Final Research Essay: Anime (Includes Survey Analysis)

Anime is the most diverse form of media on the face of this planet. Any genre that you could possibly think of from any movie, book, television series, or even video game has at least been portrayed once or in even thousands of anime series. Anime creators have even made adaptations of the specific media they share these genres with. For example, in 1979, Nippon Animation of Japan made a fifty episode long series called “Akage no Anne” based on Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Because anime falls into so many different categories, it is intended for people of all ages and both genders, even for men and women over forty. Most ignorant young American adults fascinated by sports and other types of entertainment may overlook this vast form of media and will often think it is childish or stupid. I found quite a few of my classmates in high school and co-workers to have a similar opinion. However, many of the people that have not overlooked this amazing form of media, the actual fans of anime, are normally young adults. In my survey of sixty individuals from a various scope of the University of Michigan Dearborn Anime Club, the Animetalk forums, the Youmacon forums, and a few of my personal friends, 38 (63.3%) of them were young adults between the ages of 18 and 22. The rest were split evenly between the teenage years of 13 and 17, and adults between the ages of 23 and 39. These people in my survey also said that they most often watch anime in the Seinen (young men) demographic and were most willing to watch anime rated PG-13 and R-17+. It is also a stereotype that most people believe that only, or mostly, men watch and are fans of anime. I found in my survey that only 31 (51.7%) of the people were male, and the rest were female, making it almost an even split of the two genders. Out of these sixty people, only one was still in middle school, twelve in high school, thirty-eight in an undergraduate school in college, and three in graduate school. Fourteen of them were employed with a wages job and six of them were employed in a salary job. These results yield that anime is certainly not just for children, and most certainly not just for men. People that say otherwise usually have not even seen much or any real anime themselves and probably don’t have much proof to back up their claims.

Anime is also a very elaborate art form. It is not just strung together like any old American cartoon. Japanese animation usually consists of a more detailed and intricate style of art not seen in any other types of media other than its book form counterpart, manga. This style is reminiscent of Japan’s woodblock printing that was most prominent in the Edo Period (1603-1867) and even of paintings from Japan as far back as before the twelfth century. This style has come a long way from the prints of the Edo era and has manifested itself in many different styles since 1917, when anime came to exist with Junichi Kouchi’s “Namakura Gatana”. Two great examples of where the quality of art in anime is now are “5 Centimeters Per Second” by Shinkai Makoto and “Eden of The East” from Production I.G. and FUNimation Entertainment. The landscapes and backgrounds, along with all the objects shown in these series are highly detailed and sometimes almost photo-realistic. Animation in anime is also very fast paced, much more than in American cartoons, in action anime and other sequences of other genres of anime. “Baccano!” from Aniplex, Brains Base, and FUNimation Entertainment is one of the series of anime that shows this feature the best. It is full of many fast-paced action sequences portraying organized crime in Chicago and New York in the 1930s accompanied by some fast-paced music making it a wonderful, fast flowing work of art. The high quality voice acting in most anime series also contributes to the art of the anime along with the beauty of the Japanese language. Thirty-one out of fifty people (62%) who took the survey said they would rather watch anime with the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. All these amazing works of art shown through these anime series show that anime is an art form and not just a cartoon for mild entertainment purposes.

With anime being a very diverse form of media and art from many different genres, it comes with many intellectual and narrative themes you could find in higher-end intellectual books and movies, but also ranging from all ends of the spectrum. Anime is highly influenced by culture and history and has come to have a culture and history of its own. Some of the most prominent themes resulting from this influence are war and political rebellion, global cultural influence, philosophy and science, and culture and daily life in Japan.

