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Gender roles in Japanese culture
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When people think of anime, they think of three possible ways to describe it: a hyper-sexualized mess, an immature tale of monsters, or, if one is watching Sailor Moon, both. No matter the option, many think of anime as something that should stay in Japan. There is an exception though, the works of Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki turns anime into a masterpiece with his own unique style of art that incorporates painstaking details and themes that are near and dear to his heart. Before becoming, as Stan Lee calls him, “The Sensei of Animation”, Lee notes that Miyazaki “trained as an economist but retained his love of animation.” He graduated from Gakushuin University in 1963, but instead of following his degree, he joined Toei Animation based in Tokyo …show more content…
Like Susan Bye states in “Two Worlds Colliding”, Miyazaki’s film Ponyo has “a distinctive and elaborate hand-drawn animation style (more than 170,000 individual hand-painted frames)” (104). Miyazaki chose to get rid of the computer animation department at Ghibli that year that began with Princess Mononoke, so each frame is hand-painted. Miyazaki was always very involved with animation. He took the time to draw and paint the waves himself, wanting them to be perfect. In every single one of his films, Miyazaki uses watercolor to color his scenes. In Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation, Susan J. Napier discussed the art of Princess Mononoke. She said, “In contrast to the pastel palette of many of the director’s films, Princess Mononoke’s forest is designed in deep greens and browns, with the occasional radiant shafts of light penetrating the depths of the forest pools” (243). While Ponyo is very bright with it vibrant hues of green, red, blue, and yellow, Mononoke is very dark. Miyazaki uses color to bring out his feelings associated with the themes of the movies. Ponyo and Spirited Away are very bright, intense colors, used to exemplify the hopeful themes of celebrating the simple things in life and maturing, compared to the dark, muted shades of blues, greens, and browns shown in the scenery of Mononoke’s forest and the greys and blacks of its industrialized, weapon-producing city of …show more content…
Many of his films include the themes of feminism, the appreciation of nature, pacifism, and Miyazaki’s childhood preoccupation of flight. Miyazaki feministic ways of thinking are displayed in many of his films. Many of them have a female protagonist that, in a way defies, the stereotypical way girls are depicted in Japanese cinema. In Princess Mononoke, Napier notes that it goes against traditional Japanese conventions, saying “Tatara is not governed by a man but by a woman, Lady Eboshi, who has constructed Tatara as a utopian refuge for outcast women and people with incurable illnesses like leprosy” (235). Eboshi leads the village that has more women working than men. The women of Tatara make weapons, essentially a man’s job. Napier adds, “Eboshi is pitted not only against the forest creatures but also another female human, a young girl named San who is the ‘Mononokehime’ or ‘possessed princess’ of the title” (235). San in possessed by the forces of nature and constantly battles against Eboshi due to her hatred of humans and their actions against nature. The appreciation of nature is another of Miyazaki’s recurring themes. In Spirited Away, Miyazaki displays this theme when Chihiro, under the name of “Sen” that the bath house’s matriarch Yubaba gives when she begins work, removes a rusted bicycle and manmade junk from a Stink God only to reveal that it was actually a river spirit. Miyazaki
Japanamerica started out talking about the author’s friends and their daughter watching Studio Ghibli movie. This beginning somewhat made me happy. I felt happy because I always feel proud when something Japanese attracts attention. America had influenced Japan after WWII in many areas such as economy, politics, and so on. However, after so many years, Japan has been influencing United States in the context of popular culture. I would love to see for more Japanophilia occurring in the States as much as Japanese loves its culture of manga and animation.
Anime, or Japanese animation, is a style of animation most recognizable by characters with large eyes and beautifully detailed backgrounds. Once people watch anime, they will find besides spectacular animation, anime has complex characters and deep stories, many of which teach morals and values. Anime is very popular in Japan; it has also gained a following in America and is beginning to hit the mainstream.
This paper will explore what it is about anime that makes it so appealing to even a Western audience, creating an international fan base. Although manga can be traced to American origins, the comics that the Americans brought over have been intensely modified to create essentially a new form of media. Manga and anime have become a significant component of Japanese culture, and often times they integrate Japanese culture and society. Yet, regardless of its Japanese origin, anime is still viewed on the other side of the planet. The question then becomes what is it that makes it so appealing to a foreign audience? This paper will rely heavily on Susan Napier’s book, From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of the
In society today, we are conditioned to believe certain sets of ideals. We use these ideals to interact and get along with the other people we surround ourselves with. These ideals are often the societal norms that form common ground amongst individuals. However, living life based off these basic and unchanging beliefs is not beneficial to humanity, nor does it make life any easier to live. In fact, holding on to the most accepted beliefs holds back society as a whole. Judith Halberstam, in her essay “Animating Revolt and Revolting Animation” challenges these societal norms through the analysis of animated movies and, in doing so, carves a path for a new way of thinking.
