Anime and Pakistan are not two words that one would normally expect to hear together in the same sentence.
For the longest time in Pakistan, the idea of consuming media from foreign cultures that are not either Western (largely Hollywood) or Indian (Bollywood or the soap serials that surround it) has been, well, foreign.
Recently, this has changed, with the huge influx of Turkish dramas like Ertugrul and even dramas from Korea and Japanese Anime are making headway into the modern Pakistani living room.
In many cases, they have, in fact, taken the place of a lot of Indian soap dramas and Hollywood productions in the average Pakistani household. Because of the internet and online platforms that have been enabled by it like Netflix and multiple other online subscriber based streaming websites, people now have many more options when it comes to sitting in front of a screen to unwind.
This article is focused on the artform of Anime in general, and the consumption of Anime, Manga, and the culture that surrounds both in Pakistan in particular.
Anime, as an artform, is an export of Japan. Though similar in styles to other styles of cartoon and comic production, Manga (the comic form) and Anime (Animation, many times, of the Manga) are not entirely targeted towards children. In fact, it is considered sacrilege for many of those that consume this form of media to refer to Anime as cartoons.
Though initially, around the early 1900s, when the artform was first being developed, the intended audience was indeed children. The artform began to evolve and expand during WWII when the Japanese government was putting pressure on artists to create content that would help the Axis powers during the war. The mobilization and heavy censorship caused creators to become more creative and express ideas in a manner that was circumventing the censors by concentrating on fantastic worlds that had no apparent link with reality. After the war, Osamu Tezuka, influenced by Walt Disney and american fantasy animation, created New Treasure Island. He followed this up by producing Astro Boy which helped him reach new heights of recognition in the global world of cartoonists and consumers. The strong point that he had was that his characters, despite being very exaggerated versions of actual people, conveyed emotion and the nuance of the human condition so well that his work caught on internationally. By the 1960s Astro Boy was being aired in Europe and the United States as well. He became known as the father of modern Manga and Anime.
Modern Anime like Naruto and Dragon Ball despite their more mature themes were a part of most of the Millenial and Gen Z childhoods.
However, as the artform has evolved, the animation styles, storylines, and characters have become more and more mature and developed. Indeed, many of the most famous Anime, like Death Note, Attack on Titan, and Bleach are not child friendly at all. Many of these anime deal with adult themes like War, Death, Crime, and issues of Morality that surround such topics.
For example, in the case of Deathnote, it takes us through the moral dilemma faced by an individual who has quite literally been given the power to take the life of anyone he chooses. In the case of Attack on Titan, themes related to genocide, concentration camps, ethnic cleansing and grotesque scenes of war are shown without any sort of filter or censor.
Anime first made their way into Pakistan through shows like Dragon Ball, Pokemon, BeyBlade, and Naruto.
These were Initially shown through channels like Cartoon Network having dedicated times of the day for Japanese Animation. As these shows started taking root in the hearts of the current Pakistani Millennials, further channels also made their way onto our cable networks and when the internet took the place of cable and TV, the audience for Japanese Anime in Pakistan skyrocketed.
The first comic cons and manga/anime centered conventions started being organized in (or by) Pakistani universities where the millenials had the freedom to discuss and celebrate Anime together.
Thirteen years ago, Metal Seinen, a non-governmental organisation working on promoting culture, being an incubator provider and being a supportive organisation for mentorship, developed the trend of Japanese animation or ‘anime’ in Karachi.
“People here are getting involved with Japanese games and fantasy, as well as the anime culture,” said Shoaib Ali, communications manager at Metal Seinen, when talking to the Tribune, a Pakistani Newspaper.
“The popularity is so much that Japanese cosplays [costume plays] have been held in Karachi thrice in a single year and, resultantly, have even become a part of the Islamabad social scene via Twin Con,” he exclaimed.
The love for Anime has reached new levels with Death Note and Attack on Titan currently being one of the most watched Anime of all time. At the moment, Attack on Titan is having new episodes being released of the new season, and multiple online watch-parties are taking place across universities across the country.
Even more fun for the Otaku in Pakistan is the fact that their country has received acknowledgement from the Japanese creators in the past as well. Yugo: The Negotiator has its initial episodes set in Sindh, Pakistan. And, reflective of the hard work and due diligence of the creators, the Manga is surprisingly nuanced, much unlike how Pakistan is normally shown in foreign media.
Unlike the normal depiction of Pakistan as a middle eastern country full of terrorists, Yugo portrayed it as a country with normal people, across spectrums, and even accurately reflected our society’s issues with gender, religion, ethnicity, and even touched upon some political nuance that has been unprecedented when depicted in foreign media by foreign artists.
It seems that Anime is here to stay as a mainstay of modern media consumption in Pakistan. As the kids that used to watch Dragon Ball and Beyblade in their childhoods grow up they will move on towards Bleach and Attack on Titan and other shows that come out of the island country so many miles away.
It will be interesting to see the influences of Japanese animation as Pakistani animators start creating more and more work (for example, Burka Avenger) and try to make it onto the global anime scene.
The mixing of cultures in the 20th century led to the rise of such an incredible artform as modern anime, it will be worth keeping an eye on the art and media that comes out of Pakistan in the future.
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