The rise of manga and anime has brought the West into contact with some interesting Japanese visual conventions. I remember reading the first Japanese comics ever translated into English, and wondering what characters meant when they said “…………..” It was strange at the time, although by now most of us have figured out that this indicates a pause in which the character is thinking deeply about something. Sailor Moon introduced us all to the “sweat drop” that appears over a character’s head when they’re upset about something, which took people a while to get used to, I’m sure. The other day my wife was playing with a chalkboard program I had on the iPad, and she naturally (from a Japanese point of view) drew an umbrella with her name and mine underneath. This is called ai-ai-gasa or “love-love umbrella” and it’s the staple of Japanese kids who want to imply a romantic relationship between two people in the class when the teacher isn’t looking. In my day it was the “sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G” song…
“Love-love umbrella” and the anime sweat drop are odd concepts from anime.
