Journal Entry – Week 10

Prompt 2: I would not say that this anime is really popular in the US, but it is pretty well known, the anime Nana. It belongs in the romance and drama genre of anime, The general storyline of this anime follows behind two girls with the same name, Nana, who have completely different personalities and aesthetics, but they learn to live with each other and in this journey they pursuit love and fame. This is on the streaming platform Hulu. I think this is resonating with American teens now because since trends of Y2K have been trending, there is some inspiration from this show to people’s fashion choices. Also, because this show premiered in 2006, there were some shows in the US which have had similar character/animation styles, for example, the show 6teen has a similar theme to it, and the characters resemble each other a bit. I am not sure if it is still as popular in Japan.

What is today’s most popular (in term of audience) Japanese animated TV show in the US? What genre does it belong to? What is the general storyline? On what platform is it distributed? Why do you think it resonates with American audiences? Is it as popular in Japan?

One piece is an example of what is popular now in terms of animation from Japan. It’s broadcasted mainly on streaming platforms- rare on Television. I think it resonates well with Americans, or anyone actually- because of the appeal it gives. The style is less like what we are have- ranging from serious stylization like Marvel and Dc to something as cartoony as Looney Tunes. With what is presented in Japan in terms of Animation, we can come to an understanding that they give off this appeal for beauty.
Another reason is the morals they execute. This is a personal opinion but Japanese animation seems to be very good for the youth- as in a way it gives us a sense of reality and ideals. That’s exactly what One piece does- as well as other Japanese animations.
Its genre is action and adventure!

Yes, there are several instances of product placement in modern animated television shows. The usage of real-life brands in “The Simpsons” is one example. In one episode, for example, the protagonists visit a KFC restaurant and discuss the fast-food chain’s menu choices. The episode was chastised for its obvious product placement, but it indicates the continuous usage of this marketing approach in modern animated TV series. Social media influencers and content producers regularly collaborate with marketers to advertise items on their platforms, in addition to traditional product placement. This is frequently accomplished through sponsored content or influencer marketing campaigns, in which the influencer develops and distributes material highlighting the product to their audience.

The Most Popular Japanese Animated TV show In the US is Attack on Titan, which is the most world-demanded anime Japanese series. The genre of Attack on Titan is action-dark fantasy post-apocalyptic. The general storyline is that Titans that were no longer among them had come back to brick their kind to extinction but a young boy named Eran Jaeger who the Titans ate his entire family wanted vengeance for his parent’s death. The series is mainly on Netflix, Funimation, Crunchyroll, and many more that I’m not familiar with.

By September 2021, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” had become the most popular Japanese animated television show in the US. It belongs to the genre of action-adventure and dark fantasy. As a result of his younger sister being turned into a demon, Tanjiro becomes a demon slayer after being killed by his family. Avengeing his family, he searches for a cure for his sister. Netflix and Hulu are among the streaming services that offer the show.

The Simpsons have always been known for their subtle use of product placement, and one of the most notable examples is the incorporation of Apple products. For example, the episode “Mypods and Boomsticks,” has various Apple references, including iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks integrated into the show’s storyline. The episode even features a “Mapple Store” (Apple stores’ reference), as well as a reference to Steve Jobs (referred to as “Steve Mobbs”). It’s clear that the writers of The Simpsons are masters at product placement in their stories in a way that feels natural and entertaining.

Product placement in today’s media is used to influence younger audiences to buy and invest themselves in different brands and items. With the rise of social media, TV shows are looking now to put their products anywhere and everywhere that could possibly reach social media. An example of this is Scrub Daddy which is an abrasive cleaning sponge. A lot of their content revolves around trends and media that we see a lot on social media like TikTok. It seems a bit odd that a sponge would have a social media account as before the rise of social media, no one looked for any sort of specialized sponges. Now with social media’s popularity, simple items that we would not think about buying from a specific brand are way more popular because we see them on TV and media.

The anime “Chainsaw Man” resonated a lot with American audiences almost immediately after it came out last fall. It’s hard to categorize Chainsaw Man in any particular genre because part of its appeal is that it plays around with the audience’s expectations, but it might be most immediately recognized as an action series. The story is of a boy and his dog which is a devil who is down on his luck and is then killed, then brought back to life by his dog fusing its devil heart with his. He then joins a devil-hunting organization to defeat a massive threat called the “Gun Devil”, though very quickly the story unfolds beyond this premise. For one, this anime takes a lot of influences from American media such as film. The main characters all dress in suits inspired by “Reservoir Dogs”. The main character himself is inspired by “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. And the speed and pace of the story are very fast almost like an action movie. The manga it was adapted from was popular in both Japan and America. In anime spaces, everyone was excited about the anime adaptation and Crunchyroll announced it would be streaming it when it came out and a dub would be made a week after each episode. In general American audiences have been loving anime for a while now, but Chainsaw Man is an interesting instance of Japanese story-telling aesthetics and American story-telling aesthetics coming together.

There are several routes to boost sales in the children’s toy department. Some companies choose to make a show in conjunction with a toy manufacturer. Sometimes the toy already exists, all that’s needed to boost the toy sales is to tie it to a show.

Paw Patrol is an example of where a show is made in collaboration with a toy manufacturer. Preschool kids haven’t had a new series made for them somewhat recently, so when this opportunity was noticed, someone took advantage of it. Each dog has been slapped on as many food products as they have been slapped onto and made into toys.

Lego reported a 25% increase in sales in 2015 after the Lego Movie (2014) was released. Legos existed long before the movie, but it doesn’t hurt that the movie raised brand awareness and revitalized the Lego community after several follow up blockbusters like the Lego Batman Movie (2017) and Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019).

 So a form of using cartoons to advertise something I can remember, something that I grew up with is mainly from anime like Pokémon with video games. Yu-Gi-Oh with TCG trading card games where you would try to play the game that you see on the show. Digimon or Beyblade where they will sell merchandise like little toys that would have the characters on them. And we would help with the merchandise for these items. They made it seem like anyone can be like the main characters of these stories, so even though these shows have a main character the way they were marked, either you can have your own adventure, or just be like Ash Ketchum. There are also live-action shows like Power Rangers that were huge in the 90s where they used to sell toys and costumes. Sorry, I’m nerding out.

Rick and Morty is a very popular adult-animated cartoon. Recently, one of the episodes featured the main characters visiting a Panda Express, a popular fast-food chain found around the US. Not all product placements are as obvious as characters visiting a known restaurant. Some more subtle examples are; main characters drinking certain branded drinks in scenes, for example RuPauls Drag Race features a new alcoholic beverage every season that the drag queens exclusively drink. Branding can also be found on the clothing the actors wear, the cars people drive or even restaurants shown in the background of a scene. The list is endless.