Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews is a collection of writings stretching from the late 1970's to the early 2000's by Fred Patten.
Fred Patten is a founding member of the influential anime fan group Cartoon/Fantasy Organization (C/FO). The C/FO is one of the first, if not the original, anime fan group in America. Begun in Los Angeles in 1977, the group was able to have unprecedented access to manga and anime artists and American subsidiaries of Japanese distribution companies. Fred Patten had been a long time sci-fi fan and writen for fan magazines since the 1960's. In the early 1970's he and a partner operated a comic book store that had specialized in importing foreign comics. This exposed Patten to manga and he began to connect the dots between the imports he was seeing and some TV cartoons in the 60's he was familiar with. His attempts to secure more manga for his store led to the C/FO being able to have a meet and greet with Tezuka Osamu and the Los Angeles distributor for Toei Animation. The group, borne out of the discovery of anime as a completely different format than American animation, had tapes recorded from local Japanese language public access channels. Sci-fi groups across the country had also begun trading tapes of America programs with Japanese sci-fi fans in exchange for anime recordings. Tezuka was so impressed with what appeared to be a large and dedicated fan base that he invited a number of high profile artists to California the following year to attend a convention, at which point they were overwhelmed with the number of American fans. The rep for Toei worked with C/FO to help spread the word for anime products the company was interested in selling in America, using them as a street team. Members soon began to have viewing sessions at regional comic and sci-fi cons to drum up interest and spread anime fandom. This was coupled with the broadcast of Star Blazers in America and the acknowledgement that it was of Japanese origin.
With the fandom spreading quickly the industry was sure to follow, but to the dismay of everyone involve the established licensing and distribution companies were not interested in anime. Citing it as being cartoons unsuitable for children and therefore worthless. With in 10 years of the genesis of true anime fandom companies started to distribute anime in America, many of which were begun by the fans themselves. Patten, through his friend ship with Carl Macek of Robotech fame/notoriety, was chosen to be part of Streamline Pictures. Streamline was instrumental in growing the second wave of American anime fans with English dubbed theatrical releases such as Akira and Laputa. Over the course of Patten's time in the forefront of anime fandom in America he continued to write columns and reviews for the medium in sci-fi magazines, anime fanzines and anime magazines. The book is a collection of many of those writings. In editing the books contents he tried to retain some levels of originality in them, including mistakes and misunderstandings from the beginning of America's exposure to anime and manga. Through out he adds liner notes and corrections related to each article. The book has no chronological order to it, instead the articles are arranged by subject. Anime fandom, the business of anime, artists, Japanese culture in anime and then reviews of various titles.
With out a doubt Patten can be regarded as an important and influential person in the origins and spread of American otaku culture. He has been at the forefront of the efforts to build and expand the medium in America and his work at Streamline Pictures in the 90's lead to important growth. His unprecedented access to great personalities in manga and anime allowed him some unique experiences, experiences that are difficult to have for most fans these days in the world of super exposure and commercial realization in North America. The book did much to expand my understanding of the early days of American anime fandom. From the beginnings of tape trading to importing and viewing reel to reel copies of shows. The transmigration of information and material between sci-fi groups in America and Japan, which lead to the early proliferation of anime, sparking interest in the genre by the teenage and adult sci-fi fans. While the book has some valuable information at times it becomes repetitive. Much of this is due to Patten covering the sames idea's again and again in his writings over the years as the audience expands or changes. He, understandably, feels the need to continually inform the reader of some key items. Unfortunately this causes some undue repetition in the book and by the halfway point I was beginning to be bored with the articles. Sadly the book became less important to me as this repetition continued and the articles began to move to his series reviews. The most I got out of it, which was invaluable information, was in explaining the genesis of anime and anime fandom in North America. Little gems like the disappearance of anime on TV for 10 years, with the exception of English subtitles shows on local Japanese access stations, predominantly in Hawaii.
On top of the repetition, Patten himself admits to his particular tastes in anime lending to most of his enjoyment being in the sci-fi action category. Much of his observation stems from his interest in these titles and he shed little light on the other aspects of the genre and their impact on American audiences at the time. In some cases it seems he is almost dismissing other genre's entirely or concluding that little exists outside of the sci-fi genre. He mentions an anecdote in which Tezuka implores him to help expand the knowledge of other styles of anime to the early American audience. Much of the writing also seems to be propaganda explicitly boosting the importance of the C/FO. While the group he was a part of was instrumental in laying the groundwork for anime fandom in the country, sometimes the writing seems a little dismissive of other efforts around the country.
These issues aside the book is worth the time and effort. Patten with out a doubt was lucky to find himself in the position he was in at that time, witnessing and participating in anime and manga becoming the economical force it would become at the turn of the century in America. He remained dedicated to authenticity and preservation of the mediums, even in the face of his bosses at Streamline Picture's different opinions and ideals. In realty though, even with Macek's 'butchery' of early Americanized anime titles, the work Streamline Pictures did in the late 80's and early 90's was the best way to grow the subculture and expose as many people to the medium as possible. One interesting section to note is a long and detailed comparison of Kimba the White Lion and Disney's The Lion King. It is a replication of an academic paper he was asked to present at a lecture series in Australia. In the section he spends some time fact checking Disney's claim of being ignorant to not only the TV series but to anime in general among its staff. This also pairs well with news releases from Disney later in the 90's as they tried to discredit anime as perverted and violent low brow trash while at the same time trying to define the works of Studio Ghibli as not anime.
It would be nice to see a follow up on the book, which was published in 2004, given the dramatic changes to the industry since then. The book is widely available and easy to obtain. I strongly suggest it for any enthusiast as a way to better understand the struggles that the pioneers in American anime fandom had to endure and the rewards we currently reap from those tireless efforts.
