The Fan-Oriented Work: Anime Fan Culture as Narrative in North American Media

Japanese animation, popularly referred to as ‘anime’, has recently experienced a shift in North American consumer contexts from its initial scarcity in overseas markets to its overwhelming presence online and in physical spaces. With streaming services such as Crunchyroll (an anime-specific streaming service) and Netflix’s selection of anime increasing its availability outside of Japan over the past decade, North American viewers are now able to interact with anime through heavily connected digital landscapes (Annett 6). As a result of this globalized viewership, an emergent subgenre of anime has formed, which I term “anime fan-oriented works.” In such works, North American anime fans become the target audience of North American-created material catering to anime fan cultures and experiences. Removed from the distribution cycle of anime content that originates from Japan, anime fan-oriented works divert the media flow (Leonard 299) by specifically addressing the North American anime fan through their own contexts. Using two web series as case studies: Anime Crimes Division (RocketJump, Crunchyroll, 2017-) and Neo Yokio (Netflix, Production I.G., Studio Deen, 2017-2018), I investigate the variety of approaches that the anime fan-oriented work can utilize in order to appeal to the dual media literacies of both the anime fan and North American, paying attention to the geographic, cultural, and narrative implications that help separate the anime fan-oriented work as a unique development in global media cultures