May 2012

“Day-to-dayness” and “Impact of the Times,” Which Is Characterizing the Present TV Cartoons

Research Findings from a Content Analysis of Japanese TV Cartoons 2011

Mizuho Tsurushima

The NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute has been conducting a survey series “Content Analysis of Japanese TV Cartoons” every five years since 1986 to study the reality of cartoon/animation programs being broadcast at the time. The author presents the research findings form the latest 2011 survey to examine whether the contents have been changed or not, by comparing them with the past results.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the present status of TV cartoons that are currently broadcast, by recording 42 titles aired on NHK or commercial channels during the period of the 2011 June Nationwide Surveys on Individual Audience Ratings and by coding 30 composing elements including the period of history and place of the setting, the leading character, the key tone of the story, and the main theme in order to determine whether each program has these elements.

Analyzing each program by element revealed that the cartoon settings can be categorized into two types; one is the combination of “unidentified period of history” and “fictitious place” and the other is the combination of “present day” and “city or town.” As to the character the combination of “combative,” “jocular,” and “cheerful” is most common. The main themes includes, in order of descending prevalence, “friendship and fighting,” “knockabout,” and “relaxed comedy.”

These findings indicate that present cartoons have two prominent types. One is accompanied by a relaxed storylines which develops around a cheerful and jocular lead character whom children can easily relate to in an everyday-life setting such as a Japanese city or town of our time. The other features a combative and/or jocular lead character who gets involved in a battles or adventure in a fictitious time and place. It is observed that the latter type of cartoons had diverse stories and themes and was strongly influenced by the times.

The author also compared the average ratings by elements. “Everyday-life cartoons” are often scheduled in the time slot between 18:00 to 19:59 and viewed by audience of varying ages. Meanwhile, “cartoons influenced by the times” are often scheduled in the time slot between 6:00 to 9:59 in the morning and viewed by children without being accompanied by adults. The fact that different composing elements lead to different time slots or distinctive features of viewers is important for the understanding of TV cartoons of our time.

The NHK Monthly Report on Broadcast Research