All jokes aside, after this long comment section I discovered I was wrong!

But yeah, they shouldn’t care about race relations, but race relations are going to be inextricably entwined with people no matter what, or so I’m inclined to say.

Depicting our world as we know it or knew it is more easily recognizable as Japanocentric (or Nippocentric, if you will) than completely fictive universes like Kaiba, Diary of Tortov Roddle (although the rabbit on the moon suggests otherwise), GunxSword, Last Exile, etc. High fantasy akin to Seirei no Moribito I haven’t watched much of though. Kaiba, depending on how we see the themes, may or may not be japanocentric, nor would Diary of Tortov Roddle. Actually, I don’t know what the hell to think of that show.

adoggz: AS as Hollywood flick steeped in anime as opposed to AS as anime steeped in Hollywood. There’s a fine line to the distinction, but I still don’t know which one is “correct”. Which influence is greater? – the origin or the conditioning?

blissmo: Hahaahah, that would be really awkward. I thought the sex scene was terrible, at least the moaning was fake as hell. The most hilarious part of this episode was like, around 20min or something when one the monks impales Otsuru through the roof with some pike and is like “you fuckin’ whore. THIS IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR YOUR BETRAYAL!” It was just really funny.

And I don’t think there were any original Japanese VA’s to go with this (not that that’s what you were implying or anything).

Just as a parting question, what is your opinion of of Japanocentrism in meat of manga and anime that do not offer environments so analogous to various Japanese periods, feudal or modern? For example, Berserk, which takes place in a painstakingly (I’m giving up my love for it here, aren’t I?) constructed world that closly resembles 13th century Europe?

Halcyon: Perhaps this may sound contradictory, but I’m more concerned with the means of cultural production than the ends. The “finalized product” is secondary to the places its been and mediums and hands it has transversed. But in any case, you’re right; I should go and read the doujinshi.

Hence the irreconcilable difference: imo, this is a more cultural issue than business one.

Beck was a really fun show. If you’ve got time, watch it. I ended up marathoning it since I was so drawn in.

skoll: I like the distinction between Japanocentric and Nippophilia. That’s pretty incisive in itself.

Maybe we’re running into a semantic issue. Perhaps, to an extent, catering to demographics can be considered ethnocentric (…probably not), but, again, I’m thinking of Japanocentrism as an inherently ingrained world view, both on part of author, audience and the buoyant “ether” of culture.

I should probably have posted the first part to this article, since, while things are Japanocentric, I don’t necessarily think AS deserves unmerited attention simply because he’s a black samurai. It’s more about Japanocentrism (in contrast to the Nippocentrism you demarcated) within the Western discourse on Orientalism – it’s more about learning the Western representations on which AS is based, hence the reason why I think a Japanese doujinshi “processed” via an American company (or what have you) presents a very interesting cross-cultural case.

No, AS doesn’t intend to be innocent – it doesn’t even consider authorial innocence a part of anything. As you said, it’s simply a guy drawing to his heart’s content. But that’s exactly why its unintended innocence portrays such a blatant case of pure, innocent feelings influenced by X, Y & Z. At heart, AS has no complex, bizarre metaphorical connotations. It is just a revenge story. However, the superficiality of the story is superfluous to the behind-the-scenes cultural influence – even though it’s just a revenge story doesn’t mean there’s a greater macroscopic element to it.

Call me a dirty liar but the first time I saw it I watched it for fun. Later on when I thought about Japanocentrism I thought “wow, Afro Samurai is a good case in point.” Hence.

Impz: OK OK OK. Wow, ok, now I see where I went wrong. I completely forgot to consider the position that the anime itself as a product speaks in. And so, as you put it, it speaks in the West. Maybe that’s what everyone was getting at before, whereas I was saying in my head “the clientele is irrelevant to the discourse” but not the position in which the product acts. Ok. So turns out AS is more so a Hollywood flick influenced by and based on a Japanese work than a Japanese work transmutated by an American cultural process. I couldn’t tell which force was “stronger”.

In any case there’s 3300 something words in these comments total. =p

I think that Afro Samurai is in fact more Hollywood than anything else. Despite the many Japanese influences, there is a clear articulation of the characters and the plot (revenge, conflict) that attunes to the hollywood feature films. Sex and violence, rather than stating that it is japanocentric, is more of an universe theme that attracts audiences. Much is done in fact to make it less japanocentric, yet not losing all of it in order not to lose a potential set of viewers who might buy the DVD.

I believe that many of the comments you made in the article, rather than being over-analyzing, is a way to reflect the differences of culture in anime. I am going to contradict myself by saying that the intrinsic details of the anime is inherently Japanocentric, but the overall theme is made with hollywood tendencies. Not sure if that will make any sense.

My problem with your article is not so much any specific point, as I will be entirely honest with you, I think you’re running circles around me and I don’t quite follow your logic (-cleric! Try to guess the reference), but with the concept that Afro Samurai in particular deserves exceptional attention to the concept of Japanocentrism in something that you clearly think sells itself as a hybrid work. You yourself have claimed that all anime is Japanocentric until proven otherwise, and by extension, that most anime is Japanocentric, so what sets Afro Samurai apart? The fact that the protagonist is a black ’samurai’? Irrelevent.

Correct me if I’m incorrect, but what you’re trying to claim is that Afro Samurai’s Japanocentrism, which I will agree is present (but harmless), is /especially/ biting given that it intends (and that is a key word) to be, in your own words, ‘innocent’.

My counter to that claim came in the form of underminding that presupposed ‘intent’ with the following facts:

-Afro Samurai was written and drawn in its first form by a simple man who did not know of the allegeded accusations of American historical references and furthermore would not write in such a bizzarely complex metaphor. Rather, he was writing a simple revenge piece that included what he enjoyed.

