Anime

“The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence” was one of our assigned readings. The article speaks on western youth asserting its identity through its consumption of Japanese Anime and manga. As someone who both watches and reads manga, I relate to this. I started watching anime a long time ago and I never paid because it was easy to access a free streaming site with perfectly translated high quality anime.

During school this semester I did watch some anime. I don’t really binge anime/manga anymore but I do constistantly read and watch the ones I’ve been on that are continuous. I read some One-Piece manga; I am on chapter 976 this week. A way to picture what 976 chapters of this manga is; One Piece releases 1 chapter every week and about every 3-4 weeks the author takes a week off. This logic leads me to 1220 weeks of One Piece, if you divide 1220 by the number of weeks in a year, you get roughly 24 years. Considering the first manga was released in 1997 (simple google search), makes this calculation pretty accurate. Yes, One Piece is a very long manga and Anime too. Personally I started because my cousin who passed always recommended it and got me hooked from a young age, looking at the numbers now there’s no way I’d start such a long anime that isn’t even close to it’s end yet. I do want to say I enjoy it very much or else I wouldn’t still be watching it. I watch one piece from different streaming sites for free and luckily never have issues finding a translation of the newest episode in high definition.

Convergence has brought Anime & Manga to the western world and many western watch and read it on a constistent basis, I am no different and I believe convergence actually creates a bigger platform for the creators of these Manga and Anime as there is a bigger audience and sites like crunchyroll that most likely helps the creators get a cut. Obviously some use free sites, but some will find other ways to contribute to the creators.