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Napier, Susan J.. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke : Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. New York, NY, USA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 18 January 2015. Copyright © 2001. Palgrave Macmillan. All rights reserved.

C H AP TE R T W O

ANIME AND LO CAL/GLOBAL

IDENTITY

THE DEVELOPMEN T OF AN I ME I N JA PAN

To \VESTERNERS it 1nay see1n surprising that an artistic fonn that has been knov.1n to the1n largely as children:S entertairunent could enco1n- pass so 1nany varieties. To understand the reasons behind this variety, we need to understand so1nething of the history and role of anilne in Japanese society. First of all, it is i1nportant to appreciate just ho,v sjgnificant a force anilne is in conte1nporary Japanese 1nedia. In 1988 roughly 40 percent of Japanese studio releases ,vere animated. By 1999 , as the previously tnentioned article in Thne notes , at least half of all releases frotn Japanese studios were amtnated. 1 Anitnation on television is a continuous presence , beginrung with children:S shov.1s in

16 * Ai'IIME FROM AK/RA TO PRINCESS M 0 /101/0KE

the morning, continuing through fa1nily viewing hours in the evening , and taking on a significant presence in the late -night market (after 11:00 P.M. ) , where edgy ani1nated shows aiJned at late teens and t\venty -so1nethings are 1najor offerings . From the early 1980s anilne also becaine an ilnportant player in the video 1narket, \vhere OVAs constitute a high proportion of video sales and rentals. 2

Of course , ani1nation \Vas not ahvays such an itnportant part of the Japanese popular culture industry. For a long titne it \Vas overshado'vved by Japans superb live -action cinetna and existed only as a fairly marginal and largely child -oriented alternative. To some extent, anitnation'.s rise in Japan is in an inverse relationship with the decline of the Japanese fil1n industry, which , in the fifties and sixties , was one of the greatest in the 'vvorld. Unfortunately , the 1950s decade of filtn 1nasterpieces , exetnplified in the works of Kurosa\va Akira ,

Ozu Yasujiro , and Mizoguchi Kenji , \Vas also the decade in which film attendance peaked in Japan. Japanese fihnmakers have contin - ued to create itnportant and provocative \Vorks, but they are now increasingly in competition \Vith both television and i\1nerican ilnports.

While vVestern anitnated fil1ns had appeared in Japan as early as 1909 , and Japanese anitnators began to create their o'vvn \vork by 1915, anitnation as a cou1mercial art for1n really got started i11 the postwar period ,vith popular, feature -length animated filtns produced by studios such as Toei, a cotnpany pritnarily famous for its live -action fihns. 3 Perhaps the 1nost itnportant date inJapanese ani1nation history,

however, is 1963, the year that Japans first anitnated television series, Osainu Tezuka'.s legendary Astra Boy (Tetsu\van Ato1nu) , appeared. The story of a little -boy robot, built by a brilliant scientist as a replace1nent for his dead son, 'vVas an itnmediate success , as 1nuch for

its exciting and often affecting story line ( the first in what would be a long line of ani1nated features about hu1nanoid robots) as for its spare but effective graphic design. Tezuka follo'vved Astra Boy with the color series Ki,nba the White Lion Qanguru taitei , 1964 ) , which also beca1ne a 1najor hit, and , by the late 1960s, anitnated television series were securely established in Japan. 4

Tezuka himself 'vvas a strong adtnirer of Disney anilnation , as were 1nany of Japans pioneer animators. Even today Japanese ani1nators are strongly a,vare of American ani1nation. But, virtually

ANIME ANO LOCAL/ GLOBAL IDENTITY * 1 7

fro1n the start, post\ var Japanese ani1nation ha s tended to go in a very different direction , not only in terms of its adult orientation and 1nore co1nplex story lines but also in its overall structure. It is i1nportant to e1nphasize the link bet,veen television and Japanese ani1nation in ter1ns of anilnes narrative structure and overall style. 5

The weekly television for1nat of 1nos t ser ies gave rise to certain narrative structures, rnost notably serial plots, ,vhich allov.1ed for longer , tnore episodic story lines than a cinematic for1nat ,vould have

done. This ser ial quality was also reinforced by animations connec - tion with the ubiquitous manga , ,vhic h e1nphasized long -running

episodic plots as well. The anitnation industrys connection \Vith television \Vas also

crucial in relation to its ability to attract talented people. Riding the \vave of televisions increasing popularity in the 1nid-sixties, animation offered openings to a large pool of gifted you ng anilnators at a tilne \vhen live-action cine1na see med to offer fewer opportunities to

ambitiou s artists. Buffeted by the increa sin g do1ninance of Holl )'\vood on the one hand and the expansion of television viewing on the other,

Japanese live cine1na had begun to pla y it safe. While brilliant directors such as lma1nura Shohei, I tamiJuzo , and , most recently Kitano "Beat" Takeshi , s till appear, the typical Japanese film product of recent decades tends to be highl y formulaic action filins or softcore pornog - raph y. Donald Richie, the dean of Western co1n1nentators on Japanese fihn, su1ns it up ,vhen he ,vrites that frotn the 1970s on "distrust of the ne\V and the original beca1ne even 1nore intense." 6

While this gloomy assessment has been contradicted by the rise of so1ne exciting nev.1 fihnmakers iJJ the last decade (and the produc - tion of some brilliant works fro1n older directors such as I1na1nura) , for

a long tiJne it was clear that opportunities for the "new" and "o riginal " \Vere far 1nore likely to be found in the fast-developing - and increas -

ingl y co1nmercially important - field of ani1nation. Minamida Misao points to the "sense of new things in a mediu1n full of liberating possibilities ," that 1nade the early days so exciting to young aniJnators. He also points out that aniJne offered a vvay of going "beyond the fra1ne,vork of [conventional ) Japanese entertainment." 7

By the late seventies , anime in the cin etn a was also an i1nportant trend , although the fihns ,vere usually tied i11 ,vith long-

running television series. One example is the classic Space Battleship

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Ya,nato (Uchu sen kan Ya1nato, 1973 ), a film based on a television series of the sa1ne na1ne. The series ,vas so popular that it inspired long lines outside the theaters the day before the fihn even opened. Since the early 1980s the OVA 1narket has not only boosted sales at ho1ne but has also helped to increase the overseas sales prodigiou sly. By th e encl of the 1990 s it was clear that anime ,vas an in1portant ele1nent of Japan 's conte1nporary culture .

