Is it a high or low cultural genre, according to Napier (2005)? What are some of its sub-genres?
The extract by Napier offers a very insightful and formative look into anime and how it has evolved over time from traditional Japanese works of art. The 1997 anime film, Princess Mononoke is a fantastic example of how successful this animated genre has become over the decades. This film broke box office records in Japan, making it a template for how anime films should be made. A much earlier anime film titled Akira went international in 1990. Other anime films later followed as a means to give Japanese animation an opportunity to be recognised by the western world. Throughout the 90’s, Japanese cartoons had been imported to a number of different countries worldwide.
Napier then goes on to compare anime with American cartoons such as Disney. It’s interesting how he makes this clash in his discussion between two different forms of animation derived from two separate cultures. Japanese animation in this case appears a lot more diverse as it can be targeted at many different audiences due to the content materiel in which it employs. Disney, however, have only been known to make child friendly and family appropriate films. Hayao Miyazaki, a highly acclaimed anime director, has even been looked upon as being the Japanese Walt Disney. Napier also included how anime will always be a highly valued genre in Japan but western countries will only have it deemed as a sub-genre. '..a "popular" or "mass" culture in Japan, and in America it exists as a "sub" culture.' (Napier, 2005, p.4)
What really makes anime unique in it's own right is the captivating imagery and illustrations. This particular art form was originally seen in Japanese graphic novels known as manga. 'Images from anime and it's related medium of manga are omnipresent throughout Japan.' (Napier, 2005, p.7) However, after anime took the world by storm, manga has only been viewed as a sub-genre.
Napier, S. (2005). Anime From Akira To Howl's Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrove/Macmillan.
Thanks Joel. Good response. You answered the question somewhat indirectly, but you got there :) The comparison between Miyazaki and Disney is interesting - most notably because of the difference in the way the two animators saw the genre of animation. Disney, creating and driving the western perception of animation as a simple narrative vehicle for simple plots largely young audiences while Miyazaki, from the beginning, embraced complex, layered and often very adult themes. And Miyazaki's vision has helped define and drive the very different role animation plays in Asian societies today (particularly Japan).
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