@@sombre101 I'm a Japanese. So I used i-mode phone normally. But now, i-mode service ended. I'm so happy I uploaded i-mode phone video and showing many people :)
The idea of Platform Imperialism is really going to shape a lot going forward, so this is great introduction to it all, especially after how kadakowa recently reacted to it.
your content is criminally underrated, idk how i would get it out there to more people without simplifying it but you deserve so many more views. hope this one blows up. love ya stuff man
Same really sucks to see good high quality anime manga channels are underrated unlike Nux has a huge fellowers, man i dont like his channel at all and his thumbnails that make people refuse to watch animes
Man............ The editing in this is absolutely bloody phenomenal, the attention to detail in making those manga panels genuinely feel like these live cut outs by purposefully putting them in-focus or out-of-focus as compared to how it'd actually look on a certain macro lens - on top of the perfect use of the shadows - is incredible to say the least. Now i'm interested, just how must paper do you end up using as props via printing out scripts and segments to film? 😂😂 10:23 makes for a very good point though. Quite often nowadays, a lot of creators within specific areas, like video editors for example, all seem to be collectively grouped within this content creator title. Which, that in itself is a whole discussion, as many people dislike that term due to its linkage with being an "influencer". Even when i'm looking for Graphic Designer jobs, a lot of times that job title is named as a Content Creator. Weird how that has transitioned over time. Anyways, i'm rambling! Really educational video, you've gone above and beyond for it!
Oh man I use a ton of paper, it's insane. It's gonna get worse cause I wanna do stop motion crumple animations so watch out...stacks of paper Yeah it's funny you mention the content creator title, cause I was applying for editing work a few months back, and "video editor" isn't really that frequent anymore unless it's something really orthodox or old-school. Most of it seemed to be under the branch of social media manager or evangelist or something, I definitely with ya
You really looked to out do yourself with this one didn't you Joe? The talk of the platform economy always interests me because it really is the evolution of imperialism and something will only increase in importance as time goes on. On the production side of things your attention to detail did not go unnoticed. Personally I really liked all of the motion tracked animated manga shots. I know you have done shots like them before but it is still really cool to see all the reactive shadow casting and change in focal lengths. It really gives the manga that nice tactile pulpy feeling those pages have, whilst simultaneously still adapting and making the most of the video medium. Incredible stuff Joe, you are big inspiration to me and I can't wait to see your next video!
I think platforms is a really close-to-home topic especially for you and I, since our trade depends on these sorta platforms (Viz for you and UA-cam for me), so it's nice to see that you found this video interesting. And thank you very much on your kind words Holden, it means a lot coming from you man, you're an amazing editor so I appreciate the praise!
"Platform imperialism" A good and accurate descriptive phrase ... This is the first time I'm watching your channel live. Thanks for your interesting video.
Wow everything is clearer to me now. Everyone is LOGGED IN and what makes people stay in is primarily content. Human connection is secondary or even tertiary. Even at the beginning of 'social' media, it was already less about what your friends did, but mostly about 'have you seen this on [platform]?' And every big app that sprung up since echoes the same exact word. This makes the chat-app LINE very interesting indeed, though their reach seem stagnated and never leaked out of Japan and Korea. Everytime when you have time to spare on the internet, you "choose a platform" first and foremost. So of course good stuffs like anime and this video are valuable resources for the attention of their users. All the 'Steam as a platform' talk back then, and their often questionable investment on the social aspects makes sense to me now, whether they are fruitful or not. And the kerfuffles of a future we are seeing (metaverses and NFT)? Damn. My head is going somewhere and it's your fault.
It's funny how Marc says how we should all be concerned whether we're in the US or in Indonesia, (because hey! that's me! I'm from Indonesia!!!) and it's very much true, all these global platforms like Netflix, Disney+, or Tencent's WeTV have been steadily making headway here at a very fast pace. Then there's also distributors like Muse from Taiwan and Ani-One from Hong Kong that distribute their platform on UA-cam for free. Anecdotally for anime, I can already see a change in how titles are reaching people locally; how Netflix is becoming the *only* platform for some, how some shows are being spread via transformative content on TikTok, and how even more viewers are starting to not consider or even know how to access content that aren't available on legal platforms. (Which is incredible, because the legal streaming platforms themselves have only started to become viable alternatives here in the past 5 or so years.) I think what worries me the most though, and tying it back to Marc's remarks on platform imperialism, is that the way some of these massive global platforms are built and operate limits the conversation and who gets speak or add to it, and more importantly who gets to create content for it. I fear that these platforms will only take and don't give back, which is textbook imperialism. I'm not sure if I'm properly conveying what I want to say, but Netflix, despite all of it's acquisition of content from all over the world and "giving back" such as in the form of localized dubs and subs using local workers, feels like the textbook example of this. It feels exclusionary to anyone and any culture outside of "Netflix the corporation"- there is no exchange taking place, not even in the form of comments like you said. If that makes sense? Sometimes anime discourse on the web already feels like it's limited to western, english-speaking countries as it is. This might be my biases talking, but I prefer Nico Nico Douga (and even UA-cam despite it's shortcomings) because it still enables some from of inclusivity and cultural exchange and in return foster even more content creation, and, I dunno, platforms are way better for everyone when they're like that I guess??
Huh, that's interesting. I thought Marc was just making a one-off comparison with Indonesia, but reading your comment suggests there's more to this than I thought. That is something that didn't make it into the video, but Marc definitely mentioned, which is the fact that there's so many other spaces online that need more attention. He mentioned the differences in anime consumption in Latin America, for instance, and given your comments on Netflix, that makes me woner now.
This video caught me particularly because as a dissertation I wrote about eastern digital ecosystems, and how unlike the west there was a constant race to not just give one specific service but rather to create an environment of comfort with the customer through many "filler" options, like webcomics and novels. The difference with this video is that my thesis wasn't about Japan, but South Korea (the giants Naver and Daum in particular) and how they were aiming for a massive adaptation of the platform in use (webtoons changed some reading rules in the transition from pc to smartphone, after the previous paper > digital with his original column format). And nothing, I was just having fun with this difference in our viewing angles ᕕ(のᗜの)ᕗ
Thanks for this comparison! The relation between South Korea and Japan is super interesting when it comes to platforms, esp since LINE is the next generation platform, comes from Naver Japan, and is inspired by KakaoTalk. Lots of connections there we didn’t get to talk about in the video. And need more research like yours!
The thought about platforms affecting cultural media or what we consume is something I never really thought too hard about since today. I have so many avenues to explore things outside of these large or more prominent platforms. Like if I wanted to watch anime, I don't often just stick to the big names like Netflix, Amazon or Crunchyroll. But I can find more stuff through Funimation, Sentai, and if I'm really feeling it, sites that shall not be named. And on those sites it's more like, I can find things that otherwise would be harder to find licensed, but nowadays, even that barrier is slowly breaking down since so many older shows are getting licensed and releases, which I think to the point near the end about it being generally good, that this mainstream push is happening, I can agree with. But at the same time, when I first started watching anime, it was on Crunchyroll, which meant the only exposure and experience I started with was literally what Crunchyroll wanted to show me. I was forced, until I realized where else to watch, to watch what they had on their platform. And so that's both a really scary and interesting prospect that was brought up by your ending note too. Like, I can definitely see newer fans, on Crunchyroll, see their awards (no shade to them, it's w/e) and see what has won, and what this large anime site deems as worthy or worth this large praise, and now fans will latch onto those shows, become defenders, and really stick to what they know. And when presented with shows maybe not on Crunchyroll or without that same platform prestige, might not give it a chance. All because, these platforms can dictate what gets limelight and what doesn't. But then again platforms also allow for voices to be heard, and I really like the sentiment of, platforms create content, more so from the creators, like here on UA-cam, it's definitely got this weird push and pull of some really great positives and maybe some things that can be troublesome. Though, I think platform economies in general probably do more good than bad, after all, most people might not have even watched or would have accepted anime as an art form if not for the push of it. And well, all of the other trickled community stuff that spawned, for some parts, is quite good. Really amazing video or videos with this and the last one together.
Hell, sometimes you can go further: people talk about Crunchyroll controlling access, but even on piracy spheres their influence can be felt: webrip subtitles are often some of the biggest publicly seeded things - until it's demise, HorribleSubs was mainly Crunchyroll subs. Even in an 'alternative' space like piracy, Crunchyroll and what they deemed to be content, still had its hands relatively deep.
Absolutely incredible video with insane editing. I feel like I need to stare at a wall for a long while to sort through all my thoughts and feelings. I am a little horrified that I can't think of any platform I regularly use that is not American. As an avid reader of both books and manga I am painfully aware of how much of the translated stories I can read have already been filtered. By the pubishers who have picked them up, by the choice of the translator and their interpretation, how much marketing is put behind a title. I love that I have the ability to experience Sayaka Murata's work and get a very different perspective from my own that would be impossible if not for this more global market. But I am also almost competely removed on how the Japanese public reacted to the short stories in her newest collection and how much my experience is informed by the American platform I consumed it on. Of course, I want this platform to keep offering such content but I also have no controll over the how and what. The world is becoming more international each minute and what most of us view as barriers (streaming access, licences, translations, etc.) might also be important to keep one narrative from overpowering everyone else. And the entire discussion on Amazon and not allowing books specfically has been ongoing for months now with no end or solution in sight. I know of too many authors that had problems already. (Ironically, most of them American).
Honestly, as someone who really wants to make big budget scifi/fantasy stuff that would actually require a studio behind it, this is really terrifying. It also reminds me of Rammstein's Amerika (We're all living in Amerika, is wunderbar)
Your discussion about platform imperialism does speak to me. I’ve seen plenty of people online argue that Amazon taking down certain novels is due to some innate political slant, but it could just be corporatism wanting to have the “safest” series on their platform. Of course, this doesn’t even delve into how smaller platforms dictate their content. Bakuman ran in Weekly Shonen Jump, which I assume has its own standards and practices for what it runs - and has editors who sometimes tell the author to change what their ideas on, whether they’re good or not. So does Weekly Shonen Magazine, Weekly Shonen Sunday, Bookwalker, all of those various stores and outlets. If you want the truest vision of the author, you’d need to either go indie or check on a site with lax moderation like Narou - and even then you’re not entirely sure if pure authorial vision is worth it.
