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Article in this month's Wired on anime, focusing specifically on the upcoming releases of three big directors: Miyazaki Hayao's Howl's Moving Castle, Otomo Katsuhiro (of Akira fame)'s Steamboy, and Oshii Mamoru's Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. I'm actually only really interested in Miyazaki's... never was that fond of Akira or Ghost in the Shell, as both belong to a particularly violent postapocalyptic type of scifi that doesn't really appeal to me. I haven't closely analyzed, but I have the impression not only of a great deal of violence, but a great deal of violence directed toward the female body in particular in some anime that particularly disturbs me -- Kai in Akira (the movie, I haven't read the manga), what I remember of Ghost in the Shell, Evangelion even (though I do like Evangelion), Perfect Blue, and probably some others I don't remember.
It's really interesting looking at how articles on anime have changed through the years -- I had particular fun looking at various newspaper and magazine articles while I was writing my thesis. Everything pretty much up through 1999 was in the vein of: Japanese adults read comic books with weird and violent sex! Japanese adults watch cartoons that are pornographic and violent! Look how strange this is! 1999, which I mainly remember as a turning point because of the popular appeal of Pokemon and the art crowd appeal of Princess Mononoke. Then there were a lot of articles trying to say anime and manga weren't just weird and strange with lots of sex and violence, but there was still a lot of the old "how strange, look at those giant eyes and the strange color hair!" type thing. This one is focused very much on the directors instead of the medium as a whole, maybe because Wired is a fairly geeky magazine that doesn't feel like it needs to explain anime. It was also arguing on how these three major releases may very well (finally) bring anime into the mainstream, although I would posit that it's been moving that way for yeeeeaaaaarrrrsssss (albeit slowly). I think Spirited Away won over a lot of the art crowd types, more so than Princess Mononoke, probably because Princess Mononoke had to do the hard work of breaking ground. Of course, I mainly have this impression because I was actually able to drag my non-anime watching friends to see it and have them like it (it's the purple mouse. No one can resist the purple mouse).
I also found it funny that the article was going on about how Japan's economic power may have waned, but it might be coming into a new power via popular culture. I'm kind of amused, because I got to watch (and participate in) Taiwan going through a Japanese pop culture phase. It's still a fairly big part of the cultural landscape there, but there are no longer ramen stores popping up like weeds. And when I went back about two years ago, it was all about jewelry imported from Korea and K-pop and Korean soap operas. And I know on one hand there are all the arguments about exoticization and fetishism and the like, but it will be interesting to see what happens, if Japanese pop culture does indeed catch on. I sort of figure it will be an interesting contrast to the exoticization/adoption of American culture in Japan (Hawaiian stuff in particular in Okinawa). I guess I would probably feel weirder if it were Taiwan/Chinese pop culture catching on. Actually, I would probably just be happy because it would mean that I could get C-pop CDs and things like that. Living in California often does feel like a mix of Chinese and American culture some times. Not the pop culture things, but foodwise... I find it very, very funny (and extremely convenient) that there are four bubble tea shops just on Castro Street/downtown Mountain View. I speak not of a very large stretch of street! They are all concentrated within a four block radius!
Just read the news: WTF is up with the Paul Hamm thing? Jeez. Poor guy.
It's really interesting looking at how articles on anime have changed through the years -- I had particular fun looking at various newspaper and magazine articles while I was writing my thesis. Everything pretty much up through 1999 was in the vein of: Japanese adults read comic books with weird and violent sex! Japanese adults watch cartoons that are pornographic and violent! Look how strange this is! 1999, which I mainly remember as a turning point because of the popular appeal of Pokemon and the art crowd appeal of Princess Mononoke. Then there were a lot of articles trying to say anime and manga weren't just weird and strange with lots of sex and violence, but there was still a lot of the old "how strange, look at those giant eyes and the strange color hair!" type thing. This one is focused very much on the directors instead of the medium as a whole, maybe because Wired is a fairly geeky magazine that doesn't feel like it needs to explain anime. It was also arguing on how these three major releases may very well (finally) bring anime into the mainstream, although I would posit that it's been moving that way for yeeeeaaaaarrrrsssss (albeit slowly). I think Spirited Away won over a lot of the art crowd types, more so than Princess Mononoke, probably because Princess Mononoke had to do the hard work of breaking ground. Of course, I mainly have this impression because I was actually able to drag my non-anime watching friends to see it and have them like it (it's the purple mouse. No one can resist the purple mouse).
