1. What was the cultural impact of Akira (1988), and why does it occupy a key place in the canon of anime greats?

<Akira> is considered one of the most influential SF animations of all time. Akira is even mentioned as the most important work of the time in the history of Japanese animation. It has become a novelty of the cyber funk genre and is widely popular throughout Japan and internationally.

Tetsuo is a monster who has gained overwhelming power after an incident. He elicits a sociological imagination of the ambivalent attributes of modern civilization of science and technology, especially of self-destructive power. Through this, we can say that the belief in “development” and “progress” related to science and technology is an empty hole in optimism about technologically civilized society.    

If Tetsuo’s superpowers were to be associated with the mythical story of Prometheus, we are able to relate this to the concept of ‘fire’. Prometheus is the most humanized god who brought fire to the human world, and he is later punished severely for his actions by Zeus. The issue that should be noted in this myth is the nature of fire in which he gifted to humanity. Fire in this myth is expected to be controlled under the power of Zeus, and human interest in fire is considered taboo. Therefore, Prometheus’ outlandish act of stealing fire and passing it on to humankind is observed to be a challenge to the gods, before it is seen as compassion towards human beings. It symbolizes the deadly nature of human desire to multiply infinitely towards divine tools.

Based on the similarity with Prometheus, I would like to interpret it as “Tetsuo,” who stole technology in a near-future. The tragic end of ‘Tetsuo’ is a punishment for self-cultivated ambitions, and also a destructive overthrow of social desires that have been the foundation of these self-cultivated desires.  

 It can be said that the main character, Tetsuo, declared the end of the Homo sapiens era in a new way. It refers to Homo sapiens who possess the knowledge on how to use tools as a means to supplement intrinsic human abilities. It also contains the narcissistic self-awareness of mankind living as the dominant species of earth. However, it is no doubt that the human body and spirit, as well as human to human network of relationships, are subordinate to technological power today when what was considered a technological tool, began to enter the human interior. Here, we use Akira to illustrate the reversal of the situation in which humans are equipped to the outcome of science and technology. Specifically, after describing a technological civilization that cannot be overcome by relying on natural human power, it shows a situation in which individuals cannot resist such an environment. The explosion of ‘Tetsuo’ makes us reflect very profoundly on the human excesses that have become the driving force. Within the direction and speed of the development of science and technology, it indicates that there is a latent instability factor that the present civilization has not realized.

References

Mountfort, P. (2020). Pop genres anime 1 Akira [PowerPoint Slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/

Shin, D. (n.d.). 재패니메이션의 마스터피스, 를 봐야 하는 이유. Retrieved August 21, 2020, from https://m.post.naver.com/viewer/postView.nhn?volumeNo=9312603

Is anime a high or low cultural medium, according to Susan Napier (2005) and what are some of its subgenres?

Many scholars would place anime as a ‘low’ cultural medium for its reputation of being about superficial topics and having an art style that resembles western children’s cartoons. This often leads people to believe that anime is only watched by children or Japanese people. Anime is a global phenomenon that is watched by millions of people in many different countries. It has gone from being a niche interest to having its own subculture.

On the topic of whether anime fits into the ‘high’ or ‘low’ cultural medium standard, Napier (2005) discusses how it ticks many boxes for being a ‘high’ cultural medium. There are many influences from Japanese traditional arts, such as Kabuki and woodblock print, but it also borrows from artistic traditions seen in twentieth century cinema and photography.

It often also includes many complex themes and issues that are explored in ‘high’ culture texts, from Japan and worldwide. From Akria’s themes of corruption and loss of humanity to Sailor Moon‘s themes of female empowerment and friendship, the messages are very familiar to scholars.

As it is an umbrella term for all animation made in Japan and aired for a Japanese audience, there are many subgenres of anime. However, anime will often blend many genres into one show, even when those genres are usually not seen together. Denison (2015) uses Cowboy Bebop as an example of this as the show falls into the space opera subgenre with western and film noir stylistics as well as the occasional trip into horror territory. Akira is another example of this blend of many genres as a cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic anime with elements from fantasy (the presence of people with supernatural abilities) as well as action and thriller. There are also many genres that are exclusive to anime, such as the maho shojo (magical girl) genre. This genre is predominantly about a young girl who discovers she can use some form of magic and uses it to protect the world from evil sources.