I wasn't surprised, but definitely a little disappointed that Bakuman never looked into doujinshi scenes. There could have been an arc where Mashiro and Takagi temporarily separate (which they do a few times) and then Mashiro / Takagi go to Comiket or something and they see how doujin artists do it, maybe that gives a bit of insight or inspiration. However I understand why that might not exist in Bakuman. And yeah, even on sites that have super lax content creation, there's still a social pressure: they are often pressured to write stories that sell or hit an audience. Hell, I'm not immune to this from the pangs of UA-cam, I understand if I don't do certain things then my channel takes a hit.
Thanks for the CC! English is not my first language and I'm currently studdying it so the Closed Captions help me in both my understanding and studies.
Haven't watched one of your videos in a while, but this was super interesting from the moment I entered the premier. The editing is amazing (I wish I could even have half your skill), the idea of platforms and how you delved into it was fascinating, and I really enjoyed the research you put it. Great work!
@@PauseandSelect Your videos on editing in your second channel have been very helpful, can't tell you how grateful I've been to those. Thanks for that and your encouraging words, I'm definitely gonna keep at it!
@@callmepuzzle3433 Thanks CallMePuzzle! I'm planning on updating that sometime in the summer to have everything that I think is essential, so I hope you look forward to that!
This video is incredible. I'm really glad to see so much enthusiasm in the comments because I'm equally blown away. I hope the folks you're interviewing are enthusiastic about what you're making here, too - academic media studies has never been showcased like this.
Fantastic video, this was really well edited and interesting. All of these ideas are important and surely people think about and discuss how platforms affect the content (or contents, huh) they host and how the atmosphere around them has and will continue to change, but it was cool to see more of the history and gather these concepts together in a logical progression. Thanks for uploading!
Coming in off a Shaybs recommendation (shout-out to him, Cynic and Translating Japan in the "Speaking through Platforms" section), the topic of platforms - typically social media but also including most of the big giant tech named sites like Amazon, UA-cam, Tiktok etc - and them being used to effectively self-propagate cultural products/content is something I desperately wanted a more educated/academic take on and I'm glad to have found such. I am impressed at the historical context for how Japan capitalized (heh) on the content/social media/attention economy first by just having an early precedent by inheriting another business model of convenience stores (maybe something to parallel/contrast to America's Mcdonaldization) and the sort of localized policies (economic and cultural attitudes toward said platforms) set first by Japan that get warped when globalization sort of starts to move in on Japan's virtual turf. Acknowledged but somewhat side-stepped is the sort of "apprehension" toward platforms, especially in how its sort of portrayed in Bakuman with again, the only real line in the sand drawn is that "collaborative online works dilute any actual individual artistic spirit" as both somewhat hypocritical in the whole "b-but actually anime isn't like that cuz uh..." (Tho I'd personally have to read through Bakuman to see both the authorial conclusions and then analyze the cultural implications of what could be seen as an old guard boomer saying "ONLINE WRITERS AREN'T [REAL] MANGAKAS". By which I could see a bigger thesis that's still on-going again, is what IS the effect of more open and rapidly accessible platforms effects are. Not just on how Consumers can access or even choose to interact with a given work (some people post weekly screenshots like barely seconds after a new anime becomes accessible on Crunchy or Netflix) and the weird kinda forced communal pace and discussion period (it's not really a "have you seen last weeks/this one really old but good classic" but rather people will just straight up post day 1 (or even hour 1) spoilers and tag people on twitter. But I'm also semi-curious beyond both Bakuman's old-school Shounen Jump-esque elitism or Your Name's simultaneity of tech platforms building early foundations the lead up to the climax of face-to-face; I want to see a more -if not constructive/supportive depiction- a more explicit commentary (hopefully more substantial than just "Buh Zoomer Fones Bad" western political cartoon takes). Really the only ones that aren't like knee-deep in Otaku-ism (That I have personally read/watched) might be either Train Man or maybe Re:Creators (as a undercooked missed opportunity as it was) since the former does basically treat the 2chan-esque image board forumers as supportive nerd friend group while the latter *spoilers* for the first half treated the rabid pixiv harassment to an up-coming indie artist with such disdain that they indirectly lead to her suicide from accusations of plagiarism. Still, I enjoyed the topic and video and actually do want to see if you'll broach any wider social/cultural insights or commentary as laid out here
Thanks for the comment Anolyso, and thanks for taking the time to watch it! It's a big challenging trying to squeeze a lot of information into a 30 minute video, but I just wanted it to be done and accessible. I think Your Name is interesting less about its generational perspective and moreso (for me at least) on its core-peripheral perspectives. There is a really fascinating urban-rural relationship depicted there, and I do love talking about rural shit. It's funny you mention Train Man, I did mention it a bit in the Tonikawa video, and you mention wanting to see if I'll broach any wider social or cultural insights, but I do have a few fun topics. I'm more of a general exploration guy rathering tethering myself to a distinct field or subject, so the channel is all over the place, but I hope you have a fun time. Also sub to me homie, I see that sub list. Note: This video is based off of Steinberg's book "The Platform Economy," so if you want something meatier, take a gander!
For some reason my post isn't really showing up, so I hope you can see it! Immense - IMMENSE - thanks to Translating Japan: ua-cam.com/users/TranslatingJapan The Cynic Clinic: ua-cam.com/users/TheCynicClinic Uniquenameosaurus: ua-cam.com/users/Uniquenameosaurus Shaybs: ua-cam.com/channels/8y4X8xL_jMWvYn2IM26apQ.html Dani: ua-cam.com/channels/bXBnHUfiuZJYfjmocDfhEQ.html Justus R. Stone: ua-cam.com/users/JustusRStoneYT STG - SLK: ua-cam.com/channels/_MMFl45d4aeNwcW2wOCuGw.html Cooro: ua-cam.com/channels/45o5FS_vapZnkUxXvKtMQA.html Please take a look at their stuff, a lot of it is really interesting!
I'm always blown away by your editing, the way you animate manga and your use of shadows and cut-outs is incredible. Everything is just so cinematic, so filled with ambiance and the pacing of the video is enthralling. Not to mention the other arresting visuals you create, like with the tvs in the platform economy section. This was just a fascinating examination on the evolution of platforms as a concept and as something we engage with, and how they are affecting the media are consumed and created in a global context. The platform imperialism point particularly hit me as I've become personally increasingly exhausted by how much control a select few companies have over the way media is distributed, to say nothing of how integrated they've become as a part of most our daily lives as a whole. I always learn something or see something from a new light thanks to your videos and am thankful for the hard-work you put into editing and crafting narratives through them!
Such an interesting video. Top notch quality erradiates from it. I'm really glad I'm one of the fortune human beings that were able to watch your incredible work. Good job! Please keep it up 🙌🏻😁
I fucking love your "CONTENT"! Seriously though, this quality of research and presentation is rare to find. I hope the algorithm and word of mouth picks up your channel.
Friend recommended this because I am obsessed with good editing... 2 minutes in and I am blown away. I respect the amount of time, patience, effort, practice, skill and more that went into crafting this video. Id love to hear about your editing process because this is AMAZING. Keep up the good work man!
Somehow I missed that you made a Haruhi video??? Anyway I went back and watched that video and then this one. I think media mix is an interesting topic (read a chapter from Steinberg's book in college) though sometimes I get a bit lost in terms of applying it to the process of actually engaging with media. This video though I think really grapples with a lot of the things happening to the media landscape in the moment that I find myself thinking about a lot. I'll have to check out that book. Great work!
I enjoyed this video. The production work is drastically above the average anitube content. Bakuman is an interesting example, being as you said constantly "in between" in whatever point it makes as you said. I am not sure this is a bad thing to try portray the complexity of life that way, it is maybe a more mature one than just drawing a clear line. Even in the platform discussion the line is not well defined: Shonen Jump could be qualified as a platform in itself as it connects creators to readers and give them the opportunity to feedback through their polls, which then dictates the future of ongoing series, wether they would be displayed more proeminently or cancelled. I wonder if the I-mode came before this publishing method. There are discussions that can be made on the ethicality and efficiency of these methods, and their capacity to promote and make a medium like manga grow. Interesting discussions also on how the entire ecosystem of manga and anime will continue to be impacted by imperial platforms, wether or not the mainstream franchises will get morally "americanized", if increasing investments captured by the sector will help more niche works to be produced... A lot of interesting questions indeed. Thanks for your hard work.
Admittedly I don't know too much abot Shounen Jump as a business model, but based on what's presented I think you can make an argument that it is a sort of platform in itself. And I think you're right in that it's not as clear cut as perhaps my script intended: after all, it's funny how despite the teams' disgust with what Nanamine is doing, Mashiro and Azuki's relationship is built on the motherlode of the Japanese platform (the cellphone). I mainly chose Bakuman as a basic jumping off point, and perhaps I'm not giving the creators enough credit, but I think it's primarily just that I wanted to get to the primary discussion more than anything else.
Financial institutions such as banks and credit card companies are also platforms that can dictate what kind of services or products they will service.
Great work. A moment's thought about how the content on FB, Insta, YT, Tiktok, vary so widely gives a strong understanding/explanation of Platform Imperialism. The platform determines the contents -- so what if that platform isn't of the same culture as you, or if people outside of your culture will see your contents? Great video.
Watched your video on Dagashi Kashi and I have to say that you earned a sub and I really dig the style/narrative of your video. Everything feels very clean/crisp and you seem to put a lot of effort into your videos.
I really enjoyed this video! I think that the “platform” as a concept has a lot of potential as an analytic tool/lens, and I agree that platforms are increasingly important and visible in our landscape. I have a few thoughts: The focus on platforms here emphasizes capitalism, but what about unofficial fan networks of distribution? Steinberg addresses it a little bit in the later half, but it’s not as if piracy has disappeared, and platforms of piracy still form a large, unaccounted for part of contemporary networks of media distribution. (Especially outside of the Global North.) Nyaa is a platform too, and quite an important one. Even Crunchyroll, the poster child anime platform, grew out of piracy, and so not accounting for more grassroots or unofficial platforms seems like an oversight. Ian Condry calls this “dark matter,” and I think we should start accounting for it! I would also point to non-pirate but also non-capitalist platforms such as Wikipedia (or in fandom, Archive of Our Own) to trouble the emphasis on capitalism here. --- To me, the dominant model of the internet now seems much more freemium or free-but-selling-consumer-data-to-advertisers than subscription based. Sure, subscription-based platforms have started to become more prevalent, but I don’t think it is accurate to characterize it as the predominant model. ---- Some of the ideas posited here don’t seem particularly novel for platforms to me. Isn’t one of Marshall McLuhan’s main arguments that works are always the byproduct of places, that the medium always affects the media? Narratives have always come out of interfacial relationships…art has never been a pristine creation separated from the surrounding contexts. Perhaps this process is especially visible in contemporary platforms, but it’s certainly not a new phenomenon! --- The concept of platform imperialism is really interesting and relevant to my own research! From the coverage of it in this video, you end up seeing the specter of lolicon in the background. (“A specter is haunting platforms. The specter of lolicon…”) But there is one place where I think it may be limited, at least in its original formulation. Platform imperialism seems to take the nation as the unit of analysis. But what about beyond that? The dominance of a few main platforms on the internet not only affects other cultures in other countries, but other cultures (or subcultures) in the US! (My current research is on a social media platform created by fans seeking to contest the hegemony of the dominant platforms.) Thus, I think platform imperialism could be useful as an analytic, but I think there is a need to go beyond national boundaries in focus. --- In some other anime and manga studies work (I’m thinking of Sandra Annett in particular), I’ve seen characters referred to as “platforms.” Is this an accurate description in terms of platform studies? Additionally, could fan spaces, such as conventions, also be considered “platforms,” in a sense?
I think the McLuhanist perspective is still very relevant, I don't think it's necessarily exclusive. Perhaps a sort of revival? I see it a bit more like Galloway's protocological control, but perhaps I'm just running my mouth.
Very much enjoyed this video. It was, dare I say, very interesting. I have one issue with it, though: Sound. I will attempt some constructive criticism in this comment. The sound effects you used throughout the video, for example the ones at 3:06 and 17:18, are a little too loud and can distract from what is being said. The music was also a little too loud throughout the video, but maybe that's just my personal preference, though I do think it should've been quieter in the parts where Steinberg speaks since his audio quality is not that good. Also, at parts like 27:00 where you have audio from another video playing, I would either duck the music or not include the audio of that video, because otherwise it gets a little chaotic with your brain trying to follow three different sound narratives (?) at the same time. They're mostly minor nitpicks and don't affect my enjoyment much as I'm already a fan of the channel, but as a new viewer it would probably make it more difficult to concentrate.
Thanks for the feedback dubsta, I appreciate it! Yeah, I was a little worried that some of the sound effects might be too loud, so I asked a friend of mine but he said it was okay, so now I'm going to have to hunt him down I think, listening to it over and over again, I think you may be right. Next time I think I'll lower it more. Hopefully it wasn't too much a bother, my apologies on that and in the future, I'll keep it in mind so it'll be better !!
Okay, I watched with the CC on and have to say that whoever did them, did an excellent job. Just superb. oh, yeah, the video was pretty good too, I guess.
I’m a little confused about how a car equates to a platform, from my understanding of the definition you put forward a platform is a medium where exchange takes place, social platform is for exchange of opinions information, television and media a platform where time is spent for entertainment, and sales platforms are where items or digital goods are exchanged for money. And I didn’t really see that in the “car as platform” section I could see the sales aspect, marketing, tradeshows, and dealerships as platforms but I don’t understand how the car itself is a platform.
So to clarify, I mention that "we tend to think of platforms as places where things are generated," which means that I wasn't trying to say that was the definition of the platform. The platform is oftentimes a business-oriented substrate upon which contents emerges in particular ways. The automobile manufacturing framework, particularly through significant offsetting of risk to contractors, just-in-time production (and thus consumption), iterative development, and manipulation of underbodies and frames to create new derivative models are a lot of the practices that we would see translated into more digital spaces. If you're curious, Marc has a paper that traces that element specifically, titled, "From Automobile Capitalism to Platform Capitalism: Toyotism as a prehistory of digital platforms"
Really intriguing stuff right here~ Lots of food for thought in this one. I'm also just in awe of how freakin' great your video editing has become - this >platform< doesn't deserve the effort you put into this crap, haha. 🙃 One very minor little nitpick though - there are segments where the music and sfx are on the brink of drowning out your narration, which.. has been a thing for a while actually. I'd recommend using speakers for that, because while headphones are better for most things regarding audio-editing, they're just plain bad for volume control. That's pretty much the only thing that could be improved on tbh, everything else is mind-bogglingly good. 👌
Hmm, yeah, that's been my worry for a while. I'll have to think about getting some speakers then, only problem is that I live in a space that makes editing on speakers really annoying for everyone else, so I'll have to figure out some solutions. A lot of the ducking was using Adobe's auto-ducking feature (since I'm still learning audio), but I guess I'll have to duck it even more to prevent this sorta thing. At least I have captions, but thanks for letting me know!
@@PauseandSelect It was definitely a good investment, haha. 😉 I do believe that you can just keep your workflow as is and maybe just add one final volume checkup towards the end. Some small 2.0 system (eg. Creative Pebble level speakers) or even some portable bt speaker would be totally sufficient for this use case. Maybe put an audio-only render on your phone & go some place else? 🤔 Don't fret about it too much if it's a hassle though, since most ppl will be fine with how things are rn~
This is all interesting, but it seems also very familiar because a lot of the ideas expressed here seem very similar to the ideas of Marshall McLuhan's theories about media and "the medium is the message". This is a surprising find. I've watched a few videos from this channel a few times, but it been awhile. It funny how going down Hiroki Azuma's book Otaku: Japan's Database Animals rabbit hole and it lead me here. Good work. I am curious how or if this can be translated to more western media like Disney plus mixed media of Star wars and MCU. I think it can be, but I am not even sure how one would make the connection between the two.
The video production quality is off the chart! Platform imperialism is certainly a problem we should try solving, I despair that the EU hasn't tried funding alternative federated platforms.
I think possibly. On my limited knowledge, I'd say it might depend: a decentralized platform might work in, say, parts of the OECD west, but I don't know if they'd be able to penetrate Chinese internet.
Hi, first of all, I would like to say that I really, REALLY, love your channel: your analyses are extremely fascinating and thought-provoking! Secondly, I wanted to ask you if you are familiar with Space Battleship Yamato: I've watched it recently and I was wonderning if it may be considered an expression of the dichotomy between soft/hard nationalism sentiments in Japan,specifically regarding the representation of the good guys in the form of the Japanese Imperial Navy (the Yamato) against the evil Nazi-like aliens (the Garmillas). Maybe you have never watched the show, but in case you have I would be quite interested in your opinion. Thanks ❤
I watched Space Battleship Yamato years ago when I was doing the apocalypse videos, though admittedly I don't remember much. The whole Leijiverse is a side of anime and manga that I'm woefully unfamiliar with, so I don't want to accidentally run my mouth on it.
Great video !!! Also correct me if i'm wrong but isn't Platform or content imperialism basically what we had with the localization of "older" cartoon like Pokemon with its famous exemples ? Platform surely pick and choose wisely the content they produce but in the case of anime, i don't really see a big difference as to what type of content are getting produced ( mostly adaptations ).
Content Imperialism can expand much more deeply into things like the pipeline of information. For example, the promulgation of iPhones leading to iPhones leads to people needing to use the Apple App Store leading to very specific App Store requirements. Or how Facebook might push for cheaper internet access in developing states to expand its reach. I can't say for certain about the localization of older cartoons like Pokemon, but depending on the details, maybe!
Hi Baam, sorry it took so long to get back to you - I think there is, in that mediums are seen as interruptive (not in a bad way), but platforms are generative (not always in a good way). Sorta like how a cinema affects or informs how a content is produced (film), but a video platform gives people the ability to make videos (including simplified video editing tools).
So the framework here is both literal and theoretical. Marc expands on this significantly in his paper on Toyotism in "From Automobile Capitalism to Platform Capitalism," but it generally refers to how Toyota deeply pushed for a sort of logistical operation that heavily emphasized just-in-time production, intermediary firms, and standardization and variation. The last one (standardization and variation) is very important and relevant, in that there's a base model which gets modified to produce something new. So the "framework" is also quite literally the shared underbody between cars - you make modifications from a base model and then spin it out.
Thanks for the vid! A very interesting and compelling watch. Fantastic job on the visuals, and on the points both you and Marc raised. The whole historical part was fascinating. I watched this with a friend who happens to be working rather closely with those platforms, at least for the anime sector. Since the remarks below are mixing some of our points, feel free to point any contradictions there, lol While I find relevant the points about us living in a platform economy, and the fact that there *is* platform imperialism to some extent in some cultural fields, I feel like this isn't really happening for anime right now, at least. (Can't really talk about manga since I barely know platforms, especially Japanese platforms on that field. Text-based media looks more malleable in terms of production, thus maybe more subject to platform influence?) Sure, Amazon, Disney+ and Netflix are "doing anime" now, but the biggest anime platforms are now basically all Sony, a... Japanese company. They have such a tight grab on all specialized platforms around the world that I feel like some Western (or Chinese for that regard) influence guiding the actual content creation is still pretty far from us. But it's still an interesting thought. If for some reason stuff like TikTok (or with the same format) ends up being the biggest app in the world, used by younger and older generations, maybe there will be a sudden rise of short-form, vertical anime. It's a more complex effort to design than text-based or drawing-based fields, but it's plausible. I guess. We see the picture from our Western perspective, where we are watching giant US or Chinese platforms taking a shot at anime, but I feel like if you see it from the Japanese side, the production side, they're just additional actors with no real difference or added impact compared to existing platforms (besides the fact that they're foreign). To use an example, the new JoJo's Bizarre Adventure season switching to Netflix doesn't really feel much of an anime earthquake for years to come to me, just a business decision for a specific title. Netflix Japan which has a very different take on anime watching than its Western counterparts (way more titles, a weekly broadcast system that was basically non-existant until 2021 in the West...). Crunchyroll doesn't even exist in Japan, for example (except for non-Japanese shows like RWBY). It is a clear threat in the long run given the global reach of these platforms, but it's still largely possible to keep some individuality based on how these platforms work: for example, while NGNL novels were banned on the American Amazon store, and while they would be pretty much banned for legal reasons in numerous Western countries, they are still available in Japan on... Amazon. Also, if someone actually reads this comment up to this point somehow, I really recommend watching the Addendum on NicoNico, which expresses an example of concern with the way some smaller platforms may circumvent this imperialism. Marc uses the example of right-wing propaganda & neto-uyo flourishing on some parts of NND. My other example actually relates to the NGNL ban: surely it's because I agree with them for this specific example, but I don't really feel threatened by an imperialist platform if it means preventing access to lolicon-related or -implying sexual stuff, which is the only thing being targeted and definitely banned for now, I think (Arguably it's not that much targeted even, given the very, very creepy anime we sometimes see translated on our streaming services, and the fact that most banned releases we heard about in the recent years were eventually back on their store). And I don't feel particularly at ease defending a decentralized platform (or something similar) if that's the content they defend, I guess? But that's a whole different subject, and also something that can change over time (e.g. Apple's obsession with any type of pornography could lead to weird decisions on Japanese media too). Wow that was long. Uh, sorry about that.
