Academic literature on the topic 'Video game manga'

This essay examines an alternative eco-familial reading of Mamoru Hosoda’s manga film, Wolf Children (2012) through an analysis of Japanese extinction anxieties further exacerbated by 3/11. By reading the film through a minor history of the extinction of the Honshu wolf as a metaphor for 3/11, I argue that an examination of the degradation of Japanese preindustrial “stem family” and the fabulative expression of species cooperation and hybridity can more effectively be framed by the popular Japanese imaginary as a lupine apocalypse. In a reading of Deleuze and Guattari on becoming-animal, the omnipresence of lupine loss in the institutions of the home, work, and schools of contemporary Japan, interrogated in many manga, anime, and video game series like Wolf Children, further reveals the ambivalence of post-3/11 artists as they approach family and the State in seeking out more nonhuman depictions of Japan. In this reading of becoming-wolf, Hosoda’s resituates the family/fairy-tale film as a complex critique of the millennial revival of a nuclear Japan in the age of economic and environmental precarity and collapse. I hope to explore the nuances and contradictions of Hosoda’s recapitulation of family through a celebration of Deleuzo-Guattarian pack affects and an introduction of the possibilities of “making kin,” as Donna Haraway explains, at the ends of the Anthropocene.

2019 marked a significant date for the circulation of Japanese popular culture in Spain. Manga Barcelona, the multitudinous event formerly known as “Saló del Manga”, reached its 25th edition. A quarter of a century has passed since its modest beginning as a meetup that brought together around a thousand enthusiasts of manga, anime, and video games at the Estació de França in Barcelona. At twenty-five years, the most relevant event for Japanese popular culture in the country is [...]

Kawamura Takeshi's play, set in a “for real” amusement park, explores the impulses to violence present in manga (comics), films, video games, and on the internet. According to Kawamura, this is “a new Japan where citizens will have to learn to defend themselves.” Act II is published in its entirety.

Purpose Multiple studies have illustrated that the needs of various users seeking descriptive bibliographic data for pop culture resources (e.g. manga, anime, video games) have not been properly met by cultural heritage institutions and traditional models. With a focus on manga as the central resource, the purpose of this paper is to address these issues to better meet user needs. Design/methodology/approach Based on an analysis of existing bibliographic metadata, this paper proposes a unique bibliographic hierarchy for manga that is also extendable to other pop culture sources. To better meet user requirements of descriptive data, an aggregation-based approach relying on the Object Reuse and Exchange-Open Archives Initiative (OAI-ORE) model utilized existing, fan-created data on the web. Findings The proposed hierarchy is better able to portray multiple entities of manga as they exist across data providers compared to existing models, while the utilization of OAI-ORE-based aggregation to build and provide bibliographic metadata for said hierarchy resulted in levels of description that more adequately meet user demands. Originality/value Though studies have proposed alternative models for resources like games or comics, manga has remained unexamined. As manga is a major component of many popular multimedia franchises, a focus here with the intention while building the model to support other resource types provides a foundation for future work seeking to incorporate these resources.

