19/04/2022 The Change I Want To See

My project is explored based on the industry I want to be engaged in in the future and the field I am interested in. This content mainly focuses on animes， manga or manga and fashion, and analyzes the current mainstream video and comic platforms in China.

Currently, Bilibili is the most mainstream animation platform in China, which originated from ACG culture and also involves fashion, lifestyle, beauty and other fields.

Anime and comics have a large cultural audience around the world, covering multiple age groups. Mainly through the sale of broadcast rights and the sale of peripheral products to earn income. At the same time, anime fans have a high degree of loyalty.

A growing number of fashion brands are increasing cross-border cooperation to target more consumers with potential spending power. Yohji Yamamoto’s diffusion Line Ground Y, for example, has been cooperating with the animation industry since before 2018.

I divide stakeholders into five categories. The first is the mainstream broadcasting platform, which has control over the broadcasting channels of animes Second is the Chinese GEN Z audience or consumers. The third is Comic Studios, Independent Artists, Producers and animation companies. It is the exporter of key works and determines the content and quality of cultural output. The fourth is designers, fashion brands and groups. Finally, investment groups.

In the previous cross-border cooperation between these industries, the cooperation methods are mainly two. Animation works seek inspiration for painting from existing fashion brands and export them into artworks, such as Naoko Takeuchi’s artworks. The other is that brands look for animation works with high topics and put their images into product design. The final output of the two methods of cooperation is still a single product of their respective fields and does not result in common progress in the two fields.

Therefore, I hope to see the change that comics and fashion work to create a highly related work together, creating a new cultural basis rather than separate from each other’s products. For example, fashion groups collaborate with animation companies to create brand-related artworks, broadcast them on mainstream platforms and sell them directly through the platforms.

02/05/2022 Reflective Passage

I start my project from my self-definition first: I am a student, I am a fashion enthusiast and a learner in the fashion industry, I am interested in the field of anime and manga, feature films and I often spend time in my daily life watching anime manga.

From a self-definition point of view, I found common ground with some of China’s contemporary Gen Z consumers. I decided to use this to define the direction of my research. I wanted to explore distribution through mainstream Chinese video platforms. Can fashion and anime and comic art produce a new twist that

Fans of a single field are likely to exist in more than just one field, they are likely to be fans of other fields as well and have greater consumption potential.

Taking China’s largest mainstream anime video platform by far, Bilibili has evolved from China’s anime, comic and gaming industries to include fitness, beauty, lifestyle, fashion, and music. Its origins have set the stage for its quirky and loyal user base, which separates it from other players in the video space, and Hallanan says the platform has a stronger sense of community than most Chinese social media platforms.

This is because the platform is built on baking fish anime and manga gaming enthusiasts who are equally interested in other areas that generate or already have followers in areas such as fashion and beauty. On the other hand, as the platform expands, even those who are not anime, manga, and gaming fans themselves will, through their use of the platform, become more or less curious about the ACG culture that the platform itself promotes. In other words, it is very likely that fans of fashion or beauty will also develop a new interest in areas such as anime.

China’s fast-growing technology sector is awash with user-generated video platforms, and according to estimates by data intelligence service Questmobile, Bilibili is the most popular app among the “post-90s” in China; the platform’s core user base (78% of the “post-90s”) and average daily usage of the platform are more likely to be in the “post-90s” than the “post-90s”. The platform’s core user base (78% of the ‘post-90s’) and the average time spent looking at screens per day (83 minutes) suggest that these users are very young and very engaged. With global management consultancy Bain predicting that by 2025, China’s Generation Z (often referred to as those born between 1997 and 2012) will account for more than 55% of luxury consumption in mainland China, the digital space offers a lucrative opportunity for brands to target those who are about to become big consumers.

Combined with first-hand research, fashion video publishers explain individual items to spread fashion trends, while also forming fan exchange groups to consolidate their traffic, and the exchange groups are where fan gates share different fashion items and anime and comic content. Through this phenomenon, it can be understood that there is a crossover between fashion and anime and manga-related fans.

The anime and manga sector, itself, has a large cultural audience and with the advancement of technology, there are more and more Gen Z’s who can rely on the platform to watch anime and manga. The anime and manga industry, itself, relies on the sale of retransmission rights and peripheral products to generate revenue. The fashion industry has been empowering different groups with manga-based fashion since the 1970s, and in Japan, which has the most developed anime and manga industry in the world, there are many designers who have been influenced by anime and manga-related films and TV shows to create and break the next-generation barrier to collaborate across borders. For example, Undercover x EVA and Yohji Yamamoto Ground Y have collaborated with a number of manga works.

To summarise the stakeholders mentioned above, fall into five general categories.

1. The mainstream video and comic (manga) platforms; Bilibili, AcFun…

2. Chinese Gen Z

3. Comic studios, independent artists, producers, and animation companies (Ghibli, GAINAX, Shirō Masamune…)

4. Fashion brands (Loewe, Yohji Yamamoto, Undercover…), Fashion groups (LVMH, Kering, Richemont…), Designers

Investment group (Alibaba, Tencent, The Carlyle Group, KPCB, Accel Partners…)

The two main ways of comparing the original combination of fashion and manga-anime are

1. anime and manga based on previous or self-designed fashion look, with the final output product still being anime and manga.

2. the fashion sector collaborates with existing anime and manga IPs to output products with specific images such as anime and manga, but not anime or manga.

In both ways, the expression is enhanced on the original respective cultures, but the final product is still the product of a single domain, and no joint progress of multiple domains has occurred.

Therefore, I would like to see a change in the way these two fields are combined in a new way.