Haha no worries, sorry my response won't be as in-depth. To be fair to Marc, most of his work in The Platform Economy is NOT about anime or manga. Much of it is my fault, I directly asked him about anime and manga because I felt like it might be good to tie it back to the channel's overall interests, so the blame's on me. You muse about Tiktok potentially being the biggest app, but it did surpass Google in sheer visits just a few months ago, which goes to show how strong of a platform it's become. While it's not as flexible as Google, I think there's something there. The point about Apple's obsession with pornography leading to weird decisions brings up a fun anecdote, which is that when Apple really cracked down on it, manga pirating apps (before they got wiped out wholesale) started implementing roundabout off-app cloud-based age verification checks so that people could use the Apple App store version of them. I don't remember the exact processes but I remember it was an interesting time.
@@PauseandSelect Thanks for taking the time to read&reply! No "blame" intended, at all. I think it's very interesting to at least picture the situation of platforms for otaku media. I think your conclusion (or non-conclusion) is relevant on that matter: we don't know shit about the future of those platforms for now, but we know they're here, and anime is a clear target. Also, wow I did not realize that about TikTok. Then, maybe it'll come sooner than expected haha (probably after they sort the fact that an insane amount of TikTok content consists in stolen media).
@@RdNetwork57 Oh yeah, that's also something I'm personally interested in, the piracy angle of platforms. For a long time Facebook video was the numero uno target on that field, but now with Tiktok, I wonder. I know it goes both ways - I've seen so much tiktok content on other platforms, but man, it's wild. Also, you mentioned your friend was working rather closely on those platforms - is it in an academic sense? I'd love to read it if so.
I'm wondering if you or Marc consider Japanese video streaming platforms like abema or U-Next to be copying American platforms like netflix or amazon, or are they a more unique thing like nico nico? I literally don't know how these platforms work since I've been trying to access them through VPNs for many years with no success lol
The concept of "platform imperialism" is just a refinement of the concept of cultural imperialism. And like cultural imperialism, "platform imperialism" relies on an implicitly nationalistic view of what culture is. That's a problem. Cultures aren't produced by nations they're produced by people; by treating culture as a national product you inevitably make the interests of national capital the focus of your analysis, which is (at best) problematic and reductive.
@@PauseandSelect Thanks for the reply. Even if you didn't engage I'm glad to know that you took the time to read what I had to say. To be clear, the video was great, I'm just critiquing an approach to media criticism that I disagree with. The abrupt end of the video and the lack of a satisfying conclusion suggests (to me at least) that cultural imperialism is a poor framework for analyzing the production and consumption of content as well as the social contexts that those activities take place in. It's hard to talk about culture using a concept that is primarily focused on the relationships national economies have with each other. Obviously you could employ additional concepts and get a fuller picture, but imo holistic approaches generally produce better analyses tbh. I'm just sharing my 2¢ btw, so don't feel obligated to reply to my rant
@@ldskjfhslkjdhflkjdhf Gotcha, yeah admittedly I didn't really know how to respond, so I gave the one off comment to acknowledge that I thought about it, thanks for the food for thought!
@@ldskjfhslkjdhflkjdhf Correct if I am wrong, isn't the idea of platform imperialism the idea of dictating and guiding the contents that can be distributed, thus influence the consumers? While all platforms inevitably do this, the influence of big platforms can and will dictate the cultural influence on the masses. No matter where these big platforms located in, when they got that huge of an influence culturally, politically and economically, the government and the legislation surely will at least make sure these platforms are not totally out of their reins. I am just personally not sure how much we can detach the nations influence and controls from these platforms. In my view, each nation and their respective government is the highest end of power structure on our planet, and anything big can't escape the topic regarding their involvement.
@@ldskjfhslkjdhflkjdhf Thanks for the platform imperialism critique. I think it's an important framework for drawing attention to the power relations between platforms and whatever national sites we can think of. But I also - for the very reasons you note - have a critique of the concept in the book and elsewhere for (1) being too broad brushstroke ; and (2) for being too nationalistic. Ultimately the right wing (in Japan and elsewhere) itself is happy to use the platform imperialism critique to say we should have and support more Japanese platforms. That said (and we can continue this debate forever!) what it calls attention to (power relationships) and the alternatives (local / national platforms that work differently) are important & deserving of attention. Those are my 2 cents. Thanks for engaging!
Is there a video version of this without the music? The music is so loud compared to your talking voices that I can't concentrate on what is being said.
Hi Snickers, Really sorry about that. Unfortunately I don't have a non-music version, but I do have captions if that'll help. I usually duck at -22 dB for the tracks and then finagle a dB or from there, but I'll keep this in mind for the future to push it down a little lower. I'm really sorry about the difficulty.
@@PauseandSelect Thank you for the captions. Watching the video with a very low audio level and captions made it possible for me to follow all the points and discussions. Maybe it was the choice of music or the volume of it was really a little too loud for me. But I'm glad I watched the video again. You brought up a fascinating topic that I'm probably going to keep thinking about for quite a while. Thank you so much
@@xSnickers1 Thank you for watching Snickers, and again, my sincerest apologies on the loudness. I will keep that in mind and aim to do better for the next video.
Uh, indeed I know people have been discussing self-censorship by companies so they can get into China - I know there is a lot of self-censorship between artists for the sake of social media/amazon self publishing It is way too much power for a platform, imo
Okay I need to watch Your Name (very soon) before continuing onwards because this is too high quality I need to pay proper respect but so far clutches of capitalism amirite hahahahaha
This video is very soft and vague on the conclusions it draws, but it creates a great starting point for this discussion. For me anime has become a dead medium due to the increasing need/desire to publish on these global platforms. If you go back to the 90s to early 2000s you will see shows which were much more a product of otakus, people who were very dedicated to producing a vision through the medium. We ended up with very edgy shows, deep in meaning, more artistic if you like, compared to the anime of the last decade or so, consisting of what can easily be described as soulless cash grabs with minimal effort put into the quality of the production. Obviously if you are only looking at the monetary side of things, anime is bigger than ever, it's a global hit, but because of this, we've ended up with shows being produced under the direction of people who have no concern for the uniqueness Japanese culture and are instead looking to produce content that sells to the largest audience possible, instead of content that is deep, meaningful, and well executed. It's not entirely dissimilar to the state of the AAA gaming industry, where profit motives reign supreme and quality is all but an afterthought. Great video btw, I was actually blown away by the effort put into the editing and effects.
Astroboy started out as marketing for chocolate, and Gundam was built around, well selling toys and model kits. Capitalism, even late capitalism, and cartoons as a vehicle for marketing didn't suddenly spring into existence in the 2010s. And, if anything, the saturation point of otaku being deeply involved in the production of anime has never been greater than it is now - its just that the sheer mass of content which is presently available, largely because of these platforms, really hampers the localizing of the otaku-auteur as key in production, in the same way that it did in the 90s, especially for western anime fans.
Thank you for adding my i-mode phone in your video!!
This video is so nice!!
Thank you very much cooro for the permission, you're a gem!
I was wondering where you got hold of an i-mode phone! Amazing touch.
@@sombre101 I'm a Japanese. So I used i-mode phone normally. But now, i-mode service ended. I'm so happy I uploaded i-mode phone video and showing many people :)
@@PauseandSelect Wow! Thx XD
@@cooro1122 I see! I understand that I-mode service ended. I’m grateful you uploaded your video!
The idea of Platform Imperialism is really going to shape a lot going forward, so this is great introduction to it all, especially after how kadakowa recently reacted to it.
Thanks Steve!
your content is criminally underrated, idk how i would get it out there to more people without simplifying it but you deserve so many more views. hope this one blows up. love ya stuff man
Same really sucks to see good high quality anime manga channels are underrated unlike Nux has a huge fellowers, man i dont like his channel at all and his thumbnails that make people refuse to watch animes
Glad you enjoy the content!
Man............ The editing in this is absolutely bloody phenomenal, the attention to detail in making those manga panels genuinely feel like these live cut outs by purposefully putting them in-focus or out-of-focus as compared to how it'd actually look on a certain macro lens - on top of the perfect use of the shadows - is incredible to say the least. Now i'm interested, just how must paper do you end up using as props via printing out scripts and segments to film? 😂😂
10:23 makes for a very good point though. Quite often nowadays, a lot of creators within specific areas, like video editors for example, all seem to be collectively grouped within this content creator title. Which, that in itself is a whole discussion, as many people dislike that term due to its linkage with being an "influencer". Even when i'm looking for Graphic Designer jobs, a lot of times that job title is named as a Content Creator. Weird how that has transitioned over time. Anyways, i'm rambling!
Really educational video, you've gone above and beyond for it!
Oh man I use a ton of paper, it's insane. It's gonna get worse cause I wanna do stop motion crumple animations so watch out...stacks of paper
Yeah it's funny you mention the content creator title, cause I was applying for editing work a few months back, and "video editor" isn't really that frequent anymore unless it's something really orthodox or old-school. Most of it seemed to be under the branch of social media manager or evangelist or something, I definitely with ya
youre actually insane joe, goddamn
absolutely incredible work
🙏
This man cannot stop posting bangers !!!!!
You really looked to out do yourself with this one didn't you Joe? The talk of the platform economy always interests me because it really is the evolution of imperialism and something will only increase in importance as time goes on. On the production side of things your attention to detail did not go unnoticed. Personally I really liked all of the motion tracked animated manga shots. I know you have done shots like them before but it is still really cool to see all the reactive shadow casting and change in focal lengths. It really gives the manga that nice tactile pulpy feeling those pages have, whilst simultaneously still adapting and making the most of the video medium. Incredible stuff Joe, you are big inspiration to me and I can't wait to see your next video!
