I
didn’t watch that much anime as a kid but when I did it was Pokémon with my brothers. As I got older, I watched some Miyazaki films
but strayed away from other mainstream anime such as Naruto and Dragon Ball
Z. I knew people who loved these anime
but to my middle-school-self it seemed that you either had to be obsessed with
it, otaku- or cosplay-style or avoid it entirely.
When
I was in high school, I told myself and others that I “hated anime”. In retrospect, this is a ridiculous thing to
say as of course I couldn't have been familiar with an entire genre and shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss it.
That being said though, I know now and probably knew then too what it
was I despised about anime so much; or at least about the kinds of anime I’d
seen or heard of. My hatred was aimed at
the treatment and portrayal of women in anime.
Of course this is not only found in anime, but I feel that the animation
medium allows for even more exaggeration of stereotypes and expectations of
women. Examples of this of course are
how female characters are dressed, how their bodies are drawn and how they move
about and pose, how female characters behave and speak, their relationships to male
characters, their role or importance in plot and so on.
In
my experience, it is common for Americans who are not familiar with anime to
have a similar negative reaction to it.
They will often associate all of anime with Hentai for example which is
an amplified version of these portrayals of women that I can’t stand. They will do what I did in high school and
lump all anime together with the sexualization of women and the perverted
anti-human contact aspect of the otaku stereotype.
While
some anime are definitely much better and more tolerable in this regard than
others, this treatment of women is still prevalent in many outlets of Japanese
culture and I’d say most first-world countries.
Eventually
I figured I was being too harsh on the genre and for the time being could just
avoid watching anime who so blatantly participate in these sorts of plot
devices and character portrayals. After
all, I already loved Miyazaki films and loved the drawing styles used in many
anime. I took Japanese film last year
and developed an appreciation for not only live-action Japanese film styles but
also anime films. I was blown away by
Akira and Millennium Actress (even though both have elements of sexism, like I
said the majority of media does).
I
decided to push myself further and take the anime course especially after
having enjoyed the Japanese film course so much. I discovered how much I enjoy watching
different kinds of anime. The early
anime is particularly interesting to me.
The anime shorts we watched in the first week or so were really
cool! It’s interesting to watch the
development in animation styles as the appreciation for the medium/art form
increase; like the paper cut-outs to the more cartoon-like drawings. I also found it really interesting to note
the Western influences on anime.
Before
taking this class, I don’t think I’d watched a full episode of a Japanese anime
except for Pokémon. I’d seen snippets of
Naruto and Dragon Ball Z. I always used
to think I wouldn't enjoy those shows.
However at the beginning of the semester I watched all of Attack on
Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) for our first blossay assignment and loved it. Aside from some episodes in the middle that
dragged on melodramatically, I thought it was a really good anime. From that
point on I was more open –minded towards anime of all sorts. When we watched Naruto and Dragon Ball I was
pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed them and how engaging they
were. Both have creative plots and
character backstories. I think I would enjoy watching Dragon Ball (as opposed
to Dragon Ball Z etc.) and the earlier episodes of Naruto before it exploded
into the franchise it is today.
I
enjoy the first concepts of the mecha genre but I’m still not a huge fan of the
mecha films and animes we've watched. It
seems like there are tons upon tons of similar mecha stories and I’d enjoy
maybe a handful of the best out of that bunch.
Otherwise it seems overdone to me.
For example I thought Evangelion had a unique and compelling story along
with beautiful animation and music.
Something
else that I've found that I love is anime-style English shows. One example of this from my childhood I've been re-watching lately is Avatar: The
Last Airbender. While this show is
in English, the drawings look just like some typical manga/anime-style
drawings. It also has incorporates a lot
of Chinese and Japanese culture into its plot and background. Another show that comes to mind is The
Boondocks. While this show focuses on
the black community and is primarily satire, it too is drawn in manga-style
with awesome fight scenes that are reminiscent of modern anime. I would highly recommend everyone to watch
both of these shows.
Though
I developed a new liking for anime, I doubt that I will watch it often. I will pursue my goal of watching all of
Miyazaki’s films and might watch an episode of something here and there. If I’m going to watch TV of any kind, I like
it to have deeper meanings underneath silly or exciting plot lines. For example, I love shows/animations meant
for kids while simultaneously meant for adults.
I appreciate when anime that is geared towards younger age groups does
not sugar-coat the truth and addresses real-life issues. I see anime and cartoons of many kinds as
very powerful tools that can be used to guide and teach younger minds. Anime can reach them much easier than other
mediums. Anime as an art form is
beautiful and vast and how it’s used towards its demographics would be a
fascinating thing to look into.
As
someone who previously had little involvement with anime in her life, I’m glad I've developed an appreciation for and eagerness to learn more about anime
(even if that doesn't mean I’ll watch tons of it, especially most mainstream
stuff). If a friend suggests a really
good, moving or relevant anime for me to watch, I’d definitely be inclined to
do so. But for now I’ll keep an open
mind in my non-otaku life and enjoy most of what we watch in class anyway.
