Week Five - Filip

According to Lent (2000), what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia (ie comparing China and Japan)?

Across Asia, production companies exist which work on foreign programmes. Historically, there have been shifts in direction as a result of cultural movements and political propaganda ‘most Chinese animation stressed morals, such as wholehearted service to the people’ in addition to regulation of distribution of animated shows; countries banned outside cartoons out of fear of subversive colonization tactics. In spite of this, the public would obtain the contraband via piracy.
I found amusing the irony in large production companies being organized to create propaganda later being turned into platforms for foreign studios.

Developments in a ‘...symbiotic relationship... between animation and other mass media...’ have been made across Asia. Anime, for instance, inspires the production of live-action movies and series in China.



Is it a high or low cultural genre, according to Napier (2005)? What are some of its subgenres?

Covered in the texts is how, in relation to western animation, anime explores several genres - even venturing into mature realms of horror, erotica, violence, drama and romance. As is most decisively expressed here;
‘...the issues it explores, often in surprisingly complex ways, are ones familiar to readers of contemporary “high culture” literature (both inside and outside of Japan) and viewers of contemporary art cinema.’ (Napier 2005)

Two sub-genres explored in anime include Shonen and Shoujo.



What is the ‘shoujo’ and how does it often function in anime?

‘Shoujo’ refers to girls coming of age; ‘little female’ and has a thematic tilt towards the romantic. Functionally, it is used to explore the duality of young and mature themes, either transitionally or contrastively. Miyazaki embraces the shouju sub-genre, but plays down the kawaii (‘cute’) aspects; ‘In his most recent productions, Miyazaki has steered clear of conventional notions of feminine beauty altogether’

Appreciation for one of my favourite moments in Princess Mononoke is shared by Napier and Cavallaro; ‘Miyazaki’s heroines The ambiguous nature of the typical Miyazaki girl is vividly encapsulated by the scene, in Mononoke, where Sna’s bloodstained face defiantly confronts the viewer.’


Shonen refers to boys in a similar vein, with the tilt towards action.
Personally, the more impressive anime are those which give the most meaning to the dominant themes. The action in Fist of the North Star (popular shonen anime) is exaggerated, but underscores its tragedy. Mononoke’s romantic edge adds depth to its calmed beauty. Thus, the product is more gripping of older audiences and more respectful of the younger.



Looking at Napier and Cavallaro (2006), discuss how anime is culturally ‘located’ – in the East or West, or somewhere else?

Described throughout the reading is a ‘collusion of East and West’; ‘Miyazaki’s settings are frequently informed by pre-eminently Western styles and imagery ...it should not be assumed that the films endowed with explicitly Japanese connotations are automatically more Eastern than the others.’ (Napier and Cavallaro, 2006)

I’d agree anime’s cultural ‘location’ is bound to neither the East nor the West. Especially considering the back-and-forth influence it’s on ‘western’ art itself.