[KineJapan] genre in anime and recent anime hits

[Caitlin Casiello]

I think with anime, it’s important to recall there are a number of genres
beyond or within “science fiction”/“fantasy” which might operate more
strongly on audience expectations than the broader categories SFF. If we
think of genre as a set of shared tropes which can be used to shape
audience expectations, this might be more useful.

With Demon Slayer, I would call it fantasy/historical but I also know its
“demographic” genre is shōnen which tells me more what to expect from the
series than just fantasy. With Sword Art Online, it fits into the fantasy
anime genre of “video game reality,” somewhat related to isekai (the
protagonist moves into a different world) and in the vein of .hack etc;
knowing that context from anime history gives me more of an idea of what’s
going on. With something like Haruhi, “school setting” and “otaku-aimed
highly referential” might be just as significant genre descriptors as
sci-fi/fantasy.

This is to say that I think part of the reason anime seem to have highly
hybridized genres is because there are anime(/manga/games)-specific(-ish)
genres in place which have been hybridizing overarching genres for a long
time. Is it useful to say mecha is science fiction (defined broadly as
fiction dealing with the concerns of technology in society)? It is, but
maybe it’s more useful to define mecha as its own (sub-)genre with specific
concerns.

On Thu, Feb 3, 2022 at 9:26 AM Michael Kerpan via KineJapan <
kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:

> My guess is that "hybrid" is pretty common -- even in shows that are not
> massive super-hits.
>
> For example, I just finished watching ReLIFE -- a series (2016 and 2018)
> about NEETS being given a chance to re-start by becoming 10 years younger
> and re-doing one year of high school (after which everyone but the subject
> and the entity in charge will forget all about what happened).  While all
> the trappings are presented as "scientific" -- the premise (that this can
> all be done with drug pills) is clearly much closer magic in a fantasy
> story. (For the record, this is an utterly lovely slice of life -- with
> excellent characters).  SSSS Dynazenon  (2021) looks like a mecha series
> (bu actually is as much a slice of life in some ways) -- yet an underlying
> element is that some of the characters are reincarnations of people who
> lived in ancient Egypt (in the time of the pharaohs). Not certain this is
> new -- looking back to Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006, 2009) and
> Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010), how does one characteize this --
> science fiction or fantasy -- or some of both.
>
> I wonder if the literary concept of "science fiction" in the Japan might
> be less rigid than in the West (or at least the USA)?  For instance, the
> manga (2005-2016) on Which And Yet the Town Moves (2010) won a prestigious
> science fiction award (Seiun Awards) -- despite being 90 percent slice of
> life and 9.9 percent (roughly) "fantasy" (afterlife and return therefrom,
> among other things, I'm reluctant to provide much detail) and maybe .1
> percent "typical" science fiction (some flying saucers).
>
> If these are at all useful -- and you want some other examples, I'll try
> to dredge more up from my memory.
>
> Michael Kerpan
> Boston
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 3, 2022 at 3:58 AM Eija Niskanen via KineJapan <
> kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>
>> How would you define or discuss genre in anime in relation to the recent
>> huge hits Demon Slayer, Hero Academy and Sword Art Online. It seems to me
>> they are hybrid, combinign elements of sci-fi, fantasy etc. I see even some
>> scenes in Hosoda's Belle moving towards this kind of popular type of anime.
>> Any hints on articles discussing this are welcome!
>>
>> Eija Niskanen
>>
>>
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-- 
Caitlin Casiello
Ph.D. Student
Film & Media Studies and East Asian Languages & Literatures
Yale University
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