The Art of this Culture

The culture I chose is otaku culture. Otaku culture-especially in the west-mainly surrounds the hobbies of anime, manga, and video games, and along with it, a branched fascination with Asian (primarily Japanese) culture. So of course, this culture wouldn't even exist without the art it praises.

Anime and manga itself are Japanese animation and graphic novels, dating back to 1917. They cover a wide variety of interests, from fighting to gardening to history, fiction and nonfiction. Storyline-wise, many tend to be fairly mature, dealing with murder, ghosts, romance, war, and so on, though some are directed towards children. Animated and drawn, the style is commonly associated with an emphasis placed on the eyes-partially because of the Japanese belief that emotion and character lie in the eyes themselves. Larger eyes often used are also attribute to the Japanese culture it spawns from, partially in relation to their 'kawaii' aspects in culture.

Here is a video of some of the art from this culture. Some of my own personal favorites in the video are from Naruto, Death Note, Rurouni Kenshin, Bleach, Ghost in the Shell, Yu Yu Hakusho, Trigun, and Fullmetal Alchemist.