Abridged anime and the distance in fan-dubbing: Interpreting culture through parody and fan appropriation

Abstract

This article explores the fan-dubbing practice of ‘abridged anime’ on YouTube and considers the implications involving the creators’ cultural distance from their transnational source material. In this case study, I argue that the practice of parody and fan appropriation can be viewed within the context of global media flows and cultural reinterpretation, suggesting a toxic fan culture that either trivializes or distorts the original text. By focusing on numerous abridged anime series and creator interviews, and framing that analysis within the theorization of parodic transgression, I demonstrate that these fan practices can take on either orientalist or sexist perspectives and move us further from a nuanced cultural understanding of the text itself.