Anime as a structural element of mass culture: emergence, functional purpose, evolution

The subject of the research is Japanese animation (anime) in the context of its functional purpose as an element of mass culture. The author examines the reasons for the relatively late emergence of the anime industry, as well as its interaction during its formation with established traditions of educational art for children and adolescents. The article discusses the factors that led to the duality of the studied phenomenon, as well as the contradictions of its functions: serving as a source of entertainment, a means of illusory satisfaction of desires, as well as a tool for conveying social norms and values. The author also considers the reasons for the further evolution of anime in the 21st century, including the strengthening of entertainment and hedonistic elements in it, related to the general trends of modern cultural development. The article also discusses the prospects for the development of anime in Russia. The main research tools were historical-genetic methods, which allow for revealing causal relationships between various socio-cultural phenomena, and structural-functional analysis. The main conclusion of the research is the thesis on the dual nature of anime. As an element of mass culture, it inevitably acquires a consumerist character, serves as a means of satisfying desires, and embodies the dreams of children and adolescents. However, anime is also under the pressure of social demand and is objectively forced to act as a way of transmitting social norms and values. The dual nature of anime allows it, in the hands of the most outstanding directors, to rise above the clichés of plots and techniques of mass culture and create true masterpieces. At the same time, the overall evolution of culture leads to a gradual reduction of anime's educational functions and an increase in its hedonistic, entertainment, and destructive elements. Anime has become a formed and necessary element of mass culture and can only be transformed outside of it.