Anime Police

How A.I. Policing Anime Piracy Could Reshape the Industry

The anime industry has long been on the horns of a dilemma: Pursue artistic innovation, or bow to commercial pressures? And the latest move by the Japanese government to combat piracy with A.I. could change anime's trajectory. With $2 million allocated to develop an A.I.-powered system that tracks and removes…
December 3, 20243 Comments
Anime Girl Psyop 2

The Anime Girl Depopulation Psyop

In recent years, the cultural exchange between Japan and the West has seen anime grow from a niche interest to a major entertainment force. However, this cultural phenomenon coincides with alarming trends in birthrates, both in Japan and in Western nations. Crazy as it sounds at first, the severity of…
November 25, 202443 Comments
How JRPGs Made Anime Mainstream in the West

How JRPGs Made Anime Mainstream in the West

Japanese roleplaying games and anime share a symbiotic relationship. And that symbiosis transformed global entertainment. While anime gave Japanese media the potential to capture international audiences, JRPGs provided the crucial delivery system for popularizing anime aesthetics and storytelling conventions in the West. Together, they established a cross-cultural phenomenon that continues…
November 15, 20249 Comments
Anime Manga Style by Year

The Rise and Fall of the Western Anime Scene

If you are reading this, it's a near certainty you've encountered Japanese animation, or anime. It's also a good bet that your introduction to the mediuam came through the Pokémon craze of the 90s, Toonami's afternoon lineup, or a Studio Ghibli film. It's hard to conceive of now, but anime…
November 14, 20248 Comments
Preaching to the Choir

Why Preaching to the Choir Isn’t the Solution

In his response to my recent post about the limitations of Christian Fiction™ A.H. Lloyd raises points on the importance of reinforcing Christian themes via content made for Christian audiences, essentially preaching to the choir. While I understand Lloyd’s concerns, his response ultimately misinterprets my critique of the Christian fiction…
November 4, 202411 Comments
Anime ONA

Original Net Animation: The Future of Anime?

Today's post is a guest essay by author JD Cowan: Anime in the ’90s was being squeezed out during Japan’s economic bubble popping, but it was still being produced in the highest quality possible. Despite the downturn, anime was still growing domestically and abroad. And it was still aiming high.…
June 12, 202413 Comments
End of Gainax

Anime Ground Zero and The End of Gainax

Despite the overwhelming evidence collected on this blog that anime, like all forms of pop culture entertainment, suffered a fatal blow in the late 1990s, some still cling to that dead art form, hoping for a miracle. Well, if a miracle were to resurrect the Japanese animation industry, the logical…
June 11, 202421 Comments
Fist of the North Star

Fist of the North Star (1986)

Let me take you back to a time before rent-seeking cargo cultists prowled the animation industry shaking down studios. When anime was drawn on cells with rich, hand-mixed paint. Before the dead-eyed, pastel times; before Ground Zero. In those bad old analog days, if you wanted to watch anime, you…
March 11, 202412 Comments
Toriyama Goku Goodbye

Beloved Cartoonist Akira Toriyama Dead at 68

Akira Toriyama, the legendary creator of global phenomenon Dragon Ball, has passed away at age 68. Akira Toriyama suffered an acute subdural hematoma, a type of bleeding near the brain, his studio said Friday. Dragon Ball is hugely popular around the world and the comic series has also spawned cartoon…
March 8, 202420 Comments