The direct combination of anime and comics with fashion, through a different creative approach, outputting products from both fields, is a further enhancement of the two cultural foundations or even perhaps the creation of a new one.

The creative approaches that I believe exist as possibilities could be

Fashion brands join forces with anime and comic book creative companies to directly design relevant works that fit the brand image, so that fashion products from anime and comics can be sold in reality, and relevant works such as anime and comics can be broadcast and promoted on mainstream Chinese video platforms.

03/05/2022 SWOT Analysis

03/05/2022 An Example Of A Real World Intervention

On the final day of New York Fashion Week, Telfar invited guests to a press conference at the top of a concrete loft space overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge, where an escalator lit up in digital signage teased “Telfar TV, it’s on then it’s gone.”

An hour after the scheduled start time, 13 speakers (plus a dog) — including artist Kandis Williams, musician A$AP Ferg and the designer Telfar Clemens himself— took their seats at a long table facing the room full of editors, friends of the brand and celebrities. The primary agenda was to introduce Telfar TV, a “public access channel” — an intentional emphasis on the public — 24-hour stream where the brand’s new accessories will be released, including a duffle bag that debuted at the event on Sunday.

Viewers who download the Telfar TV app can watch video footage from both the brand and the public — anyone can upload their own videos featuring Telfar products through a QR code that, if selected, will appear on the channel. People must select a category — “funny,” “sexy,” “hood,” “voyeur,” and “hijab” among a few of them — for their video to appear on Telfar TV.

But many of the brand’s customers will be tuning in for one reason: Telfar TV is the only place where customers will be able to find QR codes to shop for the brand’s new accessories.

For Telfar, the app is the latest attempt by the brand to grapple with — and capitalize on — the immense popularity of items like the signature shopping bag known as the “Bushwick Birkin.” Starting last year, new releases were routinely snapped up by bots and flipped in the resale market, frustrating regular customers. Telfar introduced increasingly tricky tests to weed out the bots. Forcing customers to watch Telfar TV and wait for QR codes to appear could theoretically make it even harder to game the system.

But Telfar TV is more than an enhanced security measure. The app is a bold effort at community building, creating a digital enclave intentionally separate from social media platforms that “sell bags and clothes, not human beings,” said Babak Radboy, Telfar’s creative director.

“I really want to see syndication, I want to see a place where we can directly show members of the community and skip the violent means of capture,” said Williams.

Many brands try to inspire the sort of devotion in their customers that leads them to hang outside the Aimé Leon Dore storefront on Mulberry Street or immerse themselves within the eccentric world of Gucci. Telfar has a similar hold on its customers, and after ramping up releases of new iterations of its signature accessories, is expanding into new categories as well, including activewear.

Telfar doesn’t have a store of its own, and only a fraction of Gucci’s resources. But with Telfar TV, it’s betting it has something just as important: customers who buy into the brand, not just the bags.

Telfar TV offers a new platform and a new way of shopping for customers, effectively increasing the exposure of the brand itself, providing the brand community with the opportunity to showcase the members themselves, while also reducing the potential for bots to snap up and speculate on the resale market. This strikes me as a worthwhile way of learning, I assume by brands using themselves as the prototype for an animation or comic and contacting the relevant production houses to create an art product to be distributed on a brand new platform or app. The brand directly incorporates its own product into the artwork and the audience can purchase their favorite product directly through a link on the platform. The sale of the visual artwork can go beyond a single platform, allowing for greater exposure and more potential consumers.

16/05/2022 What-Why-How-What If

WHAT: What is the subject or area that you intend to research? What is the precise question that you will be addressing?

What new object can be created by the fusion of fashion and anime/manga in these two fields? This object could be the creation of an artwork, a new marketing method, or some other unknown collaboration. But no matter what it is, I prefer and try to make the new object will be different from the creation which two fields tried before.

The questions I need to clearly address are to understand what is the current situation in these two fields, what the needs of the various stakeholders are, how the stakeholders relate to each other and influence each other, and in which perspectives can new changes be mentioned.

WHY: Why will this research be of value to you – and the world?

For me, these are the two areas that are currently at the forefront of my life and studies and encompass more than half of my daily life. As a student who hopes to work in a related field in the future, I hope that this project will help or even be a doorstop for me to carry out my work in the future.

For the world, the impact of the epidemic in Asia on the supply chain, the end of the retaliatory consumption phase of clothing, and the impact of regional politics on consumers have all led to limitations in the fashion industry, and there is an urgent need to find new ways to avoid the disadvantages that existed before. The anime and manga field is gaining more exposure due to the increase in the number of people reading and watching online as a result of the home policy in each region, but there are more ways to diversify the product to reach more potential consumers.

If the two areas can be successfully combined and find a way to merge that has the potential to grow, those involved in the animation and manga area will gain new content, direction, and new audiences; the fashion area will gain new exposure and attract new potential consumers; and consumers will gain new access to information, purchasing method, and shopping experience.

HOW: How will you accomplish your project in practical terms? What will be your

methodology, management strategy, and schedule?

Intervention:

The publications of the major brands such as lookbooks, archives, biographies, magazines, and some in-depth explorations of fashion reach the public, telling the story of fashion and conveying the unique insights and ideas of the brands. However, these are not direct ways of selling the brand’s products, and even in magazines brands can be in competition with others for pages.

Inspired by the format of the brand’s multiple publications, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce a branded comic book in this format. Prior to the tutorial, I had envisaged contacting students from Fashion Design, Illustration, and Graphic Design to try and explore the possibility of collaboration, with the intention of achieving a combination of fashion design and short comics through purely professional collaboration. However, after the tutorial, I did realize that there could be issues of reliability and time matching between students from different majors, which would make the project less likely to happen, and the Tutor’s suggestion of finding someone in the industry or an alumnus who had already graduated to collaborate was very useful.