Also, by the 1990 s intellectually sophisticated ani1ne ,vere increasingl y appearing. The t\vo most important of these were Anno Hideakis tele vis io11 series Neon Ge11esis Eva11gelio11 (Shinseiki Ebuangerion, 1996-1997 ) and Miyazaki Hayao'.s film Princess lvlononohe (Mononokeh ime , 1997). In each case the \Vorks enor - 1nous popularity was equaled by intellectually challenging themes and ideas that sti1nulated a plethora of scholarly articles, not only about the respective works but also about anilne itself. It was clear that anilne was finally being recognized, by Japanese co1n1nentators at least, as a cultural produ ct genuinel y ,vorthy of intellectual study. One particularly interesting exa1nple of such a study is Minamidas attempt to define the ahnost forty years since ani1ne began in ter1ns of a series of transitions of narrative, perfor1native, and even intellectual styles. vVorking chronologically, he starts \Vith vvhat he calls the "dawn '' of anime , treating relatively simple works, such as Astro Bo)~ ,vhich privilege black and ,vhite characterizations and adventure stories and which concern "love, courage, and friend - ship. " He ends in the 90s , discussing what he considers to be the abnost overripe "1naturity" that characterizes such co1nplex philo- sophical works as Ghost i11 the Site/I and Neon Genesis Evangelio11, the profound existen tial concerns of ,vhich \Vould be re1narkable even in 1nost live -action films. 8

But \~1hat is perhaps 1nos t interesting about Mina1nidas analysis is his willingness to take anilne ser iou sly as a cultural for1n that deserves intelle ct ual explication. Th is is in sign ificant contrast to A1nerican writing on \Vestern anilnation, ,vhich sti ll tends to look at either the ter1ns of its visu alit y or its socio logical role. The reasons behind this difference are not hard to discover. Silnpl y put , the \\ Test does not ha ve the wealth of ani1nated tex ts to dra,v on th at Japanese scholars do.

ANIME ANO LOCAL/ GLOBAL IDENTITY * 19

AN IM E ANO JAPAN 'S CULTURAL HERITAGE

Why should ani1nation exercise such a po, verful hold on Japanese popular culture? The reasons can be found both in Japans distinctive cultural heritage and in certain key econonlic realities of art and co1n1nerce in the late twentieth century. The 1nost salient econo1nic reality in anilne'.s development is probably the increasing domination of the global film 1narket by Hollywood. While excellent Japanese filtns are still being produced, they are forced to co1npete for 1narket share agai11St a flood of A1nerican blockbus ters. As fihn writer Stuart Galbraith noted

in 1994, "Today it is co1n1non to find seven of the top ten box office attractions in Japan to be American 1novies, and the nu1nber of Japanese 1nade fihns has gone do,vn to a tiny portion." 9 There are exceptions to this situation and sotne of the 1nost ilnportant ones have been anilnated. For exa1nple, in 1988 Ahi ra beat out Retu.rn of the Jedi to beco1ne the nu1nber one fihn in Japan. More recently Miyazaki'.s epic Princess Mononoke beca1ne the ntunber one fihn in Japanese box-office history (un til it was bested by Titanic) . Produced for infinitel y less rnone y than the Holly\vood hits , the t\vo Japanese \vorks are marvels of creativity and ilnagination . It is clear that anilnation is perhaps the 1najor area of fihn in Japan that has strong co1n1nercial and artistic potential. It makes sense that fihn1nakers should put 1noney and effort into an art fonn that does not directly co1npete with the Hollywood behe1noth but that still appeals to a broad audien ce.

The cultural reasons behi11d ani1ne'.s popularity are more con1- plex . Undoubtedl y, one of the 1nost obvious is the relation between anime and the t\ventieth -century Japanese culture of manga . Although the v11ord "1nanga" is often translated mto English as "cotnics," manga

are not only distinctively different frotn American co1nics but they also exercise considerably wider influence in Japanese society than their A1nerican equivalents do in theirs. The reasons behind this are

t\vofold. First is their varie ty of subject 1natter. Even 1nore so than anilne , 1nanga cover a dazzling range of topics. These can mclude child -oriented fare, such as the sports club stories aiJned at boys or the highly inventive , beautifull y drawn shojo 1nanga produced for young girls , as well as a vast variety of 1nanga for adults ranging fro1n

20 * Ai'IIME FROM AK/RA TO PRINCESS M0/101/0KE

etiquette journals to the so-called Ladies Co1nics (Reideezu ko,niliku), ,vhich are actually explicitly erot ic co1nics targeted at ,vo1nen .

The second reason behind 1nanga:S influential role in conte1npo - rary socie ty spri ngs fro1n the first. Th e wide range of 1nanga ensures that virtually everyone reads the1n, from children to tniddle -aged salaried ,vorkers. Indeed, so1ne estinlates go so far as to suggest that 40

percent of 1naterial published in Japan is in 1nanga for1n. As Frederik Schodt , tlie dean of ,vri ters on 1nanga in tlie West, puts it, "Japan is the first nation on earth where co1nics ha ve beco1ne a full fledged mediu1n of expression." 10

It is unportant to understand tl1e connections between ani:tne and the rich and fascinating \Vorld of 1nanga. The 1nost obvious one is that of visual style. Although it tnight be an oversi1nplification to say that "anune could be considered . .. a kind of ani.tnated co1nic strip," 11

it is certainly tr ue that there are 1nany pictorial silnilarities between the t\vo media. Further1nore , as ani1nation scholar Luca Raffae.lli suggests, the distincti ve cuts, vvhich rely on the viewers imagination to move the

anitnated story along, undoubtedly come frotn the unique manga for1n of visu al narration that is very different fro1n tl1e 1nore dialogue - intensive Western co1nics and graphic novels.

