Anime in the third space; analysing the narrative of the most prominent Japanese anime from the perspective of cultural hybridization

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Bicharanlou Abdollah; Mehrabi Atieh

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Journal Paper

Paper Information

Journal: Culture-Communication Studies Year:2025 | Volume:26 | Issue:70 (مسلسل 102) Page(s): 143-184

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Title

Anime in the third space; analysing the narrative of the most prominent Japanese anime from the perspective of cultural hybridization

Author(s)

Bicharanlou Abdollah | Mehrabi Atieh | Issue Writer Certificate

Keywords

Anime

globalization

Hybridization

Narrative Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Japanese Anime has achieved significant economic and cultural success and, in short, has become a global phenomenon. Except for the year 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic affected all areas of life, including the production and distribution of cultural products, the Anime industry has been growing steadily since 2010, setting new records each year. However, neither Westernization nor de-identification led to Anime reaching such a status. Even today, Anime is regarded as an important economic and cultural force. Japanese animation has been able to attract audiences from around the world through its hybrid cultural nature. Thus, this study aims to provide empirical support for this claim by examining how cultural elements are combined within Anime texts. There are three main approaches regarding the globalization of Anime:The first approach, based on homogenization, explains the globalization of Anime as a process of Westernization or the Americanization of Japan.The second approach argues that Anime has become global because it lacks distinct national and cultural characteristics.Finally, the third approach attributes the globalization of Anime to hybridity-a blending of cultural elements. Hybridity refers to the construction of a cultural space that emerges from the integration of both local and global components. This paper seeks to answer the question: How is hybridity or cultural blending realized in Anime narratives? Barthes identifies three levels in every narrative: functions, actions, and narration.Method: To answer the research question, Barthes’s structural Narrative Analysis has been employed. Works by Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai-two of the most commercially successful Anime directors-were selected. The narratives of four Anime films, Spirited Away, The Boy and the Heron, Your Name, and Suzume, were analyzed.Results: The findings indicate that the combination of local and non-local elements appears across different narrative levels in these four Anime films. From catalytic details such as food, to settings and characters, the creative integration of these elements has resulted in the formation of a “third space.” For example, hybrid architecture or mythological characters with familiar, ordinary, or Westernized appearances demonstrate this cultural blending. Such Hybridization is evident in the characters of all four films. Creativity emerges when a mythological character-like Yubaba in Spirited Away or Suzume-is portrayed with features familiar to a global audience.Discussion: A comparison of these two directors-as animators who represent the Japanese Anime style-reveals that Miyazaki’s narratives are hybridized even at the macro and structural levels in an intertwined way. In contrast, Shinkai employs a more traditional Eastern narrative format, using local themes as the foundation and main direction of his storytelling.

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