Strong images of war and political rebellion can best be seen in the anime “Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch” from Bandai entertainment and CLAMP and also in its sequel, “Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch R2” from the same producers. In this series, Britannia is an unmatched Celtic super power in a slightly alternate universe of our world in the near future controlling a third of the world. The highly racist leader, Charles di Britannia, has named all countries under his control by numbers, with Japan as Area 11 with the Japanese called “elevens”. Japanese civilians of numbers trying to call themselves Japanese are often shown being beaten by Britannians living in Area 11. A Britannian youth by the name of Lelouch vi Britannia, who voluntarily stripped himself of the position of 17^th in line for the throne when his father, the emperor Charles, did nothing about his mother’s death and sister’s injuries after an attack on his home. He was sent to Japan, and later witnessed its sacking by Britannia making him vow to start a rebellion and defeat Britannia. Under the guise of a mysterious masked figure by the name of Zero, Lelouch, now 17 years old, put forth an elaborate rebellion against Britannia, eventually killing his father. Then Lelouch used the master plan of “Zero Requiem” to become the emperor himself and turn the entire world’s hatred onto him, becoming a brutal dictator over the entire world, and then having his best friend, Suzaku who opposed him throughout his rebellion, dress up as Zero and kill him in front of everyone during an honorary Britannian parade, halting all war and bringing happiness to all the people of the world. This anime series portrayed a highly developed story of a revolutionary who successfully started a rebellion and righted the wrongs of the world. Thirty-one of the people interviewed in my survey had seen this show, and eleven of them called it one of their favorite series. Twenty-two had seen the sequel, and twelve of them called it one of their favorite series.

Images of a personal rebellion against the real corrupted world of hatred and crime can be seen in the anime “Death Note” from Madhouse Studios. A senior high school student in Japan finds a notebook dropped from the Death God world into the human world outside his school. He reads the instructions in the front of the notebook and tests it out. He realizes that he can actually kill people instantly just by writing their names down in the notebook while imagining their faces. He uses this “Death Note” to eliminate criminals worldwide and all police and other forces that try to stand in his way. He believes he can become God of a new bright and idealistic world. This series shows how someone trying to change the world with initially good intentions can turn evil from having too much power and trying to play God, ultimately leading to your downfall. Forty-one of the people interviewed in my survey had seen this series, and twenty of them called it one of their favorite series.

Global cultural influence can be seen in the before mentioned “Akage no Anne”, but can also best be seen in the anime “Romeo x Juliet” from Gonzo. This is an anime based on the basic structure and plotline of Englishman William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This anime is a great cultural reference to Shakespearian times and plays through references to clothing and living styles of the time, along with plays such as Othello, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing Hamlet, and Macbeth. Othello posters are hung on walls of Neo Verona, Juliet dresses up as a male as the Red Whirlwind making a reference to the swashbuckler film The Mask of Zorro and also as Odin, her male disguise like Rosalind in As You Like It, has a character named after Conrad from Much Ado About Nothing, a guardian character named after the guard Francisco from Hamlet, and an intertwined plot of Macbeth with Lord Montague, the Duke of Neo Verona who had murdered lord Capulet to become a dictator of the lands, following what Macbeth did to King Duncan in the play Macbeth.

A fictional, although highly intricate philosophy of God and existence can be seen in the anime series, “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” from Kyoto Animation (Kyoani). In this series, an average high school girl named Haruhi Suzumiya is unknowingly God and she created the world three years ago, yet she is sixteen years old. Tim is philosophized in this anime as nonexistent or rather just a figment of the human imagination that can occur in multiple orders, be manipulated, or single periods of time that can be repeated thousands of times before continuing on the illusion of “time”. In its first run, the anime’s episodes were aired out of order to farther show that time does not matter and does not exist. Time travel has also been made possible which is shown through characters from the future interacting with the present. Scientists have made this possible by realizing time is not linear, therefore you can just insert yourself onto any page of the flipbook in the plane of “time”. Haruhi’s will is the reason for the creation of the world shown in the anime and the time travelers, aliens, and espers (psychics) that she encounters throughout the series. Twenty nine of the people that took my survey have experienced this strange philosophy, and eight of them called it one of their favorite series.

All mecha anime, such as the “Gundam” franchise of almost 30 series from Bandai and Sunrise, “Code Geass” from Bandai and CLAMP, and “Eureka Seven” show advanced technology, known as Mobile Suits in the Gundam universe, and mechs or mecha everywhere else, are giant robots used as mobile weapons configured in human form to carry massively up-scaled weapons such as handguns, rifles, and swords. In these animes, the mech is one of the greatest peaks in military technology helping to take over nations and even the world. This advanced technology portrayed in these anime series show a technical side to anime, where designers of such artwork must be very experienced with drawing up technical blueprints for elaborate machinery.

