INFLUENCE
OF AMERICAN COMICS
AND SUPERHEROES ON JAPANESE MANGA
AND ANIME
Sanjana Susan John
1313248
4PSEng
American Superheroes vs Japanese Superheroes
Martin Winckler in Super Heros defines a hero as as one “who
confronts extraordinary adversaries and also superhuman difficulties to save
his life or someone’s life or to defend universal values.The hero is the one we
want to imitate. He’s escaping from danger because of his strength, his great
intelligence or simply because he is good.” (Winckler 2003, 6). The word
superhero is connected with comic books in the USA as was first applied to the
character of Superman in 1938. Winckler also says that the superhero need not
always be “good” but could also be an enemy of sorts, which is seen in
characters like the Hulk or X-Men who are considered a threat to the human
mind. Superheroes have different agendas. For example, Superman fights for
justice, Batman fights for revenge while Hulk fights because he is angry.
Moreover, superheroes are not static characters but are constantly evolving and
becoming stronger. One common characteristic of superheroes is that they all
have a weakness (Superman’s weakness is Kryptonite). Some have double
identities (Diana Prince/Wonder Woman), and they also have allies (Spider Man
has Mary Jane and his aunt May). Also, a superhero always has an enemy and the
superhero and villain are always paired : Batman and Joker, Spider Man and the
Green Goblin etc.
Similar to American Comics, there are superheroes and villains in
Japanese anime and manga, like Supah Jaianto (Ishii, 1956), Astroboy (Tezuka,
1963-1966) and Godzilla (Honda, 1954). Japanese superheroes are either
humans or robots or monsters, and they can be male or female. Some are
extra-terrestrial while some are products of technological experiments similar
to the superheroes in American comics. Rejane Hamus-Vallee talks of a
prevailing characteristic of Japanese superheroes : the link between the human
and the machine. Astroboy, made by Osamu Tezuka and Major Kusanagi in Ghost
in the Shell, are both machines that think and feel like humans. In some
mangas, the machines are created in such a way that the humans can go inside
the machine in order to pilot it (seen in the character of Actarus in Mazinger
Z). There are also certain manga where the characters are half human and
half machine as seen in the character of Cobra in Space Adventure Cobra who
has a gun under his left arm.Such mutations are seen in most Japanese manga and
cartoons apart from those with superheroes. In Highschool Kimengumi, the
characters become small while their heads become large when they do something
foolish. This technique is called Super Deformed Technique or the Chibi
Technique and is commonly used in manga because the emotion shown through this
is easily understood by the reader/spectator. The quest for identity is shown
through the allegory of mutation, which consequently leads to an exploration of
the future of humanity.
The superheroes in the US comics influence Japanese superheroes. This
explains why Japanese television has a show called Spider-Man (Toei,
1978). Toei purchased his rights to change Marvel’s Spider Man into a superhero
in Japan. In the show, the man Yamashiro Takuya has an alien bracelet which is
capable of creating webs like the original Spider Man. The Japanese Spider Man
is different from Marvel’s Spider Man, the only similarities being the costume
and the web abilities.
Manga vs Comics
Manga is often compared to American comics. In the USA, Comics were
introduced at the same time as superheroes, in the 30’s. Manga and Comics are
similar in some ways. Both are published by major publishing firms specializing
in that particular area, like DC or Marvel Comics. Both come from pulps and
comic strips where the medium, distribution, layout and origins of heroes are
common.
The differences are seen in the fact that Japanese production is larger
as Manga is a form of mass media which makes up 40% of all published Japanese
magazines and books. Almost one billion manga are sold per annum in Japan. More
than 120 million volumes of Dragon Ball have been sold since 1984.
Japanese people read a lot of manga and as they commute a lot, they tend to
read a lot of manga while on public transport. The contents of Manga are
diverse and appeal to a much larger and wider audience than comics.
Whereas comics are created mostly for teens and children, Manga is
created for all age groups. The difference between the two is seen in the
publication format and frequency. Comics are published under the name of the
hero (Batman or Superman), whereas Manga are published in journals or magazines
that are daily or monthly, and several titles can exist in the same magazine.
Different Manga can be found in low cost editions, at a low price and with low
print quality since they are meant to be disposed of after reading. When there
are enough episodes in a Manga, it is compiled into a good quaity book which
people buy when they intend to keep it.
Comics’ authors usually sell the name of the work they create so that
the scriptwriter’s and drawer’s team can regularly change. On the other had,
Japanese Manga authors decide whether to go on with the series or end it, and
no one else can continue the work if the author decides to end it. Also, Manga
is mostly written and drawn by the same person and are usually published in
black and white with little censorship.
