Wipfli H, Kim M, Vassey J*, Stanton C. Tobacco Control. 2022 Apr 26:tobaccocontrol-2021-057195. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-057195. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35474025.
Anime, or Japanese animation which combines graphic art, characterisation and cinematography, is experiencing a global boom after having doubled its market size over the past decade. The industry was valued at $23.5 billion in 2020 and is continuing to grow rapidly. Anime is popular among adolescents and young adults, who are targeted with content related to romantic attraction, teen relationships, depression and despair. A 2020 survey in the USA found twice as many 18-year-olds to to 29-year-olds (27%) had a very favourable impression of anime as compared with 30-year-olds to 44-year-olds. Notably, smoking by anime characters is not uncommon. Popular examples of anime smokers include Asuma Sarutobi from Naruto, Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop and Sanjo from One Piece. Vaping by anime characters has yet to be systematically analysed, although a scene from Netflix’s original anime, Neo Yokio, produced in 2017 with talent that included Jaden Smith, Jude Law and Susan Sarandon, included a viral scene in which a character asks to, and then proceeds to use a vaping device.
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