The Revolution of Anime
Immediately after the Second World War, the Japanese
economy, not surprisingly, fell into a state of complete disaster. Though many of the citizens were prepared to
accept their loss and continue with their lives, they were forced to live in
this recession. During this time, it
would have been impossible to support a vast film industry. However, the inability to produce cinematic
productions did not deter people from exercising their creativity. Many people expressed themselves by drawing
manga, which is similar to modern day comic books. As the economy in Japan began to recover, the film industry began
to grow. However, instead of focusing
on live action movies like American producers, the Japanese instead put much of
their attention towards recreating the stories found in manga by animating them
(Ridenour). After several decades of producing
such animated features, what is now called anime, the focus of Japanese
filmmaking has not changed to parallel that of American movies. Anime continues
to play an important roll in the Japanese entertainment industry. According to journalist Aaron Barnheart of
the Kansas City Star, “today half of all movie tickets sold in
Japan are for anime features.”
The first anime to reach the United States was one of the
first animes every created: Astro-Boy, created by Osamu Tezuka in
1952. Curiously, instead of developing
Japanese characters, Tezuka instead mimicked the style of Walt Disney, creating
characters with “doe eyes and pencil-line lips” (Barnheart). This style caught on very quickly, and as a
result most anime, though distinctly Japanese, utilizes characters that do not
bear the physical traits characteristics distinct to Japanese people. A few other animes such as Speed Racer and
Monster Rancher followed Astro-Boy to the United States. However, it was not until the commercial
release of Akira in 1989 that Western culture began to really appreciate
anime (Ridenour). The animation in Akira
is very complex and artistic, so much so that it manages to produce an
atmosphere of realism. The storyline,
on the other hand, is incredibly incoherent yet strangely intriguing science
fiction. Though the plot becomes so
bizarre that it practically defies comprehension, one can still find prominent
themes about the nature and evolution of man amidst the confusion. Because of its artistry, both in animation style
and story development, Akira became a colossal success with science
fiction enthusiasts. This opened the
door for vast quantities of anime to begin pouring out of Japan and into the
United States, where ravenous fans did and do still consume it voraciously.
“Pika!” Many people across the country consider this to be
the single most annoying sound ever to come out of a television program. It is a high-pitched squeak uttered
repeatedly and exclusively by one of the central characters in the commercial blockbuster
known as Pokémon. One cannot walk
into a bookstore or comic shop without seeing mind-boggling quantities of Pokémon
products. To the chagrin of countless
parents, today’s generation of children has become enraptured by this show and
the vast selection of merchandise based on it.
Pokémon is indeed an anime, and its role in bringing anime to the
United States cannot be overlooked.
That it has helped to bring the existence of anime into the public eye
is certain; its own incredible success is a testament to this. Unfortunately, Pokémon also helps
feed one of the most common stereotypes about anime and cartoons in general:
that they are intended for children.
Unlike much of American animation, anime targets a wide
variety of age groups, from children to adults. Pokémon is intended as children’s anime, and has been
received as such. As a result, however,
many Americans do not accept that anime can be a serious form of art, both in
its visual style and its themes. Critic
Sato Kenji discusses this some in his article “More Animated than Life: A
Critical Overview of Japanese Animated Films.”
He mentions one anime entitled Mononoke-hime (translation: Princess
Mononoke) that tells a simple but entertaining story of medieval Japanese
samurai battling forest gods. What
makes Mononoke-hime so outstanding is the amazing beauty of the artwork
used in its creation. So impressive is
the animation that it “broke every box-office record to become the biggest
movie hit of all time in Japan.” Kenji
goes on to discuss another anime called Shin Seiki Evangerion
(translation: Neon Genesis Evangelion), a feature intended for an
audience much more mature than that of Pokémon. Evangelion tells the story of man’s
struggle to stay alive, not only as he fights against himself, but as God wages
war on humanity. The thematic and moral
implications are both complex and disturbing.
As Kenji puts it, “Neon Genesis Evangelion describes an
individual's existentialist search for identity, calling to mind Jean-Paul
Sartre's famous axiom, ‘Hell is other people.’” Clearly, neither Mononoke-hime nor Evangelion were
ever intended to target the same audience as Pokémon.
The failure of American society to realize that not all
animated programs are intended for children has no end of trouble for Funimation,
a company which dubs into English an extremely popular anime called Dragonball
Z. Though certainly not a deep and
thematic anime like Evangelion, Dragonball Z contains a level of
violence considered by many to be inappropriate for small children. Of course, it was never meant for small
children to see. Shown during prime
time television hours in Japan, Dragonball Z’s target audience consists
mostly of young teenagers, though its dramatic appeal has made fans out of
older teenagers and adults as well (Gill).
