ABSTRACT
Since the 1960s, Japanese television animation has been governed by paradigms formed through relationships in the anime industry. Two genres that best represent the existence of pervasive paradigms have relied on the sale of toys: the robotto (robot) genre, featuring giant humanoid fighting machines usually controlled by young male pilots, and the mahō shōjo (magical girl) genre, depicting the adventures of pre-pubescent girls with magical powers. This chapter argues that the continued existence of these genres has been possible because of the reliance on industry frameworks established through evolving relationships among anime creators, commercial sponsors, and television networks. It explains how this relationship imposed “opportunistic restrictions” on creators during the “golden age” of television anime, starting in the 1970s and lasting until paradigm shifts initiated by Original Video Animation in the mid-1980s. The dynamics of the robot and magical girl genres provided for intellectual property to be reproduced across the “media mix,” the marketing of franchises through various commercial formats that characterizes the anime industry. This chapter historicizes connections between content production and marketing strategies that enabled the development of television anime.