I think platforms is a really close-to-home topic especially for you and I, since our trade depends on these sorta platforms (Viz for you and UA-cam for me), so it's nice to see that you found this video interesting.
And thank you very much on your kind words Holden, it means a lot coming from you man, you're an amazing editor so I appreciate the praise!
"Platform imperialism" A good and accurate descriptive phrase ...
This is the first time I'm watching your channel live. Thanks for your interesting video.
Thanks for coming MI!
Wow everything is clearer to me now. Everyone is LOGGED IN and what makes people stay in is primarily content. Human connection is secondary or even tertiary. Even at the beginning of 'social' media, it was already less about what your friends did, but mostly about 'have you seen this on [platform]?' And every big app that sprung up since echoes the same exact word. This makes the chat-app LINE very interesting indeed, though their reach seem stagnated and never leaked out of Japan and Korea.
Everytime when you have time to spare on the internet, you "choose a platform" first and foremost. So of course good stuffs like anime and this video are valuable resources for the attention of their users. All the 'Steam as a platform' talk back then, and their often questionable investment on the social aspects makes sense to me now, whether they are fruitful or not. And the kerfuffles of a future we are seeing (metaverses and NFT)? Damn. My head is going somewhere and it's your fault.
👀
Man, this content is great. Also this is giving me massive deja vu of a conversation we had
Thanks for watching it AFY!
It's funny how Marc says how we should all be concerned whether we're in the US or in Indonesia, (because hey! that's me! I'm from Indonesia!!!) and it's very much true, all these global platforms like Netflix, Disney+, or Tencent's WeTV have been steadily making headway here at a very fast pace. Then there's also distributors like Muse from Taiwan and Ani-One from Hong Kong that distribute their platform on UA-cam for free.
Anecdotally for anime, I can already see a change in how titles are reaching people locally; how Netflix is becoming the *only* platform for some, how some shows are being spread via transformative content on TikTok, and how even more viewers are starting to not consider or even know how to access content that aren't available on legal platforms. (Which is incredible, because the legal streaming platforms themselves have only started to become viable alternatives here in the past 5 or so years.)
I think what worries me the most though, and tying it back to Marc's remarks on platform imperialism, is that the way some of these massive global platforms are built and operate limits the conversation and who gets speak or add to it, and more importantly who gets to create content for it. I fear that these platforms will only take and don't give back, which is textbook imperialism. I'm not sure if I'm properly conveying what I want to say, but Netflix, despite all of it's acquisition of content from all over the world and "giving back" such as in the form of localized dubs and subs using local workers, feels like the textbook example of this. It feels exclusionary to anyone and any culture outside of "Netflix the corporation"- there is no exchange taking place, not even in the form of comments like you said. If that makes sense? Sometimes anime discourse on the web already feels like it's limited to western, english-speaking countries as it is.
This might be my biases talking, but I prefer Nico Nico Douga (and even UA-cam despite it's shortcomings) because it still enables some from of inclusivity and cultural exchange and in return foster even more content creation, and, I dunno, platforms are way better for everyone when they're like that I guess??
Huh, that's interesting. I thought Marc was just making a one-off comparison with Indonesia, but reading your comment suggests there's more to this than I thought.
That is something that didn't make it into the video, but Marc definitely mentioned, which is the fact that there's so many other spaces online that need more attention. He mentioned the differences in anime consumption in Latin America, for instance, and given your comments on Netflix, that makes me woner now.
This video caught me particularly because as a dissertation I wrote about eastern digital ecosystems, and how unlike the west there was a constant race to not just give one specific service but rather to create an environment of comfort with the customer through many "filler" options, like webcomics and novels.
The difference with this video is that my thesis wasn't about Japan, but South Korea (the giants Naver and Daum in particular) and how they were aiming for a massive adaptation of the platform in use (webtoons changed some reading rules in the transition from pc to smartphone, after the previous paper > digital with his original column format).
And nothing, I was just having fun with this difference in our viewing angles ᕕ(のᗜの)ᕗ
Still a cool comparison of how different yet similar the two are. Nice!
Thanks for this comparison! The relation between South Korea and Japan is super interesting when it comes to platforms, esp since LINE is the next generation platform, comes from Naver Japan, and is inspired by KakaoTalk. Lots of connections there we didn’t get to talk about in the video. And need more research like yours!
Oh man, that's really interesting, do you have it? I'd love to read it.
@@PauseandSelect Sure thing, I sent you an email to the address I found in the channel info
The thought about platforms affecting cultural media or what we consume is something I never really thought too hard about since today. I have so many avenues to explore things outside of these large or more prominent platforms. Like if I wanted to watch anime, I don't often just stick to the big names like Netflix, Amazon or Crunchyroll. But I can find more stuff through Funimation, Sentai, and if I'm really feeling it, sites that shall not be named. And on those sites it's more like, I can find things that otherwise would be harder to find licensed, but nowadays, even that barrier is slowly breaking down since so many older shows are getting licensed and releases, which I think to the point near the end about it being generally good, that this mainstream push is happening, I can agree with.
But at the same time, when I first started watching anime, it was on Crunchyroll, which meant the only exposure and experience I started with was literally what Crunchyroll wanted to show me. I was forced, until I realized where else to watch, to watch what they had on their platform. And so that's both a really scary and interesting prospect that was brought up by your ending note too. Like, I can definitely see newer fans, on Crunchyroll, see their awards (no shade to them, it's w/e) and see what has won, and what this large anime site deems as worthy or worth this large praise, and now fans will latch onto those shows, become defenders, and really stick to what they know. And when presented with shows maybe not on Crunchyroll or without that same platform prestige, might not give it a chance. All because, these platforms can dictate what gets limelight and what doesn't.
But then again platforms also allow for voices to be heard, and I really like the sentiment of, platforms create content, more so from the creators, like here on UA-cam, it's definitely got this weird push and pull of some really great positives and maybe some things that can be troublesome. Though, I think platform economies in general probably do more good than bad, after all, most people might not have even watched or would have accepted anime as an art form if not for the push of it. And well, all of the other trickled community stuff that spawned, for some parts, is quite good.
Really amazing video or videos with this and the last one together.
Hell, sometimes you can go further: people talk about Crunchyroll controlling access, but even on piracy spheres their influence can be felt: webrip subtitles are often some of the biggest publicly seeded things - until it's demise, HorribleSubs was mainly Crunchyroll subs. Even in an 'alternative' space like piracy, Crunchyroll and what they deemed to be content, still had its hands relatively deep.
Liking how these anime videos incorporate media studies
Commenting for the UA-cam Platform to get this awesome vid on everyone recommend!
Real good video Pause and Select
the editing and pacing in this one was outstanding, legit thought this was one of the best “AniTube” videos ive seen in a while
Glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely incredible video with insane editing. I feel like I need to stare at a wall for a long while to sort through all my thoughts and feelings.
I am a little horrified that I can't think of any platform I regularly use that is not American.
As an avid reader of both books and manga I am painfully aware of how much of the translated stories I can read have already been filtered. By the pubishers who have picked them up, by the choice of the translator and their interpretation, how much marketing is put behind a title. I love that I have the ability to experience Sayaka Murata's work and get a very different perspective from my own that would be impossible if not for this more global market. But I am also almost competely removed on how the Japanese public reacted to the short stories in her newest collection and how much my experience is informed by the American platform I consumed it on. Of course, I want this platform to keep offering such content but I also have no controll over the how and what.
The world is becoming more international each minute and what most of us view as barriers (streaming access, licences, translations, etc.) might also be important to keep one narrative from overpowering everyone else.
And the entire discussion on Amazon and not allowing books specfically has been ongoing for months now with no end or solution in sight. I know of too many authors that had problems already. (Ironically, most of them American).
Well if you use Tiktok there's a non-American platform.
Man, thank you very much for your content and for the english subtitules! i would be a bit lose without that
Thank you watching it JOSECRAKEN!
Great video! I love how active the comments are! Very thoughtful.
Joe's built different.
visual editing is so fire
Honestly, as someone who really wants to make big budget scifi/fantasy stuff that would actually require a studio behind it, this is really terrifying. It also reminds me of Rammstein's Amerika (We're all living in Amerika, is wunderbar)
Thank you SO MUCH for the captions!
Thank you for using them!
I'm speechless!
Awesome stuff my man.
Absolutely blown away by the quality of your content.
Your discussion about platform imperialism does speak to me. I’ve seen plenty of people online argue that Amazon taking down certain novels is due to some innate political slant, but it could just be corporatism wanting to have the “safest” series on their platform.
Of course, this doesn’t even delve into how smaller platforms dictate their content. Bakuman ran in Weekly Shonen Jump, which I assume has its own standards and practices for what it runs - and has editors who sometimes tell the author to change what their ideas on, whether they’re good or not. So does Weekly Shonen Magazine, Weekly Shonen Sunday, Bookwalker, all of those various stores and outlets. If you want the truest vision of the author, you’d need to either go indie or check on a site with lax moderation like Narou - and even then you’re not entirely sure if pure authorial vision is worth it.
I wasn't surprised, but definitely a little disappointed that Bakuman never looked into doujinshi scenes. There could have been an arc where Mashiro and Takagi temporarily separate (which they do a few times) and then Mashiro / Takagi go to Comiket or something and they see how doujin artists do it, maybe that gives a bit of insight or inspiration. However I understand why that might not exist in Bakuman.
And yeah, even on sites that have super lax content creation, there's still a social pressure: they are often pressured to write stories that sell or hit an audience. Hell, I'm not immune to this from the pangs of UA-cam, I understand if I don't do certain things then my channel takes a hit.
Thanks for the CC! English is not my first language and I'm currently studdying it so the Closed Captions help me in both my understanding and studies.
Haven't watched one of your videos in a while, but this was super interesting from the moment I entered the premier. The editing is amazing (I wish I could even have half your skill), the idea of platforms and how you delved into it was fascinating, and I really enjoyed the research you put it. Great work!
You can! I learned how to edit by myself, and you can too!
@@PauseandSelect Your videos on editing in your second channel have been very helpful, can't tell you how grateful I've been to those. Thanks for that and your encouraging words, I'm definitely gonna keep at it!
