Of Anime and Others
Published:
I like anime very much. Why? Because of those beautifully drawn characters and landscapes? Definitely. But, ….. in reality, I consider some of those great anime series and films to be beautiful pieces of art. They discuss something more than what is shown in the surface. Something relevant, a social issue, timely or something that is thought provoking. This is true of any great piece of art, irrespective of form or media. It gives the audience something more to think about than just what its outside appearance is.
Of Others
If you consider the paradigm of story telling, be it books, movies, comics or whatever, we discuss plot, character development, pace, depth of characters, depth of plots etc etc. When it comes to a hobby, an interest or a passion of yours, inevitably you like it because there is something that is appealing to you which contrasts to work of similar nature. In the case of anime, the natural comparison is with movies, the non-animated ones. I am no great expert in movies or anime for that matter and I definitely haven’t watched that many of either category for to claim to be an expert. But my sampling in the non-animated category is essentially limited to Hollywood movies and series, some foreign films subtitled or dubbed, Sinhala (my native tongue) movies and films. There are master pieces in all these categories. Also, I also some light-hearted action only or comedy flicks from time to time. But each of these industries are geared towards different directions and when it comes to art forms that constitute of moving pictures, anime is geared more towards the essence of art more than any other forms in my opinion.
Now the discussion becomes essentially political. If you consider Hollywood or Bollywood movies, they mass produce films that are constrained to a standard and familiar set of characteristics. These mass productions do have good technical aspects, a good cast and good story and all. But they essentially lack something so essential in an art form. A thought provoking discussion about some interesting topic. That does not mean that a film or series has to be serious or devoid of action sequences. Charlie Chaplin did comedies. But he explored topics that were very prevalent of those times. Say I think Gladiator was a wonderful action film. But it was not presented as a muddle of half or fully naked women and blood and gore to fill in the gaps. It explores the fate and destiny of a single person, of corrupt politicians, the hunger for power and many other themes. It explores not in a direct unbelievable fashion, but a subtle, believable fashion and that is what makes it appealing.
[1] Charlie Chaplin - An all time great artist
There are timeless classics in all these other industries and I intend no disrepute to those gems. But movie industries(as well as anything else) is getting more and more commercialized and politicized and the sad end result is that true art form that can talk to a persons heart is slowly disappearing.
My Definition of A Commercial TV Series
My definition of a commercial TV series is something that produces a plethora of seasons and episodes according to the ratings they get and they drag and squeeze it until the plot gets so twisted and complicated that even the script writers do not know whether the main heroine was originally a blonde or brunette or whether she belongs to the category of dead, living or undead ;-) . There are exceptions, and usually you’ll find that they are great exceptions!
Of Anime
Now of anime and manga which I like very much, they explore these topics much more than Hollywood, Bollywood or similar industries are willing to expose. I feel that there are true artists who are willing to experiment, explore and it is a shame that anime and manga are not so popular as a Hollywood film or commercial TV series.
A good work of art must have depth…
If you consider a series like Cowboy Bebop, the genre is space-western type and not in reality. But it explores the characters, and does not try to live off simply by introducing some cool looking gadgets and stuff. The characters give depth and life to the show.
[2] Cowboy Bebop - One of the first anime to break through internationally…. As I understand … :-)
The original first series of darker than black, besides being good with great action sequences and good music, explores the characters well. The question that the viewer is wondering about is whether the main characters are truly emotionless, or are they just a bit different from normal and possibly afraid of being shunned by society. Besides, there is deep undertone of mystery in the whole series. If you consider a manga like the hugely popular one piece, there is this crazy and stupid main character who occasionally shows flashes of wisdom. But his main qualities are his perseverance, determination his absolute loyalty to his nakama (friends). We love this character because of those qualities. Although the story is set in an alternate universe, we see oppression, totalitarianism, aristocracy among other things and the hero, although actually a pirate, stands up against the egoistic aristocrats.
If you take the TV series and manga Monster, it explores themes of racism, prejudice, psychological experimentation which are all valid themes in today’s society. What it makes it more attractive is the characters are normal people, not superheroes or specially trained superstars, they make mistakes and their decisions can sometimes be questionable. The moral dilemma’s are presented to the audience and they make the audience ponder as same as the character in the story. Most importantly, the story is open-ended, which is a very attractive attribute I find in many anime and manga as opposed to the other similar forms. The film or manga does not decide it for you, but lets you decide. The artist does not try to impose his or her opinion into you, but only raises the question, and those also valid questions. Nothing is so irritating when watching a film if you feel that you are being force-fed someone else’s propaganda for their own purposes.
[3] Monster - A great piece of work
Stimulate me, intellectually, emotionally…
A truly great movie or film must explore many different perspectives. Maybe, the film is presenting things in a single perspective, but one that is against the social norm. That is also exploring different perspectives. An art form like story telling must explore the different shades of grey, but not in the sense of Fifty Shades of Grey (Pun intended). If a country is making films about its glorious past or patriotism, that’s also OK. But we already know what the history books tell us. We want to know about the human side of the story. If you are going to do a war film on Nazis and Allies, then we want to know of the human aspects of the Nazis as well. Not about how sadistic and cruel they were. If you consider a film like Schindler’s list, it is told through the eyes of a German. Even the seemingly twisted character of Goeth also has human qualities, which makes it more believable. That is why, among other reasons, Schindler’s list is such a great film. I’d love to see more movies or TV series that discuss relevant issues in-depth coming out of Hollywood or Bollywood. This quality which is like in so many commercialized modern films, is still there in anime and manga. That is why it is a worthwhile direction of exploration.
I believe, that a true artist should be willing to portray what is relevant to the topic with enough depth, without aiming for personal benefits, commercial or other.
Picture Sources:
http://image.inkfrog.com/pix/pop7759/Cowboy_Bebop.jpg * (via Wikipedia under the fair use rationale)
http://www.ntv.co.jp/monster/ * (via Wikipedia under the fair use rationale)
- Please note that the copyright of these pictures belong to their respective publishers and used here for the purpose of review under the fair use rationale.