Art and Culture # 57: Hollywood’s obsession with Asian Culture—And how they can’t do it!
-For the Uncensored!
It’s funny to see the world in love with Asian culture. According to project-anime.org, through Kristen Mclean and NPD Bookscan, “Last year Manga was the largest graphic novel category in the traditional U.S. trade channel, growing nearly 43% in 2020, 1.5X faster than total graphic novels, and contributing to 3/4 of adult graphic novel gains for the year.”[i]This is an unprecedented moment in the history of Manga form. It’s not an unfair statement to make. After the collective brain trust of DC and Marvel fell into woke bullshit world where everything must be a message, Manga itself rejects the American ethos of woke academia.
The act of pleasure seems to be robbed in America in 2021. But Manga refuses to bend the knee to the Western world. So, what does this mean? Rising sales are always nice and prove to be a blossoming sales for book stores alike. But the translation between manga enters with anime. The Japanese industry has always seen anime as the gateway to many popular mangas. Berserk was the anime that introduced adult themes into my world. Aside from Studio Ghibli, an adolescent fascination, has hit an all-time high.
If you’re a bookstore and you’re not selling manga and anime, especially the stuff wrapped in plastic with a Parental Advisory sticker on it, you’re going to have a tough time. But Hollywood itself has never been able to grasp the Asian aesthetic. The consequence of Hollywood’s fascination with Asian cinema and anime and manga has always been disheartening to the readers and fans alike.
Hollywood didn’t have the technology to help create movies like Alita or even Ghost in the Shell in a faithful way. But there are some translations that are a failure to all of translations Garon Tsuchyia and Nobusku Minegishi from the same name, a story about a man who hurt an old friend by accidentally killing his sister, is kidnapped, living in isolation for twenty years. When he escapes, the world has changed. He meets a young girl, who helps him discover his oppressor, develops into a sexual relationship with the young girl. Only his oppressor doesn’t do much to hide himself. He explains his plan, as he reveals that the young girl is his daughter. He asks to be killed, but he’s forced to live with the decisions he has made. It was hotly debated the Asian version would be muddled down by Spike Lee, and the studio would do a horrible job keeping the sexual innuendo toned down.
With a rating of 8.4 out of ten on IMDB[ii], and directed by Park Chan Wook, was considered a faithful adaptation of the manga. With only a budget of three million dollars, the worldwide gross was $ 15,189,934. Since 2003, the film has achieved a cult status, propelling Wook into South Korea’s visionary status.
Spike Lee’s 2013 interpretation of Old Boy was so disconcerting that Roger Ebert, even while praising it, states, “Lee restages some famous (or infamous) moments from the original, including the hammer fight, pictured here as a more elaborately choreographed scene that unfolds over two levels of a warehouse populated by criminals and ruled by a glowering boss played by Samuel L. Jackson (seemingly channeling his character from "Unbreakable"). In other cases, the film changes small details (including specific violent acts and lines of dialogue) or else jokingly acknowledges places where even it won't go (the scene in the original in which the hero devours a live octopus is thrown away by having Joe glance at one in a restaurant fishtank).”[iii]
There is always a rising tide with culture and what Art proves is that most people have waning interests. Some people actually liked Movie Bob, and they grew out of him. There are Lord of the Rings fans who read the books once a year. What the culture does prove is that is always personal, but quality is the key issue with much of Art that is specific to its time. Many don’t remember the time when the Alien franchise met with DC comics? Decent comics by the way, but that was tied with the release of Alien 4, but many comics don’t actually outlive the printed date. Unless a film comes around to make it popular again.
Most anime and manga fans are often die hard aficionados, but entertainment is what used to bring people together. Now, it doesn’t. But Anime is the last bastion of freedom of speech that the Asians will not give up. They don’t give a fuck about your safe spaces. The Japanese hate the American West for its insincere Art and the quality of storytelling that the West has given up on. And I don’t blame them. Why should the Asian culture bend to a radical lefty hate mob that will spend hours researching private information about an artist and then get them cancelled for Wrong Think or a Political difference. If the West wants to burn down Artistic merit and culture, it was doing it for a long time, but now, the failure of Art in the West proves Anime and Manga from the East will take its place. To make Art requires patience, fuck you attitudes, and fuck all to do with angry mobs who hate you and appeasing them won’t make the mobs stop.
Think about that before you decide to buy woke American comics.
[i] https://project-anime.org/category/manga-sales/.
[ii] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/.
[iii] https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/oldboy-2013.
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 19 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline (and the original text re-released in 2019), Apocalypse Soldier, The Data Chase, Selection: The First Book of the Life and Death Saga, and Blinking Eyes: The Second Book of the Life and Death Saga, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep, The City of Sand, To the Moon and Back, The Villain Lives and The Villain Lives: The Divided Pinpoint, Come Home, Young One. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Phoenix. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His next series, City of Sand is out now:https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/city-of-sand/hardcover/product-rke9jz.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. Subscribe as well so you can get my articles in your inbox every time. Every little bit helps in the war against Big Tech. Thanks for reading.