I also had to consider the biannual launch of the garment and the timeliness of producing the comic. To overcome this, for the early intervention I planned to go for emerging brands as they don’t necessarily have a large number of product launches and I could control the number of items that appear in the comics and the timing of the launches.

Factors such as the plot and style of the short comic required research of the consumers in the stakeholders, not to ensure that the future work would be loved by all audiences but to ensure it was accepted. The work is based on fashion design clothing as the main element and is expressed in the form of a comic strip. The final publication will be sold directly with a QR code if it is in paper publication, or with a hyperlink if it is also in the digital platform.

I chose to use mixed methods in order to find out, through questionnaires and interviews, what existing stakeholders in each field think about their respective fields and what new ways of collaboration between the two fields might be possible. This will also be analyzed by reading the relevant literature in conjunction with the available data.

I plan to complete interviews with stakeholders in Unit 2 and contact students in the field for initial communication and hope to successfully publish a short comic in Unit 3. If more progress can be made before unit3, a new intervention can be undertaken to shift the medium of communication from real publications to digital platforms to increase viewership and enrich sales formats.

WHAT IF: What are the positive implications and potential if you achieve this mastery? How will this position you (and your stakeholders) at the end of the Course?

The project will initially focus on emerging brands, student designers, or artists, aiming to give them some exposure and in a way a form of publicity, not only to hone their skills but also hopefully to generate some income for them. As the project progresses and is eventually completed, it is hoped that it will have the opportunity to develop into a platform that goes beyond paper publications and relies on existing social media platforms to develop standalone software and work with established brands.

Stakeholders.

I will transition from being a consumer and enthusiast at first to a practitioner and promoter.

To summarise the stakeholders mentioned above, they fall into five general categories.

1. The mainstream video and comic (manga) platforms(Bilibili, AcFun, Youtube…

2. Audience(Gen Z…

3. Comic studios, independent artists, producers, and animation companies (Ghibli, GAINAX, Shirō Masamune…)

4. Fashion brands (Loewe, Yohji Yamamoto, Undercover…), Fashion groups (LVMH, Kering, Richemont…), Designers

5. Investment group (Alibaba, Tencent, The Carlyle Group, KPCB, Accel Partners…)

13/06/2022 Possible Change?

“Michael believes that a meaningful collection should not be assessed based on its monetary value, but should more importantly evoke feelings of nostalgia and sentiment. A prized collection allows one to delve into memories of the past, provides consolation in times of emptiness, and enriches and elevates the spirit. Michael believes that in the eyes of the collector, objects – whether they be paintings, jewelry, watches, sneakers, or furniture – have an ability to provide emotional value, in the same way, that toys can provoke wonder and curiosity.”

If we can make a hand figure of something interesting, you can play with it in your hands and collect it and perhaps give it a new value. Even if the garment was originally sold at a very high price, making it into a figure might give it an advantage in terms of price.

19/06/2022 First Intervention

Brand B collaborated with an artist to create a series of comics that were published on a platform, in which the characters were wearing items from one of Brand B’s seasonal ready-to-wear lines. The items shown in the comics are clickable and have individual links to the corresponding products and shopping channels. If a customer is interested in what the comic character is wearing, they can click on the item to browse it.

19/06/2022 First Intervention Feedback Summary

Z:

1. The manga storyline is relevant to the needs of fashion. As a fan of comics, the reading experience of comics takes precedence over the consideration of fashion item purchases. If the fashion items do not fit the plot, they will create an overly abrupt feeling.

2. clicking on individually oriented links to fashion items in the comic, is a course of action that may fragment the process of reading the comic and may affect the conversion of the consumer’s or viewer’s subject of attention.

3. it is recommended not to have a waterfall of interaction screens, a quick return to the comic subject is needed. However, this may affect the success of sales by affecting product sales and lag time.

4. go through the cartoon to sell, but also, in turn, can be inserted in the sales interface screen as a background explanation.

L1:

1. the form of links built into the individual items is good.

2. the comic character type is hopefully closer to the real thing so that the display of the upper body of the single product is more authentic.

3. for the comic rely on the brand think that the mainstream brand is more appropriate because has a relatively deep brand background, relatively more suitable for the comic plot.

W:

1. the interface can be created independently with UI, highlighting the outline of individual items, such as floating in the interface or outlined by brush strokes, thus emphasizing the independent linking of individual items and allowing the act of purchase to be reflected interactively, rather than just being static in the image of the comic itself.

2. how to make the viewer or consumer aware of which part of the comic is interspersed with marketing pieces

3. How to strengthen the two-way link between fashion and comics, and how the anime models can attract potential consumers. What to do to target the service comics audience and how to arouse their desire to read.

C1:

1. the purchase behavior still depends on the single product itself, the comic characters are only two models, the sale of goods is still dominated by the product itself, and the comic for itself is only a way to attract traffic.

2. it is possible to attract consumers through the psychology of curiosity, and it is easier for conservative commercial brands to attract consumers’ attention by doing something that is not in line with their usual style.

3. for the average consumer, reading comics is a leisure and entertainment activity in itself and does not conflict with mobile consumption.

4. It is recommended that the work be posted on existing social media so that it can be easily viewed by users and has a higher click-through rate. Considers that since traffic is needed it should be prepared to accommodate a mixed social media audience.

M:

1. want the content to be distributed in the easiest way possible, avoiding the need for registration or authorization

C2:

1. the emergence of this form of branding is relatively new.

2. the access to this new attempt is still mainly through the current mainstream social media in the country.