America vs Japan
America is linked to Japan in complex and ambiguous ways. Japan was hit
by the Atom bomb launched by America, and after the Allies prevailed in the
Second World War, America occupied Japan. Manga and Anime depict numerous
instances of nuclear explosions and the enemy is one who comes from the west.
This became common after the Second World War because the USA was for a long time
considered to be the model for Japan. It can be argued that anime and manga are
becoming more and more “western” while Disney films are becoming more
“Japanese” as is seen in The Lion King which was inspired by King Leo
(Tesuka) and the characters are also drawn in the Japanese style.
Historically, Japan was isolated for a long time and began to open
itself up to the rest of the world only after 1945. By force of circumstances,
Japan ended up on the “good side” with the Americans and hence was a part of
the west in its struggle against the communists. Also, the Americans who
settled in Japan after the Second World War gave more importance to
reconstituting a powerful political right wing than to helping Japan examine
its past. Hirohito, the man who pushed Japan into war, was forgiven by the
Americans and hence the citizens of Japan did not have to think of their
painful past. This amnesia can be seen as a result of the cold war, which in
turn resulted in revisionism.
One often questions whether the Japanese are ashamed or proud of their
history, and also tries to understand the Japanese military’s behavior during
the War. This identity search is addressed as a theme in most Mangas and
Animes. One crime that is still denied by the Japanese is that of Unit 731.
Researchers of this military laboratory conducted experiments on
bacteriological war between the years 1936 and 1945. The Americans in turn
offered impunity to the head of this laboratory in exchange for the research
results. Hirayuki Kitakubo’s Blood: The Last Vampire at first seems like
a simple vampire story, but if one looks closely, it also includes metaphors of
invasion and alienation. The protagonist, Saya, is hunting down vampires and
the action in the series takes place prior to the Vietnam war, in an American
base. This shows that the series is critical of the American invasion and draws
a parallel between the Vietnam Congress and the Japanese Military during the
Second World War. The series hence becomes the metaphor for the reflection of the
consequences of the Second World War.
Representation of Eyes and Bodies in Manga and
Anime
Osamu Tezuka was an admirer of Disney’s animations (especially Bambi,
which he saw over eighty times) and this influence lead him to create
characters with large, rounded eyes. Other Mangakas influenced by Tezuka also
created characters in the same way and this eventually became a dominant
characteristic of manga and anime. The eyes were drawn in this way to show
diverse emotions which became necessary for mangas and animes based on action.
The more “alive” the character is, the greater is the involvement of the
spectator in the character and his/her situation. The spectator is induced to
believe in the “illusion of reality” so that they can identify with the character.
Roland Barthes believes that the eye reflected the soul which is clearly seen
in Japanese Manga and Anime. According to Alessandro Gomarasca, this feature is
part of the Euro-American aesthetic, the “cute”.
The idea of fantasy plays a role in identifying the origins of big eyes
and the mangaka style of drawing bodies. In the Meiji Age (1868-1912) the heart
of Japanese modernization was a national policy regarding body construction.
According to Gomarasca, the Western threat had to be contained so Japan used
the technological instruments that were previously used by their enemy. The ‘wakon
- yosai’ (literal meaning: Japanese spirit - Western science) marked the
start of Japanese technological colonization. Students from Japan who studied
in the USA were to marry Western women to improve the Japanese nation’s genetic
inheritance. The politicians of Japan believed that if they could physically
match and compete with Westerners, they could save the soul of Japan and its
people. Hence, the Manga heroes depict a Japanese fantasy : instead of the
characters looking Japanese, they actually represent an ideal Western body.
It can thus be seen that though the enemies in Mangas always come from
the West, the USA, at the same time, becomes a model and a fantasy. So a Manga
showing a woman with a body unlike the stereotypical Japanese body, is actually
showing a fantasy originating from the Meiji Age. Even the representation of
the characters’ eyes as big and wide is taken from the Western representation
as these eyes are clearly not those of the people of Japan. Mamoru Oshii who is
a famous director of shows like Ghost in the Shell, Evangelion etc,
suggests that animators are heavily inspired by the USA, and hence they tend to
create a new world through their Manga, that is different from contemporary
Japan.
References:
(1) Napier,
Susan. 2001. Anime From Akira
to Princess Mononoke : Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation,
New York : Palgrave.
(2) Brophy,
Philip. 1994. ‘Ocular Excess: A Semiotic Morphology of Cartoon’s Eyes’.
In Kaboom! Explosive Animation from
America and Japan, Sydney: Museum of Contemporary Art.
No comments:
Post a Comment