Conclusion

Since anime, admittedly, is not as popular in Britain as it is in, per say, France and Latin America, it would stand to reason that there would be little original English language anime actually made in the United Kingdom. An owner of a manga shop in Britain stated in a magazine article that was published in around 2009: “People in the UK are not as open to this type of ‘cartoon’. They’re used to Disney.” Used to Disney? Therefore, it stands to reason that the British people have been indoctrinated, brainwashed, hypnotised by the poison that is American soft power. It is this foul hypnotism which has allowed authors that were actually good to rot in obscurity for eighty years! Disney, the poison! The black blight of alleged “magic” and “assembly-line whimsy”! The bane of the existence of every writer who is desperate to live on after their deaths! Travers suffered under Disney, as did Felix Salten, Margery Sharp and all of them! Good authors, who deserve to have been laced with better treatment.

Forgive my little ramblings, but I am quite simply disappointed, not to mention mystified. Did not the British accept satirical criticism from Jonathan Swift, H.G. Wells and Gilbert & Sullivan? Did they not accept the violence abundant in Tolkien’s works, or Philip Pullman’s, or even their own ancient literature, like Beowulf? Are not a vast majority of nineteenth-century novels rife with exceedingly violent content, and even ancient literature itself? Did you not lap up the grotesqueries of James Gilray, or the erotic art of Aubrey Beardsley? Do you deny it, my countrymen, or indeed, any of you in Europe who are reading now? Do you deny that you have drunk too deeply of the American poison, the poison that has allowed Chris Sabat, Vic Mignogna and all their untrained ilk to gain power in the anime fandom, they who have never acted in the work of our immortal Bard, they who have never had a knighthood? Do you intend to suffer for this outrage?

Anime has never been popular in Britain, that is true, but it has the potential to become popular. Because animation is not just for children to watch, and for parents to entertain their children with. Animation is an art form, just like Rococo, watercolour and sketchwork. It deserves far better than this, far, far better. And the potential of British independent anime has never been greater, and surely it must be something our culture must become accustomed to and accept with open arms. As the article that I used for research concluded, “while British animation that takes influence from Japanese animation is here to stay, the idea of a “British anime” movement is likely a thing of the past.” These opinions are, of course, erroneous, for what my research has proved to you is that the anime produced in the United Kingdom has significantly increased in quantity since the early years of this century, and will continue to increase. Thank you, and sweet dreams. Think of a better future.

REFERENCES AND SOURCES

Literary sources

Hart, Christopher. Manga For the Beginner. New York.
Johnson-Woods, Toni (ed.) Manga An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives. New York

Websites

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