A Review of: McKechnie, Lynne (E.F.). “ ‘Spiderman is not for Babies’ (Peter, 4 Years): The ‘Boys and Reading Problem’ from the Perspective of the Boys Themselves.” The Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science 30.1/2 (2006): 57-67. Objective – This study looks at what constitutes legitimate reading material for boys and how this material is defined in light of assessed gender differences in reading, and is part of a larger, ongoing research project on the role of public libraries in the development of youth as readers. Design – Semi-structured, qualitative interviews and book inventories. Setting – The research originated from the MLIS 566 (Literature for Children and Young Adults) class at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. Subjects – Forty-three boys, ages four through twelve, were interviewed. Most of the boys lived in Ontario, although a few came from other Canadian provinces. Methods – Library school students who were registered in a Literature for Children and Young Adults class interviewed children and young adults about their reading and information practice as part of a “Book Ownership Case Study” assignment. The researcher also interviewed children and young adults, for a total of 137 case studies. For the purpose of this article, a data subset for the 43 boys included in the larger project was analyzed. The boys ranged in age from four to twelve years. The mean age was eight and the median age was nine. The theoretical perspective of reader response theory was used to situate the study. This theory has the relationship between the text and the reader as its focus, and it suggests that to understand the reading habits of boys, there needs to be recognition that the experts about their reading are the boys themselves. The interviews, which explored reading preferences and practices, were qualitative, semi-structured, and took thirty minutes to complete. In addition to the interview, each boy’s personal book and information material collection was inventoried. The researcher used a grounded theory approach to analyze the inventory and interview data to pull out themes related to the research questions. Grounded theory “uses a prescribed set of procedures for analyzing data and constructing a theoretical model” from the data (Leedy and Ormrod 154). Main Results – The collection inventories revealed that all 43 study participants had personal collections of reading materials. The collections ranged from eight volumes to 398 volumes. There was a mean volume total of 108 and a median of 98 books per boy. In addition to books, other materials were in the collections. Video recordings were owned by 36 (83.7%) of the boys, 28 (65.1%) of participants had computer software, 28 (65.1%) owned audio recordings, and 21 (48.8%) of the collections also included magazines. In the interview data analysis, a number of themes were revealed. All of the boys except one owned fiction. Some genres appeared frequently and were different than the ones found in the inventories taken of the girls in the larger study. Genres in the boys’ collections included fantasy, science fiction, sports stories, and humorous stories. The boys also discussed genres they did not enjoy: classic children’s fiction, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, love stories, and “books about groups of girls” (61). All but five boys had series books such as Animorphs, Captain Underpants, Redwall, and Magic Treehouse in their collections. All study participants except for one owned non-fiction titles. When asked what their favourite book was, many of the boys chose a non-fiction title. Holdings included subjects such as “jokes, magic, sports, survival guides, crafts, science, dictionaries, maps, nature, and dinosaurs” (62). In addition to books, the boys reported owning and reading a wide range of other materials. Comics, manga, magazines, pop-up and other toy books, sticker books, colouring books, puzzle books, and catalogues were among the collection inventories. Only one boy read the newspaper. Another theme that emerged from the interview data was “gaming as story” (63). The boys who read video game manuals reported reading to learn about the game, and also reading to experience the game’s story. One boy’s enjoyment of the manual and the game came from the narrative found within. Various reading practices were explored in the interviews. Formats that featured non-linear reading were popular. Illustrations were important. Pragmatic reading, done to support other activities (e.g., Pokeman), was “both useful and pleasurable” (54). And finally, the issue of what counts as reading emerged from the data. Many boys discounted the reading that “they liked the best as not really being reading” (65). Some of the boys felt that reading novels constituted reading but that the reading of computer manuals or items such as science fair project books was “not really reading” (65). A distinction was made between real books and information books by the boys. Conclusions – The researcher explored what has been labelled as the “problem” of boys reading in this paper. She found that the 43 boys in this study are reading, but what they are reading has been undervalued by society and by the boys themselves. Collection inventories found a large number of non-fiction books, computer magazines, comic books, graphic novels, and role-playing game manuals—items not necessarily privileged by libraries, schools, or even by the boys themselves. The researcher suggests that “part of the ‘boys and reading problem’ then lies in what we count as reading” (66). By keeping what boys are actually reading in mind when it comes to collection development and library programming, children’s librarians can “play a central role in legitimizing the reading practices of boys” (66).

This paper focuses on one the subcultures existing in Japan, known as otaku. Subculture is a forum for youth community media and technology enthusiasts, like manga (Japanese comics), anime (Japanese cartoons), video games, computers, and the Internet. In the process, otaku who initially labeled negatively has contributed significantly to Japan as the most advanced industrialized country in Asia, not only in the field of culture, but also in the fields of science and economics. Using data from Japanese poem anthology (senryu) in Otaku Senryu(OS), this paper focuses on 1) distinctiveness of otaku character and; 2) factors supporting construction of otaku’s character. The method applies Riffaterre’s semiotic approach. The result obtained is that the otaku distinctiveness lies in their tendency to not be able to escape media and technology. Media and technology have transformed them into a difficult person in interacting and communicating directly with others as they have become introverted, obsessive, and also consumptive.

Supernatural creatures have always been an irreplaceable element of Japanese culture. Starting from the oldest collection of myths such as Kojiki to modern manga, anime and video games – they have always attracted the attention of people of all ages. However, modern yōkai have changed dramatically in terms of both visual representation and their role in the context of the work they appear in. The images of yōkai used in modern popular culture are re-created in various ways in order to appeal to tastes of different kinds of audience. Undoubtedly, the yōkai of today are not what they used to look like before: the element of fear may still be there, but after watching a TV series about yōkai both children and adults would most likely to refer to them as kawaī not kowai. To explain these changes, the author will present the yōkai image re-creation process taking place in Japanese animation on the example of the Yo-kai Watch anime TV series (the original Japanese TV series), the influence of which can be seen in modern contemporary Japanese culture.

This article examines the development of the media franchise Mahō shōjo Madoka magika/Puella Magi Madoka Magica from the perspective of the growth of character media ecologies. Originating as a 2011 anime series, Madoka Magica presented a critically acclaimed narrative featuring a dark, traumatic take on the magical girl genre of media. Outside this narrative context, however, Madoka Magica has developed into a vibrant array of media products, including manga, video games, character merchandising and cross-promotional brand marketing, with little to no reference in these products to the dark context of the chronologically prior characters. Characters who were brutally killed in one context become smiling ambassadors for convenience stores in another; the monsters fought against become cohabiting associates, if not allies, between texts. By focusing on the marketing, proliferation and malleability of the Madoka Magica characters, and the brand’s evident emphasis on the characters’ affective potential outside the narrative context of the original series, this article highlights the multiplicity of characters within the brand’s officially produced media mix. Examining the production of the brand as a totality of products becomes a staging point for future analysis into character marketing more broadly, and the divergent approaches to such marketing across a global context.

Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) organized by The Japan Foundation twice a year in July and December is an international test which aims to measure the Japanese language skill of Japanese language learners around the world. JLPT has 5 levels in which level N5 is the lowest or basic level, while N1 is the highest or proficient level which is considered on par with the Japanese native speakers. Level IV students in school year 2016/2017 who have been able to achieve JLPT level N1 are proud achievements for Japanese Literature Study Program of Brawijaya University. Therefore, this research aims to see the learning strategy of Japanese language used by students who achieved JLPT level N1 in period II of 2016. In fact, they never visit Japan to stay, study, or even travel. The learning strategies of students studied through foreign language learning strategy as revealed by Oxford (1990) are memory, cognitive, and compensation in the category of direct strategy as well as metacognitive, affective, and social strategies in the category of indirect strategy. The used research methodology is qualitative research methodology of case study through questionnaire, interview, and observation. The research shows the result that learning strategy of Japanese language used by students to achieve JLPT level N1 are memory, cognitive, metacognitive, and compensation strategies by using several medias from anime (Japanese cartoon), Japanese movie, video game, Japanese songs, and even Japanese books like manga (Japanese comic) and novel. These students seldom use affective and social strategies. It is known from their lecturer that these students are less proficient in socialization and oral production.

Quel est le lien entre de jeunes et indomptables vampires de la Nouvelle-Orléans, une créature frankensteinienne avec des ciseaux à la place des mains, Alice combattant la Reine Rouge dans un Wonderland effroyable et un ange déchu nommé Cain, version japonaise ? Ténèbres, rébellion et jeunesse semblent se rejoindre dans le même filon. L'objectif de cette thèse de littérature comparée n'est pas simplement de rappeler que les manifestations de la sous-culture Goth est toujours d'actualité mais aussi démontrer le caractère trans-médiatique et transculturel de ce que nous appelons la culture des ténèbres, dans quatre médias différents. Divisé en quatre grands chapitres, ce travail analyse l'importance du premier « vampire moderne », Dracula de Bram Stoker, dans l'émergence de la figure de l'outcast vampirique dans The Vampire Lestat de Anne Rice et Lost Souls de Poppy Z Brite. Le second chapitre étudie la créature frankensteinienne dans le film de Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands, lequel a su imposer sa propre conception tout en étant sensiblement lié à l'œuvre de Mary Shelley. Le troisième se consacre à l'analyse de la ré-imagination personnelle d'Alice in Wonderland par le concepteur American McGee dans les jeux vidéos American McGee's Alice et Alice Madness Returns. Enfin, nous proposons une étude de la série de manga Goth Cain écrit par Yuki Kaori dans un dernier chapitre
What is the link between young wild vampires in New Orleans, a frankensteinian creature with scissors for hands, Alice fighting the Red Queen in a twisted Wonderland and a japanese version of a fallen angel named Cain ? Darkness, rebellion and youth seem to converge in the same stream. The purpose of this thesis is not only to recall that Goth subculture is still fashionable but also to discuss on the dark culture transmedia and transculturalism in four different medias. Divided in four chapters, this study analyses the importance of the first « modern » vampire, Bram Stoker's Dracula's in the coming-up of the vampire outcast in Anne Rice's Vampire Lestat and Poppy Z Brite's Lost Souls. The second chapter focuses on the creature in Tim Burton's movie Edward Scissorhands which presents an original conception while dealing with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at the same time. The third chapter analyses American McGee's personal vision of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland in the video games American McGee's Alice and Alice Madness Returns. The last chapter explores Yuki Kaori's Cain Goth manga series

Himiko was a third-century ruler described only briefly by Chinese historians. In contemporary culture, she is cast as an elderly priestess, an adorable shrine attendant, or a vain sorceress. She morphs from ancient shaman in manga to ditzy gal in video games and anime. She is commodified and objectified in communities as a touchstone for local commerce and community character. Himiko is a rich resource for regional groups in need of a city mascot, beauty-contest theme, or touristic motif. She also appears in divination products and advertising to denote female power and ethnic spirituality. Himiko replaces the high priestess in tarot cards and is channeled by divination providers. This chapter explores these many reinventions of Himiko in order to track how her varied iconography encodes assumptions about gender and power.

This chapter assesses what attracts people to Japan. Using narratives, it explains how Japan is positioned in migrants' imagined cartography of global mobility. First of all, Japan is a land filled with opportunities. Japan provides economic incentives for some, and education opportunities and career alternatives for others. At times it is a way to escape oppressive circumstances in immigrants' home societies. Second, Japan has also been a place imbued with fantasy; Japan attracts those who have genuine cultural interests in the country. Rising from the ruins of war, Japan dazzled the world with its rapid advances in technology and economic power. The economic miracle drew people in to explore Japan's social and cultural practices. Since the 1990s, Japanese anime, manga, and video games have gained worldwide fandom. Thus, for people with cultural interests, Japan is not merely one destination out of many; it is exactly where they want to be.