Whether or not anime can be considered a serious form of art really depends on the person, but if you ask this person then here is my answer: OF COURSE IT IS!!! However what is anime? At first glance anime may seem to be just another children’s cartoon show, but if one looks into it deep enough one may find out that it is so much more. Just as art itself can mean different things to different people, so can anime. Growing up here in the USA many people here tend automatically classify anything animated as being kid stuff. And who can blame them, practically every cartoon we’ve ever made, or imported from another country, was made for kids in mind, or hacked up and butchered for kids in mind (i.e. Sailor Moon, Voltron, and many others.) The Japanese however chose not to limit themselves to just children and have produced some of the most incredible works of art that has raised the bar for many aspiring artists to go and surpass. Anime has gone from telling simplistic stories to showcasing marvelous adventures that throw our imaginations in overdrive and challenges us to do better and be better than we already are. It has now inspired many premiere artists such as Murakami Takashi and Simone Legno, the creator of the Tokidoki lifestyle brand. Recently the Japan Society has opened a new exhibit named “KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Manga + Video Games” that is dedicated to the world of anime, manga, and video games and showcases some of the best works within the anime world.
Upon visiting this new exhibit the first thing you see is the manga (Japanese graphic novels) section. Japanese manga is the forerunner of many anime series, they are what lay the foundations for its animated counterpart and are what fans expect to see. The exhibit introduces us to several of Japan’s finest, and most disturbing, manga ever produced. Examples include Stop! Hibari-Kun by Hisashi Eguchi, The Five Star Stories by Mamoru Nagano, Pure Trance by Junko Mizuno, Sakuran by Moyoco Anno, and Afro Samurai by Takashi Okazaki. The one most likely to be recognized within this group is Afro Samurai which was most recently turned into an anime by Studio Gonzo and aired on Spike TV, with Samuel L Jackson providing the voice for Afro. In short Afro Samurai is a story about one man who’s seeking to take revenge against the man who murdered his father and will kill anyone who gets in the way, be they attempting to kill him or just innocent bystanders. The anime has proven to be highly successful and has spawned a sequel in the form of an animated movie and just might possibly spawn a third installment. The artwork in the series proves just what anime is capable of in terms of style and animation technique and is a fine example of anime at its best.
The exhibit also provided clips from some of Japan’s most famous anime movies which included Super Dimension Fortress Macross (known by most of us under the name Robotech), Paprika, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, Patlabor 2: The Movie, and Akira. Films such as Akira and Macross were able to set new animation standards in terms of animation style as well as delve into the realms of a post apocalyptic future and provide us with a warning on we investigate that which is unknown. While not featured in the exhibit anime has also provided a means by which many others can express themselves and their ideas and visions. Hayao Miyazaki is a prime example of this. His films showcase elaborate and beautiful stories that show how far our own imagination can take us.
Everything I’ve written so far doesn’t fully explain why I think anime should be considered a serious form of art, but I hope that it explains why I think anime should be considered as a path in which one can find inspiration for future ventures as well as find a medium in which they can express themselves to their hearts delight.