X:

1. It is clear that there is a gap between the comic character and the real person, and one would like to get closer to the real image. However, the characters are well styled and will definitely attract them to browse the product information.

L2：

1. brands may be better suited to independent brands, less restricted by image, and more able to promote brand awareness.

2. a willingness to buy related peripherals, where it is cool to wear the same styled products as the comic characters.

3. a desire to have the brand completely dominate the image of the character, and also to have individually oriented links to all the character looks in the comic.

4. more suitable for affordable brands, which need to be affordable enough for consumers to keep the project going.

Reflect:

Through the feedback from the intervention, I concluded that this experiment is novel and has some feasibility. However, it is affected by several factors: 1. The brand itself needs to be innovative and adventurous in order to take a step across the border, and there is also the risk of affecting the brand’s image. For the average consumer, whether they can perceive the brand’s core through the comic or whether they understand the brand through the comic affects their first impression of the brand depending on the specific implementation measures. This test is akin to a cross-border marketing exercise and is more likely to be a temporary gimmick. However, if the brand has a seasonal theme and the campaign has some effect, even manga enthusiasts who do not follow fashion themselves will find it novelty; 2. Manga enthusiasts have their own considerations regarding the choice of subject matter, not all of them will try to read comics, mainstream content or niche content. It is important for collaborators to determine carefully what kind of content their audience will accept, and not just hunt for curiosity or appeal to the masses.

The move towards general entertainment also requires consideration of whether the audience will be willing to spend money, so it is also worth considering the question of pricing: whether the comic itself needs to be paid for; whether the price of the individual product is suitable for the average consumer; if it is a high-priced brand, it will inevitably put off the average comic reader who does not have enough money to spend. Wouldn’t it be better to combine comics with peripheral products such as hand-me-downs to facilitate the process of producing comics? Given that this research was conducted with manga fans only, I will be looking at another cultural circle of audience in my next research.

25/07/2022 Independent Comics (In Hongkong)

Independent comics generally refer to individual comic creations, where the comic artist himself takes on the task of writing the independent story and the steps of the comic, and does not claim to share the work of drawing, sometimes even taking on the work of publishing production and discovering publicity.

One person conceives the story, one person draws it and one person publishes it, independent in both thought and action.

Independent comics don’t just appear to be funny, they have their creators’ own unique critical perspectives.

So, while reading 10 commercial comics may give you a similar feeling, reading 10 independent comics may provide you the opportunity to gain 10 different insights, and that’s the beauty of independent comics.

Tell our own story, paint our own thing.

Independent cartoonists are telling the stories they want to tell, using their drawing skills to express a non-literal world of comics.

23/08/2022 Focus Group Feedback

The 11 interviewees selected for this focus group interview were fashion lovers of my stakeholders, 72% of whom had been identified in the previous survey as not reading manga in their daily lives or whose earlier reading experience had been at an early age. The remaining 28% of interviewees who read manga are more interested in the style and type of the manga themselves and do not particularly care whether the manga themselves are associated with fashion. It can therefore be ascertained that this group of interviewees tends to be more interested in fashion in their daily lives and is not influenced by manga as a related field.

The 28% of fashion lovers who read manga prefer short manga and do not expect them to be too close to real life, but see them as a means of leisure; most of their reading comes from early magazines and books and nowadays from mobile devices such as Weibo and Bilibili manga, etc. Even with paid-to-read habits, they still rely on apps rather than buying physical books to read, but will choose to buy physical copies of collectable art such as illustrated set books.

None of the interviewees had followed independent original manga and their development process, nor were they aware of how independent manga could take the form of collaborations with other fields.

When asked about collaborations like the one between Loewe and Studio Miyazaki, two attitudes were expressed, one being willing to pay for the sentiment and the other being highly disgusted by the lack of sincerity in the printing of uninspired designs.

When I asked the interviewees how they get their fashion information on a regular basis, the usual ways of marketing are nothing but social media and official promotions, and the usual ways of marketing are nothing but magazine photos and promotional videos. They don’t get tired and bored of brands or platforms using KOLs to increase brand exposure, they see nothing wrong with the brand’s existing promotional practices and if there is a way to appeal to them, they want the product to catch their eye in a context where it doesn’t belong. So I think fashion consumers are looking for excitement that is outside of the usual promotional channels and thinking.

Through the feedback, the respondents reflected on getting that the forms in which brands express content in videos and photos can be diverse and storytelling, often more relevant to their own identity and connotations. When a single item has multiple exposures, it does get their attention, but what triggers their thinking is the context in which it appears and who it is used by. The right item needs the right audience and the right promotion.

The combination of comics and fashion is in fact also a combination of artwork or artists and fashion culture. These two cultures, even if there is a crossover, the new combination I imagine or create is still a change in the way it is promoted and does not create a new twist. It remains a gimmick in a way. But any consumer is inherently at the intersection of different cultures, so it is logical to create more intersections or to bring consumers into new ones. To create cultural intersections is to help cultures merge, which can have the effect of expanding the original audience and reducing the distance between culture and audience.

23/08/2022 Summary Of Talk With Editor

This is a summary of what has been collected in relation to the creation of independent comics and their development, with avatars and names withheld at the request of those involved:

Independent comics are still in a grey area, with no real targeted policy. Domestic independent comics basically have to go through informal publishing channels, through art book fairs, or e-commerce.

In fact, creators are often not afraid of the “something can’t be created” clampdown, but are afraid of “not knowing what can’t be created”, as independent comics is a grey area, no one knows where the “red line” is, and most people are constantly trying to make mistakes.

The biggest problem with independent comics is the same profit model, as most creators are still trying to make ends meet, and too few are relying on independent comics to support themselves.