Unfortunately, Funimation ignored this fact and attempted to produce a
version of Dragonball Z that would be suitable for small kids by
performing countless edits and script changes.
Furthermore, to make it even more appealing to the public, they tried to
incorporate popular American slang into the dialogue, practically ruining the
show. Some of the fans are so enraged
by this that there exists a vast network of illegally subtitled Dragonball Z
tapes being bought and sold across the country via anime stores and Internet
sites. Luckily, Funimation has recently
been making attempts to improve the quality of the show by making it better
resemble the original, and many viewers will testify that they are achieving
some degree of success. Funimation’s
problems are not over, however. By
attempting to please one group of people, they have further angered
another. Many parents complain about
the degree of violence still present in Dragonball Z, despite the
edits. Sadly, this has helped to create
yet another mistaken stereotype about anime: that it is violent and brutal.
These stereotypes of childishness and violence have
prevented a large part of American society from appreciating the artistry of
anime. I conduced a poll of nineteen
anime fans, most of whom are high school or college students. When asked whether or not American society
in general respects anime as a form of art, seventy-nine percent responded with
a flat-out no. The remaining twenty-one
percent argued that teenagers are beginning to see it as such, but that most
adults are still closed to the idea of a serious animated production. Felicity Fisher, one of the people I
interviewed, theorized as to why teenagers are the first age group to accept
and appreciate anime:
There's a teenage audience for
anime/japanimation in America. Teenagers can find something serious in anime,
and that's what draws them to it. It's a walking contradiction, really, in
America. It's animated and therefore 'childish', yet it's deep and has meaning
which is quite 'adult'. I think not just the contradiction attracts teens, but
there's also the fact that teens aren't quite grown-up yet. There's a bit of a
kid still lurking around in there. There's also a bit of a full-grown adult in
there too, which wants something serious. That's the beauty of anime for them.
They can get both in one series.
Despite the disagreement as to whether or not teenagers
respect anime as art, almost everyone who responded made some comment about the
inability of our society to accept animated productions as more than just
cartoons. In addition, many felt that
the public perceives a lot of anime to be pornographic. It is true that a style of pornographic
anime called hentai has developed, but it makes up only a very small percent of
Japanese animation. Many Americans who
label anime as pornographic aren’t even referring to hentai; they are referring
to any anime that contain scenes of extreme violence or nudity. However, to really appreciate the cultural
significance of anime, one must first appreciate that these aspects of life are
not as culturally taboo to the Japanese as they are to Americans. One anime that has drawn a lot of attention
in this area is a classic movie called Ghost in the Shell. Journalist Shelly Ridenour comments about
this:
"Ghost in the
Shell" is not even close to being pornographic. On the surface a
"Total Recall"-like sci-fi/action/adventure tale of espionage, secret
government plotting and criminal super-hackers, the film also raises
intriguing—and timely—ethical dilemmas. In a 2029 world where all human organs
except the brain are replaceable by far-superior cybernetic ones—and computers
begin to develop a sense of self—there is no easy answer for the question, What
constitutes a human?
Once again, a public too quick to judge by stereotypes
disregards the depth, complexity and originality of this film.
Marvin Gleicher, president of Manga Entertainment, a
company that translates anime into English, is optimistic. “I see the world becoming smaller,” he says,
“and as people are becoming more worldly and accepting of other cultures,
they're more interested in the arts of those other cultures.” This is the ideal, and perhaps one day
American society will meet this standard.
However, based on its reaction to Japanese animation, I would say it
still has a long way to go.
Works Cited
Barnheart, Aaron. “Change Your Toon: Japanese Animation Dares to Go Where No Animation Has Gone
Before.” The Kansas City Star. 12 December 1999. J1. <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/form/academic/index.html>
Fisher, Felicity. Interview with Johannes Norrell.
Gill, William. “We’re Under Attack.” Pojo’s World. 1 (2000): 1.
Gleicher, Marvin. Interview with Shelly Ridenour. “Hard Cel: Exploring the comic sensibility
of Chicago’s Japanimation Masters.” New
City. 16 March 1998. <http://multihome.www.desert.net/ww/03-16-98/chicago_cover.html>
Kenji, Sato. “More Animated than Life: A Critical
Overview of Japanese Animated Films.” Japan
Echo. Volume 24, Number 5, December
1997. <http://www.japanecho.co.jp/docs/html/240515.html>
Ridenour, Shelly. “Hard Cel: Exploring the comic sensibility
of Chicago’s Japanimation Masters.” New
City. 16 March 1998. <http://multihome.www.desert.net/ww/03-16-98/chicago_cover.html>
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