Last, but not least, anime covers a genre called “Slice of Life”, a genre associated with anime more than anything else. Slice of life is a genre of anime that shows a piece or pieces of the characters’ lives usually with multiple breaks between time periods shown in the series and not ever ending with the characters’ death, but usually with an open ending. Anime series that portray such events include “Lucky☆Star” from Kyoto animation, a series about Japanese girls in high school, “Welcom to the NHK” from Gonzo and FUNimation, a series about a Hikkomori NEET (Not involved in employment, education, or training) who never leaves his apartment, “Genshiken” from Media Blasters and Lantis, a series about a college anime club, and “REC” from SHAFT and TBS, a story about a Japanese “Salaryman” in the advertisement business. All of these anime series show a slice of their characters’ lives in Japan, and were written for Japanese audiences only, however they have become some of the most popular anime series in America. Thirty of the people in my survey had seen “Lucky☆Star” and seven of them called it one of their favorite series.

All in all, anime is one of the most elaborate forms of art in the world, along with the most diverse form of media portraying every genre known to man including intellectual themes such as political rebellion and philosophy and science, but also everyday themes shown in slice of life.

Bibliography

Akage no Anne. Nippon Animation. 7 Jan. 1979. Television.

Makoto, Shinkai, prod. 5 Centimeters per Second. CoMix Wave. 11 Feb. 2007. Television. 

Higashi no Eden. Production I.G., FUNimation Entertainment. 9 Apr. 2009. Television. 

Baccano!. Aniplex, Brains Base, FUNimation Entertainment. 26 July 2007. Television. 

Code Geass - Hangyaku no Lelouch. Sunrise, Mainichi Broadcasting, Bandai Entertainment. 6 Oct. 2006.

     Television. 

Code Geass - Hangyaku no Lelouch R2. Sunrise, CLAMP, Bandai Entertainment. 6 Apr. 2008.

     Television. 

Death Note. Madhouse Studios, Viz Media, Ashi Productions Co. Inc., VAP, Konami. 4 Oct. 2006.

     Television. 

Romeo x Juliet. Gonzo, GDH, CBC, SKY Perfect Well Think Co.,Ltd., Kadokawa Shoten, FUNimation

     Entertainment. 4 Apr. 2007. Television. 

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009). Kyoto Animation, Kadokawa Shoten. 21 May 2009. Television. 

Mobile Suit Gundam. Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment. 7 Apr. 1979. Television. 

Eureka Seven. BONES, Mainichi Broadcasting, Production Reed, Bandai Entertainment, Bang Zoom!

     Entertainment. 17 Apr. 2005. Television. 

Lucky ☆ Star. Kyoto Animation, Lantis, Kadokawa Pictures USA, Bang Zoom! Entertainment. 9 Apr.

     2007. Television.

Welcome to the NHK!. Gonzo, FUNimation Entertainment. 10 July 2006. Television. 

Genshiken. ARMS, GENCO, Lantis, KIDS STATION, Media Blasters. 10 Oct. 2004. Television. 

REC. SHAFT, TBS. 3 Feb. 2006. Television. 

Reading Response 3

Houses or homes you lived or live in can really have an impact on your life and images of old homes can help to bring back images of your childhood. Nicole Lamy shows this through her personal essay and photo journal, "Life in Motion". In the photo journal, Lamy has taken pictures of the twelve houses she used to live in growing up, all that she lived in before the age of thirteen. She has taken various images of the homes that all resemble mediocre photographs put up by real estate agents in newspapers.

In order to decorate these pictures for her article, Nicole used oils and pencils to color only parts of the black and white images of her previous homes. She didn’t intend for it to be artful, but I think that she may just misunderstand the meaning of the word art. As an art history major myself, I have seen plenty of art that may look like it took no talent or time to make, but that really isn’t the case most of the time. The various photographs of these many older style homes pasted into an accordion book really have an aesthetic feel to them. There was a real meaningful effect caused by the color added to few parts in each picture. The color could possibly show how Lamy’s memories of her childhood are fragmented or how some things in her childhood were more important than others. Also, the uncolored parts could be showing memories fading away with the color being the next thing to go. This makes sense if you look at the last image of her mother and brother’s current home, Nicole’s last childhood home, which was colored by her brother completely with everything in color. This method of using the mediums of photography, oil, and pencils to convey such meaning was a very artistic accomplishment in my opinion.

In the essay that accompanies the pictures, Nicole Lamy describes the trip she took with her father to visit her previous homes and memories of her childhood that correspond to the photos. Most of the things that she remembered seemed to be pleasant memories, such as playing in a cardboard box that her father turned into a house by cutting out a door and windows. That stopped after house seven which is the last house she and her parents lived together in. Then all Nicole could remember was memories of things that happened after her parents got divorced. Based on her memories, Lamy did not seem to be too troubled by all the moving her parents did, but just by the divorce of her parents.

