Weeks 5 and 6
Princess Mononoke
1) What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime?
2) According to Lent (2000) what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia (i.e. comparing Japan and China)?
3)Is anime a high or low cultural genre/media, according to Napier (2005)? What are some of its subgenres?
4)Does Anime confront social issues? Gender roles in Princess Mononoke.
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteAnime and manga are two art forms from Japan that have gained exponential popularity from all over the world. Like all genres of literature and art, there are multiple subgenres to anime and manga. A popular subgenre of these art forms is something called shojo or shoujo. According to Jappleng University, shojo translates to “young women” and is a subgenre that focuses on young women around ages 10-18 (Jappleng University, 2014). Because this type of writing is directed at young women, the stories often revolve around young romance and high school drama stories (Eisenbeis, 2014). The manga and anime often show characters with feminine features (both male and female characters) and abstract shape backgrounds in order to accentuate the emotions of the particular scene (Jappleng University, 2014). These types of stories have changed how traditional anime and manga used to be (Jappleng University, 2014). Shojo depicts women as female leads and focuses on interpersonal relationships. One of the most popular examples of a shojo is Sailor Moon. In Sailor Moon, a group of five teenage girls with superpowers fights evil. This show, like many other shojos, has had a huge impact on the anime/manga world since its development (Lee, 2014). While shojos depict female lead characters, as opposed to traditional male leads, they are not as progressive as they seem to be. Sailor Moon, for example, has five female leads, however, they are all very feminine and not very independent and all of them have boyfriends who help them when they get in trouble (Lee 2014). These shojos often perpetuate traditional female gender roles and lack a more progressive idea of a strong independent woman lead and this gives some the idea that anime is often traditionalist and does not confront common and current social issues.
Question 4:
Based on examples like the shojo, anime appears to be a very traditionalist, conforming piece of narrative. While this subgenre of anime may still appear to continue in its popularity, the idea of the traditional woman in anime is very much departing from the depictions found in these older, traditional shojos. This change in the role of women can best be depicted by analyzing recent pieces of anime featuring woman leads. An example of this would be one of Miyazaki’s most popular animes, Princess Mononoke. In this anime, many traditional gender roles for women are challenged. To start off, the main character, Princess Mononoke, is nothing like the traditional shojo woman. She is a fierce, strong warrior who fights alongside the wolves in order to protect the forest from the evils of humans (movie). Princess Mononoke does not need a man to come to her rescue and instead defies gender roles by being her own hero and saving the forest from the destruction of Lady Eboshi (movie). Even Lady Eboshi and her group of women from Iron Town defy traditional gender roles. Lady Eboshi is the leader of the whole town and she is the best and smartest leader, often showing her advanced abilities through the development of destructive guns and her own swift and deadly fighting prowess (movie). The group of women in Iron Town are also depicted as “better shooters than the men” and are shown as being the braver and smarter of the two sexes. Because of these female leading characters becoming totally independent from and stronger than their male counterparts in the anime Princess Mononoke, the movie itself can be described as one that defies traditional gender roles and pushes audiences to question their own concepts of what it means to be a woman in society.
REVISED VERSION
DeleteQuestion 1:
Anime and manga are two art forms from Japan that have gained exponential popularity from all over the world. Like all genres of literature and art, there are multiple subgenres to anime and manga. A popular subgenre of these art forms is something called shojo or shoujo. According to Jappleng University, shojo translates to “young women” and is a subgenre that focuses on young women around ages 10-18 (Jappleng University, 2014). Because this type of writing is directed at young women, the stories often revolve around young romance and high school drama stories (Eisenbeis, 2014). The manga and anime often show characters with feminine features (both male and female characters) and abstract shape backgrounds in order to accentuate the emotions of the particular scene (Jappleng University, 2014). These types of stories have changed how traditional anime and manga used to be (Jappleng University, 2014). Shojo depicts women as female leads and focuses on interpersonal relationships.
One of the most popular examples of a shojo is Sailor Moon. In Sailor Moon, a group of five teenage girls with superpowers fights evil. This show, like many other shojos, has had a huge impact on the anime/manga world since its development (Lee, 2014). While shojos depict female lead characters, as opposed to traditional male leads, they are not as progressive as they seem to be. Sailor Moon, for example, has five female leads, however, they are all very feminine and not very independent and all of them have boyfriends who help them when they get in trouble (Lee 2014). These shojos often perpetuate traditional female gender roles and lack a more progressive idea of a strong independent woman lead and this gives some the idea that anime is often traditionalist and does not confront common and current social issues.