@@callmepuzzle3433 Thanks CallMePuzzle! I'm planning on updating that sometime in the summer to have everything that I think is essential, so I hope you look forward to that!
@@PauseandSelect I certainly am, thank you in advance!!
the editing is so good
I'll leave a "good vid!" comment and watch it later.😎💖
This video is incredible. I'm really glad to see so much enthusiasm in the comments because I'm equally blown away. I hope the folks you're interviewing are enthusiastic about what you're making here, too - academic media studies has never been showcased like this.
Thanks Jordan, lemme know if you ever wanna collab, just hit me up on Twitter DMs!
@@PauseandSelect awesome - will do!
really nice and informative video, thanks
Fantastic video, this was really well edited and interesting. All of these ideas are important and surely people think about and discuss how platforms affect the content (or contents, huh) they host and how the atmosphere around them has and will continue to change, but it was cool to see more of the history and gather these concepts together in a logical progression. Thanks for uploading!
I can only imagine how long it took to edit those Bakuman sections. This video was real good.
Thanks Puff!
Coming in off a Shaybs recommendation (shout-out to him, Cynic and Translating Japan in the "Speaking through Platforms" section), the topic of platforms - typically social media but also including most of the big giant tech named sites like Amazon, UA-cam, Tiktok etc - and them being used to effectively self-propagate cultural products/content is something I desperately wanted a more educated/academic take on and I'm glad to have found such.
I am impressed at the historical context for how Japan capitalized (heh) on the content/social media/attention economy first by just having an early precedent by inheriting another business model of convenience stores (maybe something to parallel/contrast to America's Mcdonaldization) and the sort of localized policies (economic and cultural attitudes toward said platforms) set first by Japan that get warped when globalization sort of starts to move in on Japan's virtual turf.
Acknowledged but somewhat side-stepped is the sort of "apprehension" toward platforms, especially in how its sort of portrayed in Bakuman with again, the only real line in the sand drawn is that "collaborative online works dilute any actual individual artistic spirit" as both somewhat hypocritical in the whole "b-but actually anime isn't like that cuz uh..." (Tho I'd personally have to read through Bakuman to see both the authorial conclusions and then analyze the cultural implications of what could be seen as an old guard boomer saying "ONLINE WRITERS AREN'T [REAL] MANGAKAS".
By which I could see a bigger thesis that's still on-going again, is what IS the effect of more open and rapidly accessible platforms effects are.
Not just on how Consumers can access or even choose to interact with a given work (some people post weekly screenshots like barely seconds after a new anime becomes accessible on Crunchy or Netflix) and the weird kinda forced communal pace and discussion period (it's not really a "have you seen last weeks/this one really old but good classic" but rather people will just straight up post day 1 (or even hour 1) spoilers and tag people on twitter.
But I'm also semi-curious beyond both Bakuman's old-school Shounen Jump-esque elitism or Your Name's simultaneity of tech platforms building early foundations the lead up to the climax of face-to-face; I want to see a more -if not constructive/supportive depiction- a more explicit commentary (hopefully more substantial than just "Buh Zoomer Fones Bad" western political cartoon takes).
Really the only ones that aren't like knee-deep in Otaku-ism (That I have personally read/watched) might be either Train Man or maybe Re:Creators (as a undercooked missed opportunity as it was) since the former does basically treat the 2chan-esque image board forumers as supportive nerd friend group while the latter *spoilers* for the first half treated the rabid pixiv harassment to an up-coming indie artist with such disdain that they indirectly lead to her suicide from accusations of plagiarism.
Still, I enjoyed the topic and video and actually do want to see if you'll broach any wider social/cultural insights or commentary as laid out here
Thanks for the comment Anolyso, and thanks for taking the time to watch it! It's a big challenging trying to squeeze a lot of information into a 30 minute video, but I just wanted it to be done and accessible. I think Your Name is interesting less about its generational perspective and moreso (for me at least) on its core-peripheral perspectives. There is a really fascinating urban-rural relationship depicted there, and I do love talking about rural shit.
It's funny you mention Train Man, I did mention it a bit in the Tonikawa video, and you mention wanting to see if I'll broach any wider social or cultural insights, but I do have a few fun topics. I'm more of a general exploration guy rathering tethering myself to a distinct field or subject, so the channel is all over the place, but I hope you have a fun time.
Also sub to me homie, I see that sub list.
Note: This video is based off of Steinberg's book "The Platform Economy," so if you want something meatier, take a gander!
my friend showed me this video and ive immediately become obsessed with your youtube channel
Hi iggy, sorry it took so long to get back to you, but thanks for the kind words!
For some reason my post isn't really showing up, so I hope you can see it!
Immense - IMMENSE - thanks to
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Please take a look at their stuff, a lot of it is really interesting!
Great CONTENT as always!
I'm always blown away by your editing, the way you animate manga and your use of shadows and cut-outs is incredible. Everything is just so cinematic, so filled with ambiance and the pacing of the video is enthralling. Not to mention the other arresting visuals you create, like with the tvs in the platform economy section. This was just a fascinating examination on the evolution of platforms as a concept and as something we engage with, and how they are affecting the media are consumed and created in a global context. The platform imperialism point particularly hit me as I've become personally increasingly exhausted by how much control a select few companies have over the way media is distributed, to say nothing of how integrated they've become as a part of most our daily lives as a whole. I always learn something or see something from a new light thanks to your videos and am thankful for the hard-work you put into editing and crafting narratives through them!
Thank you for the kind words Lum, I appreciate it!
Such an interesting video.
Top notch quality erradiates from it.
I'm really glad I'm one of the fortune human beings that were able to watch your incredible work.
Good job! Please keep it up 🙌🏻😁
I fucking love your "CONTENT"!
Seriously though, this quality of research and presentation is rare to find. I hope the algorithm and word of mouth picks up your channel.
Hi dydx, sorry it took so long to get back to you, but thanks!
Friend recommended this because I am obsessed with good editing... 2 minutes in and I am blown away. I respect the amount of time, patience, effort, practice, skill and more that went into crafting this video. Id love to hear about your editing process because this is AMAZING. Keep up the good work man!
Thank you very much for giving the video a shot DC! I'm glad you found the editing interesting!
incredible video!
Somehow I missed that you made a Haruhi video??? Anyway I went back and watched that video and then this one. I think media mix is an interesting topic (read a chapter from Steinberg's book in college) though sometimes I get a bit lost in terms of applying it to the process of actually engaging with media. This video though I think really grapples with a lot of the things happening to the media landscape in the moment that I find myself thinking about a lot. I'll have to check out that book. Great work!
Thanks for the kind words about the topic, please do check out the book!
dwayne the rock johnson face zoom in gif
I enjoyed this video. The production work is drastically above the average anitube content.
Bakuman is an interesting example, being as you said constantly "in between" in whatever point it makes as you said. I am not sure this is a bad thing to try portray the complexity of life that way, it is maybe a more mature one than just drawing a clear line.
Even in the platform discussion the line is not well defined: Shonen Jump could be qualified as a platform in itself as it connects creators to readers and give them the opportunity to feedback through their polls, which then dictates the future of ongoing series, wether they would be displayed more proeminently or cancelled. I wonder if the I-mode came before this publishing method. There are discussions that can be made on the ethicality and efficiency of these methods, and their capacity to promote and make a medium like manga grow.
Interesting discussions also on how the entire ecosystem of manga and anime will continue to be impacted by imperial platforms, wether or not the mainstream franchises will get morally "americanized", if increasing investments captured by the sector will help more niche works to be produced... A lot of interesting questions indeed.
Thanks for your hard work.
Admittedly I don't know too much abot Shounen Jump as a business model, but based on what's presented I think you can make an argument that it is a sort of platform in itself. And I think you're right in that it's not as clear cut as perhaps my script intended: after all, it's funny how despite the teams' disgust with what Nanamine is doing, Mashiro and Azuki's relationship is built on the motherlode of the Japanese platform (the cellphone).
I mainly chose Bakuman as a basic jumping off point, and perhaps I'm not giving the creators enough credit, but I think it's primarily just that I wanted to get to the primary discussion more than anything else.
I'm always stunned by how your videos are so educational while also having an insane production value.
Thank you Debbie, you are too kind!
Financial institutions such as banks and credit card companies are also platforms that can dictate what kind of services or products they will service.
Dude, you're interviewing all the authors I was planning to read lol I fucking LOVE it! Still have to get around to reading them though. lol
Haha, small world. Sorry it took so long to get back to you!
Is this what we call a banger nowadays? Phenomenal Video, Mr. Pause!
Thanks for watching Re!
Great work. A moment's thought about how the content on FB, Insta, YT, Tiktok, vary so widely gives a strong understanding/explanation of Platform Imperialism. The platform determines the contents -- so what if that platform isn't of the same culture as you, or if people outside of your culture will see your contents? Great video.
🙇
Watched your video on Dagashi Kashi and I have to say that you earned a sub and I really dig the style/narrative of your video. Everything feels very clean/crisp and you seem to put a lot of effort into your videos.
Hi Michael, sorry it took so long to get back to you, but thanks!
No problem!
amazing as always
Thanks Gabriel!
Interesting as always
🙇
Absolutely fascinating video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I really enjoyed this video! I think that the “platform” as a concept has a lot of potential as an analytic tool/lens, and I agree that platforms are increasingly important and visible in our landscape. I have a few thoughts:
The focus on platforms here emphasizes capitalism, but what about unofficial fan networks of distribution? Steinberg addresses it a little bit in the later half, but it’s not as if piracy has disappeared, and platforms of piracy still form a large, unaccounted for part of contemporary networks of media distribution. (Especially outside of the Global North.) Nyaa is a platform too, and quite an important one. Even Crunchyroll, the poster child anime platform, grew out of piracy, and so not accounting for more grassroots or unofficial platforms seems like an oversight. Ian Condry calls this “dark matter,” and I think we should start accounting for it! I would also point to non-pirate but also non-capitalist platforms such as Wikipedia (or in fandom, Archive of Our Own) to trouble the emphasis on capitalism here.
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To me, the dominant model of the internet now seems much more freemium or free-but-selling-consumer-data-to-advertisers than subscription based. Sure, subscription-based platforms have started to become more prevalent, but I don’t think it is accurate to characterize it as the predominant model.
