Media and the Environment: How Media Mix Franchises Impact Climate Change 🌏

Yesterday, I attended the last Visual Cultures Workshop of the spring semester. These research workshops are hosted by the ND Department of Film, Television, and Theatre (FTT) to bring together graduate students and faculty to discuss their current projects. Dr. Amanda Kennell, an assistant professor in the East Asian Languages and Cultures department, presented and titled her workshop, "Yokohama Burns 2.0: Place and Medium in Japan Today". Her newest paper, and soon-to-be chapter in her new book, focuses on the environmental impact of media consumption.

Dr. Kennell used the Japanese franchise Bungo Stray Dogs (BSD) as an example of "media mix" style world-building. The story and the world are intentionally created with adaptability to multiple medias in mind. BSD has a manga, anime, game, live-action film, and theater adaptation. The manga is ongoing and written with vague time points and locations, which gives other media creative liberties. Dr. Kennell noted that in media mix style, the media form that released first holds no authority over the others. Instead, each adaptation stakes its own territory and has its own levels of success and influence. While the BSD manga came out first, it's treated as a suggestion rather than a blueprint for creating other media forms.

Dr. Kennell also used BSD to exemplify "Korabo" and "fan tourism". Media mix franchises usually go hand-in-hand with "Korabo", which is collaborations between the franchise and external parties to host "pop-up events". BSD has partnered with Japanese museums, gaming centers, cafes, and more to host limited-time events both online and in physical venues. "Korabo" inserts franchises into the consumer's real world, maintaining the franchise's fan-base to ensure sustainable revenue.

"Fan tourism" is possible in BSD because of the anime adaptation. While the manga was ambiguous on the setting, the anime firmly plants BSD in Yokohama, Japan. Digital animation allowed the anime's backgrounds to clearly represent real places in Yokohama, which fans referenced to create a BSD tour guide. While the franchise doesn't directly profit from this like "Korabo", "fan tourism" creates community and strengthens a consumer's bond with that franchise.

How does all of this relate to the environment? Dr. Kennell argued that BSD's "media mix" style, "Korabo" events, and "fan tourism" community come together in a perfect storm with a big carbon footprint. "Media mix" connects franchises to consumers around the world and across media forms. "Korabo" events generate profit by manufacturing and selling cheap collectibles made from petrochemicals. "Fan tourism" both increases air travel, a major source of greenhouse gases, and increases foot-traffic to otherwise undistributed sites, including natural and even sacred landmarks.

This workshop had me thinking not only about the global impacts of Japanese culture, but also what it means to earn a doctorate degree in media. I never considered what research in film and television could entail until yesterday. I was struck by how franchising strategies never crossed by mind, but were so fascinating to learn about. Dr. Kennell's in-depth analyses with unfamiliar jargon would overwhelm me sometimes, but when I looked around the room, the graduate students and faculty looked simply intrigued. I gained an interest in media research after this workshop, and I look forward to attending future ones by the FTT.