Question 4:
Based on examples like the shojo, anime appears to be a very traditionalist, conforming piece of narrative. While this subgenre of anime may still appear to continue in its popularity, the idea of the traditional woman in anime is very much departing from the depictions found in these older, traditional shojos. This change in the role of women can best be depicted by analyzing recent pieces of anime featuring woman leads. An example of this would be one of Miyazaki’s most popular animes, Princess Mononoke. In this anime, many traditional gender roles for women are challenged.
To start off, the main character, Princess Mononoke, is nothing like the traditional shojo woman. She is a fierce, strong warrior who fights alongside the wolves in order to protect the forest from the evils of humans (movie). Princess Mononoke does not need a man to come to her rescue and instead defies gender roles by being her own hero and saving the forest from the destruction of Lady Eboshi (movie). Even Lady Eboshi and her group of women from Iron Town defy traditional gender roles. Lady Eboshi is the leader of the whole town and she is the best and smartest leader, often showing her advanced abilities through the development of destructive guns and her own swift and deadly fighting prowess (movie). The group of women in Iron Town are also depicted as “better shooters than the men” and are shown as being the braver and smarter of the two sexes. Because of these female leading characters becoming totally independent from and stronger than their male counterparts in the anime Princess Mononoke, the movie itself can be described as one that defies traditional gender roles and pushes audiences to question their own concepts of what it means to be a woman in society.
Week 5-6: Anime
ReplyDeleteAccording to Lent (2000), what place does anime occupy in Asian societies? How different is it across Asia?
Animation practises in Asian societies can be viewed both positively and negatively. Western cartoons in particular for decades were banned in China to “make room for local cartoon characters”, these replaced what was seen in the Western cartoons to be going against the Asian values with characters that encouraged the countries ideologies.
Anime being of Japanese origin fit into the the social mould of what the Japanese culture values, this could differ from one country to another.
Animation in some Asian countries (mainly China, Vietnam and the Philippines) were used to push political motives and achieve political goals of a particular government, so Anime was seen by other Asian countries to be encouraging Japanese cultural imperialism. This meant that Japanese Anime was banned in countries such and Korea and Taiwan. Anime was also seen to have overly sexualised and violent content by neighbouring countries in Asia, who created their own animations that fit their cultural preferences.
The difference across Asia lies within the difference of cultures. Seeing as there is a vast variety of different ideologies and values dependant on the country, this translates through their animation practises. Lent (2000) describes each Asian country having a localised plots which the cultural differences of each country.
Question 4:
ReplyDeletePrincess Mononoke has a very strong theme throughout the whole movie that is tied to nature. This is one of the themes that was seen throughout, Miyazaki the director was trying to confront the social issue of looking after our environment through this film. There are many scenes in the movie that lead us to believe that most of the problems the characters had got themselves into was caused by their lack of kindness towards their lands around them. Another theme that was seen at large in Princess Mononoke was the very strong representation of feminism throughout the whole film. In the movie we see a lot a strong female characters that were leading on there own.
An example of this is Lady Eboshi, she was a perfect example of a working women that was still able to hold compassion and be nurturing towards others while still having thriving ambitions. Even though these ambitions may have caused a lot of the pain and suffering. We find out towards the end that she was the one who shot the boar god, leading him to become possessed and taking part in destroying the environment around them but we are able to tell that while she may be doing all these horrible things she has the right intentions at heart. Only wanting to look after her people that she has rescued and made a home for. This is one of the most prominent themes of feminism as we’re able to see her being a business women and running the ironworks and the towns people that live there, but also wanting to make sure that they’re all safe and well.
Another strong female character which is seen throughout is San, the wolf princess. We see San as a very protective female character, she shows her fierce side when having to protect her mum in battle. This would often be seen as a male role and so this is what makes her character such a strong one throughout the movie as she is constantly defying gender roles.
1) What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime?
ReplyDeleteShojo; defined as “a genre of Japanese comics and animated films aimed primarily at a young female audience” (Wikipedia, 2017) is a subgenre of both Japanese anime and manga. Predominantly with a female lead, it is generally focused on personal relationships, that of the main character. Typically a romanticization of a young female, the shojo incorporates certain components to create an overall character. As seen with the main female character, Princess Mononoke, she was brought up primarily by wolves, presenting her as a standalone, strong and independent female character in the first place. It is when Mononoke meets Ashitaka that the elements of the shojo appear- we begin to see her have personal relations with Ashitaka. Mononoke thus begins to acknowledge her human side, which is important to the storyline as it allows us to relate to her. The idea of the shojo in this particular anime allows sympathy to be felt toward Mononoke, as she has a connection to the human world. Usually a shojo character will be seen as quite passive, soft and undemanding, but Mononoke has been characterised as a strong variation of this characterisation, she will fight for what she feels is right. Generally a Shojo in anime will include a female character, romantic and/or emotional elements etc, which Princess Mononoke possesses.
