Anime Fan Communities : Transcultural Flows and Frictions

"Anime fans are often seen as part a globalized entertainment system, for better or worse. They are framed as obsessive consumers, creative artists, "cultural dupes," and technological revolutionaries. Who are these anime fans, and what kinds of connections can they form across cultural difference? This book explores the world of animation fandom in East Asia and North America from its roots in the 1920s and 1930s to the online fandoms of the twenty-first century. Drawing on rarely-seen gems and popular hits alike, it provides exciting new case studies of key moments when animation's changing technologies opened new avenues for audiences to connect. These cases illustrate how anime fandom today works as a transcultural community, creating both flows and frictions between viewers of different nationalities, cultures, ethnicities, and genders"--