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Lee Gullickson English 382 Professor Birmingham 10/31/11 Midterm

1. In his book, The Anime Machine, Thomas Lamarre discusses multiple perspectives on looking at anime in terms of its production and the themes that can be used to offer a scholarly critique. By focusing on the production behind the anime it can be seen as its own unique discipline, instead of being seen in terms of a Japanese cultural identity. Anime is rising in popularity around the world, and Lamarre focuses on the universal themes in the production of the anime that can appeal to a world audience outside of Japan. He first bases his argument on Paul Virilios theory of cinematism and the effects perception have on the viewer in cinema and then applies the theory to anime and comes up with animatism (Lamarre 6). According to Lamarre, animatism also promises a different way of thinking about technology and of inhabiting a technology-saturated world (6). Animation compared to live action films opens up the possibilities of using different gaps between layers in animation that can affect the narrative, character development, and theme of the anime in ways that are limited to only anime. Understanding how the moving image affects the themes and stories in anime can enable, an animatic critique of the modern technological condition through its negotiation with and struggle against the ballistic logistic of perception (11). This new outlook on

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perception in anime gives scholars a chance to examine anime in new ways and helps define it as a genre. In Susan Napiers review of Lamarres work in the Japanese Studies Journal, she believes that Lamarre goes a fair way toward at least laying the groundwork for, if not totally proving, a new way of positioning anime and animation as offering alternative approaches to a variety of issues subsumed in the term technological condition (Napier 249). Some of the issues that Lamarre raises deal with alternatives to conventional technology, the construction of gender and sexuality in a postmodern world, and the transition from the military-industrial complex to our current globalizing information-gathering society (249). When looking at these issues, Lamarre focuses on the technical and material aspect of creating anime instead of analyzing the theme, content, or the characters in the anime. Emphasizing the process of creating anime, allows Lamarre to separate anime from other genres of films and sheds light on the tricks of the trade that creators use to add more depth to their animation. When Lamarre compares cinemetism to animatism he explains that production methods can have one effect when used in a cinematic film and have a completely different effect in anime. One of these production methods that separates cinematism and animatism is the opening of gaps within the image of a film to add a certain feel to a scene. Lamarre argues that, where in cinema such a gap tends to be perceived as an artifact of low-budget or unskilled film making, in animation we are more likely to accept it as art rather than artifact (9). These gaps in anime give the reader specific cues on what themes or ideas the director is trying to get across in the anime. Katarzyna Wasylak adds to Lamarres theory by mentioning how limited producers are in their techniques compared to full animation productions in her

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article for the Childrens Literature Association Quarterly. With the disadvantages anime faces against full animation production, she argues, Technological limits motivate Japanese animation to look for new ways of expressing movement, which brings the art form closer to the concept of time-image. (Wasylak 428). Anime is limited animation that has the overall goal of reducing the overall number of drawings per second to around twelve drawings while full animation has between eighteen to twenty-four drawings per second. With its lack of fluidity in an animes characters movement, anime is forced to use different techniques from those of full animation and according to Wasylak, aspiring to the creation of a more innovative means of expression rather than the unsuccessful use of the more traditional animation standards of, say, Disney (428). In Lamarres argument, the differences between anime and full animation consists of anime using more static images with an absence of movement, that draws upon the magna that most anime gets its start from. Wasylak mentions this idea in her article along with Lamarres other differences between anime and full animation that include animes limited animation favors graphic design and character design over character animation and the idea of there being a tendency in anime to flattening the layers of the image and thus reducing the in-depth effect in order to create a sensation of movement (428). This last technique is very important when discussing anime and its critique of the modern technological condition in Lamarres ideas. The flattening of the characters and adding multiple layers to the animation is one of the key characteristics of animatism (37). Flattening the images and arranging the layers in a specific way allows the creation of a multiplaner image that can dehierarchize the images elements and make the viewers eyes slide across the image rather than focus on one point.