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Some of the ideas posited here don’t seem particularly novel for platforms to me. Isn’t one of Marshall McLuhan’s main arguments that works are always the byproduct of places, that the medium always affects the media? Narratives have always come out of interfacial relationships…art has never been a pristine creation separated from the surrounding contexts. Perhaps this process is especially visible in contemporary platforms, but it’s certainly not a new phenomenon!
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The concept of platform imperialism is really interesting and relevant to my own research! From the coverage of it in this video, you end up seeing the specter of lolicon in the background. (“A specter is haunting platforms. The specter of lolicon…”) But there is one place where I think it may be limited, at least in its original formulation. Platform imperialism seems to take the nation as the unit of analysis. But what about beyond that? The dominance of a few main platforms on the internet not only affects other cultures in other countries, but other cultures (or subcultures) in the US! (My current research is on a social media platform created by fans seeking to contest the hegemony of the dominant platforms.) Thus, I think platform imperialism could be useful as an analytic, but I think there is a need to go beyond national boundaries in focus.
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In some other anime and manga studies work (I’m thinking of Sandra Annett in particular), I’ve seen characters referred to as “platforms.” Is this an accurate description in terms of platform studies? Additionally, could fan spaces, such as conventions, also be considered “platforms,” in a sense?
I think the McLuhanist perspective is still very relevant, I don't think it's necessarily exclusive. Perhaps a sort of revival? I see it a bit more like Galloway's protocological control, but perhaps I'm just running my mouth.
Awesome content as always!
Great video as always dude
Thanks Fellipe!
Damn dude, the editing game is ridiculous
Interesting as always!!
Very much enjoyed this video. It was, dare I say, very interesting. I have one issue with it, though: Sound. I will attempt some constructive criticism in this comment.
The sound effects you used throughout the video, for example the ones at 3:06 and 17:18, are a little too loud and can distract from what is being said. The music was also a little too loud throughout the video, but maybe that's just my personal preference, though I do think it should've been quieter in the parts where Steinberg speaks since his audio quality is not that good.
Also, at parts like 27:00 where you have audio from another video playing, I would either duck the music or not include the audio of that video, because otherwise it gets a little chaotic with your brain trying to follow three different sound narratives (?) at the same time.
They're mostly minor nitpicks and don't affect my enjoyment much as I'm already a fan of the channel, but as a new viewer it would probably make it more difficult to concentrate.
Thanks for the feedback dubsta, I appreciate it!
Yeah, I was a little worried that some of the sound effects might be too loud, so I asked a friend of mine but he said it was okay, so now I'm going to have to hunt him down
I think, listening to it over and over again, I think you may be right. Next time I think I'll lower it more.
Hopefully it wasn't too much a bother, my apologies on that and in the future, I'll keep it in mind so it'll be better !!
Underrated video
Okay, I watched with the CC on and have to say that whoever did them, did an excellent job. Just superb.
oh, yeah, the video was pretty good too, I guess.
Thanks for turning them on!
Not gonna lie, I thought the video was gonna be boring based on the intro, but I got hooked with the bakuman section.
I’m a little confused about how a car equates to a platform, from my understanding of the definition you put forward a platform is a medium where exchange takes place, social platform is for exchange of opinions information, television and media a platform where time is spent for entertainment, and sales platforms are where items or digital goods are exchanged for money. And I didn’t really see that in the “car as platform” section I could see the sales aspect, marketing, tradeshows, and dealerships as platforms but I don’t understand how the car itself is a platform.
So to clarify, I mention that "we tend to think of platforms as places where things are generated," which means that I wasn't trying to say that was the definition of the platform. The platform is oftentimes a business-oriented substrate upon which contents emerges in particular ways. The automobile manufacturing framework, particularly through significant offsetting of risk to contractors, just-in-time production (and thus consumption), iterative development, and manipulation of underbodies and frames to create new derivative models are a lot of the practices that we would see translated into more digital spaces.
If you're curious, Marc has a paper that traces that element specifically, titled, "From Automobile Capitalism to Platform Capitalism: Toyotism as a prehistory of digital platforms"
Great vid, fam!
Thanks Adara!
Great video :)
Really intriguing stuff right here~ Lots of food for thought in this one. I'm also just in awe of how freakin' great your video editing has become - this >platform< doesn't deserve the effort you put into this crap, haha. 🙃
One very minor little nitpick though - there are segments where the music and sfx are on the brink of drowning out your narration, which.. has been a thing for a while actually. I'd recommend using speakers for that, because while headphones are better for most things regarding audio-editing, they're just plain bad for volume control. That's pretty much the only thing that could be improved on tbh, everything else is mind-bogglingly good. 👌
Hmm, yeah, that's been my worry for a while. I'll have to think about getting some speakers then, only problem is that I live in a space that makes editing on speakers really annoying for everyone else, so I'll have to figure out some solutions.
A lot of the ducking was using Adobe's auto-ducking feature (since I'm still learning audio), but I guess I'll have to duck it even more to prevent this sorta thing.
At least I have captions, but thanks for letting me know!
@@PauseandSelect It was definitely a good investment, haha. 😉
I do believe that you can just keep your workflow as is and maybe just add one final volume checkup towards the end. Some small 2.0 system (eg. Creative Pebble level speakers) or even some portable bt speaker would be totally sufficient for this use case. Maybe put an audio-only render on your phone & go some place else? 🤔
Don't fret about it too much if it's a hassle though, since most ppl will be fine with how things are rn~
@@8lacKhawKtheRIPPER Gotcha, cheers!
Someone swoled up.
another great video
Mistake in captions at 9:03, 'sites' instead of 'cites'.
Also, good to see deaths gambit in the wild at 29:30 :)
Whoops, thanks for catching that Vedant, I've changed it!
Did you do the animations yourself? They're stellar!
Yep, I'm glad you found them fun!
This is all interesting, but it seems also very familiar because a lot of the ideas expressed here seem very similar to the ideas of Marshall McLuhan's theories about media and "the medium is the message".
This is a surprising find. I've watched a few videos from this channel a few times, but it been awhile. It funny how going down Hiroki Azuma's book Otaku: Japan's Database Animals rabbit hole and it lead me here.
Good work. I am curious how or if this can be translated to more western media like Disney plus mixed media of Star wars and MCU.
I think it can be, but I am not even sure how one would make the connection between the two.
this is some delicious content
thank you!
Another banger
The video production quality is off the chart!
Platform imperialism is certainly a problem we should try solving, I despair that the EU hasn't tried funding alternative federated platforms.
Do platforms that are decentralized have any future? Decentralized in a sense that the users own it, can they overcome Platform imperialism?
I think possibly. On my limited knowledge, I'd say it might depend: a decentralized platform might work in, say, parts of the OECD west, but I don't know if they'd be able to penetrate Chinese internet.
Hi,
first of all, I would like to say that I really, REALLY, love your channel: your analyses are extremely fascinating and thought-provoking! Secondly, I wanted to ask you if you are familiar with Space Battleship Yamato: I've watched it recently and I was wonderning if it may be considered an expression of the dichotomy between soft/hard nationalism sentiments in Japan,specifically regarding the representation of the good guys in the form of the Japanese Imperial Navy (the Yamato) against the evil Nazi-like aliens (the Garmillas). Maybe you have never watched the show, but in case you have I would be quite interested in your opinion. Thanks ❤
I watched Space Battleship Yamato years ago when I was doing the apocalypse videos, though admittedly I don't remember much. The whole Leijiverse is a side of anime and manga that I'm woefully unfamiliar with, so I don't want to accidentally run my mouth on it.
Jokes on you because I watched every video with closed captions on already
🙏
Great video !!!
Also correct me if i'm wrong but isn't Platform or content imperialism basically what we had with the localization of "older" cartoon like Pokemon with its famous exemples ?
Platform surely pick and choose wisely the content they produce but in the case of anime, i don't really see a big difference as to what type of content are getting produced ( mostly adaptations ).
Content Imperialism can expand much more deeply into things like the pipeline of information. For example, the promulgation of iPhones leading to iPhones leads to people needing to use the Apple App Store leading to very specific App Store requirements. Or how Facebook might push for cheaper internet access in developing states to expand its reach. I can't say for certain about the localization of older cartoons like Pokemon, but depending on the details, maybe!
Commenting to feed the platform monster and appease the almighty algorithm.
🙏
Makes me wonder what's the real difference between a platform and a medium, if there's any.
Hi Baam, sorry it took so long to get back to you - I think there is, in that mediums are seen as interruptive (not in a bad way), but platforms are generative (not always in a good way). Sorta like how a cinema affects or informs how a content is produced (film), but a video platform gives people the ability to make videos (including simplified video editing tools).
High-Rise Invasion is a Nextflix original Anime that wasn't afraid to include some Otaku weirdness.
08:50 okay, I'll bite. What's a framework?
So the framework here is both literal and theoretical. Marc expands on this significantly in his paper on Toyotism in "From Automobile Capitalism to Platform Capitalism," but it generally refers to how Toyota deeply pushed for a sort of logistical operation that heavily emphasized just-in-time production, intermediary firms, and standardization and variation.
The last one (standardization and variation) is very important and relevant, in that there's a base model which gets modified to produce something new. So the "framework" is also quite literally the shared underbody between cars - you make modifications from a base model and then spin it out.
Thanks for the vid! A very interesting and compelling watch. Fantastic job on the visuals, and on the points both you and Marc raised. The whole historical part was fascinating.
I watched this with a friend who happens to be working rather closely with those platforms, at least for the anime sector. Since the remarks below are mixing some of our points, feel free to point any contradictions there, lol
While I find relevant the points about us living in a platform economy, and the fact that there *is* platform imperialism to some extent in some cultural fields, I feel like this isn't really happening for anime right now, at least. (Can't really talk about manga since I barely know platforms, especially Japanese platforms on that field. Text-based media looks more malleable in terms of production, thus maybe more subject to platform influence?)
Sure, Amazon, Disney+ and Netflix are "doing anime" now, but the biggest anime platforms are now basically all Sony, a... Japanese company. They have such a tight grab on all specialized platforms around the world that I feel like some Western (or Chinese for that regard) influence guiding the actual content creation is still pretty far from us.
But it's still an interesting thought. If for some reason stuff like TikTok (or with the same format) ends up being the biggest app in the world, used by younger and older generations, maybe there will be a sudden rise of short-form, vertical anime. It's a more complex effort to design than text-based or drawing-based fields, but it's plausible. I guess.