The other crucial link between tlie t,vo media is the fact tliat

1nany, if not most , ani1ne are based on s tories that appeared first in 1nanga.12 These anune versions are often quite different fro1n the original, not only because of the different 1nedia involved but also because the y are frequently drrected by peopl e not related to the

original 1nanga, so1neti1nes to the indignation of the 1nanga fans. (Oshii Mamoru , for example , tells th e story of ho'" ' his fihn Beautiful Drea1ne1; based on the itn1nensely popular co1nic and televisio n series Urusei Yatsura by Tak ahashi Ru1niko, earned h i1n the anger of fans to such an extent tliat some included razor blades in their letters to hitn .13) How ever, even when an anilne is directed by a manga:S own

writer, the format , ti1ne li1nits, and design strictures of fihn inevitably lead to significant changes bet,veen the texts, as is obvious if '"' e look at such works as Oto1no Katsuhiro:S Ahira or Miyazaki Hayao:S Nausicaa of the Valley of the \.Vind.s. Th e print versions of each '"' ork allo,ved space for numerous other characters and for a far more co1nplex s tor y line, ,vhile both fihns used pacing, 1nusic, and ex traor- dinary visuals to permit tlie vie,ver a truly viscera l experience .

ANIME ANO LOCAL/ GLOBAL IDENTITY * 21

The above exa1nples suggest so1ne of the major differences between ani1ne and 1nanga, but it is i1nportant to note that both 1nedia share a com1non heritage in a culture that 1nost scholars agree privileges the visual far 1nore than does that of the Wes t. fv1ost

commentators on 1nanga suggest that the origins of the fonn go back at least to the Edo period (1600-1868 ), and so1ne see its origins even

earlier, in the Zen cartoons of the 1nedieval period and the cotnic animal scroll s of the tenth centur y. Certainl y Edo period work s have images that appear to ha ve direct links to both 1nanga and anilne, particularly with the hiby oslii, illustrated books with an often humor - ous and/or erotic content , and the ,voodblo ck pri11ts known as uhiy o-

e, \Vhich featured not onl y actors and courtesans of the de1ni1nonde but , as tiine \Vent on , increasingl y grotesque and ilnaginative s ubjects such as demons, ghosts, and extremely creative pornography. 14

Although it ,vould be iinpossible to say for certain ho,v much

toda ys aniinators are consciousl y influenced by the visual trove of their traditional culture , it see1ns safe to say that their cultures tradition of pictocentrism is defil1itely an influence behind the ubiqui - tousness of ani1ne and 1nanga. Certainl y so1ne iinages fro1n earlier periods would not see1n out of place in conte1nporary aniine or 1nanga. Anyone ,vho has see n Hokusai s astonishing 1824 print , The Drea,n of the Fishennans Wife, \vhich depicts a naked ,vo1nan lying back \Vith t\vo octopuses suck ing her genital area and her 1nouth ,.vhile their

tendrils coil around her bod y, canno t h elp but 1nake a connection bet\Veen that and the notorious "tentacle sex " scenes occurrirlg in

so1ne of anilne s 1nore sadistic pornograph y. Grotesque ilnages of this sort were parti cularl y co1mnon in works

fro1n the so-call ed Bakumatsu ( end of th e shogunate ) and Meiji period s

( 1868 -1912), transitional epochs when Japan ,vas opened to a tidal ,vave of Western influence at the sa1ne time as the culture struggled to

preserve its traditions. 15 As art historian tv1elinda Takeuchi docu1nents ,

[t]he depiction of sup er natur al th en1es reached an ap ogee during

the nin eteenth cent ury , an age \vhen artis ts vied ,¥ith eac h other to

sa tisfy th e pub lic's quick ened ap pe tit e for itnages of the bizar re and

the n1acab re. In respo ns e to the challenge , illu stra tors tur ned back

int o th eir cultur al past , out war ds to\var ds the ar t of oth er lan ds,

and itn var ds to th e realtn of th e in1agina tion. 16

22 * Ai'IIME FROM AK/ RA TO PRINCESS M0/101/0K E

In many ,vays this description 1night ,vell be an apt one for today s anilnators and manga artists ,vho , even if th ey do not ne cessarily v,iork il1 the 1nodes of the bizarre and the 1nacabre, certainl y use an enonnou s range of cultural references as they explore the reahns of th eir o,vn creative ilnagma t ions .

AN IME AND GLOBA L CULTURAL I DENTITY

Perhaps the final reason behmd ani1nes hold on Japanese culture has to do ,vith its participation in global cultur e. By the late 1990s it was clear tha t ariilne both influenced and \Vas influenced by a plethora of Western cultural products . As fihn scholar Susan Pomton ,vrit es of Japanese anilne videos:

