Contemporary Japan and Other Asian Media Help

[Breeze Whisperwind]

Hey guys,

 

I've got to make a presentation on the above title for uni and some and I was hoping I could get some help from you guys on here

 

What I was hoping for is simply names of your favourite bands, animes, films, mangas etc. (any Asian media) contemporary or old that you enjoy/is generally quite popular and think I should take a look at for my research.

At the moment I'm going to be going through the gundam series and see how they've evolved over the years, in terms of mangas as well as generally popular boy bands over the past 30 or so years.

 

Thanks for reading my post and thank you for any suggestions you offer ^^

 

[Quintessence]

For anime you definitely shouldn't neglect Hayao Miyazaki work, and his studio Ghibli which changed whole course of anime movie storytelling. Miyazaki's work is a masterpiece, every detail in his anime works is just.. beyond any words. I recommend you check Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away. He won many international prizes as well.

 

Also mainstream anime's that made people addicted to anime, for me it was Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball, it was airing in many countries, as well as being dubbed.

For most popular ones i guess it's Naruto, One Piece, Fairy Tail, Death Note..etc (all of those got huge fan community around the whole world).

 

Some 7 years ago or so i was into jpop, it was a big thing there, not sure how it is now since I don't follow it that much. But every boy band from Johnny & Associates was a hit (Kat-tun, NEWS, SMAP, Tokio, Arashi.. ), many of those idols started acting in Japanese dramas that are highly watched, so it's very much connected. (Gokusen, Hana Kimi, Hana Yori Dango, Nodame Cantabile..), most of them were made from the manga, but nevertheless, was a hit with those idols starting in them. They were remade in korean, chinese versions as well.

 

For other side of music there is visual kei, rock/metal/japanesewtf music that were unique and special. With their own style of dressing and plenty of makeup on guy artists. There is a known park in Tokyo called Harajuku that made a culture out of it, dressing as their favourite visual kei artists and hanging out there is now well known (Gwen Stefani mentions it alot in her songs). Fashion wise, Harajuku style can be seen in many countries, even i see girls dressed as lolitas here (and I live in small country in Europe)

If you are not familiar with it I recommend u check Gackt, Malice Mizer, Girugamesh, The GazettE. They are the most mainstream ones out there that I could think of at the moment.

 

 

Sorry for the long post, and I hope that's what you were interested in haha:cuteonion43: