REEL REFLECTIONS

ANIME
Cartoon Bridges Between East and West

David Greiser

An advantage of having a 17-year-old son is the access he affords me to genres of film that I would not otherwise have explored. Like most rationalistic American adults, I have always thought of comic books and cartoons as properly belonging to a child’s world. Thanks to a son who is enamored with Japanese cinema and superhero comics, as well as a movie market that is grudgingly opening up to independent and international films, I have been exposed to a strange and wonderful new world—the world of Anime.

In simple terms, Anime (pronounced ah-nee-meh) is Japanese animation. Japanese animation is marked by a distinctive style. Westerners immediately notice the stylistically enlarged eyes of the characters, the carefully (and often beautifully) crafted detail, and the somewhat more limited attention to the action and movement of the characters.

Most Americans have been exposed to at least one example of this art form—the popular 1970s cartoon series "Speed Racer." In Japan (so I have heard) animation and comic books are as interesting to adults as they are to children. One is as likely to see adults on the subway reading comic books as to see them reading newspapers or novels. Having sampled some of the genre called Anime, I now understand why.

The subject matter of Anime runs the gamut, from fantasy, to martial arts, to stories with levels of violence and sexuality that are totally inappropriate for kids. Whatever the subject matter, a well-crafted Anime film contains several features that have broad-based appeal, and that differentiate the style from Disney-type animation:

Complex plots. The typical Anime feature-length film contains a great number of plot twists and a storyline that is less predictable than many American films.

Detailed artwork. Japanese animators are less enamored with computer graphics and fluid motion. They are more concerned with detailed scenery and characters drawn to fit their environments. Part of the fun of watching Anime is looking for the tiny details painted into the background of the action.

Intense emotions. Watching Anime can be a deeply emotional experience. Anime filmmakers are, on the whole, less concerned with the clever or humorous and more interested in evoking the feelings latent in the audience.

In Japan, Anime is found on network television and advertising as well as in feature-length films. There is also a large market for OVA’s (Original Animation Videos), a sort of hybrid of television episode and feature film released directly to video.

While there are dozens of gifted Anime film creators, two artists/directors deserve special note. The first is Dr. Osamo Tezuka (1926- ), the so-called Walt Disney of Japan. Tezuka is easily the most prolific producer of Anime films in the world. He is credited with a body of work that has not only defined the genre of Anime but also continues to expand the art form into new permutations as the capabilities of computer graphics evolve. Unfortunately, little of Tezuka’s work has been adapted or distributed for English-speaking audiences.

A second master of the genre, Hayao Miyazaki, is the creator of the best-known Anime feature film distributed in the West. "Spirited Away" (2002) earned over $230 million in Japan before its Western debut at the Berlin Film Festival, where it took top honors. Though the American version of the film has been dubbed rather than subtitled, the film retains a distinctively Eastern pace, with periods of silence and a brooding tone that is very different from American-type animation.

"Spirited Away" tells the story of Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl reluctantly moving with her parents to a new town. Along the way the family inadvertently happens upon an abandoned theme park inhabited by spirits. In the center of the park is a huge bathhouse to which the spirits come to be rejuvenated. The spirits turn Chihiro’s parents into pigs, and Chihiro becomes a worker-slave in the bathhouse while trying to figure out how to break the spell that will release her parents and return the family to its journey.

Along the way, Chihiro is aided by some friendly and often grotesque-looking spirits (such as the eight-armed curmudgeon who runs the boiler room). She develops a persevering selflessness as she struggles to survive and rescue her family.

Critics have compared "Spirited Away" to "Alice in Wonderland," since it involves a young girl who has fallen into a world of odd creatures and unusual rules. The parallels are numerous, but the film is actually a contemporary kind of fairy tale. There is a subtle environmental message in the cleansing of a "Stink-spirit" from a river. And in the transformation of pampered Chihiro into a woman of substance, there is a less subtle message for affluent parents and spoiled children.

If you are a film lover who normally avoids animated features, I encourage you to break your fast and rent "Spirited Away." It will feed your spirit, fire your imagination, and introduce you to Anime, a sensitively intelligent and creative art form.

—When not watching movies or arguing with his son about them, Dave Greiser is pastor of Souderton (Pa.) Mennonite Church and teaches part-time at Eastern Baptist Seminary.