Japanese government wants to acquire original anime and manga art for creation of national archive

For their first several decades of existence, manga and anime were largely considered little more than inconsequential disposable entertainment.

In particular, the facility would be used to house anime cels and manga genga, the original drawings from which the published versions of comics are produced.

On September 30, members of the agency held a discussion whose participants included Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno and manga artist Machiko Satonaka, in which the agency said it is planning to create a national archive of anime and manga art materials.