It is i1npossible to ign ore th e co nst ant cro ss-poll in atio n and

p op ular cult ural borr o vling that con1plica te a nd enrich anitne

tex ts. The creator s for the 1nost par t ar e young Jap anese artis ts in

their t,ven ties an d thir ties ,vho ha ve been exposed sinc e birth to

VVestern innue n ces. Despite their J ap an ese overlay, 1nany of th ese

videos pa y generous and excessi vely sctup ulo u s hon1age to sources

as dive rse as A111eric an television cop sho,vs o f the seven ties,

Europea n Glam Rock fashion s of the eighties and Fre nch New

Wave cinetna fro111 th e sixti es.17

Pointon 's statem ent concerning the "constant cross -pollination " occurring betv.reen aniln e and Westen1 popular cultural text s is an ilnportant one. For 1nostJapanese consu1ners of anilne , their culture is no longer a purel y Japanese on e ( and inde ed, it probably hasn 't been for over a centu ry and a hal f) . At least in ter1ns of en tertaimnent, they are as equall y int erested iI1 and influenced by Western cultural influen ces as they are by specificall y Japan ese ones. A silnilar proces s is happening in the 'vVest as 1nany youths open up to a 1nore il1ternational entertain1nent culture. This relates to a further point Pomton 1nakes, concerning the need to approach conte1nporary 1nedia cultures as '"zones ' and 'intersections ' where the elements of different cultures collide and inutate. '' 18 Despite its mdisputably Japane se origms, ani1ne increasingl y exists at a nexus pomt in global culture;

ANIME ANO LOCAL/ GLOBAL IDENTITY * 23

th.is position allo'vvs it to inhabit an a1norphous ne\v 1nedia territory that crosses and even intermingles national boundaries. 19 And th.is is clearl y one of its attractions.

Film scholar Mitsuhiro YoshiJnoto has co1nmented that:

[O]n e of the high ly co ntes ted iss ues atn ong those vvho stud y the

formatio n of glo bal in1age cultur e concerns the co nn ectio n

bet'vveen glo bal circulati on of i1nage s and regio nal bound aries ...

Th e relevan t ques tion is \vhere the itnage is to be situat ed in this

ne'vv glob al dynanli c. Are glob ally circulat ed i1nages si1nply sub-

sun1ed unde r the bifurc ating tende ncy of si1nultan eou s globaliza -

tion and against globalis1n and localisrn, o r do they rein force

in stead the identi ties o f nat ion -sta tes as a co unt er force against

glo balisn1 and loca lis1n?20

The answer to this question in ter1ns of aniJne is a co1nplex but thought-provoking one. First , the appropriate ansv.1 er to the question of whether aniJne is being "subsumed " into global culture seetns to be "not yet ," even though aniJne '.s influence is iJ1creasing in A1nerican popular culture. For example, 1nany ani1ne fans have seen ,vhat the y believe to be heav y "borrov.1ing" in Disne y'.s 1994 Lion King fro1n the Tezuka Osa1nu classic Ki,nba th e White Lion. 21 More recentl y, John Lasseter, the director of the iJn1nensely popular Toy Story ani1nated fihns , has ackno'vvledged the influence and inspiration of the great anitne director 1vliyazaki Hayao.22 .'\s has already been discussed , however, part of aniJne'.s appeal is its "differentnes s ,'' and this s ee1ns

likel y to re1nain the case for a long titne to co1ne, given how Japanese societ y re1nairls in certain respects quite dissimilar fro1n that of the West.

The ans,ver to the s econd part of Yoshimoto'.s question, concern -

ing whether "globall y circulated ilnages " actuall y rei11force national identity, is an even 1nore compl ex one. In some ways the content of anitne - its particular themes , issues , and icons - is iJ1evitably cultur -

ally specific. For exa1nple, 1nany ani1ne co1nedies are set at school, since education is one of the major pivots around 'vvhich Japanese societ y revolves. (Man y of these cotnedies are quite subversively

inclined to'vvard the educational s ystetn , although in a lighthearted \vay. As wi th an y art for1n, anitne does not simpl y reflect s ociet y, it

24 * Ai'IIME FROM AK/RA TO PRINCESS M 0 /101/0KE

proble1natizes aspects of the do1ninant social culture.) Furthermore, 1nany ani1ne use Japanese historical settings as 1naterial for a variety of dra1nas, cotnedies , and even fantasies .

But one of animes most popular genres, science fiction, is the one that is far less likely to be culturally specific. Although 1nany science fiction ani1ne contain significant ele1nents related to conte111- porary Japanese issues , they are usually played out across "stateless " fantasyscapes of future cities or far-a,vay galaxies. For example the 1970s Space Battleship Ya,nato series silnultaneously celebrated such Japanese cultural nor1ns as the notion of collective sacrifice at the sa1ne ti1ne as it e1nphasized 1nore transnational values such as universal peace and love . Moreover, as almost every non-Japanese vie\ver soon notes, the characters in ani1ne often do not look particularly Japanese, instead they participate in what might be called a nonculturally specific anilne style . Rather than necessaril y remforcing Japanese cultural identit y, it 1night be at least as appropriate to say that anilne narratives , even when they include strong culturally specific situa - tions, proble1natize the nature of Japanese identity.

In fact, a nu1nber of Japanese com1nentators have chosen to describe anilne with the word "1nukokusehi, " 1neaning "stateless " or essentially without a national identity. Anime is indeed "exotic' ' to the

West in that it is made in Japan, but the world of anime itself occupies

its o\vn space that is not necessaril y comcident \Vith that of Japan. Unlike the inherently 1nore representational space of conventional live-action fihn, vvhich generally has to convey already-existillg objects

\Vithin a preexisting context , anilnated space has the potential to be context free, drawn wholly out of the anilnators or artists 1nind. It is thus a particularly apt candidate for participation in a transnational,

stateless culture.. In a revealing discussion bel\veen the critic Ueno Toshiya and

the anilnators Oshii Ma1noru and Ito Kazunori, the 1nukokusel1i aspect of anime. co1nes up frequently as an expression of what they perceive as Japans very proble1natic cultural identity at the start of the t,venty- first century . Uenos position explams anilne as a product of ,vhat he deelllS to be Techno -Orientalis1n, an Othering of Japan by the West that sees it only as a technological dystopia or occasionally as a utopia. Thus, anilne 1nay be seen as a dark 1nirror that reflects Japan to the West and to so1ne extent vice -versa , in that anime also gives Japanese

