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Being a 20-something
and having been raised in America, I thought I had experienced a high
degree of imaginative feeding in my upbringing. I grew up on Star Wars
and Terminator, reruns of the original Star Trek and Mission:Impossible,
Marvel Comics including Iron Man and Spider-Man, authors such as C.S.
Lewis, Ray Bradbury, and a host of other sources. But it wasn't
until the last couple of years that I discovered a new source of creative
offerings. It came from the Land of the Rising Sun, and as I soon found
out, nothing I had seen before quite compared with the breadth, depth,
and maturity of imagination I was currently witnessing. I had discovered
Japanese animation. "Cartoons?"
you ask. How can I say such a thing about cartoons? Let me first say
that Japanese animation, commonly called anime (pronounced ann-eh-may),
are not just cartoons. That's like saying the book of Hebrews is not
a deep book. Sometimes coming
in the form of half-hour episodes and sometimes in full-fledged 2-hour
theatrical releases, anime covers the range from offerings for kids
to serious drama for adults. Anime has recently garnered more attention
and expanded its audience thanks to Blockbuster video stores throughout
the country carrying a separate anime section as well as conventions
exclusively devoted to anime and Japanese comics (known as manga). The populace
of Japan, not having been influenced or raised on the traditional American
SF/fantasy icons and institutions, have accepted animation as a legitimate
form of expression, whether in comics, movies, etc. It would not be
a weird sight to witness a Japanese man sitting on a train, perusing
a comic that he had pulled from his briefcase. And yet in
this country it seems that there is still an ongoing battle for respectability
for science fiction, fantasy, animation, and the comic book art form.
In the U.S., SF/fantasy, comics, and animation are for kids, and at
most they provide nice high adventure like the Star Wars series and
modern mythology like Star Trek. At least, that's what most Americans
would claim. When I first
began to watch Japanese animation, I was stunned by the degree of imagination
that I was witnessing. I tried to figure out why Japanese writers were
so much more imaginative than American writers. I soon learned that
it wasn't a higher degree of imagination, but a cultural separation
between East and West. Not having been raised in the traditional fare
of the West, those from the East developed their own institutions for
SF/fantasy and animation, and those from the West cannot help but be
surprised at the differences. They weren't
more imaginative in the East. They were just producing films and comics
with which I had no collective basis for comparison. Of particular
note from the rapidly growing list of available anime are those featuring
the talent of director Mamoru Oshii. His last three films, Patlabor
, Patlabor 2, and Ghost in the Shell (which received a U.S. theatrical
release in select locations) achieve stunning levels of animation, complex
storylines, and unsurpassed creativity. All three movies
are of a simplicity that allows you to enjoy the first ride while maintaining
a complexity such that you glean more insight and interest from further
viewings. Oshii's use of visual symbology and intricate plots involve
the audience as you watch his stunning worlds come to life. And yet
despite all the surroundings, Oshii understands that only by having
characters you care about will an audience truly appreciate a film.
His characterization is deftly handled from the spoken and sometimes
silent interactions among each other. One thing that
will be immediately recognizable to Christian viewers is Oshii's incorporation
of the Bible in his films. All throughout the three movies mentioned
are verse quotations, analogies, and other Biblical references. It would
appear that director Mamoru Oshii is Christian, but I discovered that
not to be the case. In an interview with Oshii in Animerica magazine,
he stated that he likes the Bible "for its philosophy." Mamoru Oshii's
Biblical inclusions challenge you to think on what is being offered.
If you are the type of person who would rather sit back and shut off
your brain in your video viewings, it would be wise to pass over his
movies. However, if you like to think, to uncover secrets hidden away
in story and plot, characters and creations, landscapes and environment,
then Mamoru Oshii will provide something quite new and exciting for
you. The discovery of an amazing, unconfined imagination awaits.
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