Anime History 1

Some students in one of my classes proposed doing a research project on an aspect of Japanese culture and history. In honor of their desire for deeper understanding, I have decided to do presentations of my own! One of my dreams is to write a book on representations of different races and ethnicities in Anime. This might seem like a small topic for some of you, but trust me, it is HUGE. I even have another blog devoted entirely to talking about race in anime, so I won’t be able to go through all of it in one post. For now, let’s start by talking about the history of anime in Japan and beyond. There are many histories related to anime, but I am going to try to present this in a way that’s easy to follow.

First, you should know the difference between anime and manga. You can go to wikipedia, but I don’t like their article on the subject of anime, so here is a little blurb I wrote up about anime vs. manga:

Anime is a controversial term, but I’m going to use it to refer to media originating in Japan as well as influenced by Japanese style animation media (like Korean, Chinese, and U.S.-produced works). Note that Anime is a MEDIUM or an ART FORM not a GENRE. These days, critics are becoming more conscious about the difference, but there was a time when film critics would lump all anime into a single genre, ignoring the wide range and depth of genres within Anime. Japanimation refers to anime that is produced “in Japan” – but many of these are made with out-sourced Korean labor, so it’s complicated.

Manga is comic-book format anime-style literature. Basically: stylized comics originally from Japan or strongly influenced by Japanese anime style. Manga are written/drawn by manga-ka. 

To begin, TEZUKA Osamu is considered by most anime and manga historians to be the “God of Manga.” He created some of the first modern manga in Japan and inspired the “Golden Age of Manga” in the late 1940′s. He created some of the most famous characters in the world, like Astro Boy (1963), Kimba the White Lion (1965), etc. Here is a clip from Youtube:

One of the first things that you mght notice is that Astro Boy has massive eyes that take up well over a third of his face. Compare to this animated short of Betty Boop, a major source of inspiration for Tezuka:

Notice that this particular clip of Betty Boop shows her as a ringleader for some kind of Third World freak show, ahem, I mean “Talent Show,” with caricatures of all races. Betty Boop was created in 1930, way before the Civil Rights struggles of the 50′s and beyond. The Betty Boop series wasn’t the first popular spectacle to make a profit off of racist stereotypes. Minstrel shows like the show Betty Boop puts on in this animated short were popular as far back as the blackface minstrel shows of the 1800s.

Also, going back to Astro Boy, notice that he can fly faster than a speeding train, he can fly around the world (there is a shot of milk maids in the Swiss Alps), and he can explode through mountains. The production date (1963) of Astro Boy indicates that it was made for a post-war (read: after World War II) era in which Japan is struggling to heal from the destruction of the incendiary bombs from the air raids on all major cities. Not only that, the Japanese government, under the Allied (American) Occupation, was trying to promote technological advancement in order to become a “First World” nation.

I think that’s enough for now. More next week! Don’t forget to post your comments!

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