The history of Japanese anime is as old and illustrious as the cinematic medium itself. The earliest account of hand-drawn animation originating from Japan goes back as early as 1917. Japanese anime is a complex sub-genre of cinema and unlike other major animation studios like Disney Pixar, Dreamworks, etc tends to employ complex graphic art, characterization, and cinematography. Anime productions tend to focus less on movement and instead focus more on the detail of settings and use of camera effects such as panning, zooming, and angle shots.
My first introduction to anime was through a manga series many people have grown to love and still love till date called Dragon Ball Z. The anime series was an epic blend of fleshed-out characters, a likable protagonist, and villains that actually carry a lot of weight along with making the stakes go sky-high. I had loved the series as a twelve-year-old and still love it to date. My introduction to anime through this commercially and critically acclaimed anime brought forth to light various common themes and similarities most anime share.
The physical stature and structure of most anime characters are structured hyper realistically, unlike other Western animation companies that essentially create caricatures of what a normal human is supposed to look like. This hyper-realism comes to an abrupt stop when we gaze our eyes upon the faces of these characters. Males, regardless of economic, social, or monetary status have chiseled jaws, bright, wide, and glimmering eyes with wavy eyelashes complete with a slim physicality. Females share bright glimmery eyes, have a wide bust and a waist that most men would pinpoint as being sexually desirable. My observation is limited to the protagonists. The supporting characters have more physical depth and individuality when it comes to their overall physiology.
The inclusion of prominent adult themes in most animated films is virtually non-existent in western cinema. Mentioning the Indian animated film circuit is essentially pointless as not even the most avid cine goer can mention even a single ‘credible’ animated film that has originated from our country. Japanese anime has a knack for tackling complex themes such as suicidal ideations, sexuality, anti-war sentiments, child trafficking, sexual trafficking, etc. These thematic representations are camouflaged amidst visual metaphors and emotionally complex characters. A lot of critics of this genre pinpoint the employment of melodrama and exposition as being a hindrance to the narrative structure of the film.
I cannot disagree with this criticism as the above-mentioned tropes are in fact employed in anime films. However, it is important to note that we non-Japanese speaking folks understand dialogue either through sub-titles or literal English translations. We can never truly catch the essence of Japanese dialogue if we aren’t accustomed to the language. Literal translations often leave out certain elements of dialogue and this, in turn, starts off a chain reaction which makes the literal translation seem wooden. As for melodrama, I feel it’s a matter of personal preference. Some like it and some don’t. In my humble opinion, whenever employed in anime, it is never a hindrance to the plot.
Following are my top 3 favorite anime films of all time –
1) Howl’s Moving Castle
Hayao Miyazaki is a magician in the literal sense when it comes to immaculate story-telling and gorgeous world-building. The filmmaker exemplifies with his cinema what it truly means when we say that film as a concept is nothing but a visual showcase. As with most of his films, the film starts slow as the director introduces us to the world he has visually created for us. We never truly understand what city or even country it is that we are inspecting. As soon as the film starts we understand that this world isn’t quite normal. There is a visceral presence of war or external conflict in each setup frame of the first act.
Our main protagonist in the film is Sophie who starts off as a flawed character, as is the case with most of Miyazaki’s protagonists, but ultimately she deals with her inner conflict and demons and comes out triumphant. Thematically, the film is full of metaphors that scream anti-war sentiments, which is not a surprise as Miyazaki penned down the script of the film right after the USA’s 2003 invasion of Iraq. The film beautifully captures the fragility of life and how the stigma around growing old is heavily exaggerated in society. Miyazaki’s personal distaste over modernity and technology is highlighted once again in this film with some scenes flat out representing the former concepts as the root of all evil. The film isn’t perfect and tends to wander a bit before focusing on the narrative and important themes, but it is needless to say that this film is a visual masterpiece. For me, personally, it isn’t better than Miyazaki’s ultimate masterpiece which does find its place higher in my list.
2) Your Name
Your Name is a film I have been pestered by many people to watch and give my thoughts on. Since I thoroughly enjoy anime I somewhat was interested in watching the film but just somehow never did. Now that I have, I have concluded two things:
a) My friends were right to pester me and
b) I should’ve watched the film earlier.
The phenomenon that is the basis of the screenplay is very easy to explain however the depth in which it is explored is an achievement on its own and I commend the director for conceiving such an original and groundbreaking plot. So what is the film about? Simply put, it is the story of two high school students who switch bodies with each other every second day. This phenomenon is never explained and we never throughout the course of the film really understand why this happens. And this isn’t a hindrance as you never really get bothered by this because the rest of the plot grips you to the core. The following narrative explores their lives and how slowly yet steadily start to fall in love with each other even though they haven’t technically ever met. The plot explores the age-old ‘star crossed lovers’ stereotype in a very non-boring and emotionally immersive way. Being the hopeless romantic that I am and have been since the onset of time I did tear up in the end. The film touched the right heartstrings. However, I must warn you, just like any other anime, the film is melodramatic, can act too epic and this may be bothersome for some. Fortunately, I am not one of those people.
3) Spirited Away
Often hailed as the greatest animated movie ever made, Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It put the already flourishing Japanese film industry on the map and to date remains the highest-grossing Japanese movie ever made. It is also the only non-English language, hand-drawn film to win the Academy Award for the best-animated feature film.
As soon as you start watching spirited away you cannot help but be in awe of the gorgeous world that the director has created. You follow ten-year-old Chihiro and her parents as they are on their way to their new home in a city where Chihiro’s father has secured a job. Beautiful light pink cherry blossom petals trace through the wind as the car rushes through the streets. As they are nearing their new home they stumble upon an abandoned theme park and Chihiro’s parents decide to explore it despite her constant appeals against the same. After a few minutes of exploration, the family is transported into the spirit world.
The rest of the plot follows Chihiro as she attempts to free herself and her parents from the ruler of the spirit world Yubaba, a sorceress. The themes explored in the film range from trafficking, child labor, sexual abuse, the universality of guilt to name a few. The film’s technical and thematic brilliance makes it not only my favorite Japanese anime film but my favorite animated film period.
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