Blog #7

WWII and Japanese Anime

When I think about animation my mind wanders to Mickey Mouse or new cartoons on nickelodeon. However, the use for animation is not just to entertain little children. Anime can have many uses with serious messages. Japanese Anime attitude and tone has had many inspirtion some dating back to the devestations of World War II. A notable effect of Japan's disastrous defeat appears in the gloom and melancholy that hangs over many films and series and separates them from the sunnier, more optimistic tone of American animation.
A more recent film that shows influence from the second world war is the movie Akira. This movie is about a futuristic, sprawling Neo-Tokyo on the point of collapse, with scientists and the military jockeying over a super-human with exceptional tele-kinetic powers while biker gangs and violence runs rampant on the streets.
A second influence of Japanese's involvement with the war can be seen with the extraordinary weaponry used in the anime. combat robots and other military prostheses that amplify the powers of diminutive characters.
The second World War was not recent for some although it was not that far away either. However, for the effects to be still fueling the Japanese animators mind is mind boggling. How the effect of a war can still be threating to those who suffered on the wrong end of the war and being at a place where war was fought.