Don’t get into the dichotomy of commercial and independent comics, don’t have a tendency to do so, and don’t promote the idea that “commercial comics are vulgar and independent comics are noble”.

At present, the domestic independent comic creation ecology is still mainly based on the creators’ physical power generation, and there is no mature industry model to speak of, for the time being, everyone is still exploring and experimenting. Personally, I think what is lacking is a “platform” to bring together creators and readers – such as a dedicated independent comic book award or comic book convention (not just based on art book fairs), similar to the Ignatz Awards at SPX in North America.

What is diversity? Diversity is ‘cross-media’. In today’s world, cashing in on any industry is going to be cross-media, rather than self-indulgent in its own domain. Short video cashing in is video traffic turning into shopping attention; net writing cashing in is text turning into film and television. But the national comic seems to have never crossed the circle of comics, film, and television or gamification, there are successful cases, but too few, completely do not have the universality, to put it bluntly or the realization of the channel is too single.

Through the talks, the investigators reflected on the fact that the creation of comics in China is in fact invisibly restricted, as there are no specific restrictions on what can be censored, which leads to all creations being tried on the edge again and again and trial and error. At the same time, China’s publishing policy is complex and needs to be improved and deepened by the government. Because there is no perfect system, despite the constant attempts to launch comics into anime and anime to film, it is still difficult for the creators themselves to survive on their creations, resulting in the works that consumers see often being short-lived and scattered. Referring to the case of Manga Studio, increasing the development of pan-entertainment to promote a better system is a promising move, but it also requires a whole new flow of outside introductions. There will never be a shortage of creative ideas for those working in the creative industries, they just need more support and financial backing.

31/08/2022 Manga and Anime： Fluidity and Hybridity in Global Imagery 1

Media mix and cross-media collaboration：

‘In the global media market, images are often consumed, transformed and then re-consumed in order to maximise exposure and ultimately profit. Manga and anime typify this process. Images are appropriated and utilised for a wide range of purposes, from entertainment to education, and in diverse forms. Not only are there usually manga and anime versions of the same title; popular titles may also be converted to live action movies or television drama series.'

In essence, it can be understood that the various forms of collaboration involved are just the consumption and transformation of images, whether it is comics or anime. There is no deliberate focus on the cultural core of comics and anime in the commercial process, which may be a departure from my original intention of integrating the two fields or the two cultures. Still, I am willing to accept and respect the act of commercialization. The act of commercialization can be a catalyst for the spread of culture.

‘Different versions spawn further marketing opportunities: DVDs, soundtracks, clothing ranges, accessories, confectionery, toys, stationery, board and card games, household goods, video/computer games and so on. Some notable examples of series for which this multi-modal marketing strategy has been used include Sailor Moon, Naruto, Pokemon, Death Note and Nana. This phenomenon of the constant re-shifting of the image – the media mix – is not isolated to Japan has become increasingly comon practice and is often the main contributor to the high status and profit margin of an image (Iwabuchi, 2002; McVeigh, 2000; Pellitteri, forthcoming; Shiraishi, 1997).‘

Obviously, cross-media partnerships are nothing new, but the ones that exist in the market are clearly the result of the expansion of works that are already well-known in their own right. It is still difficult to achieve cross-media collaborations with works that are not yet established in their own right.

‘Indeed, this is not a new phenomenon. We can find the manga and anime media mix in Japan since the postwar period, as exemplified by Tezuka's Tetsuwan Atomu, which was published as manga, then animated and merchandised from the early 1960s (Shimotsuki and Shida, 2003). Consumers can engage with the product on many levels, and this engagement is prolonged by the enormous variety of associated commodities which are constantly updated (Buckingham and Sefton-Green, 2003; Jordan, 2004).’

‘In the English-language market, there has been a similar cross-media development of manga. Not only is the range of merchandise associated with a manga and/or anime title available to non-Japanese consumers, but various collaborative ventures have also integrated manga and anime into the popular culture of countries outside Japan.‘

‘Cross-media collaboration also offers some security as each party relies on and utilises the established knowledge, logistical expertise and market share of other collaborators (Cha, 2006; Koulikov, 2009). These collaborations may also enable US publishers to publish material produced by local authors; they can support and expand the local industry, an option which decreases the reliance on Japanese publishers for licenses for Japanese material (Cha and Reid, 2005).‘

Cross-media collaboration is protective, reducing the production costs and disadvantages of a single partner itself by combining the regional strengths and advantages of different partners. Collaboration can also expand the development of different geographical industries and reduce the inconvenience of regional restrictions.

31/08/2022 Manga and Anime： Fluidity and Hybridity in Global Imagery 2

1. Glocalisation：

The glocalisation of manga and anime connects to long-standing debates over the translation process, and its connection to cultural power, authenticity, and nationhood, and discussion on the role and significance of the Japanese origins of manga and anime in the cross-cultural, global communication process spreads throughout academic and non-academic circles. The cross-cultural communication process, during which work is translated or adapted, is complex and multi-layered; it is not simply a process of replacing one language with another. The relationship between the communicating cultures influences the texts that are chosen for retelling, and the way in which they are retold (Venuti, 1995). Cross-cultural communication of a text also often involves adapting or translating cultural and national identity, which are fluid and unstable concepts, and thus open to varied interpretation. Cross-cultural communication of texts, therefore, has an important role to play in defining or changing the way in which a culture or nation is viewed and understood by others (Carbonell, 1996; Franco Aixela, 1996; Pym, 2001; Wolf, 2002).

