What do you think?
Rate this book
Anime Explosion! The What? Why? and Wow! of Japanese Animation
Suddenly anime is . . . exploding. But where did Japanese animation come from, and what does it all mean? Written for fans, culture watchers, and perplexed outsiders, this is an engaging tour of the anime megaverse, from older arts and manga traditions to the works of modern directors like Miyazaki and Otomo. Read about anime standbys like giant robots, samurai, furry beasts, high school heroines, and gay/girl/fanboy love—even war and reincarnation, plus all of anime’s major themes, styles, and conventions. At the end of the book are essays on 15 of fandom’s favorite anime, including Evangelion, Esca-flowne, Sailor Moon, and Patlabor.
"A good resource and guide to the foundation, historical development and overall themes in Japanese animation and serves as an excellent reference source whether you are an established fan or a person who wants to learn about the cultural aspects of this specific and increasingly popular genre. It is an easy yet thorough read on the myriad of societal aspects and cultural references Japanese animation holds." -- Active Anime
"A good resource and guide to the foundation, historical development and overall themes in Japanese animation and serves as an excellent reference source whether you are an established fan or a person who wants to learn about the cultural aspects of this specific and increasingly popular genre. It is an easy yet thorough read on the myriad of societal aspects and cultural references Japanese animation holds." -- Active Anime
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2002
14 people are currently reading
220 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Drazen
3 books2 followersAn interest in Japanese comics and animation has led to decades as an independent scholar, author, lecturer and researcher. Appearances include MC at the 2006 Smithsonian Anime Marathon.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 7, 2014
Well researched and written thesis on anime history and fandom. Highly recommend for the intellectual reader.
November 9, 2023
My library was discarding this book so I thought I'd grab it and take a look at what people were saying about anime back in 2002. What particularly interested me was seeing that there was a chapter on gay and pseudo-gay themes in anime. Unfortunately, this chapter was pretty uninspired and didn't offer any major insights. It seemed more interested in disproving gay interpretations of series based on a very narrow view of what "counts" as being gay, and ignored some pivotal series that were big in the genre at the time (Gravitation and Oniisama E, to name a couple) in favour of H-anime. I won't complain too much about something that was written 20 years ago, but it seems at worst the author here wanted to air his own dissenting opinions, or at best was just completely out of his depth.
That being said, the other chapters had some interesting things to say, especially regarding the nature of anime to be made for a Japanese audience, filled with references that Westerners might not pick up on. I also did find it amusing how the author tried to explain hentai plots as if they were some kind of high-art story.
I wouldn't say this book is particularly relevant today, although it was a good look at what kind of titles were available back in 2002 and what general thoughts and interpretations of anime were at the time. It would be interesting to see what the author has to say on these same topics given the evolution of the anime industry in the 21 years since publication.
Edit- I initially skipped the chapter on Revolutionary Girl Utena as I only had a few more episodes left to complete the series and didn't want to be spoiled. I know I said I wouldn't harp on something written 20 years ago, but aside from having blatant factual errors in this essay, it's just about the most sexist interpretation of Utena that I could imagine. I'm a bit flabbergasted someone was able to watch the show and come to that conclusion.
That being said, the other chapters had some interesting things to say, especially regarding the nature of anime to be made for a Japanese audience, filled with references that Westerners might not pick up on. I also did find it amusing how the author tried to explain hentai plots as if they were some kind of high-art story.
I wouldn't say this book is particularly relevant today, although it was a good look at what kind of titles were available back in 2002 and what general thoughts and interpretations of anime were at the time. It would be interesting to see what the author has to say on these same topics given the evolution of the anime industry in the 21 years since publication.
Edit- I initially skipped the chapter on Revolutionary Girl Utena as I only had a few more episodes left to complete the series and didn't want to be spoiled. I know I said I wouldn't harp on something written 20 years ago, but aside from having blatant factual errors in this essay, it's just about the most sexist interpretation of Utena that I could imagine. I'm a bit flabbergasted someone was able to watch the show and come to that conclusion.
