Why did Japan adopt a serialized model for animation early on?

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El Squibbonator
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Why did Japan adopt a serialized model for animation early on?

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Postby El Squibbonator » Wed Nov 10, 2021 5:11 pm

So this is something I’m genuinely curious about.

When you look at the early history of anime, you notice that it more or less began—early experiments aside—with serialized, long-form TV series like Astro Boy. These were shows with multi-episode story arcs and clifffhangers, and that continues to be the dominant model for anime today.

Now contrast that with the early history of Western animation. The cartoon characters made by Disney, Warner Bros., and Fleischer were essentially static, with no real ongoing storylines to speak of. Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Popeye never changed. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine them changing.

Astro Boy, however, was allowed to evolve in a serialized way (Sister, Robot Parents, Dog, Making up with his creator, Getting Power and Tech Upgrades, enemies returning with non-repeat, non-cliche plans and shuffling alliances...even romance) WHILE being safe and consistent enough to be easy to jump on in it at any point.

My question is. . . WHY? Why did Japan gravitate towards animated works with ongoing storylines, while America preferred episodic works?

And more to the point, could we ever see American animation make a wholesale shift towards the Japanese model?
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