‘Indeed, Wolf (2002: 186) sees translation as the site where cultures interact, and concepts of self and other ‘interpenetrate', making all cultures translations of each other. As manga and anime make their way across the globe, they become part of this interpenetration of cultures, and consumers' understanding of Japan will continuously change.‘

Glocalisation is an inevitable phenomenon arising from the spread of culture, and for the average consumer, it is the means and result of understanding an entirely new culture. The retelling and adaptation of texts can change the meaning of the original content, and the permeation of multiple cultures for understanding and integration can produce new cultural outcomes. Of course, we do not want a single, one-sided idea to be imposed on consumers, which is why independent comics have developed but also why they are severely limited.

2. The driving forces of glocalisation: technology and fandom:

'The popularity of manga and anime outside Japan is also promoted by enthusiastic fans, who might belong to a subculture or alternative culture, particularly in the earlier period of their fandom. The nature of commodification and marketing of both media results in the diversification of fandom. For example, manga can be difficult to understand for the uninitiated because of its visual and linguistic vocabulary, which is quite distinct from that seen in North American or European comics. Translated manga are also relatively expensive – in Australia, they can be three or four times more expensive than the Japanese original. These limitations on access to manga form a further subculture of specific consumers who are relatively young and have sufficient disposable income.’

Just because manga and anime have formed a unique cultural circle, their original consumer base is extremely loyal, while other cultural circles outside that have not yet been influenced by them have more potential consumer base and huge spending power, we should try to attract other cultural circles outside. Fans, or spending power, are diverse and convertible. We are not trying to break down subcultural circles to discover new consumer power for the sake of profit, but because cultures themselves exist in areas where they overlap, and individuals themselves have a curiosity for multiple cultures.

31/08/2022 People don’t buy what you sell

They buy what you stand for

‘Retail is a people business. For sure, customers pay their money for whatever it is that you, the retailer, sell to them, but there's so much more to the relationship than this exchange. The transaction is simply the final affirmation that the customer buys into what the retailer stands for.‘

‘The brand is a guiding force that helps people choose. If customers can buy virtually identical items from many different places, you have to ask why are they going to choose in your shop. This is where the retail brand comes in.‘

‘You'll need something more to entice the mousetrap buying public to give you their custom. That something more has everything to do with making them feel good about you, the seller, and what you have to otter. You need your customers and potential customers to feel that your store is their kind of store. You need to stand for something that they value and can relate to. You want them to feel at home when they walk through your shop door.‘

‘In a world where you can increasingly buy identical items in different shops, how do you decide where to go? It has to be influenced by more than the product itself because that product will have largely become commoditized.‘

The rules of the retail game are changing. The winners of the future will be those retailers who successfully add value; those who rely too heavily on trading alone will lose out.

These are some of my favorites:

To make people happy (Disney)

To solve unsolved problems innovatively (3M)

To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people (Wal-Mart)

To help leading corporations and governments be more successful (McKinsey)

‘The best statements of purpose endure the passage of time and changes in management because they are rooted in the truth of the company.‘

Case:

1. ” don’t think a brand can survive indefinitely on looking good or feeling clever. It’s got to have something more to it than that. Even a brand like Harrods, which is tarnished at the moment because it’s become too trashy and too touristy, still has a place, because it’s super luxury and there’s a place for super luxury brands. There’s still a need for Harrods, so it’s got the spine to it. Even though it’s had a bad ten or fifteen years, it’s still there and could easily become the world’s pre-eminent super premium brand again. That could happen, with different management and a new style, because the underlying reason for Harrods to exist is still there.’

2. Charles Revson of Revlon Cosmetics once said, ‘In the factory we make cosmetics, but in the store we sell hope. Advertising man David Ogilvy explained a brand is the consumer’s idea of a product. In the case of John Lewis, the benefit to the customers of their unique partnership structure is integrity that their customers can depend on. It also has the halo effect of helping its customers feel good about themselves because they can reassure themselves that they are making a sensible purchase.

24/10/2022 Game 1：Silence Yelling

It’s a classic variety game: both players put on headphones to block out outside sound, one participant is prompted to communicate a message by mouthing it, and the other participant says the correct answer based on the other’s mouthing.

The game was played in four groups of eight people, each in a team of two, with backgrounds in fashion film, fashion design, fashion modelling, news, and global retailing.
And this game was based on what the organizers considered mainstream and relatively popular comics.
It was clear from the game that the game was interesting. The participants could not hear each other’s voices, so they had to use their mouths and even their body movements to understand what each other was trying to say. Because of the limited way in which the information is put together, it is easy to give wrong answers, which are often very different from the correct ones, precisely because the wrong answers and the exaggerated and bizarre body movements are hilarious.
The joyful atmosphere at the venue was a great opportunity to see how feasible and interesting the game was, and how infectious it was.

At the same time, the feedback from the participants at the end of the game was even more valuable:

1. The content chosen for the game material should be more objective, the range of comics can be broader and the time span should be larger, and the comics experienced and read by players from different industries and age backgrounds are extremely diverse. Some comics that are familiar to players may be unfamiliar to others, and it is this span and richness of material that is needed to help more non-comics fans explore the uncharted cultural territory.
2. the game needs to be upgraded from the initial lip-syncing to the enrichment of body movements, the more exaggerated the expressiveness the more laughs can be generated. as an audience, they may not remember the comic characters at once, but the performance of the participants is directly perceptible, and the main thing to do to attract the audience is the funny selling point of the participants.
3. at the moment it is only a simple game demonstration, but if it is a successful program piece, it can introduce the background of the comic while showing the answers, and by spreading knowledge can make the audience understand faster. As a general audience, it would be quicker to find the fun in the game process after understanding the background, otherwise, it would just be self-indulgence for the game participants.