We see the picture from our Western perspective, where we are watching giant US or Chinese platforms taking a shot at anime, but I feel like if you see it from the Japanese side, the production side, they're just additional actors with no real difference or added impact compared to existing platforms (besides the fact that they're foreign). To use an example, the new JoJo's Bizarre Adventure season switching to Netflix doesn't really feel much of an anime earthquake for years to come to me, just a business decision for a specific title. Netflix Japan which has a very different take on anime watching than its Western counterparts (way more titles, a weekly broadcast system that was basically non-existant until 2021 in the West...). Crunchyroll doesn't even exist in Japan, for example (except for non-Japanese shows like RWBY).
It is a clear threat in the long run given the global reach of these platforms, but it's still largely possible to keep some individuality based on how these platforms work: for example, while NGNL novels were banned on the American Amazon store, and while they would be pretty much banned for legal reasons in numerous Western countries, they are still available in Japan on... Amazon.
Also, if someone actually reads this comment up to this point somehow, I really recommend watching the Addendum on NicoNico, which expresses an example of concern with the way some smaller platforms may circumvent this imperialism. Marc uses the example of right-wing propaganda & neto-uyo flourishing on some parts of NND. My other example actually relates to the NGNL ban: surely it's because I agree with them for this specific example, but I don't really feel threatened by an imperialist platform if it means preventing access to lolicon-related or -implying sexual stuff, which is the only thing being targeted and definitely banned for now, I think (Arguably it's not that much targeted even, given the very, very creepy anime we sometimes see translated on our streaming services, and the fact that most banned releases we heard about in the recent years were eventually back on their store). And I don't feel particularly at ease defending a decentralized platform (or something similar) if that's the content they defend, I guess?
But that's a whole different subject, and also something that can change over time (e.g. Apple's obsession with any type of pornography could lead to weird decisions on Japanese media too).
Wow that was long. Uh, sorry about that.
Haha no worries, sorry my response won't be as in-depth.
To be fair to Marc, most of his work in The Platform Economy is NOT about anime or manga. Much of it is my fault, I directly asked him about anime and manga because I felt like it might be good to tie it back to the channel's overall interests, so the blame's on me.
You muse about Tiktok potentially being the biggest app, but it did surpass Google in sheer visits just a few months ago, which goes to show how strong of a platform it's become. While it's not as flexible as Google, I think there's something there.
The point about Apple's obsession with pornography leading to weird decisions brings up a fun anecdote, which is that when Apple really cracked down on it, manga pirating apps (before they got wiped out wholesale) started implementing roundabout off-app cloud-based age verification checks so that people could use the Apple App store version of them. I don't remember the exact processes but I remember it was an interesting time.
@@PauseandSelect Thanks for taking the time to read&reply!
No "blame" intended, at all. I think it's very interesting to at least picture the situation of platforms for otaku media. I think your conclusion (or non-conclusion) is relevant on that matter: we don't know shit about the future of those platforms for now, but we know they're here, and anime is a clear target.
Also, wow I did not realize that about TikTok. Then, maybe it'll come sooner than expected haha (probably after they sort the fact that an insane amount of TikTok content consists in stolen media).
@@RdNetwork57 Oh yeah, that's also something I'm personally interested in, the piracy angle of platforms. For a long time Facebook video was the numero uno target on that field, but now with Tiktok, I wonder. I know it goes both ways - I've seen so much tiktok content on other platforms, but man, it's wild.
Also, you mentioned your friend was working rather closely on those platforms - is it in an academic sense? I'd love to read it if so.
@@PauseandSelect No, I meant that as in "employee". He works on the localization/internal management sides of things (not at a high level though).
@@RdNetwork57 Ah, gotcha
sooo where is the first video you mentiond in the beginning?
ua-cam.com/video/LbXS-8je62M/v-deo.html
Sorry, I linked it in the video description!
How did you made thumbnails like this one? it looks very photorealistic, did you shot it with camera?
Sorry it took so long to get back to you, but yep, I just take a photo with a camera.
I'm wondering if you or Marc consider Japanese video streaming platforms like abema or U-Next to be copying American platforms like netflix or amazon, or are they a more unique thing like nico nico? I literally don't know how these platforms work since I've been trying to access them through VPNs for many years with no success lol
You know, I haven't taken much time to look at them so your guess is as good as mine lol
It is impressive how your videos are high-quality on several levels. What are you studying?
Game Studies
kinda confused on where the first video for the series is if anyone would be willing to clue me in pls
Sorry about that Dee! It's the Media Mix video, which I've linked in the video description:
ua-cam.com/video/LbXS-8je62M/v-deo.html
@@PauseandSelect ty!!
Yoo fellow Jiyuna watcher hype
Lol
Animeilluminat?!
The concept of "platform imperialism" is just a refinement of the concept of cultural imperialism. And like cultural imperialism, "platform imperialism" relies on an implicitly nationalistic view of what culture is. That's a problem. Cultures aren't produced by nations they're produced by people; by treating culture as a national product you inevitably make the interests of national capital the focus of your analysis, which is (at best) problematic and reductive.
Thanks for watching Idsk!
@@PauseandSelect Thanks for the reply. Even if you didn't engage I'm glad to know that you took the time to read what I had to say.
To be clear, the video was great, I'm just critiquing an approach to media criticism that I disagree with. The abrupt end of the video and the lack of a satisfying conclusion suggests (to me at least) that cultural imperialism is a poor framework for analyzing the production and consumption of content as well as the social contexts that those activities take place in. It's hard to talk about culture using a concept that is primarily focused on the relationships national economies have with each other. Obviously you could employ additional concepts and get a fuller picture, but imo holistic approaches generally produce better analyses tbh. I'm just sharing my 2¢ btw, so don't feel obligated to reply to my rant
@@ldskjfhslkjdhflkjdhf Gotcha, yeah admittedly I didn't really know how to respond, so I gave the one off comment to acknowledge that I thought about it, thanks for the food for thought!
@@ldskjfhslkjdhflkjdhf Correct if I am wrong, isn't the idea of platform imperialism the idea of dictating and guiding the contents that can be distributed, thus influence the consumers? While all platforms inevitably do this, the influence of big platforms can and will dictate the cultural influence on the masses. No matter where these big platforms located in, when they got that huge of an influence culturally, politically and economically, the government and the legislation surely will at least make sure these platforms are not totally out of their reins.
I am just personally not sure how much we can detach the nations influence and controls from these platforms. In my view, each nation and their respective government is the highest end of power structure on our planet, and anything big can't escape the topic regarding their involvement.
@@ldskjfhslkjdhflkjdhf Thanks for the platform imperialism critique. I think it's an important framework for drawing attention to the power relations between platforms and whatever national sites we can think of. But I also - for the very reasons you note - have a critique of the concept in the book and elsewhere for (1) being too broad brushstroke ; and (2) for being too nationalistic. Ultimately the right wing (in Japan and elsewhere) itself is happy to use the platform imperialism critique to say we should have and support more Japanese platforms. That said (and we can continue this debate forever!) what it calls attention to (power relationships) and the alternatives (local / national platforms that work differently) are important & deserving of attention. Those are my 2 cents. Thanks for engaging!
Where is the rest of the overlord season 2 episode reviews?
pog!!
Good vid
Thank you.
Wow thx
Sorry it took so long to get back to you, but thanks!
Is there a video version of this without the music?
The music is so loud compared to your talking voices that I can't concentrate on what is being said.
Hi Snickers,
Really sorry about that. Unfortunately I don't have a non-music version, but I do have captions if that'll help.
I usually duck at -22 dB for the tracks and then finagle a dB or from there, but I'll keep this in mind for the future to push it down a little lower. I'm really sorry about the difficulty.
@@PauseandSelect Thank you for the captions.
Watching the video with a very low audio level and captions made it possible for me to follow all the points and discussions.
Maybe it was the choice of music or the volume of it was really a little too loud for me.
But I'm glad I watched the video again. You brought up a fascinating topic that I'm probably going to keep thinking about for quite a while.
Thank you so much
@@xSnickers1 Thank you for watching Snickers, and again, my sincerest apologies on the loudness. I will keep that in mind and aim to do better for the next video.
Now this is actual philosophy content! Wait, this is anthropology right? How do I label this?! 😱
Uh, indeed
I know people have been discussing self-censorship by companies so they can get into China - I know there is a lot of self-censorship between artists for the sake of social media/amazon self publishing
It is way too much power for a platform, imo
I mean, if the state is not allowed to do that, why should a company be allowed?
Okay I need to watch Your Name (very soon) before continuing onwards because this is too high quality I need to pay proper respect but so far clutches of capitalism amirite hahahahaha
Moon please I need that view!
@@PauseandSelect I did it. I watched Your Name. I'll continue Your Vid. I'll give you Your View(s)
@@SoShiBias pray emoji
Commenting so the UA-cam imperialist platform will influence others to watch this excellent video.
Thank you !!
This video is very soft and vague on the conclusions it draws, but it creates a great starting point for this discussion. For me anime has become a dead medium due to the increasing need/desire to publish on these global platforms. If you go back to the 90s to early 2000s you will see shows which were much more a product of otakus, people who were very dedicated to producing a vision through the medium. We ended up with very edgy shows, deep in meaning, more artistic if you like, compared to the anime of the last decade or so, consisting of what can easily be described as soulless cash grabs with minimal effort put into the quality of the production. Obviously if you are only looking at the monetary side of things, anime is bigger than ever, it's a global hit, but because of this, we've ended up with shows being produced under the direction of people who have no concern for the uniqueness Japanese culture and are instead looking to produce content that sells to the largest audience possible, instead of content that is deep, meaningful, and well executed. It's not entirely dissimilar to the state of the AAA gaming industry, where profit motives reign supreme and quality is all but an afterthought.
Great video btw, I was actually blown away by the effort put into the editing and effects.
Astroboy started out as marketing for chocolate, and Gundam was built around, well selling toys and model kits. Capitalism, even late capitalism, and cartoons as a vehicle for marketing didn't suddenly spring into existence in the 2010s. And, if anything, the saturation point of otaku being deeply involved in the production of anime has never been greater than it is now - its just that the sheer mass of content which is presently available, largely because of these platforms, really hampers the localizing of the otaku-auteur as key in production, in the same way that it did in the 90s, especially for western anime fans.
Thanks for watching!