On Anime and Japanese Films

Japan Living

Anime is all part of the kawaii culture that currently dominates Japan at the expense of anything more sophisticated and adult, and I'm not talking about porno-adult.

"Remember Be the change you want to see in your pocket."

--Kevin Burns

by Jason Taisha

On Anime and Japanese Films Continued

While masters of the art, like Miyazaki, continue to entertain and enthrall, most of the anime is fairly disposable and built on long-standing franchises such as One Piece, Doraemon, Pokemon, & Dragonball.

Yes it is refreshing that unlike the narrowly focused American comic book industry, which really only supports Super Hero themed projects, despite impressive books and films based on non-spandex themes, the Japanese manga and anime choices are varied and interestingly diverse. And it's also nice that cartoon doesn't automatically equal juvenile and childlike. But at the same time, many Japanese teenagers I talk to rarely read "novels" or any type of book without pictures/drawings, and this is also troublesome.

Japan's live-action films have failed to produce anything in recent years that have had the international success that recent Chinese films have had. Even though successful remakes of the one genre Japan seems to excel at, the horror film, introduce some Western viewers to Japanese films, they almost always come to the original after having seen the remake. And if Japan wanted to have its` films reach a wider audience, one simple solution would be to add English subtitles to more of the DVD releases. As an American living here who doesn't speak fluent Japanese, it's so frustrating to see ads and previews for upcoming Japanese films only to discover the eventual DVD doesn't have any subtitles, meaning I can't watch the film. Recent examples of actual popular films like Shinobi,Densha Otoko and Nana all have only Japanese subtitles on the DVD - not even Korean or Chinese subtitles and there are far more people who speak those two language than speak English in Japan.

So I rent what I can, and mostly I'm disappointed at how pedestrian, meandering and plotless most Japanese films are. I do it anyway as a supplement to my Japanese language study, and am occasionally surprised by a good Japanese film, but there doesn't seem to be much heart in it - like they know that they're not gonna sell many tickets at the Box Office and more Japanese rent Western films than Japanese ones. And don't even get me started on the lack of movie theaters in rural prefectures like Shimane, where Ilive. Offering none of the kick-back money that Pachinko parlors offer, you can drive for hours without seeing a movie theater but there is a Pachinko place on every corner.

The last frustrating thing for a movie-fan living here is the staggered release dates on Western films. Last year for instance, Star Wars Episode III opened in most of the known world in May, but didn't open in Japan until July 7th. Narnia, a recent worldwide hit that opened before Christmas in America, just opened in Japan on March 4th.

This summer sees some big films opening, including a new Superman film, a new X-Men film, the Da Vinci Code and a new Pixar film - hopefully I'll see them by theend of the summer if I'm lucky.

Anime is great and I'm glad there is so much of it for every taste, but I wish Japan could refocus on live-action films and bring back some of the heyday of the 50s or 80s.

What are anime and manga?

Speed Racer

by Karen Mystic

Although a very old anime, I doubt many of the younger generations have watched it. In a sense, this anime's lack of audience over the decades has made it new again and worthy of a review. I recieved the recent release of Speed Racer as a Christmas gift, and I learned a lot about its original production and its dubbing from both the DVD and those on my mailing list who are more familiar with the anime.

The original name for the anime was "Mach Go Go Go". Dan Cooper reminded me that the name is a pun since "Go" is the Japanese word for "Five" There are three "Go"s in the anime. Go the Mach Five, Mifune Go the aspiring race car driver (Speed Racer), and Go the need to hurry. It was created in 1967 roughly ten years before Mobile Suit Gundam by Tatsunoko Productions, which was founded by three brothers, Yoshida Tatsuo, Kenji,and Toyoharu. The special features say it was based upon their love for American culture, and this is certainly apparent throughout the series. The anime focuses on cars and an aspiring driver. America values cars more than Japan does, so a Japanese citizen who loves cars would look up to America. Also, Speed Racer highly resembles Elvis Presley, a prominent American cultural icon at the time. When I started watching it, I kept thinking of Elvis in a Jackie Chan movie.Although it was based upon American culture, it still contains several slight fantasy elements commonly found in anime. In the first episode, thugs on motorcycles steal the plans for a superior engine. Speed Racer and his dad then attack them by using wrestling and martial arts techniques. Drivers take shortcuts near volcanoes, and villianous cars equiped with weaponry challenge the Mach 5. Also, there is a mysterious "Masked Racer" with a shameful past. At first, I thought the names like "Speed Racer", "Sparky,"and "Trixie" were the original Japanese names since they're categorical. Categorical names are another frequent occurance in anime. However, a member of my mailing list informed me otherwise.

Unfortunately, the DVD I recieved only comes in English, so I cannot compare the dub with the original version. The Mach Five with all of its nifty gadgets is like a super car. It can drive over three times as fast as normal cars, it has special blades to chop vegetation in its way, and it has underwater driving capability. Considering that Tatsunoko productions created the show when anime was still very young, I wonder if this anime is an ancestor of the Mecha genre, which features superior machines (Gundams, Voltron) that characters utlize as though they were a part of the machine itself.

Petshop of Horrors

by Karen Mystic

This manga, Petshop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino, is really unique. It's one in which I love the story a whole lot, but I really don't like either of the characters; it's very iffy there. The tone in each chapter is vastly different from the other - ranging from horrible and sadistic to wonderful and heart-warming. The whole manga revolves around Count D and his customers who live in the Chinatown of Los Angeles. Count D strikes me as being a strictly moral man with very uncertain morals. His pets can either be normal animals or mythological creatures. The pets, although animals, can look exactly like humans and talk as well. However, only certain people can see them in their human forms.

The first chapter of the manga is Dream. Since this is the opening, we see all of the things that make Count D. His ambiguity in that he shows a callous disregard for human life yet he wanted to spare a young teenage girl from a horrible devastating sight which could possibly ruin her life. D's comical side (his love for chocolate) is also revealed. I don't like the fact that D doesn't tell his customers everything they should know when they buy their pets; they wouldn't break the rules of their contract if they knew what the consequences would be. However, without the secrets, there would be no plot. I'm also wondering if the fate of the girl's two magical birds parallels her decision for her own future. Maybe, maybe not. While the manga does make some statements, not all of it is meant to be insightful.

The second chapter (Despair) introduces Detective Leon Orcot, although I don't think his full name is mentioned at this point. It's a nice light-hearted chapter in comparason with the rest of the volume, more comedy than anything else despite the title. I really enjoyed the character interaction here.

The third chapter Daughter is the most gruesome and also the most unbelievable as a wild pack of rabid rabbits stampeed through Los Angeles. I couldn't stand Count D much in this chapter.

Even though it does make a necessary and important statement which I like about the chapter (how kindness and ignorances combined can corrupt), D acts arrogant and holier-than-thou. He knew what his two customers would do with their pet, and giving it to them was like giving a toddler a loaded gun. Leon Orcot makes another appearance, skeptical about D's magical pets and wondering if there was something normal about it.

The fourth chapter (Dreizehn) is the most heart-warming, and I was so happy at the ending. It's about a girl who was attacked and blinded. Count D gives her a dog to guard her and protect her. Even though D does some good things, I still can't bring myself to like him after the rabid rabbit incident. Even so, I really loved this chapter; it just made me feel good inside. The artwork is awesome. Although the dog looks like a human, the way he positions himself (when the girl kicked him out and when he sat near her bed) was absolutely like a dog, giving the reader a special insight into what he truly was.

On the whole, this is a good manga for people to love animals, mythology, comedy, and drama.