Shōjo manga. (2017, September 25). Retrieved October 03, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Djo_manga
2) According to Lent (2000) what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia (i.e. comparing Japan and China)?
Animation first was established in Asia in 1923.
“Miyazaki has brought to life intricate fantasy realms, building each from scratch and drawing their most minute items with total devotion”. (Lent, 2000) This was Miyazaki’s particular take on Japanese animation, and thus the rest of Asia took on his inspiration.
Animation in Japanese tends not to follow Western animation, it avoids the traditional 3 act structure, and thus differs it from other forms of anime. Japanese animation stays true to culture and values “The films are woven from both cross-cultural elements and aspects of the director’s native culture” (Lent, 2000).
However, animation in China was more so used to promote political ideologies and practices, as there was more enforcement over what could be produced and displayed. Japan for the most part had the freedom and ability to create anime for entertainment purposes, whereas China didn’t quite have the same freedom. This is what set the two apart - China supports a restrictive view to have full control of media with many limitations, while Japan supports an open free media market with little to no restrictions or limitations.
Lent, J. A. (2000). Animation in Asia: appropriation, reinterpretation, and adoption or adaptation
Does Anime confront social issues? Gender roles in Princess Mononoke etc.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde once said that life imitates art, far more than art imitates life and yet, particular mediums like film can challenge that. The realities of living often emerge within cinema - whether reality-based or not - and can be vividly seen within director, Hayao Miyazaki's anime oeuvre. From the underlying feminism of Kiki's Delivery Service to the highlighting of student activism in From Up On Poppy Hill, there is ample evidence to support that anime confronts and presents social issues. In Miyazaki's 1997 fantasy film Princess Mononoke, he depicts a reversal of gender roles.
In terms of gender roles, Green (2012) argues that in fairy-tales, film and even society women are painted as weak, vulnerable, clumsy, soft, comforting, warm, incapable of success without a man, dependent on men, in constant need of support and most importantly: fit for roles that cater to others. Mononoke questions these stereotypes in several ways. In the character of Lady Eboshi, we visually see a beautiful woman yet she embodies the role of a mining town's leader—a duty more common for men. With her industrial genius, military expertise and economic skills, she heads Irontown in a way that clashes with typical female conventions. Her nemesis, San, is a cool-headed, stoic warrior type which also deviates from typical female narratives as she displays none of the aforementioned traits that fit with women in media. Additionally, the working women of Irontown are ex-prostitutes given a second chance at life by Lady Eboshi in the form of very physical labour work - an occupation mostly done by men - and are even catered to in Lady Eboshi's foray into weaponry as she requests the guns be light enough for the women to hold. These particular aspects of the film stray very far from the standard portrayal of women, and was also never questioned by the other male characters of the film which suggests a deep respect for the position of these women.
In Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, another Miyazaki piece, it speaks on ecological awareness and pacifism in the form of its main character straddling the line between man and nature. However, Miyazaki's works aren't the only anime cinema to address social issues. Satoshi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers follows three homeless men and reflects on Japan's underclass. Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies shows the effects of war and the toll it takes on the young lives of its main characters. The exhibition of reality is seemingly executed with frequency in this genre of film, and is done so while weaving great tales. These examples, and I'm certain many others, all support the notion that anime confronts social issues and will likely continue to.
Sources:
Suzuki, T. (Producer), & Miyazaki, H. (Writer/Director). (1997). Princess Mononoke [Motion picture]. Japan: Studio Ghibli.
Green, S. (2012, February 14). Fairy Tales and Gender Stereotypes. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://huffingtonpost.com
Olowu, K. (2013, October 1). Deconstructed Gender Norms in Princess Mononoke. Fall Semester.
Takahata, I. (Producer), & Miyazaki, H. (Writer/Director). (1984). Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind [Motion picture]. Japan: Studio Ghibli.
Hara, T. (Producer), & Miyazaki, H. (Writer/Director). (1988). Grave of the Fireflies [Motion picture]. Japan: Studio Ghibli & Shinchosha 1988.
Kobayashi, S., Takiyama, M., Maki, T. (Producer). Kon, S. (Director). (2003). Tokyo Grandfathers [Motion picture]. Japan: Madhouse.
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