November 21, 2021
Japanese anime is a BIG subject. This book tries to hit important areas in a logical manner.
You will learn about various Japanese influences and just how much you have missed. As an American, I enjoy Anime a lot. I have always realized that there are many cultural references that I will miss and never understand. This book illustrates some of them.
If you want to get a feel for just how big of an area of research anime is, read the book.
I tackled a chapter at a time with long breaks between each. This is not a book that you can speed read. Plan on a long journey to get through it.
You will learn about various Japanese influences and just how much you have missed. As an American, I enjoy Anime a lot. I have always realized that there are many cultural references that I will miss and never understand. This book illustrates some of them.
If you want to get a feel for just how big of an area of research anime is, read the book.
I tackled a chapter at a time with long breaks between each. This is not a book that you can speed read. Plan on a long journey to get through it.
October 13, 2018
It is comprehensive but over-long. It is actually a good history and cultural lenses if you can get past the author's biases and pointed ability to tell and not show.
Read
January 15, 2020reading for topic
July 30, 2025
A discussion of Japanese themes and anime for the benefit of foreign anime fans.
November 24, 2014
The growth of small presses that focus on specific subject matters like TwoMorrows Publishing for comics and Stone Bridge Press for anime is plenty cause for blogging. Large publishers want the maximum possible audience for every one of their books, which doesn't fit niche interests like comics and anime (which, although are gaining in popularity, still don't share the consumer figures of something like baseball or even that most unattended sport, hockey). A small press can be profitable by focusing on these niche areas, by selectively marketing to the established base while making a small amount of their product available to mainstream markets through the larger chain stores and Amazon.
Drazen's Anime Explosion! has a gosh wow! subtitle, but the actual text, while informal, doesn't drop to the level of a uncritcal fan. Drazen states from the outset that his goal is to explore the best in anime, and try to help the reader understand where the subject matter came from in the sense of trying to elucidate the Japanese cultural waters. Gilles Poitras mined the same area with The Anime Companion: What's Japanese in Japanese Animation in a dictionary format; Drazen ellaborates on those cultural differences, and while isn't as comprehensive as Poitras, goes much further in detail by having chapters dedicated to different subject areas (e.g., folktale backgrounds, pornography influence, the Japanese mother).
This book is a nice companion volume to Frederik L. Schodt's work on Japanese manga, Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. Given that manga and anime provide two segments of the Japanese entertainment ouroboros (along with video games and, now, trading card games), it proves useful in understanding the themes that tie all of these together: teamwork, the school system, passive religion, birth and rebirth, and war.
An added bonus here is Drazen's summary of thirteen of both influential and (his) favorite films and directors, including Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Windaria, Escaflowne, and Evangelion. Like another book that I reviewed recently, all this discussion on these make you want to go out and view them, which is difficult as they aren't the kind of thing you usually find at your local video rental store. (I'm lucky--the Hollywood video here in Tenleytown actually has a huge anime collection, and one of my co-workers is a true anime afficionado.
I picked this book up because of its connections to manga, which I comment often on in my "text and vision" class on comics, and because I've been contemplating writing my next novel using the animation industry as the backdrop. Unfortunately, Drazen doesn't quite get into the behind the scenes of the industry here as much as Schodt does for manga, so I'm still on the lookout for a book that helps me understand how anime get made.
Drazen's Anime Explosion! has a gosh wow! subtitle, but the actual text, while informal, doesn't drop to the level of a uncritcal fan. Drazen states from the outset that his goal is to explore the best in anime, and try to help the reader understand where the subject matter came from in the sense of trying to elucidate the Japanese cultural waters. Gilles Poitras mined the same area with The Anime Companion: What's Japanese in Japanese Animation in a dictionary format; Drazen ellaborates on those cultural differences, and while isn't as comprehensive as Poitras, goes much further in detail by having chapters dedicated to different subject areas (e.g., folktale backgrounds, pornography influence, the Japanese mother).
