Mechademia

Mechademia  
Abbreviated title (ISO 4)
Mechademia
Discipline Media studies
Language English
Edited by Frenchy Lunning
Publication details
Publisher
Publication history
2006-present
Frequency Annually
Indexing
ISSN 1934-2489 (print)
2152-6648 (web)
LCCN 2006215646
OCLC no. 72523390
Links

Mechademia: An Annual Forum for Anime, Manga, and the Fan Arts is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal in English about Japanese popular culture products and fan practices. It is published by the University of Minnesota Press and the editor-in-chief is Frenchy Lunning.[1]

Volumes

Since 2006, nine volumes have been published with one more planned.[2][3]

Reception

Steve Raiteri from Library Journal commends Mechademia as a "great first effort [...] bridg[ing] the gap between academics and fans."[4] Christophe Thouny, writing for Animation also thought the writing and tone was accessible by both academics and fans.[5] Ed Sizemore from Comics Worth Reading criticizes the journal for its review and commentary section because they "read like summaries of the works (films and books) discussed with no actual critique of the work". However, Sizemore commends the journal's academic essay section.[6] By contrast, Raiteri in Library Journal states that fans will find the Review and Commentary section "the most accessible" section of the journal.[4] Kevin Gifford contrasts Mechademia with shallower works on anime, praising its "insightful essays and reviews" and detail, calling it "worthwhile reading for anyone hungry for intelligent writing" about anime.[7] Tomo Hirai of the Nichi Bei Times described the first volume as "an informative and inspiring read for those curious beyond the skin of anime".[8]

A review of the second volume of Mechademia by Comics Worth Reading's Johanna Draper Carlson criticises the journal for its dry tone and "flat statements following after each other separated only by footnote numbers".[9] A later review by Ed Sizemore recommends that Mechademia "should stop trying to develop a theme for each issue".[10] Active Anime's Holly Ellingwood comments that the journal's "strong academic bent may put off some potential readers but give it a chance and peruse through the many varied topics".[11] A later review by Scott Campbell commends the third volume of Mechademia as being "extremely insightful and thought provoking ... [about] anime, manga, and even the future of mankind".[12] William McClain criticises the fourth volume for having articles that are "too restrictive" in focus, calling attention to the lack of discussion, in this volume, of how anime and manga culture has spread internationally. McClain also criticises the volume for not including enough visual aids for the general reader, but praises the Mechademia journal as a whole for its experimental approach.[13] Ellen Grabiner feels that War/Time takes the approach that war has become a part of everyday life in post-war Japanese society, and praises the broad range of essays.[14] Timothy Iles feels that the strength of Mechademia is that it provides "theoretically informed, historically grounded, jargon-free research that highlights first and foremost, not the self-serving virtuosity of the researcher, but the interpretive depth of the material under analysis."[15]

References

  1. Koulikov, Mikhail (January 26, 2005). "2004 Year in Review Anime/Manga Academic Highlights". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  2. "volumes". Mechademia. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  3. "cfp". Mechademia. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
  4. 1 2 Raiteri, Steve (2007-01-15). "Graphic Novels: Religion and Comics". Library Journal. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  5. Thouny, Christophe (2008). "Untitled Review". Animation. 3 (2): 212–217. doi:10.1177/17468477080030020703.
  6. Sizemore, Ed (June 25, 2007). "Mechademia 1". Comics Worth Reading. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  7. Gifford, Kevin (February 2007). "Mechademia Volume 1". Newtype USA. Vol. 6 no. 2. Houston, Texas, United States: A.D. Vision. p. 139. ISSN 1541-4817.
  8. Hirai, Tomo. "Book Review: Academia and Fandom Meet In New Study of Anime and Manga". Nichi Bei Times. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  9. Draper Carlson, Johanna (September 14, 2008). "Mechademia 2: Networks of Desire". Comics Worth Reading. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  10. Sizemore, Ed (February 24, 2009). "Mechademia 3: Limits of the Human". Comics Worth Reading. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  11. Ellingwood, Holly (January 18, 2007). "Mechademia: Emerging Worlds of Anime and Manga". Active Anime. Retrieved 2009-05-16. Archived index at the Wayback Machine.
  12. Campbell, Scott (January 4, 2009). "Mechademia Vol 3: Limits of the Human". Active Anime. Retrieved May 16, 2009. Archived index at the Wayback Machine.
  13. McClain, William (2010). "Mechademia Volume 4: War/Time" (PDF). International Journal of Communication. 4. Retrieved December 27, 2011. Archived index at the Wayback Machine.
  14. Grabiner, Ellen (2011). "Review of Mechademia 4: War/Time". ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies. University of Florida. 5 (4). Retrieved December 27, 2011. Archived index at the Wayback Machine.
  15. Iles, Timothy (May 31, 2011). "Mechanical, Academic, Anime: Mechademia 4 and Mechademia 5". Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies. Retrieved December 27, 2011. Archived index at the Wayback Machine.

Further reading

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