Reflect：

The selection of material for the game should be broad and should consider the age range of the target audience and then investigate the anime they would have experienced in their respective generations from that age range so that it is more likely to resonate in the game.
At the same time, the content should be introduced with narration text to help those who are not familiar with the content to understand it and to spread knowledge through educational communication.

24/10/2022 Game2：Guess Who I Am

This is a very simple brand knowledge game where participants guess the name of a brand by describing it to the organiser. It is a game that requires some basic knowledge of the brand and is intended to spread fashion-related knowledge through the game.

Throughout the game, the participants are highly motivated, but the graphics are less dramatic and the answers are usually wrong, only to be exclaimed at the end when the answers are revealed.

At the end of the game, the feedback given by the participants was summarised as follows.

1. simply describing the historical background of the brand was not an easy answer and required the organiser to refine the selected brand information. Simplicity could show popular brand items as hints during the next game, which would also make it easier for the audience to be able to remember the brand features faster
2. There should be a limit on the number of times players can speak to avoid ineffective statements. The players are in a state of thought throughout the game and therefore the graphics are not as visually appealing, so consideration should be given to making the game fun for the players.

Reflect：

After collecting the feedback the investigators reflected: the format is fun, the game is always the most relaxing way to relieve stress, and it must also be the most infectious, both for the participants and the audience to perceive the fun in the most intuitive and effective way. But to be good, games still need to filter the material in order to allow audiences of all ages to reap their own high points. Universal values and educational meaning are embedded in the rules and content of the makers, and it is through the rules and content that the message is output. Since the participants found it interesting, it means that there is a possibility of combining fashion and anime and manga in this way, so the next step is to continue this possibility and test the feasibility of such a step in the production of a variety show.

25/11/2022 Why Variety Show： Inspire

I’ve been thinking about how to combine both fashion and anime, and I haven’t found a way to do it in a way that’s relevant to the lives of the general public while being light-hearted and humorous. In the middle of this dilemma, my girlfriend dragged me to watch a Korean variety show with her. As a pseudo-nerd who usually immerses himself in the world of his hobbies and interests, at first I had little patience for watching this kind of variety shows where the celebrities are just showboating and not being nutritious. This is my sincere inner monologue, I think variety shows are just commodities made from scripts to highlight the stars, and there is nothing nutritious about them, and I wouldn’t have given them a second thought if my girlfriend hadn’t told me about them.

But since it was my girlfriend’s request, I would have tried my best to accommodate her, but little did I know that it was this very act that would affect the series of tests I would later take. The show I was watching was called Earth Arcade, a live-action variety show produced by South Korea’s tvN, a new concept Hybrid action-adventure variety show in which four warriors who have come together to capture a moon bunny that has escaped to Earth travel through time and space. Set in the unique backdrop of Thailand, the show features a variety of games that will create fun and smiles like no other. The four characters are from hip-hop, comedy and idol groups.

Not knowing much about KPOP culture, I had a sneaking feeling at the beginning of the show that the next 40 minutes might not be easy to get through. As it turned out, within the first 10 minutes, I immediately realised that my stereotypes were about to be washed away and I was immediately enamoured by the show’s hilarious and nonsensical programming, even though I didn’t know any of them. The cast had no idol baggage at all, they came on with big grins on their faces and didn’t care about their image, and the most charming part was the freedom to show off their dance moves even if they made mistakes, and the time passed quickly in a hilarious way. I couldn’t get enough of the show, and I even spent a couple of days just watching the whole thing.

Of course, if it was just funny, it wouldn’t have caused me to think deeply, but what I cared more about was the show’s export of KPOP culture and the cast’s travel routine: the development of pop songs over a period of 20 years and the spread of different kinds of songs throughout the show made me aware of some of the works that fit my aesthetic, even though I usually only know some well-known groups; at the same time, it also satisfied the audience’s interest in the mysterious celebrities’ daily lives that are usually inaccessible. of celebrities on a daily basis.

After realising these key points, I started to connect my own project to the possibility of incorporating anime and fashion together in a variety show. Fashion shows have naturally been launched, but the audience’s sense of distance from the field of fashion has not diminished: fashion is still highbrow, it is not required to be accessible, but it is hoped that the audience will naturally see it as part of life and that there is a group of people who do it as a profession and not just as a hobby or vanity. Anime, naturally, is popular with many people and has a huge industry chain and system but more than that, there is a lack of understanding of the act of liking anime: what is the difference between this and cartoons, shouldn’t this be something childish that children like?

I was suddenly excited to look back at the masterpiece promoting the natural integration of foreign culture into inland Chinese culture, The Rap Of China. Again, I was an outsider with little knowledge of rap culture, but curiosity about the culture and partial approval from the show’s four producers led me to start watching this first show about a rap competition in mainland China at university. I can responsibly say that the show was a real catalyst for the frenzy of hip-hop culture in mainland China, with a culture that had been underground jumping into the mainstream, countless underground artists emerging, more and more viewers becoming fans as a result of the show, and a re-emergence of the domestic music industry. Despite the fact that six years have passed since the show was broadcast and a lot has happened outside of the show, I still don’t know much about rap, but I must admit that rap culture has become a major force in the mainland Chinese music market.

If music culture from across the pond can get a foothold in this Eastern country, can the combination of anime and fashion do the same?

I don’t expect all audiences to watch anime and manga and necessarily give their paychecks to fashion, I just hope that both cultures can also develop freely and equally in the everyday lives of ordinary people, expanding their audiences.

25/11/2022 Storyboard By Myself

SYNOPSIS: The Earth is in great peril, and the Great Lord of Destruction, tired of all the civilizations he finds uninteresting and worthless, decides to send his men to Earth to destroy human civilization. At the same time, the mysterious Observer organization on Earth, which is aware of Daemon’s plans, decides to send Observers to help protect the human race against the invasion. The first stop is Tokyo, where the local defence group fights back but is no match for the villain’s attack. The Observers then negotiate with the defence group, gaining their trust and examining the various industries hiding in the shelters, among them the animation and fashion industries, which have the vitality of human civilisation –

This is a subplot that I designed myself, hoping to test whether anime and fashion could be integrated into a variety show by planning the whole story flow in my head. As the storyline in my plan is relatively long, I only designed the beginning of the complete storyline in this design, so if the beginning can be somewhat innovative and feasible, then it will be helpful for the operation of the future plan. By incorporating fashion and anime knowledge into the script, combined with the previous playtesting, it has the potential to be a variety show.

25/11/2022 Storyboard Feedback& Reflect

Feedback.

1. the storyboard is drawn in the wrong order, but the important shots can be understood.
2. too many characters are involved and their relationships are complex, requiring more content to organise and causing confusion. It is recommended that observers be allowed to stay out of the way throughout and comment in real-time so that the focus of the show is on how the protection organisation fights the villains and how it reflects the values of culture.
3. the characters are laid out for a long time and the theme is entered more slowly, which tends to make the viewer forget the focus of the variety show. one could choose to intersperse the footage and content of the cartoonists and designers in appropriate sections, but since it is the first talk so one can understand this.
4. if the focus is to introduce the cartoonists and designers, then the game may be noisy and take away from the main focus.
5. there is a relatively big problem with the timing and the overly long prequel tends to cause tedium.
6. pay attention to the pacing of the editing, the overall bias towards microfilm and less like a variety show shoot.
7. it is recommended to use the moodboard more often, so as to better express the effect of the images you want to produce.
8. the need for better integration of content and text instructions, otherwise it is difficult to clarify the timing of the overhead, flat and sideways shots.
9. judging by the storyboard the overall style may be a bit absurd, try special angles, such as big elevation and big overhead shots or fisheye shots, which are more dramatic.
10. if there is no detailed script, the fifth and sixth words, the act of shaking hands between the observer and the defending organization has some conflict with the following generation of suspicion.
11. the need to plan the camera language for the climax, i.e. to describe it in more detail, and the need to make it clear to the audience exactly what is the point.
12. the most important aspect of how to incorporate comics and fashion does not seem to have been incorporated yet, at least for the time being, at the beginning of the plot.
13. the storyboard is written in such a way that it needs to be both serious and funny, in what details does it show, whether through characterisation or sound effects?
14. the important thing is to highlight the character, the variety show needs the character to have a clear image in order to better characterise the show, what he can do, why he does it, where the conflict points are and why it can show its value.
15. if you want to show the value of these two cultures, how exactly should they be represented, is the game really just about bringing in the funny?
16. pay attention to the time allotment, a brief introduction in the opening scene would be fine, showing that the villain wants to destroy just fine, this is not a film that needs to be made with a deep image of a certain villain, in Variety this is just a premise to assist in advancing the pace.
17. you also require a serious background atmosphere when laying out the introduction to the Watchers, which should contrast with the villains as to whether the audience can immediately understand that they are in fact the good guys. the shots in these scenes do have the feel of a secret agent film.
18. the most important thing about variety is that it’s fun and games are the key, while the value output of the anime and fashion you’re asking for is more important. most of the character padding is unnecessary, so the audience knows who he is and that’s it.
19. How to get the audience interested in still wanting to know is something to consider; if the character is really important, does it have a special meaning?
20. What is the most intuitive way to get the audience to understand the theme you want to express, this is not a film with deep meanings that the audience needs to take their time to understand and guess, this is a variety show, it is about being concise and clear.
21. it’s really hard to see any direct connection between anime and fashion in the current plot, so why not just go straight to the point, instead of laying it out too deep and being hollow.

Reflect：

I do need to reconsider the division between primary and secondary characters, the villains are not really important characters just characterizations to advance the plot. If the villains were introduced with less padding, more space could be allotted in terms of time for key artists and designers. But if the depth of the villains was deepened, giving them a unique personality so that they could combine any bit of anime and fashion it would be easier to move the plot along and deepen the theme. But given that this is a variety show and not a movie, perhaps a weaker portrayal of the villain would have been better suited to a lighter, funnier pace.

As for the Watcher, I myself wanted to explore the value of fashion and anime through an observer’s perspective, and based on feedback it might indeed have been more objective to have it rise above the usual characters and stand in the same light as the audience, which would have resonated better. The Protector’s Organisation setting also needs to be reconsidered, the original intention was to have traffic stars to engage the audience. The original plan was for the artists and designers to be similarly positioned as guests, but perhaps it would have been quicker to place them directly into the plot.

There was some hesitation as to which was more important, the content of the game or the presentation of the artists and designers. I wanted to rely on the game as the focus to convey basic cultural knowledge, but it may not be able to directly convey cultural values, as the game is light and fun but lacks seriousness. If the focus is on the artists and designers, it is possible to bring the audience closer by showing the daily workflow and environment. What the audience wants to gain is unknown information to satisfy their curiosity and thus remove the sense of distance, and I think I should find a balance. But at heart, I still expected the game to be responsible for the attraction and the output of the two cultures to be a gentle transition.

When I conceived the whole story line, I wanted to have a serious atmosphere with a reverse of cute and clumsy, using the contrast to be funny, but this idea might be more like making a film than a variety show, and maybe the style of a single episode could be presented that way, but the overall tone needs to be light-hearted and fun, but in conflict with the content of “spoilers”.