Croatian anime and manga fans: an encounter with Japanese culture and language

Abstract

The intensification of the spread of Japanese media and play products has inspired academic research into transnational fan involvement with Japan as the country of origin of these media. Scholars from various fields have established a connection with anime and manga fandom and Japanese language learning. Distinguished from regular audiences by degree of investment, fans value certain competencies that better equip them to access, understand and engage with this media. This research is based on interviews with Croatian anime and manga fans and inquires into their motivation to learn the Japanese language and culture. This paper uses Susan Napier’s notion of fantasyscape to illustrate why fans move across already blurred outlines of what constitutes fans’ interest. I assert that as particularly active media consumers it is the value fans put on specific competencies, along with a cosmopolitan curiosity, that motivates anime and manga fans to expand their focus of interest. Knowledge of the Japanese language and culture facilitates understanding of texts and at the same time functions as a matter of fandom specific “subcultural capital”.

Keywords

• anime and manga
• Croatia
• fans
• fantasyscape
• transnational
• Japanese language learning