I also found it funny that the article was going on about how Japan's economic power may have waned, but it might be coming into a new power via popular culture. I'm kind of amused, because I got to watch (and participate in) Taiwan going through a Japanese pop culture phase. It's still a fairly big part of the cultural landscape there, but there are no longer ramen stores popping up like weeds. And when I went back about two years ago, it was all about jewelry imported from Korea and K-pop and Korean soap operas. And I know on one hand there are all the arguments about exoticization and fetishism and the like, but it will be interesting to see what happens, if Japanese pop culture does indeed catch on. I sort of figure it will be an interesting contrast to the exoticization/adoption of American culture in Japan (Hawaiian stuff in particular in Okinawa). I guess I would probably feel weirder if it were Taiwan/Chinese pop culture catching on. Actually, I would probably just be happy because it would mean that I could get C-pop CDs and things like that. Living in California often does feel like a mix of Chinese and American culture some times. Not the pop culture things, but foodwise... I find it very, very funny (and extremely convenient) that there are four bubble tea shops just on Castro Street/downtown Mountain View. I speak not of a very large stretch of street! They are all concentrated within a four block radius!
Just read the news: WTF is up with the Paul Hamm thing? Jeez. Poor guy.
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An article appeared in Science a few months ago by Bob Laughlin, nobel prize-winning physicist at Stanford, which consisted of Akira as a metaphor for some theoretical work on quantum phase transitions. The only figure in the article was a half-page image from the movie.
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I think the hoppy-hand-lantern makes the whole thing so much friendlier and more accessible. I think the wee bird and the purple mouse rock. But to the sensibilities of people who would never have thought of a surrealist animation in the first place, much less one that worked, it was still more of a confusing assault than the no-face. They wanted to be able to make "Spirited Away" be firmly nasty or nice, and it wasn't either, or was both. The reasons I loved it were the reasons they were appalled by it.
This was disheartening.
In some ways, I think "Mononoke" might have been easier for them to take, because it had less variation in tone. They could have put it in one box and left it there, and while some things would have been strange to them, I think a deer spirit is less of a leap than a bathhouse of the gods if you aren't used to speculative materials. Which is why it's less interesting to me, even though I do like "Mononoke." Hmm.
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I love Spirited Away... it's one of my favorite Miyazaki movies, along with Totoro. For some reason, Spirited Away makes sense to me, the same way McKillip makes sense. I always think of it as more accessible because the main theme is about a ten-year-old girl growing up a little, which is pretty close to Disney's traditional themes, unlike the theme of Princess Mononoke. I love it because it's not really about killing the evil demon or whatnot, but about being strong and brave and kind.
Also, soot sprites! And the purple mouse and the funny buzzy bird! (those were the most entertaining parts the first time I watched it in Japan and had absolutely no idea what was going on because my Japanese wasn't good enough)
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I liked Spirited Away for many reasons, but one of them is that when Our Heroine is going down the big long stairs to the coal sprites, I did not know whether she was going to be okay. I trusted Miyazaki that it might not be, that he would put her in genuine danger. I don't trust Disney for that. Because I had that trust, I could also trust that the ending would be genuine and satisfying. I could relax and immerse myself in the movie, knowing that he was not going to betray the story he had set up.
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Doh. I plead the Olympics have scrambled my brain? I keep having the impression that Disney makes movies about girls growing up, because it seems a Disney thing to do, but I can't think of any. Closest I can come is Mulan or Lion King or Bambi, and two out of three are male bildungsromans.
Hrm, I think that's interesting that you were scared for Chihiro. I must strongly associate Miyazaki with "safe" or "fuzzy-feeling" movies, because I felt that while he would put Chihiro through difficult situations, she would come out OK, as opposed to, say, a George R. R. Martin book, in which I almost fear getting attached to the characters because anyone could be killed. But then, Miyazaki movies also don't feel like Anne McCaffrey books, in which I don't even think the main characters are in trouble. Hrm.
This is sparking interesting thoughts on contracts with the reader and reader expectations now ^_^. Or, er, viewer expectations in this case.
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I think Mononoke is more somber, trying to be more grown-up, while Totoro and Spirited Away have this sense of wonder and joy and amazement at things.
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The manga is a bit more elaborate on the violence towards women front -- Tetsuo has his minions bring him girls, whom he drugs, rapes and kills. Not fun. I mean, yes, he is running a drug-addled, going-insane, Lost Boys Go To Hell post-apoc empire, but: not fun. He lets one girl (Kaori) live accidentally, and she becomes like his emotional lifeline. Because when a psychokinetic lunatic brings me to his rape chamber, my first instinct is sooooo to help him out.
Then again, there is a powerful (adult!) woman, Chiyoko by name, who helps out Kei and the military guy, who is not present in the movie at all. I mean, of course, she gets a topless scene in vol. 4 of the collected manga, but she also gets to shout and fire weapons a lot.
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I did too. Remarkable. I don't think I can watch it again though.
I really stopped in just to say thank you. The book arrived this week!
errrr..
Hope all is well with you. (And hope that's not too inappropriate has I haven't kept up!) And thanks again; looking forward to the book.
Re: errrr..
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I so remember when Fantasia was the only bubble tea place around! Wow, it's so much better now ^_^.