-Many of the alleged Japanocentric transgressions were added when Okazaki’s original work was alloyed with American vocal talent. By your own admission, that would make this Nippophilia, not Japanocentrism.

For the record, in #3, I was referring to Okazaki as the creator.

In other words, Afro Samurai is no more Japanocentric than Full Metal Panic (which arms the Mithril M9s, supposedly American developed, with Howa Type 89 lookalikes), Code Geass (need I say more?), and Samurai Champloo; the key intent to be ‘pure’ is missing.

However, the content of the origin is, to an extent, irrelevant. The Medium Is The Message. Yet that goes without saying that favoring form alone doesn’t do justice to ignoring content.

I think the point I’m trying to make is that by looking at the source of the adaptation, you might have a clearer understanding as to why the final finished product came out the way it was.

It could be the limitations of the source material or it could original content inserted by the production studio, but without knowing the original source you’ll never have an understanding of the entire breadth of the adaptation.

This article comes off as uneducated because you’re critiquing the uncontextualized article, not the body of work the author represents. If you’ve read the precursor to this article you may have had a deeper understanding of where I was going originally with this write-up on Afro Samurai, so sorry for assuming you haven’t. In any case I’m still not saying you’d agree with me, you having read the first part. Essentially, insofar as anime is inherently Japanocentric, it functions as a mirror. Thus looking at anime tells us more about the representations we have made about it, and so native Japanese cultural productions are, in effect, influentially and inherently in response to those Western, oriental representations because, discursively, there’s no other way to get around the regime of truth.

I’m saying, the reason why anime is Japanocentric is simple business sense. Most of the anime that’s produced comes from a Japanese source.

The old adage of “write what you know” is why having a Japanese-centric focus is inescapable and you can find examples of it in every national entertainment product.

You have to remember, firstly, these animes are being viewed by Japanese viewers first and then are licensed by international distributors.

It’s the nature of anime business, the nature of any business really to cater to your demographic.

Part of the reason why Afro Samurai (as a doujinshi) never made it into serialization is because most Japanese readers couldn’t identify with a black samurai. Japanese society, on the whole, is very homogenous with very little variation and many of the minority groups that do exist (like the Ainu for example) are vastly under-represented in Japanese productions.

Even Okinawan Japanese are not valued equally in the entertainment industry (nationally) as “Mainland” Japanese. It’s not limited to the anime industry either as mainstream television and internet content is marketed towards what the “average” Japanese consumer would buy.

I don’t think this is as much a cultural issue, as it is a financial one, imo.

I haven’t watched 2nd Barriage.
Shame. The Fujiyama Gangster Arc really brings Rokuro’s character full circle and strengthens his relationship with Revy. It’s highly recommended viewing material.

Language barriers are for marketability, so that’s why Beck is so damn good in that respect (that respect alone, perhaps…).

I’ve never seen Beck. The prospect of an anime slice-of-life series about a rock band doesn’t sound too interesting or entertaining but I have seen great reviews for it across the board. It just doesn’t really inspire me to run out and watch it. I may reconsider once I get through my current watchlist.

I was going to say how business and thus capitalism are inextricably entwined with global movements of culture and knowledge, but at this point it would seem redundan. Too late I guess.

Again, in the precursor post to this one I quoted the Afro Samurai production blog which is down now, unfortunately. On second thought, I don’t know how much validity that blog held anyway.

http://www.afrosamurai.com/blog.cfm

Yeah, it was down when I tried to check it which is why I didn’t address it in my post!

This article comes off as uneducated because you’re critiquing the uncontextualized article, not the body of work the author represents. If you’ve read the precursor to this article you may have had a deeper understanding of where I was going originally with this write-up on Afro Samurai, so sorry for assuming you haven’t. In any case I’m still not saying you’d agree with me, you having read the first part. Essentially, insofar as anime is inherently Japanocentric, it functions as a mirror. Thus looking at anime tells us more about the representations we have made about it, and so native Japanese cultural productions are, in effect, influentially and inherently in response to those Western, oriental representations because, discursively, there’s no other way to get around the regime of truth.

I haven’t watched 2nd Barriage.

Language barriers are for marketability, so that’s why Beck is so damn good in that respect (that respect alone, perhaps…).

I was going to say how business and thus capitalism are inextricably entwined with global movements of culture and knowledge, but at this point it would seem redundan. Too late I guess.

Again, in the precursor post to this one I quoted the Afro Samurai production blog which is down now, unfortunately. On second thought, I don’t know how much validity that blog held anyway.

http://www.afrosamurai.com/blog.cfm

Most anime series/ovas/movies are adapted from Japanese literary sources (manga, light novels, visual novels, etc.), produced by Japanese Studios and directed by Japanese directors largely for Japanese audiences.

The reason it’s “Japanese-centric” is because the source-material, be it print, digital or gamu, is written specifically for Japanese consumers (not international consumers).

Most US entertainment venues don’t have much “diversity” in their casting either (hence the origin of the term “token” in the entertainment industry). It’s simple business logic to cater to whatever demographic will increase your profits. If you don’t, your product will fail and your company will take a loss. At the end of the day these studios have to make money, just like you or I.

When critiquing Afro Samurai you might want to look at the original doujinshi that the series is based.

Additionally, in the Fujiyama Gangster Arc of Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage, it’s shown that the principal language the characters communicate in is English, not Japanese. The reason the language (the audio dub) is shown in Japanese (instead of English with Japanese subtitles) is specifically for the Japanese audience.

FYI: For Afro Samurai a quick search reveals the following

Production Studio is GONZO (a Japanese company)
Director is Fuminori Kizaki