LABS: Denzel Curry and Dr. Mimi Ito on Anime Culture
Recorded Live at the Anime Station store in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles on July 13, 2024, rapper Denzel Curry talks with UC Irvine cultural anthropologist Dr. Mimi Ito about his relationship to anime and anime culture in Japan and abroad.
We discuss Mimi’s research that tracked how manga and anime grew from just a Japanese export to a global phenomenon. Fascinatingly, anime spread through the promotion of fan groups American ex pats that would trade anime and create subtitles for the American audience.
After decades of promo provided by this “fan subbing” and AMV (anime music video) conventions, the media industry caught on and now distribute anime across multiple platforms. Denzel does a deep dive on his favorite anime programs and traces how he was first introduced as a child in Florida and was later inspired to incorporate it into his music and fashion.