ANIME ANO LOCAL/ GLOBAL IDENTITY * 25

viewers a distinctive vision of non -Japanese worlds. The three com - 1nentator s are fascinated both by the 1nedium s appeal at ho1ne and by its increasing popularity abroad. 23 Groping for an explanation of this popularit y, the y all see1n to agree with a state1nent 1nade by Oshii that ani1ne is "ano ther world." 24 This "other ,vorld," according to Oshii , is created by animators ,vho the1nselves are "st ateless. " He supports this

point by suggesting that anilnators do not possess a real "furusato" or ho1neto,vn. The use of the e1notionally and ideologically charged word

furusato, with its lyric evocation of a quintessentially Japanese origi- nar y village and landscape , stands in strong contrast to the neutral and abstract rnuliohusehi, suggestil1g how far ani1ne diverges from tradi - tional Japanese cultural products. For yea rs the furusa.to has been a vital building block in Japans cultural construction of itself . By reje cting the notion of a Ju rusato for the creators of ani1ne, Oshii see1ns to be ilnplicitl y rejecting another precious cultural construct , the notion of Japans uniqueness.

Another aspect of anilnes 1nuholn1sehi qualit y in many eyes is the extre1nely "non-Japanese" depiction of hu1nan characters in virtually all ani1ne texts. This is an issue among A1nerican audiences ne,v to anime as ,vell, \\rho consistently \\1ant to kno,v ,vhy the characters look "\~estem. '' In fact, vvhile 1nany anime texts do

include figures \\1 ith blond hair , it is perhaps more correct to say that rather than a "vVestern " style of figuration, the characters are drawn

in "vhat 1night be called "ani1ne" style. This style ranges fro1n the broadly grotesque drawings of characters \\1itl1 shrun ken torsos and

oversize heads of some anime comedy to the elongated figures \Vith huge eyes and endless flowing hair that populate many ro1nance and adventure stories. And while 1nany of them are blond or light

brunette , 1nany have 1nore bizarre hair colorings such as pink, green , or blue.

To Oshii and Ueno this deliberate de-Japanizing of the characters is in keeping with their view of anilne as offering an alten1ative world to its Japanese audience. In fact Oshii suggests that this is part of a deliberate effort by 1nodem Japanese to "evade the fact that they are Japanese, "25 quoting a provocative state1nent by the director Miyazaki Hayao to the effect that "the Japanese hate their own faces."26 Oshii sees the Japanese animators and their audiences looking "on the other side of the 1nirror,'' particularl y at A1nerica, and drawing fron1 that world to

26 * Ai'IIME FROM AK/RA TO PRINCESS M 0 /101/0KE

create, "separate from the reality of present day Japan , some other ,vorld" (isekai). 27

Oshii'.s state1nents are not altogether universal, as he hi1nself ackno,vledges when he ad,nits that Matsu1noto Leiji's Space Battleship Ya.,nato series has very "Japanese -esque" aspects to it. In fact, virtually all anime contain some Japanese references, fro1n psychology to aesthetics to history. This referencing may be superficial but 1nany ,vorks, particularly fro1n Miyazaki'.s Studio Ghibli, such as My Neigh - bor Totaro, Ponpoho, and Grave of tlie Fireflies, are deeply e1nbedded in Japanese history and culture . Indeed, Oshii'.s Ghost i11 the Shell, while referencing a dystopian global future and containing 1nany allusions to the Bible, also strongly evokes both Shinto and Buddhist archetypes in its cli1nactic scene.

Oshii'.s central point , that anime is a ,vorld unto itself, ho,vever,

is essentially correct. The ani1nated space , with its potential for free form creation, is in 1nany ,vays a realm that exists in counterpoint to

the world of 1nodern Japan. Indeed, perhaps the 1nost funda1nental reason for animations popularity in Japan is not just econo1nic constraints and aesthetic traditions but the very flexibility, creativity, and freedom in the medium itself , a site of resistance to the confor1nity of Japanese society. If this hypothesis is true , it might also explain anilne'.s increasing popularity outside of Japan, for it seems reasonable to argue that this is an appeal that goes beyond the constraints of any specific culture . The very quality of "statelessness" has increasing attraction in our global culture. It is not just Japanese audiences who search for 1nore varied forms of electronic entertain1nent , ,vho long for an "any,vhere ," or \\7ho are tired of their 0\\ ' 11 faces.

In fact, the popularity of ani1ne, both in Japan and abroad , attests

to a ne,v kind of hybridity on the part of a global younger generation that is increasingly electronically conversant witl1 the vast variety of worldwide popular culture. Contrary to Ho,ni Bhabha'.s vision of

"hybridity" in terms of a colonial (or postcolonial) exercise of power and discrimination , this vision of hybridity is an equalizing one. Safe ,vithin the stateless fantasy space that anime provides , both Japanese and non -Japanese can participate in trying on a variety of what might be called "postethnic" identities. Although it is true that this fantasy space is the product of the Japanese entertain,nent industry and ,nay therefore have economic or even politically proble1natic aspects to it, 28

ANIME ANO LOCAL/ GLOBAL IDENTITY * 2 7

the anilne 1nediu1n- precisely because it so often highlights characters and settmgs that are neither clearly vVestern nor clearly Japanese - offers a space for identity exploration iI1 ,vhich the audience can revel

in a safe form of Otherness un1natched by any other conte1nporary 1nedju1n.

