons of money and effort into penetrating the USA and mostly failed, and then a funny video by a guy with no presumed capacity for international success literally became a household name.