You are on page 1of 19

HUL231 Term Paper

Presentation
Freudian & Literary analysis of Manga
Submitted by-
Saurabh
Adwait
Shenoy
SHashi
What is Manga?
Manga is a medium
of storytelling which
draws its existence
from the ancient
Japanese art form
of Hanga literature.


Hanga literature
means depiction
through paintings.
It was developed in
Japan in the late
19
th
century.

Freud and His ego
Freud proposed that we have abandoned/repressed wishes
which have been over laid but their continued existence is
attributed to their re-emergence.

Why and How do we repress, abandon or overlay these
afflicting wishes? Why do some wishes cause pain at all?

Coming back to Freud, children inherit default or
instinctive character.

Children are instinctively egoistic, feel their immediate needs
intensely and strive ruthlessly to fulfil them. Freud calls this
as Primary ego.

Society as a structure will collapse if our primary ego
dominates. So our society has envisaged Secondary ego or
society induced principles, morals and taboos to inhibit,
abandon, repress and overlay Primary Ego.


Various civilizations have been emphasizing on the development of
secondary ego through various means like MYTHS.

Myths have been portraying the dominance of secondary ego by:
Depicting tragic endings of people guided by their primary ego
Upholding the Secondary Ego- Morals, Principles, Ethics

Over the time same social taboos concerning our Primary ego have
been dealt with different approaches, and so the social devices to
repress them have constantly evolved.

In todays context manga, novels etc. urban literature form along
with the age old myths, traditions, customs and fairy tales are
responsible for overlaying primary ego.

Now we will analyse a manga and substantiate our case, presenting
excerpts which will show the story propagating the idea of
secondary ego and repression of primary or unconscious ego
along with some theories of Freud and other readings discussed in
class.



Naruto
Naruto is a story of a young ninja Naruto who is fighting to end the
century Long Shinobi War.

He posses Nine-tailed Fox or an energy form full of hatred.

He is aided by his comrades one of whom, Sakura, is his love
interest. He is mentored by Jiraiya, a renowned sage, and Kakashi, a
great warrior.

The shinobi world is divided into various countries ruled by the
feudal lords and protected by Shinobi Villages. Naruto belongs to one
of these villages The Leaf.

Each Shinobi Village is headed by KagesThese villages are
comprised of tribes which specialize in a specific set of war
techniques, inherited from ancestors.

Sage of Six Paths is the ancient most Shinobi known, and is believed
to be the father of the Shinobi World.

Naruto and Freud
Kyubbi a nine tailed demon-
fox symbolizing Narutos
primary ego, overcomes his
consciousness when Naruto is
consumed by hatred.

There is an incident when he
attempts to kill Sakura who
was his love interest but had
neglected him for Sasuke.

After gaining consciousness he
repents over his actions and
vows to overcome his hatred.

Captain Yamato, Kakashi
Hatake, his mentors, guide him
to control his primary ego.

Giving in to his
primary ego and
acting ruthlessly,
Nagato kills his
own master and
aims to over-
power every
territory to bring
about an end to
war. He attacks
Naruto after
destroying his
entire village.

In the story, it is prophesized that one of Jiraiyas (Narutos
master) apprentice will be the saviour of Shinobi world.

Nagato(Pain) and Naruto, both being Jiraiyas sibling
disciples, follow different paths to bring about that change.

He realizes and rues over
his mistakes. Finally, he
entrusts Naruto to save the
world and sacrifices his life
to resurrect the dead.

This is a direct display of
tragic ending to those
being guided by primary
ego and upholding of
secondary.
Sage of Six Paths mother
performs the social taboo of
stealing Chakra from the
Jubi tree in order to rule
over the world.

As a result, an all out war
breaks and causes
sufferings and deaths just
like opening of Pandoras
box.

Her primary ego of setting
up her dominance lead to
century long wars.

Later on two sects Indra
and Asura fight over the
same issue.
Naruto as Retelling of Hindu
Scriptures
Ashura and Indra have been at
everlasting war to posses the divine
power of Bijjus.
This bears strong resemblance to
Hindu Myth in which Asuras and
Devas led by Indra are at constant
war to possess Somras or elixir of
life.
The hand signs that shinobis enact
before performing any jutsu or spell
are based on Mudras which are
ritual gestures associated with
Hinduism and Buddhism.
The concept of reincarnation in
Naruto is same as that of many
Hindu Gods in Hindu Mythology
Drawing and Writing Style OF
Naruto Manga
Naruto as a manga portrays a wide spectrum of
emotions focusing on inspiration, motivation and hope.

The cartoon drawings convey the emotions strongly.
Readers can figure out the personality of the character
through his drawings.






The manga is
supposedly
influenced by
Japanese and
Indian history. The
author is greatly
influenced by World
War II and we can
observe this
influence on manga
too.

Manga as a growing form of
literature
Initially popularised by the
Japanese government to facilitate
easier and cheaper access to
ancient Japanese art and history.

Modern form of manga began to
develop post the World War II.

Tackles issues that people can
relate to easily.

Depictive form of literature
consisting of plain black and
white drawings and dialogue
bubbles which are in kanji script
and read from right to left.
Japanese influence on Manga
Portrays the everyday Japanese life.

The names of the character; the manner in which the
characters address each other; their clothes; their diet.

Some changes are made in the translated versions to
accommodate the comfort level of foreign audiences; For
example: in Fairytail , Natsu Doraaguniru became Natsu
Dragoneel, Gure firibusta became Grey Filibuster etc.

The appearances of the characters in the manga are in some
manner similar; long thin limbs compared to the rest of the
body, large eyes, pointy hair in case of males, well-endowed
females etc. WHY?
Manga and Society
HARENCHI GAKUEN: this manga criticised the then
prevailing educational system in japan and was partly
responsible for the changes that followed.


AUM SHIRIKYO MANGA: This manga created uproar amongst
the otherwise resilient Japanese people as it was considered
to undermine the hegemony of the Japanese emperor. There
is a Japanese terroist group sharing the same name too.


MISSHITSU: The contents of this manga were so explicit for
its time that the writer was fined 1.5 million yen and all his
copies were ordered to be taken off the shelves and destroyed.
Manga and Politics
Political scenario in every
manga follows a particular
hierarchy analogous to the
one witnessed by the
Japanese society.


In Shinjeki no Kyojin the
hierarchy is visible in the
form of residence of the
people; the outermost wall
protecting the working class
(and making them relatively
unsafe) while the innermost
protecting the monarchs and
providing utmost safety.
Manga and War
I grew up in Okayama, which is right
next to Hiroshima. My grandparents
went through the terror of war. My
grandfather taught me to believe that
war is never the right answer, but I
also understand that every little thing
in our history causes the build-up
towards war, and when it reaches its
limit, war breaks out. There will
always be war. I feel lucky that I
grew up in a generation that didnt
experience war. However, there are
certain things that only my generation
can tell in a story, and I can tell it
from my own perspective. Even
though its fiction, I want to make
people feel like that there is
still hope.

-Masashi Kishimoto
Creator of Naruto
Conclusion
We conclude that Freudian philosophy can be used to
interpret urban literature like Manga form as well as
it was used to analyse myths, fairy-tales and fables.

Naruto can be interpreted as a retelling of Hindu
Scriptures.

Manga, as a literary form, has greatly influenced and
shaped the global society and political scenario.

Manga is a famous and rapidly growing form of
Japanese literature. It reflects the Japanese history and
present in a glorified version.
Questions?

You might also like