Week 5&6 Anime: What place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia? (ie comparing China and Japan)

Animation has played a huge role in the Asian societies in terms of occupation throughout the years as stated by Lent (2000) as “animation [that] was fitted [in]to Asian societies and their mass media” (Animation’s fit to Asian societies, para.1). Animation has been recognised as a method that has achieved the goals of the government and bureaus within the Asian societies, mainly within China, Vietnam and the Philippines (Lent, 2000). Furthermore Lent (2000) suggests that animation allowed morals and values to become a part of society through the filming of cartoon characters such as The panda’s shop that portrayed the values of wholehearted service to the people, the exposing of enemies of state as well as portrayed representations of wartime themes such as The talking blackbird (1972) a story that depicts a Vietnamese boy and his blackbird companion who defeat the Americans together (Lent, 2000).

Furthermore Lent (2000) also describes the occupation of animation in Asian societies as being one of great economic significance. Animation brought employment opportunities through the setup of foreign studios and the schemes that were provided such as work-for-hire and co-production scheme in order to bring in more foreign money into the economy. The setup of computer animation firms as well as animation training programs gave opportunities for people within the Asian communities to build up their animation skills in order to produce animation that may achieve success on the global scale.

The animation in Japan in comparison with China is that it belongs to a “‘mass’ or ‘popular culture’” [that is a] “cultural phenomenon worthy of being taken seriously, both sociologically and aesthetically.”(Napier, 2005, p.4). An example of this in Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke is with the Lady Eboshi. Miyazaki portrays her as good and evil, in her actions towards providing opportunities for those living in Irontown. She is ruthless but she has a genuine compassion for her people. Miyazaki allows us to see that her intentions on killing the deer god is only to provide those in her town many of who were “lepers and former prostitutes she rescued from worst fates” (The critical eye, para. 10), a chance to live for their livelihood. He allows us to make conclusions on Eboshi’s character as someone who provides but kills in order to do so. This can be reflected into reality also when we try to achieve goals that we have set for ourselves. We do everything possible in order to attain the outcome needed in order to succeed. Miyazaki draws in a lot ideas and themes from the outside world, and in doing so he provides us with a chance to become part of the popular culture of anime.

In contrast, anime in China has been seen as educational and provides pleasure to audiences. Chinese animation draws an emphasis on the importance of material that deals with national characters, morals, an originality of the culture and applying human traits to characters (Lent, 2000). Furthermore Lent (2000) describes animation as moulding to Asia “through the use of indigenous artistic styles and techniques” (Animation’s fit to Asian societies, para. 5), also known as the ‘Golden age in animation in China’. Japanese and Chinese anime draw vast differences in terms of its popular culture, it is seen in Japan as a ‘cultural phenomenon’ whereas in China was used mostly for ‘political change’.

Lent, J. A. (2000). Animation in Asia: Appropriation, reinterpretation, and adoption or adaptation. Retrieved September 4^, 2012, from http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr1100/jlfr11c.htm

Napier, S. J. (2005). Anime: from Akira to howl’s moving castle: Experiencing contemporary Japanese animation (p.3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.

The Critical Eye (1999). Princess mononoke: Nature is presented in both its glory and fury in Hayao Miyazaki's epic. Retrieved September 15, 2012, from http://purpleplanetmedia.com/eye/film/mononoke.php