Fred Patten is a founding member of the influential anime fan group Cartoon/Fantasy Organization (C/FO). The C/FO is one of the first, if not the original, anime fan group in America. Begun in Los Angeles in 1977, the group was able to have unprecedented access to manga and anime artists and American subsidiaries of Japanese distribution companies. Fred Patten had been a long time sci-fi fan and writen for fan magazines since the 1960's. In the early 1970's he and a partner operated a comic book store that had specialized in importing foreign comics. This exposed Patten to manga and he began to connect the dots between the imports he was seeing and some TV cartoons in the 60's he was familiar with. His attempts to secure more manga for his store led to the C/FO being able to have a meet and greet with Tezuka Osamu and the Los Angeles distributor for Toei Animation. The group, borne out of the discovery of anime as a completely different format than American animation, had tapes recorded from local Japanese language public access channels. Sci-fi groups across the country had also begun trading tapes of America programs with Japanese sci-fi fans in exchange for anime recordings. Tezuka was so impressed with what appeared to be a large and dedicated fan base that he invited a number of high profile artists to California the following year to attend a convention, at which point they were overwhelmed with the number of American fans. The rep for Toei worked with C/FO to help spread the word for anime products the company was interested in selling in America, using them as a street team. Members soon began to have viewing sessions at regional comic and sci-fi cons to drum up interest and spread anime fandom. This was coupled with the broadcast of Star Blazers in America and the acknowledgement that it was of Japanese origin.
With the fandom spreading quickly the industry was sure to follow, but to the dismay of everyone involve the established licensing and distribution companies were not interested in anime. Citing it as being cartoons unsuitable for children and therefore worthless. With in 10 years of the genesis of true anime fandom companies started to distribute anime in America, many of which were begun by the fans themselves. Patten, through his friend ship with Carl Macek of Robotech fame/notoriety, was chosen to be part of Streamline Pictures. Streamline was instrumental in growing the second wave of American anime fans with English dubbed theatrical releases such as Akira and Laputa. Over the course of Patten's time in the forefront of anime fandom in America he continued to write columns and reviews for the medium in sci-fi magazines, anime fanzines and anime magazines. The book is a collection of many of those writings. In editing the books contents he tried to retain some levels of originality in them, including mistakes and misunderstandings from the beginning of America's exposure to anime and manga. Through out he adds liner notes and corrections related to each article. The book has no chronological order to it, instead the articles are arranged by subject. Anime fandom, the business of anime, artists, Japanese culture in anime and then reviews of various titles.
With out a doubt Patten can be regarded as an important and influential person in the origins and spread of American otaku culture. He has been at the forefront of the efforts to build and expand the medium in America and his work at Streamline Pictures in the 90's lead to important growth. His unprecedented access to great personalities in manga and anime allowed him some unique experiences, experiences that are difficult to have for most fans these days in the world of super exposure and commercial realization in North America. The book did much to expand my understanding of the early days of American anime fandom. From the beginnings of tape trading to importing and viewing reel to reel copies of shows. The transmigration of information and material between sci-fi groups in America and Japan, which lead to the early proliferation of anime, sparking interest in the genre by the teenage and adult sci-fi fans. While the book has some valuable information at times it becomes repetitive. Much of this is due to Patten covering the sames idea's again and again in his writings over the years as the audience expands or changes. He, understandably, feels the need to continually inform the reader of some key items. Unfortunately this causes some undue repetition in the book and by the halfway point I was beginning to be bored with the articles. Sadly the book became less important to me as this repetition continued and the articles began to move to his series reviews. The most I got out of it, which was invaluable information, was in explaining the genesis of anime and anime fandom in North America. Little gems like the disappearance of anime on TV for 10 years, with the exception of English subtitles shows on local Japanese access stations, predominantly in Hawaii.
On top of the repetition, Patten himself admits to his particular tastes in anime lending to most of his enjoyment being in the sci-fi action category. Much of his observation stems from his interest in these titles and he shed little light on the other aspects of the genre and their impact on American audiences at the time. In some cases it seems he is almost dismissing other genre's entirely or concluding that little exists outside of the sci-fi genre. He mentions an anecdote in which Tezuka implores him to help expand the knowledge of other styles of anime to the early American audience. Much of the writing also seems to be propaganda explicitly boosting the importance of the C/FO. While the group he was a part of was instrumental in laying the groundwork for anime fandom in the country, sometimes the writing seems a little dismissive of other efforts around the country.
These issues aside the book is worth the time and effort. Patten with out a doubt was lucky to find himself in the position he was in at that time, witnessing and participating in anime and manga becoming the economical force it would become at the turn of the century in America. He remained dedicated to authenticity and preservation of the mediums, even in the face of his bosses at Streamline Picture's different opinions and ideals. In realty though, even with Macek's 'butchery' of early Americanized anime titles, the work Streamline Pictures did in the late 80's and early 90's was the best way to grow the subculture and expose as many people to the medium as possible. One interesting section to note is a long and detailed comparison of Kimba the White Lion and Disney's The Lion King. It is a replication of an academic paper he was asked to present at a lecture series in Australia. In the section he spends some time fact checking Disney's claim of being ignorant to not only the TV series but to anime in general among its staff. This also pairs well with news releases from Disney later in the 90's as they tried to discredit anime as perverted and violent low brow trash while at the same time trying to define the works of Studio Ghibli as not anime.
It would be nice to see a follow up on the book, which was published in 2004, given the dramatic changes to the industry since then. The book is widely available and easy to obtain. I strongly suggest it for any enthusiast as a way to better understand the struggles that the pioneers in American anime fandom had to endure and the rewards we currently reap from those tireless efforts.
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