Anime has an outstanding outreach to audiences in earnings of nearly 9 billion dollars in 2017. This figure is four times more than the earnings in 2012 and proves that anime is becoming more mainstream than ever before. As anime is recognized globally, it is also getting recognition in the classroom at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). About 30 years in the making, UCI’s anime club, Cal Animage Epsilon, has celebrated this medium for its impact on students and friendships outside of the meetings. On May 11th of this year, the college had its first annual event for anime which was ZotCon all handled by the students and self-funded. The spring experienced Ken Provencher, a UCI instructor, proposing an anime course to the prospective Department of Film & Media Studies. Provencher’s course goes by the name of Film & Media 116 and provides “the opportunity to learn about anime from historical, social and cultural perspectives,” for the enrolled students. Just the fact that a professor wants to introduce anime as a learning scenario and a way for understanding Eastern Asian (focus on Japan) culture is astronomical. According to Ken Provencher, “’With anime becoming more mainstream entertainment for children and adults outside Japan, it’s becoming more of a way to explore transnational, or global, aspects of cinema culture.’” Let’s hope for more understanding and awareness in the anime community for other generations. For more information, go to the UCL News press release about their article of ‘Anime Planet’ below.
https://news.uci.edu/2019/05/21/anime-planet/
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