Associate Professor Hartzheim’s chapter, “Genre Networks and Anime Studios,” has been published in the Cambridge Companion to Anime and Manga (University of Cambridge Press), edited by Jaqueline Berndt. The collection brings together many new and familiar scholars to present an introduction to contemporary research on anime and manga. Hartzheim’s chapter focuses on the seminal animation studio Gainax in order to discuss the persistence of the sci fi genre to anime. The chapter focuses on science fiction institutions and developing otaku fandoms in Japan, showing how anime producers depended on and extracted from sci-fi networks for both promotional and technical functions in the 1980s. The chapter also shows how anime studios often do not retain a single, coherent style or approach to their works, but rather reflect the craft and commercial activities of its staff over time.
The book can be read here:
