The Problem of Existence in Japanese Animation: Difference between revisions

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S U S A N J . N A P I E R

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in pragmatism, and I myself grew up in the house that William and

Henry James built for their mother in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

However, ~~it’s~~ not often that I have the chance to speak before such a

However, it's not often that I have the chance to speak before such a

diverse and erudite group, so I decided to throw pragmatism to the

winds and instead explore some questions that have become increasingly intriguing to me as I have continued my research in animation. In

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itself and our response to it. Paul Wells has said that “[a]nimation is

arguably the most important creative form of the 21st century ... it

is the omnipresent pictorial form of the modern era”(1). ~~Wells’s~~ assertion may appear surprising to many of us in America. Unlike in Japan,

is the omnipresent pictorial form of the modern era”(1). Wells's assertion may appear surprising to many of us in America. Unlike in Japan,

where animated ﬁlm is appreciated across the generations, as exemplified by the recent award-winning ﬁlm Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro

no kamikakushi), which was the highest grossing ﬁlm (including live

action and foreign ﬁlms) in Japanese history, animation is still regarded

largely as a ~~children’s~~ medium in America. Indeed, many older Americans (including my friends and colleagues!) seem uncomfortable with

largely as a children's medium in America. Indeed, many older Americans (including my friends and colleagues!) seem uncomfortable with

the notion of taking animation seriously as an art form.

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In the West, the story is a different one. Narratives that put an

equal emphasis on print and illustration have usually been conﬁned to

~~children’s~~ books, apart from the occasional exception of someone like

children's books, apart from the occasional exception of someone like

William Blake and his ethereally illustrated poetry. Print culture was

considered serious and adult, even while mass production made comics

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To better understand the uncanny dynamic between animate and

inanimate, we might look at Masahiro ~~Shinoda’s~~ extraordinary live

inanimate, we might look at Masahiro Shinoda's extraordinary live

action ﬁlm Double Suicide, a 1969 work based on ~~Chikamatsu’s~~ Love

action ﬁlm Double Suicide, a 1969 work based on Chikamatsu's Love

Suicide at Amijima (Shinju ten no Amijima). This work uses live actors

interspersed with their puppet counterparts to offer a fatalistic view of

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I would like to conclude with three examples from recent Japanese

animation that problematize reality, each in very distinctive ways. The

ﬁrst is the aforementioned blockbuster hit Spirited Away, by ~~Japan’s~~

ﬁrst is the aforementioned blockbuster hit Spirited Away, by Japan's

most famous animation director, Hayao Miyazaki. The reasons behind

the success of this ﬁlm are generally easy to understand. It is in certain

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which in turn opens up to a bizarre fantasy realm dominated by a magniﬁcent old-fashioned bathhouse whose customers are gods or spirits.

The ﬁrst boundary crossing is of course the ~~family’s~~ progress through

The ﬁrst boundary crossing is of course the family's progress through

the tunnel, an action that can be seen as a voyage into the unconscious

or else a regression into infancy, since symbols of orality and anality

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1980s. The theme park suggests the artiﬁciality and ephemerality of

the bubble and, perhaps, the inevitability of its bursting. In contrast,

the ﬁnal boundary crossing, ~~Chihiro’s~~ entrance into the genuinely fantastic bathhouse of the gods, can be interpreted as a rediscovery of the

the ﬁnal boundary crossing, Chihiro's entrance into the genuinely fantastic bathhouse of the gods, can be interpreted as a rediscovery of the

vanishing culture of old Japan, a culture that is constantly in danger of

being soiled by both outside inﬂuences and internal corruption. It is

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The disturbing and even threatening aspects of Spirited Away are

contained by the ~~movie’s~~ happy ending, in which Chihiro does indeed

contained by the movie's happy ending, in which Chihiro does indeed

rescue her parents and they return unscathed to the real world (although

the ﬁlm includes a slightly supernatural tweak at the end, when the

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“There’s an afterglow of profound pleasure but also a sense of loss.”

While Spirited Away falls largely on the “dream” side of the animation continuum, my next example, Mamoru ~~Oshii’s~~ ﬁlm Ghost in

While Spirited Away falls largely on the “dream” side of the animation continuum, my next example, Mamoru Oshii's ﬁlm Ghost in

the Shell contains elements of both dream and nightmare. Created by a

director clearly familiar with both Christian and Platonic concepts (in

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tracking down cybervillains, spends her time ruminating about whether

she has a “ghost” (essentially a soul or mind). In the course of her

work she encounters a sentient computer program known as the Puppet Master, which she is supposed to capture and destroy. At the ~~ﬁlm’s~~

work she encounters a sentient computer program known as the Puppet Master, which she is supposed to capture and destroy. At the ﬁlm's

denouement, however, the Puppet Master convinces her to fuse with it/

him to create a new form of electronic offspring that will be “born in

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Ghost in the Shell takes on many traditional science ﬁction tropes

(Arthur ~~Clarke’s~~ 1953 novel ~~Childhood’s~~ End also deals with the creation of a kind of Overmind), but the ~~ﬁlm’s~~ extraordinary visuals,

(Arthur Clarke's 1953 novel Childhood's End also deals with the creation of a kind of Overmind), but the ﬁlm's extraordinary visuals,

combined with the complex three-dimensional character of Motoko,

allow for a fresh treatment of a complex subject. In perhaps the ~~ﬁlm’s~~

allow for a fresh treatment of a complex subject. In perhaps the ﬁlm's

most memorable scene, Motoko, most of her torso blown away by a

deadly government assault, lies on the ﬂoor of a deserted glass building

preparing to receive the Puppet Master. The “camera” shifts to her

point of view as she gazes up at the ~~building’s~~ glass dome and sees for

point of view as she gazes up at the building's glass dome and sees for

an inﬁnitesimal moment what appears to be a winged creature ﬂoating

toward her, accompanied by a drifting feather. The implication that

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viewer with the feeling of having been offered a ﬂeeting glimpse into a

totally Other world. No doubt live action cinema could achieve something similar to this surreal moment, but I suspect that the materiality

of live action limning ~~Motoko’s~~ battered torso and the shattered glass

of live action limning Motoko's battered torso and the shattered glass

of the building would undercut the ~~scene’s~~ ethereal beauty.

of the building would undercut the scene's ethereal beauty.

My last anime example, Serial Experiments Lain (the title is in