Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Transmedia in Japanese Pop-culture

Many popular anime in Japan usually has at least 3 other parts to it:  manga, video games, and eventually (if it's really popular) a novel (or series of novels).

For example:

1)  Kingdom Hearts (produced by Square Enix) started out as a console game.  There are two console games: Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.  However, there is a Gameboy game (I believe SP) that happens between the first and second console games timeline: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.  If you haven't played, or heard about its story line, you won't know what the second game is talking about.  However, not only is Chain of Memories a game, but it also was published as a manga.

Then there's another DS game: Kingdom Hearts: 365 days/2 (365 days over 2).  This one has also been recently published as a manga.  This story tells the story from another characters' point of view (who first appeared in Kingdom Hearts II).

2) Fullmetal Alchemist started off as a manga, then was serialized and created as an anime.  However, the anime eventually caught up with the manga (which was not finished at the time), and then just kept going (creating an alternate timeline from the manga).  The manga wasn't finished until after the anime.  Then, they created a second anime series; Fullmetal Alchemist:  Brotherhood.  This one tells the story line of the manga.

It also has various video games and several movies (that also stem off of the first anime series), and is one of the most popular stories to ever be created (the complete box set of the first series was first released for over $600 dollars.  Not even kidding.  I was actually in Japan when they released it, and I was shocked when I saw the advertisement).


Several manga and anime have the same counterparts, some start as an anime, some start as a video game, etc.

1 comment:

  1. I understand that manga is often the source material in these circumstances, do you think this is because they are the most accessible form of media for the creators? Also are there examples of the reverse? Where an Anime becomes popular so other media is adopted such as a manga series?

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