When Nicole finally gave the accordion book with the picture of her past homes to her mother as a gift, her mother referred to the houses as all her failures. While Nicole thought of this as a pleasant gift of childhood memories of her and her mother, her mother was just reminded of bad times and failures in life. All in all, this series of photographs and essay depicted how homes of your past can remind you of pleasant and not so pleasant memories and describe your past life.

Reading Response 2

Sometimes narratives only as long as six words can tell an extensive or impacting story. In my opinion the full extent of these stories are left up to the reader’s imagination. The story “I couldn’t believe she’d shoot me.” By Howard Chaykin and “TIME MACHINE REACHES FUTURE!!!...nobody there…” by Harry Harrison, both containing the entire narrative in their titles, can really tell an imaginative story if left up to the reader. For example, the first one could have a surrounding story of a man’s lover shooting him for something he had done wrong, or for a wrongful purpose on the female lover’s part. And in the second one, a man or woman could have taken a time machine to the future only to find out that at that point in time the world was already a post-apocalyptic wasteland. A story with the words “To save humankind he died again.” By Ben Bova could entail something of a martyr figure of a human dying to save humankind from the sins of the world such as Jesus Christ did. These stories all show how short narratives can really have a deeper meaning than just the few words that you see on the paper.

Another type of short narrative exists in FOUND magazine created by Davy Rothart and Jason Bitner. They created a magazine that contains short narratives, lists, and other organizations of words that have been randomly discovered from all over the place. “Stupid, Stupid, and Stupid” by Jarrod, is a poem from a handmade poetry book made by five year olds. It goes “Stupid, stupid, and Stupid decided to destroy the world. They took a big bomb And threw it up in the air. It came on them. They got killed. The end.” This story, even though created by a five-year-old, could describe a deeper meaning of foolish humans creating and using nuclear weapons, eventually destroying the entire world on accident. These short narratives also show how small stories such as these can have an impacting meaning, even if only written by a five-year-old.

Also, implied stories, or stories with deeper meanings can be found in pictures that contain little or no words as well. A Polaroid snapshot called “SCIENCE” that was found as well shows a girl sleeping on top of her science binder and homework while a frilly appendage covers the middle of the photo. It appears to be some type of alien specimen or deadly plant. The photo could show some sort of story where a girl has fallen asleep while doing her boring science homework and now is about to be punished for it by a being of science.

In “FAMILY”, a comic strip on the cover of “The New Yorker” from November 27th, 2006, shows both pictures and words used together to show a short narrative. A punk teenage girl leaves her family thanksgiving dinner because they would not make the food the way she liked it. She goes and hangs out with her friends talking about how someone was “emo” and then sitting down at a small restaurant with her friends talking about being thankful that there’s no slavery anymore. I think that this story has a deeper moral meaning of how families don’t really stay and eat together on Thanksgiving or any other given day. It shows how the normal traditions of family get-togethers are not really as present as they were in the past.

All in all, narrative stories can be explained in only six words or one picture, or both, and still have a full developed meaning, at least to the reader’s imagination.

Academic Article Review

Academic Article Summaries: Anime as a Cross-Cultural Communication in Itself, Through Media, and Through the Japanese Language

Anime, or Japanese animation, shows a lot of Japanese history, folklore, traditions, and religion. When these videos or television programs are viewed by anime fans and other viewers that are not Japanese, or not from or living in Japan, they can become a way of these foreigners to learn and experience Japanese culture. The article “Cartoons from another planet: Japanese animation as a cross-cultural communication” by Shinobu Price really illustrates what the title suggests, and shows how that anime can really be a cross-cultural communication between Japan and many western countries, primarily the United States of America.