Anime as a cultural medium is so complex and diverse it would be difficult to place it in either the category of ‘low’ or ‘high’. Instead, it likely sits in the middle or could fit into either depending on which specific anime show is being referenced.

Reference List:

Denison, R. (2015). Anime: A Critical Introduction. Bloomsbury.

Napier, S. (2005). Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.

Otomo, K (dir). (1988). Akira. Japan: Toho

2. Is anime a high or low cultural medium, according to Susan Napier (2005) and what are some of its subgenres?

It is hard to argue that anime is a ‘low’ art form, just as it is hard to argue it as a ‘high’ one. Instead, anime seems to blur the lines between what is considered ‘low’ and ‘high’ for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest is perhaps how intrinsically tied to many aspects of Japanese culture – including those that are generally considered to be ‘high’ art – anime is. Many of the frequently seen stylings and aesthetics of anime are taken from Japanese kabuki and noh theatre. (Napier, 2005) Both forms of theatre, while coincidentally regarded as ‘low’ art or entertainment for the commoners in the time they were invented, are regarded in modern culture as a precious art form unique to the Japanese culture. As explored by Stevie Suan in ‘The Anime Paradox : Patterns and Practices Through the Lens of Traditional Japanese Theater’ (2013), multiple aspects, unique to Japanese media as they are not found nearly as often and certainly not within popular American or British (what one could call ‘Western’) media, are shared between the traditional Japanese theatre forms and anime. (Suan, 2013, pp. 1-20)

Most notable of these are some of the most recognizable aspects of anime, such as the visual aesthetics and appearance. Both noh and kabuki put great emphasis on form, using the body, props, lighting, costuming and make-up to create exaggerated appearances featuring extremes of colour and shape. Alongside this (and indeed, part of it – perhaps even impossible without it) was the blending of the ‘unreal’ with the real. Noh and kabuki often featured monsters, ghouls, and other surreal creatures and characters along with fantastical (and often disturbing) happenings. This blending of the real and the unreal is key to both the Japanese theatre forms and anime. (Suan, 2013, pp. 20-35)

Looking at Akira, we can see examples of both of these aspects throughout the film, especially within the closing sequence, where we see Tetsuo’s body swell and mutate into a horrific, monstrous form, then get destroyed by Akira, sucking Kaneda briefly into another dimension in which he has visions of Tetsuo’s childhood. The changing of Tetsuo into a monstrous mass is a clear example of the use of form, especially that of exaggerated and extreme shape, as a mode of storytelling within anime, representing Tetsuo’s transformation into a complete monster of destruction. Along with the transportation of Kaneda to the ‘alternate’ dimension, it is also an example of the unreal meeting the real within anime – although the ‘unreal’ seems to exist even from the moment the audience experiences the almost surreal motorcycle chase through neo-Tokyo at the beginning of the film, it is here that it reaches it’s peak, and is used to fill in the final blocks needed to completely tell the audience the story of Akira.

While this is just one example of the point where anime blurs the line between high and low art, another important point is the wide range of sub-genres that anime stretches across. Traditionally, animation as seen in ‘Western’ counties (such as America and Britain) has been considered children’s fare, with ‘adult’ animated works only becoming more common relatively recently. This has limited it’s sub-genres significantly. Anime, on the other hand, has not had such limitations, and significant anime works can be found in almost every genre. Akira, as an example, is considered a significant work in the cyberpunk genre, and cyberpunk (alongside the mecha genre) remains a notable subgenre within anime. (Napier, 2005) Another popular subgenre is fantasy, and other distinctions within it such as steampunk; these can be seen clearly in the popular works by Hayao Miyazaki under the Studio Ghibli banner, such as within Spirited Away and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. The popularity of both genres can in part be related back to ‘unreal’ aspects of anime taken from Japanese theatre, as both genres heavily involve fantastical, surreal, or ‘magical’ elements, and the unique aesthetic elements of anime play a large part in bringing them to life (as can be seen in the landscape of neo-Tokyo within Akira). (Swaile, 2015, pp. 100-120)

References

Napier, S. (2005). Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.

Suan, S. (2013). The Anime Paradox : Patterns and Practices Through the Lens of Traditional Japanese Theater. Leiden: BRILL.

Swaile, A. D. (2015). Anime Aesthetics : Japanese Animation and the ‘Post-Cinematic’ Imagination. London: Palgrave/Macmillan.

In this blog, I will be discussing Susan Napier’s opinion on anime as well as mentioning some of the anime subgenres. I will mention Dragon Ball, Pokemon and Akira.

Anime refers to Japanese animation has a long-standing history in japan having been established in 1960 to 1970 (Mountfort, 2020) and according to Susan Napier also has a wide-ranging public perception. Susan Napier describes the medium as a “complex and fascinating medium,” Napier believes there is value in studying it (Napier, 2005). Going further Napier makes a point in discussing the deeper messages that can be discussed through the anime medium such as social and political issues (Napier,2005). Susan Napier doesn’t make a direct verbal call on whether or not Anime is a high or low cultural medium but it is clear throughout her reading that she holds the medium to the high regard and as such, I believe I can comfortably say that Susan Napier holds anime to be a high medium. Something I can’t argue with on a personal level just because of the sheer number of sub-genre within the anime medium.

As mentioned in the above paragraph Anime contains a multitude of sub-genres with the target audiences for each genre often finding little in common in the text they consume.

For example, there is the action genre within anime that in itself has varying degrees of sub-genres directed at specifically different audiences. You have the Kids actions such as dragon ball an action where the characters don’t die despite their earth-shattering battles and when they do die often it is not for the long term as they are revived (Raymond, 2020). Similar is the action-adventure kid’s subgenre where you find characters belonging to the series Pokemon (Webb, 2019). Going on an adventure with friends the main character ash not aging out of his tenth year of life despite being that age in 1997(Webb, 2019). The targeted audience of these two action subgenres differ from the target audience of the anime Akira (Otomo, 1988) a film seeped in action it is better fitted into the cyberpunk subgenre this film rather imagines its heroes in a cynical light where consequences not only occur but have a lasting impact with one of the characters, Yamagata, literally dying but unlike in the previously mentioned subgenres there is no revival rather a makeshift fun real is held, Kaneda destroys his motorbike in attempt to send it to the afterlife with him,(Otomo, 1988). Viewers of the kid’s action subgenres would have a different viewing experience compared to the more adult-targeted cyberpunk action.

You can also find hentai, strictly adult content based around sex (Cheeky Kid, updated January 2018), you’ll at the same time find harem anime focussing on many female characters fighting for the affections of a single male (Cheeky Kid, updated January 2018) Historical anime focussed on events I Japanese history (Cheeky Kid, updated January 2018) and just to top it off parody anime within which references are made to various anime which vary in the sub-genre.

All to say yes anime is wide-ranging containing a multitude of subgenres which then allows for Susan Napier to state that anime is a high medium.

References

Cheeky Kid (auth). (updated January 2018). A complete list of anime genres with explanations. Retrieved from https://reelrundown.com/animation/Anime-Genre-List

Mountfort, P. (lect) (2020). Pop genres anime 1 Akira [PowerPoint]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/ 

Napier, S. J. (auth). (2005). Anime from Akira to Howl’s moving castle: Experiencing contemporary Japanese animation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Otomo, K (dir). (1988). Akira. Japan: Toho

Raymond, N (writ). (2020). Dragon ball: every time the main characters have died. Retrieved from https://screenrant.com/dragon-ball-main-characters-heroes-deaths/

Webb, K (writ). (2019). After more than 1,000 episodes and 22 films, ash ketchum is finally a pokémon master. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com.au/ash-ketchum-pokemon-master-alola-league-champion-anime-series-2019-9?r=US&IR=T#:~:text=Despite%20being%20on%20the%20air,10%20years%20old%20since%201997.

2. Is anime a high or low cultural medium, according to Susan Napier (2005) and what are some of its subgenres?

For a short answer it is a high or low cultural medium you need to look no further than “Why anime?. There now should be enough evidence to show the value in studying this complex and fascinating medium” Napier (2005) to have answered the question as to if it is a high or low cultural medium. From her text we can see that she is very invested in this medium and is trying to show its value over the course of the first chapter Why Anime, the medium itself is largely a digestible way for to show anything for light hearted shojo style texts and more important issues such as wars and gender identity i feel though the way the text is conveyed shows that Susan regards anime as a high cultural medium and equates it to how kabuki which is now highly regarded was one just a cultural phenomenon and that it goes beyond the conventions of low or high culture.

Sub genres of anime, Anime can be split into many different kinds you have Shojo which is specified as geared towards young girls mainly adolescents examples being Sailor Moon or Fruit Basket with its counter part being Shonnen which now days plenty of the males in our class probably remember watching on say cartoon network or after school on normal network television being Dragonball Z as a very familar one or Naruto which normally try to peddle a narrative of friendship while having enough action to keep a younger males attention. These then move into Josei for Teenage Girls and Seinen for Boys, There are many genres that are shared between Japanese graphic novels/anime and westen equivents such as Action, Sci Fi, Romance and Drama but we also have genres that only exist in that medium like Isekai (Another World) or on the other side the more Pornographic Medium of anime/graphic novel (manga) Hentai.

References:

Napier, S. J. (2005). Anime from Akira to Howl’s moving castle: Experiencing contemporary Japanese animation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Click to access Napier%202005_Chapter%201%20%262%281%29.pdf

2. Is anime a high or low cultural medium, according to Susan Napier (2005) and what are some of its subgenres?

Anime (animation) can be seen on TV in Japan 24/7, on the big screen and in video stores, according to Napier (2005), anime is a high cultural medium.
The audience covers a vide spectre and includes people of all genders, ages and backgrounds. Anime can be funny, philosophical sci-fi, horrifying porn or all three combined into one.
               Anime is not just for kids, it is used as a medium to get across difficult topics such as love, death, war and also more philosophical questions to an adult audience (Drazen, 2014). It has the ability to reach a wider, different audience then what other, less accessible types of high cultural media are able to do. Anime also explores these issues in a complex way which would be familiar to people who read “high culture” literature (Napier, 2005). Swale (2015) states in his work that anime is an important medium to get across political, cultural and philosophical questions.
Thanks to the internet anime has become a global phenomenon, it’s still spreading and growing (Drazen, 2014).  According to Napier (2005) anime is growing as an intellectually challenging form of art, it is a popular cultural form that builds on high cultural traditions, and it also reinforces cultural myths (Drazen, 2014). Anime is influenced by old arts such as Kabuki and woodblock print, but it also uses artistic traditions from 20^th century filmmaking and photography (Napier, 2005).
Swale (2015) writes that anime has gone from being a “domestic cultural product” and is now evolved into a “global cultural commodity”, or as Napier (2005) says: mainstream pop cultural phenomenon. Although it belongs to the popular culture in Japan it has started to make its way into the subculture in America and is made itself a niche in the mainstream culture (Napier, 2005).
Anime is both a high and low cultural medium depending on where you are in the world, it is still a growing media and I will assume that anime will continue to grow.

Anime is an umbrella term (Denison, 2015) and it is characterized by its huge spectre of subgenres (Tomos, 2013).
Tomos (2013) writs that: the development of the dystopian cyberpunk sub-genre underpins one of the most global influences of anime.
Ghost in the Shell and Akira is examples of the cyberpunk genre (Denison, 2015).
You also have other subgenres such as Chanbare which romanticises the samurai code, Moe (means cute), which is aimed at children, Maho-Shojo, the ‘magical girl’ genre who are characterized by strong, female main characters. Shonen-ai features beautiful men and their romantic (gay) relationships, this genre targets woman and plays on the “female gaze”. You also have Hentai (basically porn) is anime for adults and follows a long line of Japanese visual aesthetics (Tomos, 2013).
Mecha which features giant, flying robots are also a popular subgenre.
Denison (2015) points out that Ghibli’s popularity and worldwide range have turned it into a “branded subgenre hybrid” and that Ghibli is becoming its own genre. The list of subgenres is almost never ending and as other mediums I can imagine that the different subgenres will continue to develop into new ones.

Sources:

Drazen, P. (2014, January 10). Anime Explosion! The What? Why? and Wow! of Japanese Animation. Stone Bridge Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Denison, R. (2015, October 22). Anime: A Critical Introduction. Bloomsbury Publishing.
https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=IKOfCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=no&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false  

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave/ Macmillan. (PDF)

Swale, A. D. (2015, August 10). Anime aesthetics: Japanese animation and the ‘post-cinematic’ imagination. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Tomos, Y. (2013, September). The significance of anime as a novel animation form, referencing selected works by Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon and Mamoru Oshii. (PDF) https://pure.aber.ac.uk/portal/files/10592318/Tomos_Y.pdf

WEEK 4  AKIRA  

1. What was the cultural impact of Akira (1988), and why does it occupy a key place in the  canon of anime greats? 

Anime (Japanese Animation) was established in 1960’s and 1970’s in Japan. (Mountfort, 2020) 

The anime film Akira was released in 1988, directed by Katsuhiro Otomo and is an adaptation based on his manga (comic volumes 1-6) of the same name.  This release was at a time when the Japanese economy was experiencing a boom mid to late 1980’s a period known as the “Golden Age of Anime.” Its production budget of 700 million yen (US$5.5 million), was the most expensive anime film at that time and used cutting edge techniques of Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) along with traditional CEL animation. Otomo’s eye for detail made extensive use of multilayered backgrounds, perspective and edited sequences that required many CEL’s to be produced which allowed captive viewing (Napier, 2005).   

Akira is the first anime film successfully exported from Japan in the entertainment economy to Western audiences in the 1990’s (Napier 2005) and possibly the start of the “Cool Japan” marketing term adopted by the Japanese Government. For many Western viewers Akira would have been the first anime feature film they had ever seen where action and adventure collided with teenage and adult themes of motorcycle gang warfare, politics, militarism, science and technology which led to a cult following. Not only did Akira introduce anime it also had a huge impact on filmmakers both in Japan and in the West. Many filmmakers and artists have credited Akira as being instrumental in constructing their own creations and is confirmation of this anime feature films attributes.  

Akira’s success lay the foundation for the rise of anime and Japanese pop culture in the West and considered one of Japan’s significant cultural exports.  

REFERENCES  

Mountfort, P. (2020). Pop genres anime 1 Akira [PowerPoint Slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/ 

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/ Macmillan. 

Napier, S. (2005). Anime and Local/Global Identity. In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.15-34). Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan. 

Week 4 – What was the cultural impact of Akira (1988), and why does it occupy a key place in the canon of anime greats?

Akira is an animated Japanese movie made in 1988, directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, and was a pioneer in the genre of anime. In terms of subgenre, it is classified as a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk anime. Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction, focusing on futuristic urban societies which are built upon computer technology. Akira is set in a post-apocalyptic future, after the planet has suffered a third world war, the story taking place in neo-Tokyo, which was once destroyed and now rebuilt as a thriving metropolis. The story follows a member of biker gang in neo-Tokyo who has been kidnapped by a secret government agency, and his best friends’ quest to rescue him.

It is revealed that Tokyo was destroyed in 1988 by an atom bomb, and though thirty-one years later in 2019 neo-Tokyo is thriving and technologically advanced, it is still desolate and barren in a dystopian kind of way. In regard to the deadly nuclear war which destroyed the city, there is a connection that can be made to world war two, and the horrific nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This national tragedy which is held with importance in Japanese history played a big part in inspiring the destruction and anarchy that is portrayed in Akira. The historical connection is one of the main reasons why Akira became culturally significant, especially for Japanese audiences.

The theme of the biker gang stems from Japanese popular cultural influences in the 1980’s. In Akira, the biker gang symbolizes the disillusioned and rebellion fuelled youth of the 20^th century. The end of the second world war brought many waves of rebellion, the future generations dissatisfied with the conventions of conservative viewpoints, the horrors and systematic aggressions of war. Themes of youth having lost hope in the future and perseverance is also prominent, portrayed well in the classroom scene in Akira, having seen the students’ disinterest in education. For many teenagers and young people watching at the time, there was great relevance to how that generation was feeling and their unique place in society.

Apart from the cultural, historical and societal importance that Akira holds, it remains to be one of the most artistically influential animated movies of the 20^th century. There had never been a production like it before in Japanese film history, having the most expensive budget for an anime movie than ever before. The animation turned out to be so striking, it was clear even at the time that Akira was a masterpiece, and definitely much more than an animated movie for children. After its release, Akira heavily influenced the way mangas and comic books were made and impacted live animated as well as live action movies in terms of story and production. Akira was the first animated Japanese movie to really break into the western world and catch the attention of American audiences, who now were demanding more comic books and mangas that could evoke the same brilliance that Akira had.

References :

Napier, S. (2005). Anime and Local/Global Identity. In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.15-34). Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.