But at the sa1ne tilne as 1nany viewers long for some Other world,

1nany also fear its hon1ogenization mto a fantasy space of cookie -cutter the1nes and the1ne parks. Perhaps for this reason a basic hu1nan fascination ,vith "difference" see1ns, if anythmg, to have mcreased

,vith the entrance mto a ne\\' and even 1nore co1nple.x millennium .29

ANIME ANO JA PANESE CULTURAL IDENTITY

In order to understand this ne,v h ybridized space 1nore fully, it is first

necessar y to understand amine iI1 relation to the context of Japanese cultural identity. For, while arwne has been enor1nously influenced by global culture, it re1nains an origmal product of the concatenation of circu1nstance.s th at have created the culture of 1noden1Japan. This is a society that even toda y retnairls unique, not only for its distinctive culture but for the fact that it is sti ll the only non -Western society to ha ve successfully mdustrialized virtually every aspect of its econo1ny. Despite the 1nany successes of its Asian neighbors, Japan stands alone as a country that can accuratel y be descri bed as 1nodern- or indeed post1nodem - fro1n a \~es tern pomt of vie,v.

It is also a society that, in ,vays both positive and negative , is

ahnost larger than life. The positive is deeply ilnpressive. Not only ,vas Japan the first non -vVestern nation to 1nodemiz e successfull) ~ but also it succeeded so ,vell that, durmg the 1960s and 70s, it beca1ne a 1nodel for other developmg nations. Today it is the ,vorlds second-largest

econo1ny. Despite so1ne lacks iI1 the social and environ1nental mfra - structure, the standard of living is high , the citizenry is exceptionally well educated, and 90 percent of Japanese consider thetnselves "mid - dle class." Its arts, frotn the traditional to the contetnporary, are reno\\ >ned around the ,vorld. It is the only Asian country to have t\vo Nobel Prize ,vinners iil literature. Durmg the 1980s it seemed that

Japanese society, ,vith its superb bureaucracy, efficiently functioning govem1nent, and high technological expertise existed as a utopia11

28 * Ai'IIME FROM AK/RA TO PRINCESS M0/101/0KE

alternative to vvhat 1nany perceived as the corrupt and decadent societies of the v..; est.30

The negative is nighunarish, however. The past 11 years have seen the longest collapse of any stock 1narket in the world since the Great Depres sio n . Japan is still the only country on earth to have suffered ato1nic bombing, an experience that continues to affect the society today and that has created for 1nany a collective sense of victi1nhood. Man y of its citizens 1naintain an ambivalent attitude

tovvard A1nerica, vvhose occupying troops in 1945 were the first in Japan's entire history to breach the countrys defenses , an event that cast a long shadow over Japan's efforts at constructing i ts O\\' n postwar identit y. At the sa1ne time Japan's relat ions vvith its neighboring Asian countries remain tense because of an un\ villingness on the part of the Japanese govem1nent to ackno\\ rledge past \Var cri1nes during its war of aggression in Asia in the 1930s and '40s. In 1995 1nany Japanese eyes \Vere suddenly opened to the dangers of the 1nodem age when the heart of Japan's capital endured a nerve gas attack by an apocalyptic cult , A um Shinrik yo, a cult tha t still attracts adherents tod~ ,.

The Au1n attack is seen by both Japanese and Western observers as a \Vatershed in postwar Japanese history , encapsulating the dark an d complex currents that were roiling beneath \Vhat 1nany Japan ese \Vanted to believe was still a utopian society. In addressing th e reasons b ehind the attractiveness of Au1n and other cults for conte1nporar y Japan ese, Ian Reader gives a useful list of th e difficult issues confront - ing Japanese society:

The stresses and pressures of the educa tion systetn, v,hich ... trains

people to do litt le ot her than pass exmninations, the increasingly

cotnpetitive na ture of a socie ty v,hich appears only to en1phasize

tn aterial values and appears spiritually sterile, the erosio n, in the

cities, of a sense of con1n1uni ty an d of \videly sha red values, the

alienation and isola tion of individuals \vi thin the city enviro n1nent,

the political vveakness and lack of leadersh ip v\iithin society an d the

perceived weakness of the older religions whi ch have failed to

provide tnora l guidance are all contributo ry factors.31

This co1nplex cultural background, so1neti1nes heady , so 1neti1nes trau1natic, is brilliantly expressed in ani1ne's range of modes , the1nes,

ANIME ANO LOCAL/ GLOBAL IDENTITY * 29

and ilnagery. Given the dark events that ha ve penneated Japans t,ventieth century, it :is hardly surprising that many of anilnes most i1nportant texts, fro1n Miyazaki Hayaos 1985 Nausi caa to Anno Hideakis 1997 Eva11gelio11, are not si1nply dystopian but deeply apocal yptic , suggesting a society with profound anxieties about the future. The end of the world :is an i1nportant ele1nent in postwar Japanese visual and print culture. Post'A1 ar ,vriters such as Oe Kenzaburo, Abe Kobo, fv1uraka1ni Ryu, and Murakami Haruki, have presented literary visions of apocalypse, from nuclear war to a purel y psychological endtime. The apocalyptic is also a frequent feature in live-action fihn , fro1n obvious sci-fi fantasies such as the long rum1ing Godzilla series to the 1nore co1nplex explorations in the filins of K urosa,va Akira, such as the relativel y realistic Record of a Living Being (Ihi,110110 110 hi roh11, 1955) and his su1nptuous late fantas y Drea,ns (Yiune, 1990). Ani1nes visual effects, however, see1n to lend the1n the1nselves particularly ,vell to the apocal ypt ic, s ince all kinds of destruction can be easily represented in anilnation without reliance on costly spec ial effects.

