Anime and genre

[David Desser]

Coincidentally, regarding the discussion on this list of the question of 
anime, genre and the live-action cinema, I just wrote an article (editorial 
might be a better term in this instance) for the Dejima Japanese Film 
Festival 2006 catalogue exactly on the issue of anime and Japanese cinema. 
I note that most studies of Japanese cinema unquestionably and 
unquestioningly equate the term "Japanese cinema" with live-action film; 
alternately, most studies of anime write out the live-action cinema as if it 
did not exist in Japan.  Of course there are exceptions (The MIDNIGHT EYE 
GUIDE is a fine example), but for the most part the two are considered 
separate and unrelated.  (And this has nothing to do with the fact of "film" 
as a medium of expression nor "theatrical" vs. television or video.  I 
suggest that most people now consume "Japanese cinema" in non-theatrical 
modes.)  In the article I stress the need to write history and criticism 
that accounts for both live-action and anime and I think an interesting 
place to begin is to think about SAMURAI 7 and SEVEN SAMURAI.  It never 
hurts to go back to the classics to think about the (post)modern.

David Desser