This book is a nice companion volume to Frederik L. Schodt's work on Japanese manga, Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. Given that manga and anime provide two segments of the Japanese entertainment ouroboros (along with video games and, now, trading card games), it proves useful in understanding the themes that tie all of these together: teamwork, the school system, passive religion, birth and rebirth, and war.
An added bonus here is Drazen's summary of thirteen of both influential and (his) favorite films and directors, including Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Windaria, Escaflowne, and Evangelion. Like another book that I reviewed recently, all this discussion on these make you want to go out and view them, which is difficult as they aren't the kind of thing you usually find at your local video rental store. (I'm lucky--the Hollywood video here in Tenleytown actually has a huge anime collection, and one of my co-workers is a true anime afficionado.
I picked this book up because of its connections to manga, which I comment often on in my "text and vision" class on comics, and because I've been contemplating writing my next novel using the animation industry as the backdrop. Unfortunately, Drazen doesn't quite get into the behind the scenes of the industry here as much as Schodt does for manga, so I'm still on the lookout for a book that helps me understand how anime get made.
August 16, 2016
245-277pg Flying with Ghibli: The Animation of Hayao Miyazaki and Company
309-316pg The Big Pokemon Scare
354-359pg The Fullmetal Alchemist Phenomenon
Above are the only sections I read out of the book.
The Studio Ghibli section was pretty interesting, I learned some things about Hayao Miyazaki that I never knew before.
The Pokemon section was horrible. It should've had way more information than what it has in it. The description about the game is horrible as well.
The Fullmetal Alchemist section was pretty interesting as well, but I guess the only thing I learned is that it takes after Buddhism, and that the original writer of the manga was a woman who had lived on a dairy farm.
309-316pg The Big Pokemon Scare
354-359pg The Fullmetal Alchemist Phenomenon
Above are the only sections I read out of the book.
The Studio Ghibli section was pretty interesting, I learned some things about Hayao Miyazaki that I never knew before.
The Pokemon section was horrible. It should've had way more information than what it has in it. The description about the game is horrible as well.
The Fullmetal Alchemist section was pretty interesting as well, but I guess the only thing I learned is that it takes after Buddhism, and that the original writer of the manga was a woman who had lived on a dairy farm.
April 14, 2014
Read the first edition in Chinese a few years ago and thought it should be a good idea to read in original since there's a latest version available now. BTW since I'm glad I purchased Kobo ebook because there're so many hyperlinks that lead me right to online references.
Honestly I found the examples in this book a little old...it's essential for introduction to the history, industry and culture of Japanese animation, I see, but since there're new chapters and paragraphs added into this book, I was hoping to see more examples in recent works. Anyway, it's still a good one.
Honestly I found the examples in this book a little old...it's essential for introduction to the history, industry and culture of Japanese animation, I see, but since there're new chapters and paragraphs added into this book, I was hoping to see more examples in recent works. Anyway, it's still a good one.
August 9, 2016
No matter what kind of anime you like, this book will go in depth on it. This is a very well researched book by a true fan of anime. The author keeps his opinion out of his writing and cites references instead. It's a great book to pick up and read a little here and there or straight through. Part 1 of this book is all about understanding the Japanese culture through the movements of many diverse anime. Part 2 of this book goes in depth on 13 different anime including Escaflowne, a personal favorite of mine.
February 12, 2015
Anime Explosion offers an in depth look at the world of animation. It examines themes and then specific studio's works. I particularly enjoyed parts about Gainax and Clamp, the latter of which I knew little about. With the ever-expanding libraries of anime and manga out there, it's impossible to cover all the bases but this book comes close. And while it covers current trends, it's biggest strength lies in its coverage of the history and growth of the industry.
May 24, 2008
anime in western eye
May 1, 2010
Read this for my anime/pop culture in Japan class and it was really interesting information. It explained a lot of different anime plots and pointed out specific cultural references througout.
Want to read
May 5, 2010I still need this book!
March 12, 2011
Not all that useful
September 21, 2012
Excellent reference about anime, used in my own anime course curriculum.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews