Gephyrophillia | Not An Update #9

Originally Posted on 02/16/2009 by Jeff Harris

This is not an update.

It's a little introduction to a word. It's a word I've heard, and I want everybody to spread the word to everyone you know. And the word is doga.

What is doga? Doga is a Japanese term that means "moving picture." Essentially, it's a cartoon. Once upon a time, before Western and European culture took over the industry, doga was what Japanese producers called their animated production. Before it was Toei Animation, the studio that would eventually introduce the Western world to Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Saint Seiya, and other titles, was originally called Toei Doga.

Why the change to "anime"? No one really knows. Maybe it had to do with the fact that a lot of Japanese productions were becoming big in France. See, here's another thing you may not know. Japanese animation is just as big in France as it is in the United States. French studios, particularly DiC (see, long before it became a cog in Cookie Jar, Disney's C-studio in the 1990s, and way before it became an animation success story in the 1980s, it was a French studio), often co-produced Japanese titles. They still do to this day. Aside from Oban: Star Racers, we'll just never see them stateside because, um, Americans hate the French? The French also airs many popular titles, though this one title from Tokyo Movie Shinsha featuring the grandson of the world's greatest thief, who just happens to be one of France's greatest characters, caused a bit of friction, but that's water beneath the bridge.

Anime is a French term for "moving picture," or cartoon. The term became synonymous with all animation in Japan over time. The term caught on the Western world in the mid-90s particularly out of political correctness over the term that preceded it, "Japanimation." Japanimation is a very racist term (which I've talked about many, many moons ago), and its replacement term, anime, became hip and acceptable at just the right time. Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, Ghost in the Shell, and Princess Mononoke were introduced to the mainstream while titles like Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, Ranma 1/2, Trigun, and others were gaining acceptance on the growing video market.

Anime was in, even making a play for its own section on shelves. It became synonymous with coolness and hip. Kids loved it. Teens loved it. Young adults loved it. However, people thought that the word "anime" originated from Japan instead of France. This was slowly before we reached the age of stupidity in this country, and it became hip to be a francophobe. Freedom fries, anyone? The animation industry in Japan has never forgotten its strong French roots.

But they have forgotten about being called "doga." Hell, most Japanese animation fans weren't even aware of this word's existence. I find it somewhat comical that the so-called anime community wants to immerse itself with all things Japanese, from the language to the culture, and yet, the word describing the medium, anime, is not Japanese in any stretch of the word, and yet, it's everywhere from the news sites to the annual conventions. There are even networks and blocks using the name. The term anime has entered the public lexicon while the term doga as been forgotten by a large percentage of fans of Japanese animation.

Now, I'm not saying that every site should incorporate Doga into their website names, but they could at least return the word into the lexicon. Anime and doga are interchangable, but, like I mentioned before, doga is forgotten. Yeah, I'm a guy who isn't fond of labeling animation from other parts of the world separately from each other as if one is superior to another, but since we're going to go there, perhaps the term doga should replace anime when talking about Japanese animation.

This is not an update. This is someone who'll stick with a universal phrase that has stood the test of time and acceptable regardless of the country of origin: CARTOON.

Jeff Harris,
Webmaster, The X Bridge.