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These multiplaner images can create a distinct experience in motion for the viewer that cinematism cannot create. Animes tendency toward generating time-images along with its animatic power challenges viewers everyday perception and makes another dimension of time accessible to our senses; then becomes the focus for Masylaks critique of Lamarre and adds, defying the linear understanding of time, annime uses the exploded view to express speed in ways that can be experienced simultaneously from different angles. (429). To delve into this idea further, Masylak uses the character Mugen from Samurai Champloo and gives examples of how animatism enhances the traits of Mugen. In Samurai Champloo, Mugen is a young anti-hero who uses break dancing and other forms of martial arts in his fighting technique. Masylak claims Mugen is an example of a character in whom we cannot discriminate anima-his vital energy-from psyche, his soul (429). She believes that Mugen is what Lamarre refers to as a soulful body in which spiritual, emotional, or psychological qualities appear inscribed on the surface (201). Mugens movements in the show are then dictated by his personality and Mugen then becomes defined by his movements more than anything else. When Mugen is fighting, he is often too fast for the camera to follow and his character becomes an assemblage of images of energy and speed. The camera will have frequent closeups of his sandals hitting the ground with force, vanishing after touching the ground, and closeups of his face or weapons before an attack. Masylak believes that these gaps between close ups may seem like failed animation, but are actually beneficial because, we get the impression that the gaps between his moves are due to his incredible fighting speed, which is impossible for the human eye to register (429). With less technology compared to full animation, anime

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can enhance the viewers perceptions of characters and reinforce the traits through the gaps that anime has in its frames. While discussing techniques that artists use in anime, Lamarre mentions how Miyazaki has greatly influenced peoples perception of anime. There are some common themes in Miyazakis works that Lamarre goes into detail about and they include the use of technology in anime and having a shojo heroin in many of his films. While reviewing Lamarres article, Napier believes the chapters on Miyazaki, bring us to the heart of the book, a dense multi-chapter analysis of various aspects of the anime machine (250). She breaks down the chapters on Miyazaki into three main themes. The first theme is that Lamarre argues Miyazaki does not reject technology, but hopes to put us in a free relationship to technology. This can be seen in Miyazakis film, Princess Mononoke, during the entire film (1997). The plot is centered on a character named Ashitaka who tries to bring peace between the gods of the forest and the mining city of Iron Town. Miyazaki uses this plot to show how technology affects the natural world in todays society. The people of Iron Town are destroying the forest and killing the gods of the forest to mine coal from the mountains to produce iron. Many countries in this technological age have been depleting their natural resources in order to create and fuel their technology just as Iron Town is doing in the film. To become completely independent from natural resources would be a nearly impossible task, and is why we need to not become dependent on technology. Another theme of Miyazaki that Lamarre explores is the use of a shojo heroin in the majority of Miyazaki films. Napier does a wonderful job condensing Lamarres analysis into, the shojo takes on godlike characteristics in Miyazakis work, offering a feminine-gendered

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approach to technology that is potentially emancipating or even salvatory (250). Lamarre does not see the shojo as a product of Japanese culture in anime, but as an anime machine-derived entity whose floating and flexible body offers an alternate technological discourse to the heavy masculine dynamics of Miyazakis male characters according to Napier (250). Miyazaki challenges ideas on the technological conditions in anime in all of these ways. Lamarre breaks new ground in anime with his discussion of animatism and his discourse on how it helps separate anime as its own genre. By focusing on the technical aspects of the production of anime, Lamarre is able to break anime away from being seen as just a Japanese cultural product. Critics of anime seem to welcome Lamarres arguments regarding anime and used his ideas in their own work. Animatism allows scholars to focus on an objective method in regards to anime while also still leaving much room for discussion on how much anime truly does effect the technological conditions we face.

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Work Cited Lamarre, Thomas. The Anime Machine. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Print. Napier, Susan. "Summary of The Anime Maachine." Journal of Japanese Studies. 37.1 (2011): 248-52. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Wasylak, Katarzyna. "Need for Speed: Anime, the Cinematic, and the Philosophical." Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 35.4 (2010): 427-34. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.

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