Anime at the Academy

[Joseph Murphy]

I didn't go to this event, but remember reading the piece last fall, 
and being struck by how an audience of professional animators 
obviously still regarded Japanese anime as a foreign thing and a 
curiousity, and how tone-deaf they could be to arguments on history 
and the adult nature of comics in Japan that are second nature here. 
Outside the milieu of Japanese studies (where there's a 
presupposition that anime is interesting and important) it's not 
surprising when you talk to your lawyer or businessperson friends 
that they have not thought much about Japanese comics, or have 
prejudices about comics being for kids, but it's a little more 
surprising with industry professionals.  The presenters, producer 
Ishikawa and director Ikuhara remark that they get the same two 
questions (about Pearl Harbor and adult content) each time they 
appear, and consider it the "default" attitude in the U. S.

We had an excellent conference here at UF on Comics and Graphic 
Novels this February that featured Eddie Campbell, Dan Clowes, Joe 
Sacco, Terry Zweigoff and a keynote speech by Will Eisner  (for a 
rundown, click "Symposium on Will Eisner," 
<http://www.english.ufl.edu/comics>).  These are all comic artists 
and directors who have done extensive and critically regarded 
long-form comics, "From Hell," "Ghost World," "Contract with God," 
etc., and all were concerned to one degree or another and with 
varying degrees of irony with the growing legitimacy of the graphic 
novel as a form (Other evidence of that is Chris Ware's "Jimmy 
Corrigan" exhibit at the Whitney Biennial, critical reception of Ben 
Katchor's work, etc. ). But not one of them mentioned Japanese manga, 
or gave any indication that it influenced their style or was on their 
horizon as artists trying to stretch and legitimize the comic form. 
It just didn't come up.  I was amazed to see these book-length comics 
with complex issues and adult themes that look just like what you 
pick up in Japan all the time, being presented as a brave new 
artistic world.  There were only two presentations on Japanese manga 
(one on Kobayashi Yoshinori's revisionism, a more sophisticated 
version of the Pearl Harbor questions below).  So there's a whole 
discourse on the comic as artistic and literary form which does not 
seem to cross much with Japanologist's discussion of manga/anime. 
Scott McCloud's work on the cognition of comic art is a nice 
exception.

Insofar as listmembers here are probably to one degree or another 
immersed in anime as fans or translators, studying it, or offering 
classes that select out students who are enthusiasts, it's easy to 
form an exaggerated idea of manga/anime's status in U.S. popular 
imagination.  Despite the diffusion of cultural production from Japan 
at the children's level (Pokemon, DbZ, Beastwars) though, and in 
gaming, anime/manga still seem, at least consciously, to be a 
marginal issue for the general population in the U. S.

One could react with some sort of missionary zeal about manga, but 
there are larger questions about the way subjects are organized in 
the modern university and the bookstore that keep "manga/anime" a 
separate domain from "graphic novels".  The more salient issue is 
probably the opportunity to test and sharpen arguments about 
manga/anime with an audience that is not predisposed to find them 
important.  Evidently there is an annual quasi-academic International 
Comic Arts Festival that is a forum where one could bring one's work 
on manga/anime into contact with a more general discourse on comics. 
Anybody ever been to that?  I'd certainly be interested in presenting 
some work there if anyone is interested in a panel.

Anyway, that's what I was thinking about when I saw this article, but 
I'm wondering, Markus, what caught your interest about it?

yours,
J. Murphy




On 9 Jun 2002 Markus Nornes wrote:

