万花筒 2008-04-07&-4-08 日本动画全球扩张

Japanese anime or animation¹ is a 3.3-billion-dollar hit at home, but still looking to make a firm beachhead overseas. An industry that began nearly 100 years ago has undeniable winners like Pokemon franchise², with feature films, cartoons, and a slew³ of character products. But anime exports are worth less than 10% of domestic business. And Japan is hosting an international fair to push its prowess, from cult⁴ status to cultural icon⁵. Some anime watchers say Japanese trademarks⁶, high production values, characters with huge eyes, and busty women don't always translate abroad.

 Another concern is that the local industry may be hollowing out because of a brain drain to the game industry. Still some industry crossover has begun. And this Karaoke game allows customers to do their own anime voice-overs. In a sign that Hollywood is also responding to anime's potential, Disney recently announced ties with Japanese producer Toei, planning a robot adventure anime likely due in May.

Dan Sloan, Reuters Tokyo.

1 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

2 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

3 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

4 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

5 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

6 trademarks   

n.（注册）商标( trademark的名词复数 )；（人的行为或衣着的）特征，标记

参考例句：

• Motrin and Nuprin are trademarks of brands of ibuprofen tablets. Nuprin和Motrin均是布洛芬的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many goods in China have the trademarks of a panda. 中国的许多商品都带有熊猫的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》