While so1ne of these apocal yptic ani1ne, such as the fihns of l\lliyazaki, contain visions of hope and rebirth, 1nost of anilnes apocal yptic fare is 1nuch darker, centermg on the destruction of society and the planet itself. Clearly, the most obvious reason behind the high i11cidence of apocalyptic scenarios is the ato1nic bomb and its horrific aftereffects. There are other factors , ho,vever , either culturally specific or silnply specific to the t,ventieth century, that contribute to the

pervasive darkness of 1nany anilne. These include the increasingl y alienating aspects of an urbanized mdustrialized society, the gap between generations , and the gro,ving tensions between the genders,

as 1nen lose do1ninance and wo1nen play a wider role outside of the fa1nily. More specific to Japan, l1owever, is the decade of econo1nic proble1ns that began with the collapse of the s tock market in 1989. The perceived failure (or at least madequacy) of Japans postwar economic success has led to an mcreasing disenchantn1ent ,vith the values and

goals that 1nuch of postwar Japan has been built on. Although this disenchanttnent is very obvious in you th culture, which celebrates the ephemeral fashion of the shojo (young girl ) and the culture of ha}vaii (cuteness) , disillusionment has permeated throughout society, leading to record -breaking suicide rates across the generations. The 111any

30 * Ai'IIME FROM AK/RA TO PRINCESS M0/101/0KE

apocalyptic ani1ne seem to be expressions of a pervasive social pessimis1n. Thus , 1nore recent apocalyptic a1ti1ne, suc h as Evangelion, link vio lent apocalyptic tropes with intense psychoanalytical probing into dysfunctional psyches to produce a 1ne1norable vision of ,vhat

1night be called "pathological apocal ypse." But there is another aspect of Japanese society, both traditional and

1nodern , that anilne captures: vvhat I have called the notion of "festival"

or its Japanese equivalent , "111atsuri." The ,natsuri is an integral ele1nent of Japanese religious and social life, a celebration of "the reahn of play and ritual. "32 Silnilar to carnival m the \~est , the lilninal space of the festival allows for a kind of controlled chaos , il1 which "people behav .e in extraordinary ,vays, once freed from ordinary tilne and everyday order ,"33 or, as anthropologist John Nelson says of the shuhusai, or night festival, there are "aspects of carnival, bacchanalia, and even protest. "34

While so1ne observers e1nphasize tha t the Japanese festival is less out of control than the Western carniva l and is more concerned ,vith a

(te1nporary ) leveling of the social order than its co1nplete reversal , the two fonn s seem very s ilnilar in celebrating a spirit of anarchy that offers a brief playful respite fro1n confomtity. In Japan this often involves both sexual and violent the1nes, usually expressed in the fonn of a perfor - 1nance for the gods of Shinto , Japans nati ve religion. A.s critic Ian Buru1na describes 1natsuri, "Pain and ecstasy, sex and death , worship and fear, purity and pollution are all vital ele1nents in the Japanese festival." Buru1na goes on to suggest that:

... ii is this thea ter of the gods (111atsuri) that fonns the basis of the

popular cult ure in Japan . This pri1nitive, of ten obscen e, frequently

violent side of Jap anese cult ure has pers ist ed to this da y, desp ile

the frequen t disap proval of its raunchier 1nanifest ations and the

sup eritnp ositio n of tnore aust ere and alien fonns .35

Although ani1ne can have its "austere" side as ,veil , it is certainly true

that 1nany works , il1 their ,vild humor, grotesque exaggeration, play - fulness, sexua l content , and v iolent the1nes po,verfully express this

spirit of the festival. As v.,ith apocalypse, the festival 1node is frequ entl y found in live -

action Japanese films, rangmg fro1n the chaotic history of I1nainura Shoheis Eijanaiha to anarchic co1nedies such as Ita1niJuzos Tarnpopo

ANIME ANO LOCAL/ GLOBAL IDENTITY * 31

or Morita Yoshi1nitsus Fa,nily Ga,ne, all of v,rhich b rillia ntl y play off of the s tereotypical notions of the Japan ese as a repressed and quiet people and offer a vision of social and fa1nilial disorder . But, as is also true of the apocalyptic 1node, ani1nation can add its own s pecial touch to the trope of festival. As ,vith the festival space itself , the space of anhnation is one that allo,vs for expernnentation, fluidit y, transfor1na -

tion, and ultnnately an entry h1to a world 1nore radically Other than anything in conve ntional live-action cille1na. The nn1nensely popular television series Ra111na 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura. of Takahashi Runtiko are comic examples of the festival 1node, while fantasy series such as Saber Marionettes bring festive anarchy into historical adventure. lntriguillgl y, the festival 1node is often linked to fe1nale characters, such as the alien Lum in Urusei Yatsura and the giggling but po\ verful superheroes of Sailor Iv!oon. Because Japanese ,vo1nen are still rela- tively dise111po,vered, the overturning of the stereotype of fe1ninine

submissiveness 1nay create a particularly festive resonance. In the ani1nated space , fe1nale characters see1n to glory ill 1nanifestations of power still deni ed the1n ill the real world.

Anhne is not ahvays frenzied and intense, ho,vever. The 1nediu1n also exhibits the lyric and the elegiac 1node. The ,vord "elegiac" literally refers to a poe1n about death ,vritten ill a style of lamentation

and may be taken i11 a wider sense to refer to a 1nood of 1noumfulness

and melancholy , perhaps 1nixed vvith nostalgia. This wistful mood is an nnportant element illjapanese cultural expression. As anthropologist Maril yn Ivy has shov.' n ,36 conte1nporary Japanese society sho,vs a strong consciousness of the "vanishing" of 1nany links ,vith tradition,

and it is consequently not surprisill g that so1ne of the greatest vvorks of postwar culture , such as many of the ,vorks by the no velist

Ka\vabata Yasunari or the brilliant fihns of Ozu Yasujiro, 1nay be see n as elegiac . But the elegiac also has links ,vith the long lyric tradition in

premodernjapanese culture, ill ,vhich poetry and ro1nance celebrated the beauty of transience and the bitters, veet pleasure that can be

derived fro1n the passillg of love , youth, and beaut y. In the past this 1node has be en frequently linked to the natural v,rorld , the seasons and

change of which best epitomize the feelillg of transience. Thus, the classical Japan ese expression of ephemerality , " 1110110 110 a}vare" (the sadness of things ) , is often connected ,vith natural objects Like the cherry blossoms or ,vater i1nagery.