>[November 14, 2001 in Los ATngeles]	?@
>?@
>This is old news, but new to me. I came across this, and thoug ht 
>Iwould pass it on. Any chance someone went to this event?
>
>Markus
>
>
>
>
>
>The Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy Foundatio n 
>hasheld the 7th Annual Marc Davis Lecture on Animation on t he topic 
>ofJapanese Animation. Every year, the Marc Davis Lec ture focuses on 
>themedium and the industry of animation. Howe ver this year was the 
>firsttime in which the subject matter w as on the theme of 
>JapaneseAnimation. The title of the panel  was "Drawing from Japan: 
>Anime andits Influences." As propone nts of the Anime industry, 
>ProducerMitsuhisa Ishikawa of the  feature film Ghost In The Shell 
>and Blood:The Last Vampire, a nd Director Kunihiko Ikuhara from 
>RevolutionaryGirl Utena: Th e Movie were invited as guest panel 
>lecturers to hold adiscussion session on stage.
>
>The panel was divided into five discussion sessions. After sho 
>wingthree-minute clips of feature films on Japanese Animation , 
>thediscussion sessions were held as the panelists answered  the 
>questionsof the moderator. The sequences of film presentations and 
>discussions:
>
>1. INROADS:
>ASTRO BOY 1963
>AKIRA 1988
>Panelist: Moderator Jerry Beck and Fred Patten
>
>2.THE KUROSAWA OF ANIMATION:
>MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO 1988
>PORCO ROSSO 1992
>PRINCESS MONONOKE 1997
>Panelist: Eric Goldberg
>
>3.KICKING THE KIDSTUFF:
>WICKED CITY 1987
>PERFECT BLUE 1977
>GHOST IN THE SHELL 1995
>Panelist: Mark Dippe
>
>4.UNIQUELY JAPANESE:
>POMPOKO 1994
>GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES 1988
>PRINCESS MONONOKE 1997
>Panelist: Lisa Atkinson
>
>5.THE NEXT GENERATION:
>BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE 2000
>THE ADOLESCENCE UTENA 1999
>Panelist: Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and Kunihiko Ikuhara
>
>Each of the panelists discussed about their relationship of th 
>efeatured film and their current stance on Japanese Animation.
>
>The panelist for Astro Boy and Akira was Fred Patten. He is a 
>renownedJapanese Animation historian who discussed on the ori gins 
>of stylisticfeatures of Anime
>
>Director Eric Goldberg of Pocahontas was the next lecturer aft er 
>thepresentations of My Neighbor Totoro, Porco Rosso, and P 
>rincessMononoke. He is a loyal supporter of Hayao Miyazaki An 
>imation andpraised Miyazaki achievements.
>
>After Wicked City, Perfect Blue, and Ghost in The Shell, Direc tor 
>MarkDippe of Spawn went on stage as the next panelist. He  has also 
>workedwith Industrial Light and Magic as a visual s upervisor on 
>such filmsas Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgme nt Day, and The 
>Abyss. He wentinto discussion on the influenc es of Anime into the 
>visual and specialeffects of Hollywood films.
>
>Lisa Atkinson lectured on her role in the production and assis tance 
>onthe films Ponpoko, Grave of the Fireflies, and Princess Mononoke.
>
>Following Blood: The Last Vampire and THE ADOLESCENCE UTENA, P 
>roducerMitsuhisa Ishikawa and Director Kunihiko Ikuhara held  a 
>discussionsession with the audience as the nouvelle-generat ion in 
>the future ofanime.
>
>Most of the audiences were members of the Academy and regular 
>visitors. Although some die-hard Japanese Animation fans atte nded, 
>themajority were people who saw anime for the first tim e. From 
>thisauthor's perspective, everyone seemed to be amaze d by the 
>specialtythat the Japanese Animation offered. Especi ally for the 
>audiences whoonly knew the animation medium thro ugh American and 
>"Disney-esque"styles, they were astonished b y the over-age 
>expressions such as goryaction sequences, sexu al innuendos and the 
>naked female body. On theother hand, the  comical sequences of 
>Totoro and Ponpoko filled thestage with  laughter, while they held 
>their breath in awe at thebeautifu l sequences shown on Blood: The 
>Last Vampire and THEADOLESCENCE UTENA.
>
>Here, the author would like to introduce two interesting quest 
>ionsthat were asked by the audience to Producer Mitsuhisa Ish ikawa 
>andDirector Kunihiko Ikuhara. "To what extent do violen t scenes in 
>animehave an effect upon children?" and "Grave of  the Fireflies do 
>notconvey the actual truth. In the United S tates, Pearl Harbor had 
>givenus the glimpse of the truth of h istory. Why doesn't Japanese 
>creatorsdo not use the anime med ium to try to tell historical 
>truth?" Bothquestions are notab le and invoke a sigh of laughter, 
>but such issuesare frequent ly asked to Japanese Animation creators. 
>One can say thatthes e are normal impressions and questions asked by 
>average Americanswho have seen Japanese Animations. It has been said 
>that J apaneseAnimation is popular in the United States (the author 
>lives in theUnited States and can feel the extent of such exp 
>ressions).Conversely, one can also perceive that many people  have 
>such thoughtas said above. Sadly, it will take more time  for the 
>majority ofAmericans to truly appreciate the true me anings of 
>Japanese Animation.By noting the above seems only t o give the 
>impression of getting harshreaction, but the autho r would like to 
>stress that the majority gave aheart-felled w elcome among 
>impressive discussions immersed with jokesand la ughter. The lecture 
>closed with the great impression thatprep onderance of the 
>spectators have understood the basics andinfluential expressions of 
>Japanese Animation.
>
>In conclusion, the author would like to quote the answer by Di 
>rectorKunihiko Ikuhara of the said question stated in the last 
>paragraph.
>
>"Truth has never been interpreted nor conveyed through film. W 
>hetherthey be documentaries or newsreels, it is only one sequ ence 
>under theperspectives of the person through the eyes of  the camera 
>lens. Truthcan never be put into a frame of a came ra and edited. 
>Therefore, nomotion picture can convey the truth in its exact form."
>-	Kunihiko Ikuhara.

-- 



Asst. Professor
Univ. of Florida
(352) 392-2110
<http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/jmurphy>
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