Anime is not a cartoon, like western stories that are animated by Disney; it is not full of children-oriented fairy tales about princesses and knights in shining armor with happily ever after endings of endless romance. There is a handful of anime that follow that guideline slightly, but in a very different style. However, there are tons of anime geared towards mostly adults that don’t always have happy endings, and may include the princess being a flesh-craving cyborg and devouring the prince who was willing to die for his code of honor. Most Americans may think that anime is either characterized by characters like Pikachu or school girls in sailor outfits with big boobs and eyes. However, anime is usually a lot edgier, fast-paced, and violent. Although, not all anime, or Japanimation, is geared towards older generations of viewers. It also appeals to many younger viewers of all ages. In actuality, there is not a single literary or cinematic genre that is not represented in anime form. Along with fairy tale fantasies, cyber- and steampunk mythologies, romantic comedies, and classic sci-fi, anime also includes violent pornography, sports dramas, and everyday “slice of life” soap operas. Also, big Japanese productions of animated films, such as “Princess Mononoke”, cost less than a quarter of what Disney films cost to make, and end up making almost five times what it cost to make just at the box office. It seems that anime is, at most, geared only towards viewers under forty years of age, but that trend seems to be changing, as anime fans of the current generation are getting older.
Anime is extemely popular in the west, but many people are surprised to find out that anime is only written and animated with a Japanese audience in mind. Japanimation is full of references and depictions of Japanese culture (such as folklore, legends, history, religion, moral assumptions, and aesthetic standards), shown in many everyday and stereotypical situations and practices. These situations may include eating food such as sushi and ramen with chopsticks, wearing kimonos to a Shinto festival, and sleeping on a futon right on the tatami mat floors of their homes. Scenery such as falling petals from cherry blossom trees is also seen a lot in anime to show either that it is springtime, or that someone is going to die, going with the symbolism that cherry blossoms only bloom for about three days out of the year, which could mean death in a similar amount of time. One other thing seen in anime are male characters getting a nosebleed when they see a beautiful or sexy girl.

This article by Shinobu Price truly shows how anime is its own unique form of media and entertainment through its vast expanse of every typical genre, and hundreds of more super deformed anime-only genres. Price also explained how anime is a cross-cultural communication from Japan to the west through the many Japanese traditions, stereotypes, and events portrayed in the “Japanimated” television and movies geared towards Japan, that are viewed in large numbers by many people of the western countries. This article was published in Spring of 2001, and is now almost eight years old. Based on newer anime that I have seen since this article was written, certain genres of anime (mostly comedy or parody animes) have brought some American culture to the table in the form of American exchange students as characters, such as Patricia Martin from the anime “Lucky ☆ Star”. This also comes in the form of a collaborative American defense agent Ken McGwire who helps a Japanese defense team in the anime “Zettai Karen Children”.

Anime can be viewed in several different ways by non-Japanese speaking viewers. It can be viewed as an internet downloaded video file “fansub” by amateur translators who write and time subtitles for anime airing only in Japan at the time, with official subtitles on DVD or video released by a company that has licensed the anime, or with an official English (or other translated language) “dub” or audio track on DVD or video released by a company that has licensed the anime. In the article “Anime Fans, DVDs, and the Authentic Text”, by Laurie Cubbison, she explains how “otaku”, the self proclaimed geeks of the anime world prefer to watch their anime, how typical viewers prefer to watch it, and what the media companies do to satisfy both groups of viewers.

Otaku prefer to watch their anime uncut from the opening to end credits, unedited and uncensored in its complete original form, not localized with US cultural elements (That’s what cartoons are for, this is anime.), not rewritten to meet US’s political correctness, not inserting use of vulgar speech into the dialogue of a non-vulgar character, not inserting 21st century cultural references in shows set in the 70s, properly timed subtitles, properly translated subtitles, and good voice acting and direction. These otaku are mostly rooted in the group that prefers subtitles and Japanese audio as well. Viewers preferring voice dubbing in their own language are mostly typical, casual viewers who gained the preference by watching anime on television dubs. In the VHS era, the market was split by these two mediums, and VHS’s were released with only one audio track and one video track so only one of the two ways to watch the shows was able to be accomplished with a single VHS. This led the media companies to not be able to satisfy all of their viewers. Now in the age of DVDs, this problem has mostly been solved as all formats are usually available on DVDs of licensed anime. Because of this advancement in technology, most companies are able to meet all of the demands of each group of anime viewers, substantially increasing their sales and satisfaction of the viewers.

I personally prefer watching anime in Japanese with English subtitles, and I am completely satisfied with every anime DVD that I have picked up in America, as they seem to all have this format, and follow exactly, or come very close to the otaku guidelines explained above.