32 * Ai'IIME FROM AK/RA TO PRINCESS M0/101/0KE

For exa1nple, perhaps the single 1nost lyric al sequence in anilne occurs in a scene in Oshii Mamoru'.s 1nasterpiece Ghost in the Shell (Koka ku kidotai , 1995) in which water i1nagery is an i1nportant element. In a slo,v-paced sequence the vie,ver sees the female protag -

onist, the cyborg Kusanagi Motoko, in a series of long shots as she travels alone do wn a city canal in a boat , through drenching rain. By this point the audience has heard Kusanag i give a surprisingly articulate 1nonologue concerning her fears and uncertainties as to whether she actually po ssesses a human soul. This \Vordless series of images is even 1nore memorable, ho, vever, as it captures her vulnera -

bilit y, alienation, and fragility through a brilliant co1nbination of beautiful mu sic and images of crowds , ,vater, and rain that are

re1niniscent of ,voodblock prints by Hiroshige . The elegiac usually includes a sense of mourning, and this vision of the cyborg pondering her problematic hu1nanity alone a1nong a bustling group of hu1nans suggests a profound sense of loss in relation to the 1nodern \vorld.

As is obvious fro1n the above exa1nple, the elegiac 1node exists in a variety of genres ,vithin anime. It can be found linked to the apocal yptic in Oshti'.s Urusei Ya.tsura Beautiful Drea,ne,; but is more likel y to be found in such anime ro1nances as Kondo Yoshifu1ni'.s Whisper of the Heart and Takahata Isao'.s 011/y Yesterday, ,vhich are essentially cele brations of yout h, innocence , and nostalgia for a disappearing past. A n1ore literal versio n of the elegiac tnode is Takahata'.s Grave of the Fireflies, ,vhic h revolves around two siblings ' experiences during \¥orld War II , focusing in particular on the

illn ess and death of the littl e sis ter. While the elegiac mode is perhap s less central to ani1ne than the 1nodes of eit h er apocal ypse or festival, it st ill has considerable influence, adding poignancy to even the most co1nic or adventurous ani1ne texts . Even the ominously existential

111ec/1a. blockbuster Eva11gelio11 contains a lyrica lly pastoral scene in Episod e 3 in which its 1nain protagonist, Shinji , bri efly escapes to the countryside.

In 1ny vie,v the three 1nodes of apocalypse, festival , and elegy are the 1nost significant ones in anilne, but it is ilnportant to re1nember that ani1ne is an i1n1nensely ,vide -ranging popular cultural form. Anime 1nines all aspects of society and cultur e for its material, not only th e 1nost conte1nporary and transient of trends but also the deeper l evels of history , religion , philosophy, and politic s. At its best , anilne

ANIME ANO LOCAL/ GLOBAL IDENTITY * 33

can be highly creative, intellectually challenging, and aestheticall y 1ne1norable. But even at its 1nost pedestrian, the incredible variety of anitnated works can offer rich insights into a co1nplicated and so1ne- ti1nes agonized culture.

In other words , Japanese anitnation is far 1nore than sitnply an escape valve for the masses. It is also far 1nore than sitnply a "reflection " of conte1nporary Japanese social currents or "co1npensa - tion " for Japanese social anxieties. Indeed , ,vhile certain anitne, 1nost notabl y romantic co1nedies, do seetn to provide a co1npensatory function, others offer explicit alternatives to social nor1ns. Popular youth -oriented ani1ne series such as the 1980s Cutey Houey and the 1990s Sailor Moon show nnages of po\verful young wo1nen (albeit highl y sexualized in the case of Cutey Honey) that anticipate genuine, although s1nall, changes in ,vo1nens etnpowerment over the last rnro decades and certainly suggest alternat ives to the notion of Japanese ,vo1nen as passive and domesticated. At a 1nore co1nplex level, fihns such as Pri11cess Mo11onoke actually ,vork to resist and even confront certain public stereot ypes, inspiring huge nutnber s of 1noviegoers to look at some of the 1nyths of tnodern Japan in a 1nore cri tical ,vay .

This subversive aspect of ani1ne is a prominent eletnent in comparison with 1nuch of Atnerican popular culture. Critics such as Douglas Kellner have suggested that in America, "1nass culture . .. articulates social conflicts, conte1nporary fears, and utopian hopes and atte1npts at ideological containment and reassurance." 3 7 V·lhile it is certainly true that anitne does son1e of this, much of the best of annne resists any atte1npt at "ideological contairunent" and, given the dark tone of tnany of its 1nost me1norable texts, could well be considered a cinetna of " de -assurance" rather than one of "reassurance," ,vhich filin scholar Robin Wood asserts is the do1ninant tone of 1nost Holly,voo d fihns. 38 Even in its less overtly apocalyptic ,node , anitne tends to,vard open ended, often tragic story lines, which someti1nes include the death of the hero (es), and they are often told ,vithin a narrative fra1ne,vork that is deeply critical of conte1nporary techno logy and society . While it is also true that anitne contains more upbeat fare with at least tnarginal "happy endings ," even these are often tnore cotnplex and less obviously one -note than the equivalent A1nerican sitcom.

Anitnes irrunense range enforces that there is no single annne style and that the "difference" it prese11ts is far 1nore than a si1nple

34 * Ai'IIME FROM AK/RA TO PRINCESS M0/101/0KE

division between Japan and not -Japan . Anitne thu s both celebrates difference and transcends it, creating a ne,.v kind of artistic space that re1nains infor1ned and enriched by 1nodes of representation that are both culturally traditional and representative of the universal proper - ties of the human itnagination.