Spirited away is an animated film from japan made in 2001 about a ten year old girl named Chihiro. The movie starts off with Chihiro and her parents driving to their new home. While driving they get lost and find themselves in a seemingly abandoned amusement park with an old bathhouse. Chirico and her family find fresh food out on one of the stalls and despite Chihiro's objections, her parents start eating the food. At this time Chihiro wanders around the park. It starts to get dark and spirits are coming out of the buildings. Chihrio runs back to the stall where her parents are to find that they were turned into pigs. After this, she meets a strange man named Haku, who then explains to her that the park is a resort for spirits and she must work there in order to free herself and her parents. This movie has many strong messages; one that stands out is its message and philosophy on environmentalism. Three major environmentalist points this film demonstrates are pollution, poor land
Ever heard of Spirited Away? Well if not it’s a shame since people of all ages enjoyed it. Spirited Away is about a ten year old girl who gets lost in the spirit world and has to change her parents back into humans again. But even though people loved it no one knew about the director, the production it went through, and how successful it really was, since it wasn’t made in the U.S.A.
Some people may ask what is anime, and how is it different from cartoons. Anime is a term specified for Japanese animation. How has Anime affected history, and how does it influence today's society? Anime covers more serious topics than american cartoons. Cartoons in America are considered a form of entertainment for children. Anime in japan are for people of all ages, anyone can watch anime. Most anime shows and movies are made for children, adolescents, young adults, but there are also anime that are made for the older generation of people. Anime shows are directed for any type of viewer.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke is a development of Japanese animation that can be seen as a romantic fable of two characters that were brought together through one cause; however, Miyazaki’s film can be seen as a Japanese cultural production. It is seen as a cultural production because it shows elements of Shinto through the Kami and the use of water for purification, as well as the female stereotype reversal that was quite dominant in the time of the Heian period. The characters in Princess Mononoke interact with the kami (gods or spirits) when they are in sacred sites or areas that assist in the contact. In Princess Mononoke, the mountain is the place where the characters make contact with the kami, which is their Shinto shrine because
Anime or animation started in the early 20th century by Japanese filmmakers who experimented with animation techniques. Hayao Miyazaki, a director, animator, screenwriter, and illustrator of such animated films is the creator of Spirited Away. Spirited Away is a film about Chihiro, a young girl who upon moving to a new town becomes lost in the spirit world after her father takes a wrong turn on their way to their new house. Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited away illustrates not only the struggles Chihiro has to overcome in order to save her parents who turn into pigs upon eating the food of the spirit world, but there are also many instants in which the role of the economy have caused an impact on Chihiro’s journey. In particular bourgeoisie, proletariat, and the informal economy are three concepts that are useful tools in analyzing spirited away.
In this chapter, it has shown a brief history of animation and how it started in the early days of animation. It also discussed about 2D in brief and 3D. Also the techniques applied in making of animation since early ages with the evolution of 2D to 3D animation.
There are many strong women characters present in Princess Mononoke which exhibit themes of freedom and spirit.
Animation is a visual technique that creates the illusion of motion, rather than recording motion through live action. The technique is used mainly for motion pictures. Animation can be created by illustrators, filmmakers, video makers, and computer specialists. Animation is most popular in creating cartoon movies. Advertisers also employ animation to develop commercials for television. In addition, producers of instructional films may use animation to help explain a difficult idea or one that could not be shown in live action. Animation can also be combined with live action in a movie. Many animators continue to make many drawings by hand. Since the mid-1980's, however, computer assistance combined with hand-drawn animation has become standard in many movie studios. These methods created such feature-length animated films as The Lion King (1994) and The Prince of Egypt (1998).
The success of anime began with the famous Japanese artist Osamu Tezuka, one of the founding fathers of Japanese anime and manga. In the 1960s, Tezuka became a famous manga artist and was given the credit of creating Japan's modern anime i...
"Best Animation Studios." - Top Ten List. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. . (7)
Anime (pronounced: "Ah-nee-may") is a type of animation usually from Japan. They have their own style and it can show that in strange and wonderful ways. Anime also has its own sense of comedy and has a unique way of thinking. It can get really deep and serious, or it can become silliest (like: "Lucky Star", "Kill Me Baby") and craziest (like: "Death Note","Gintama") thing you have ever seen. Most Anime shows are based on popular mangas (Japanese Comics), just putting a little more life into them. Anime often covers more serious topics than typical cartoons. In America, cartoons are considered a form of entertainment meant for children. In Japan, people of all ages (no, not newborn babies!) watch anime. Most shows and movies are centred for