Recently anime and Japanese video games (mostly anime based) has led avid fans to want to learn the Japanese language to the point of becoming fluent in order to understand and play the media without having to use translations. Natsuki Fukunaga, in her article “Those anime students”: Foreign language literacy development through Japanese popular culture”, explains how learning Japanese can not only allow anime fans to enjoy anime in its completely raw and original version, but as a smart choice as a second language for business-minded college students.

Overall, the article shows that the repetitive watching of anime in Japanese language with English subtitles really increases one’s Japanese dictionary and enables the viewer to become aware of linguistic aspects, male and female speech endings, tone of voice, formal and plain forms of speech, slang, and ability to tell the difference between good and bad translation. Most of these aspects of the language are taught in entry level Japanese classes. This reasoning has led students to create their own fansubs of anime and even go on to study, or even major in Japanese to become fluent in the language, use it to watch anime and play Japanese video games, and even go on to use it in their future careers.

I have to completely agree with this article, as I have seen around eighty days or roughly 1920 hours (that’s almost 5760 episodes )of a little under two hundred series, and have been able to use that constant watching of anime to understand well over a hundred Japanese words, almost completely able to understand Japanese honorifics, and also have a general understanding of their sentence structure and use of their form of the word that means “to be” and its many different familiarity variations. I can also tell when a fansubber’s translation is no good, or close to dead on, by watching a good amount of quality subs and seeing a small amount of lower quality subs and being able to tell a significant difference just by picking a part a few common sentences that have obviously been translated wrong.

All in all, these three articles show the cross cultural communication shown in the first article through Japanese culture represented in anime, which can be viewed due to the formats made available that are discussed in the second article, primarily English subtitles with Japanese audio, which is explained in the third article to strengthen one’s Japanese-speaking ability overall creating an even more extensive cross cultural communication through the most important thing in culture, language.

Academic Article Review Rough Copy

Anime, or Japanese animation, shows a lot of Japanese history, folklore, traditions, and religion. When these videos or television programs are viewed by anime fans and other viewers that are not Japanese, or not from or living in Japan, they can become a way of these foreigners to learn and experience Japanese culture. The article “Cartoons from another planet: Japanese animation as a cross-cultural communication” by Shinobu Price really illustrates what the title suggests, and shows how that anime can really be a cross-cultural communication between Japan and many western countries, primarily the United States of America. Anime is not a cartoon, like western stories that are animated by Disney; it is not full of children-oriented fairy tales about princesses and knights in shining armor with happily ever after endings of endless romance. There is a handful of anime that follow that guideline slightly, but in a very different style. However, there are tons of anime geared towards mostly adults that don’t always have happy endings, and may include the princess being a flesh-craving cyborg and devouring the prince who was willing to die for his code of honor. Most Americans may think that anime is either characterized by characters like Pikachu or school girls in sailor outfits with big boobs and eyes. However, anime is usually a lot edgier, fast-paced, and violent.

I will go on to explain more about this article talking about a bit more about misconceptions of anime and more about how cultural exchange takes place in the medium of anime and what exactly is exchanged.

I will also summarize an article on Anime Fans and DVDs, and an article on "anime students" and literacy through Japanese culture which both relate directly to the first article on cross-cultural exchange through anime.

Reading Response 1

In the reading, “The Hook: An Urban Legend”, by David Emery, the author describes an urban legend about a teenage boy and girl that go out in the boy’s car to Lover’s Lane to make out. They parked the car at the Lover’s Lane and began to kiss each other after turning the radio on to listen to some music to lighten the mood. After a while, the music is interrupted by an emergency broadcast of an alert that a man with a hook for a right hand had escaped from prison and was on the loose in the area. The girl responded to the alert in a scared manner and asked the boy to take her home. The boy locked all the car doors and assured that the girl would be safe and tried to kiss her again. She refused, still being scared of the broadcast, and pleaded that the boy should take her home. The boy agreed that time and sped off in anger. When the boy dropped the girl off at her house, the girl shrieked in horror to see a hook on the handle of the car door.

David then went on to explain that the urban legend of “The Hook” was a moral story to show that sex was an improper activity for children of that age and that people engaged in it would be punished. Followers of Sigmund Freud suggested that the story was an example of sexual imagery. The boy wanted to get his “hooks” into the girl and his “conscience”, or the voices on the radio, told him to “pull away” or speed off from the site, and was “castrated”, symbolized by the tearing off of the escapee’s hook.

