Anime continued its ascent westward with the birth of Manga U.S. in 1994. And as people are becoming more worldly and accepting of other cultures, they're more interested in the arts of those other cultures. The real place, located in River North, falls somewhere between those two visions. Interestingly, all but one employee I talked to admitted they weren't anime fans before coming to Manga. They all keep up with it now, in part because they have to-the entire staff gets together and votes on future title acquisitions.
Japanese animation is an extreme.
There is graphic imagery and complex situations and violence. It's shocking to some people, but I think that's why a lot of guys dig it. I think most anime is both a vision of the animator and a reflection of the culture, but portrayed in a fantasy way. And a lot of the smaller companies have marketed more of the graphic, violent titles. It's fair to call some of it pornographic.