I personally do not agree with the morals of this story. I think that everyone that wants to engage in sexual activity before or after marriage, as long as they are one-hundred percent sure that they want to and follow correct procedures of protection, should be able to do so without having to worry about being punished for it. However, this story could be used as a good lesson for people with such morals.

Research Topic Proposal

Research Topic Proposal & Survey Questions

Topic: Anime

Anime is a very popular form of entertainment in America, Japan, and the rest of the world. With this research paper, I intend to explain the cultural and historical influence on anime, and its influence on the economy and culture.
Some topics that I intend to use for my explanation:

ART
WAR & POLITICAL REBELLION
GLOBAL CULTURAL INFLUENCE
PHILOSOPHY & SCIENCE
CULTURE & DAILY LIFE
ANIME FANDOM
FANSUBS
MUSICS & MUSIC PRODUCTION
ANIME MEDIA & MERCHANDISE

Along with that explanation, I wish to find out several things in regards to anime, including popularity and reception of certain genres of anime, anime games, and Japanese music associated with anime, popularity of mainstream series and games (series and games that are mostly popular in the U.S. and some that are popular in Japan, that have mainstream popularity in the states.), what subject matter anime viewers are willing to watch (by rating G, PG, PG-13, R+, Rx), anime viewers’ preference to watching anime in English dubs or Japanese audio with English subtitles, and the amount of anime that anime viewers have seen, are watching, and are planning to watch, and possibly several other things.
Survey Questions:

I plan to survey the University of Michigan Dearborn Anime Club, several members of AnimeTalk.com, and several members of deviantART.com, which are all communities/groups of people that are heavily influenced or based on Anime. I also intend to use statistics from MyAnimeList.net to show worldwide popularity of series, genres, and other statistics including amount of Anime viewed by individual members and worldwide.
I will mostly be looking for answers where the participants being surveyed will either pick answers from a list I have provided or titles and genres of Anime that they will write down based on my questions.
I will use this data to fulfill the above purpose in regards with what I want to find out for my research.
The questions will probably be grouped onto several sheets of paper, one for each subject being addressed (popularity, subject matter, dubs vs. subs, amount viewed).
I expect that these surveys should take no longer than a half-hour to complete.

Possible Survey Questions:

Popularity of Genre:

GENRES: Action, Adventure, Cars, Comedy, Dementia, Demons, Mystery, Drama, Ecchi, Fantasy, Game, Hentai, Historical, Horror, Kids, Magic, Martial Arts, Mecha, Music, Parody, Samurai, Romance, School, Sci-Fi, Shoujo, Shoujo Ai, Shounen, Shounen Ai, Space, Sports, Super Power, Vampire, Yaoi, Yuri, Harem, Slice of Life, Supernatural, Military, Police, Psychological, Thriller, Seinen, Josei

What are your five favorite Anime genres?
What are your five least favorite Anime genres?
Do you prefer the subgenre Cyberpunk or Steampunk?
What are your five favorite Anime Game genres?

Or

On a scale of 1-10, how much do you like each genre, 1 being not at all, 10 being very much.

Popularity of Demographics:

DEMOGRAPHICS: Shojo, Shonen, Seinen, Josei, Kodomo

What demographic is the majority of the anime you watch from?
What demographic is the least of the anime you watch from?

Willingness to Watch:

RATINGS: G (All Ages), PG (Children), PG-13 (Teens 13 and Older), R-17+ (Violence & Profanity), R+ (Mild Nudity), Rx (Hentai)

For each rating, show how willing you are to watch each one on a scale of 1-10, 1 being not willing at all to watch, and 10 being extremely willing to watch.

Popularity of Mainstream Series:

SERIES: Death Note, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, Code Geass – Hangyaku no Lelouch, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Elfen Lied, Naruto: Shippuuden, Code Geass – Hangyaku no Lelouch R2, Ouran High School Host Club, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Spirited Away, Lucky Star, Hellsing, Full Metal Panic!, Chobits, Fate/Stay Night, Soul Eater, Samurai Champloo, Clanad, Claymore, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Shakugan no Shana, Vampire Knight, Princess Mononoke, Darker than BLACK – Kuro no Keiyakusha, Furi Kuri

Which of these series have you seen? Rate each one on a scale of 1-10, 1 being unwatchable, and 10 being masterpiece.

English Dubs vs. Japanese Audio w/ English Subs:

Do you prefer English Dubs or Japanese Audio with English Subtitles?
Are there some series that you prefer watching in the audio opposite of your preference? List them.