Japanese Aesthetics And Anime

This study addresses the relationship between Japanese aesthetics, a field steeped in philosophy and traditional knowledge, and anime, a prominent part of contemporary popular culture. There are three premises: (1) the abstract concepts promoted by Japanese aesthetics find concrete expression at the most disparate levels of everyday life; (2) the abstract and the concrete coalesce in the visual domain, attesting to the visual nature of Japanese culture at large; and (3) anime can help us appreciate many aspects of Japan's aesthetic legacy, in terms of both its theoretical propositions and its visual, even tangible, aspects.

Japanese animation has been given fulsome academic commentary in recent years. However, there is arguably a need for a more philosophically consistent and theoretically integrated engagement. While this book covers the key thinkers of contemporary aesthetic theory, it aims to reground reflection on anime within the aesthetics of R.G. Collingwood.

Japanese anime plays a major role in modern popular visual culture and aesthetics, yet this is the first study which sets out to put today’s anime in historical context by tracking the visual links between Edo- and Meiji- period painters and the post-war period animation and manga series ‘Gegegeno Kitaro’ by Mizuki Shigeru.

At the turn of the millennium, international youth culture is dominated by mainly two types of aesthetics: the African American cool, which, propelled by Hip-Hop music, has become the world's favorite youth culture; and the Japanese aesthetics of kawaii or cute, that is distributed internationally by Japan's powerful anime industry. The USA and Japan are cultural superpowers and global trendsetters because they make use of two particular concepts that hide complex structures under their simple surfaces and are difficult to define, but continue to fascinate the world: cool and kawaii. The Cool-Kawaii: Afro-Japanese Aesthetics and New World Modernity, by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein, analyzes these attitudes and explains the intrinsic powers that are leading to a fusion of both aesthetics. Cool and kawaii are expressions set against the oppressive homogenizations that occur within official modern cultures, but they are also catalysts of modernity. Cool and kawaii do not refer us back to a pre-modern ethnic past. Just like the cool African American man has almost no relationship with traditional African ideas about masculinity, the kawaii shTjo is not the personification of the traditional Japanese ideal of the feminine, but signifies an ideological institution of women based on Japanese modernity in the Meiji period, that is, a feminine image based on westernization. At the same time, cool and kawaii do not transport us into a futuristic, impersonal world of hypermodernity based on assumptions of constant modernization. Cool and kawaii stand for another type of modernity, which is not technocratic, but rather 'Dandyist' and closely related to the search for human dignity and liberation.

Essays by Jeff Fleming, Takashi Murakami and Susan Lubowsky Talbott. Foreword by Judith Richards,

Anime, hand-drawn or computer-animated Japanese cartoons, appears in television series, films, video, video games, and commercials, and represents most genres of fiction. This critical study explores anime's relationship with art from a twofold perspective. Drawing from categories as varied as romance, comedy, slice of life drama, science fiction, bildungsroman, and school drama, it examines anime's representation of characters pursuing diverse artistic activities and related aesthetic visions, focusing closely on the concepts of creativity, talent, expressivity and experimentation. Additionally, the analysis engages with anime's own artistry, proposing that those characters' endeavors provide metaphors for the aims and objectives pursued by anime itself as an evolving art form. The cross-cultural resonance of this work makes it relevant not only to anime fans and scholars, but also to those interested in the phenomenon of image-making.

From computer games to figurines and maid cafes, men called “otaku” develop intense fan relationships with “cute girl” characters from manga, anime, and related media and material in contemporary Japan. While much of the Japanese public considers the forms of character love associated with “otaku” to be weird and perverse, the Japanese government has endeavored to incorporate “otaku” culture into its branding of “Cool Japan.” In Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan, Patrick W. Galbraith explores the conflicting meanings of “otaku” culture and its significance to Japanese popular culture, masculinity, and the nation. Tracing the history of “otaku” and “cute girl” characters from their origins in the 1970s to his recent fieldwork in Akihabara, Tokyo (“the Holy Land of Otaku”), Galbraith contends that the discourse surrounding “otaku” reveals tensions around contested notions of gender, sexuality, and ways of imagining the nation that extend far beyond Japan. At the same time, in their relationships with characters and one another, “otaku” are imagining and creating alternative social worlds.

Become an expert on cultural details commonly seen in Japanese animation, movies, comics and TV shows.

An exploration of anime’s masterpieces and game-changers from the 1960s to the present—with contributions from writers, artists, superfans and more. Anime—or Japanese animation—has been popular in Japan since Astro Boy appeared in 1963. Subsequent titles like Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion helped spread the fandom across the country. In America, a dedicated underground fandom grew through the 80s and 90s, with breakthrough titles like Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira making their way into the mainstream. Anime Impact explores the iconic anime movies and shows that left a mark on popular culture around the world. Film critic and longtime fan Chris Stuckmann takes readers behind the scenes of legendary titles as well as hidden gems rarely seen outside Japan. Plus anime creators, critics and enthusiasts—including Ready Player One author Ernest Cline, manga artist Mark Crilley, and YouTube star Tristan “Arkada” Gallant—share their stories, insights and insider perspectives.

Exporting Japanese Aesthetics brings together historical and contemporary case studies addressing the evolution of international impacts and influences of Japanese culture and aesthetics. The volume draws on a wide range of examples from a multidisciplinary team of scholars exploring transnational, regional and global contexts. Studies include the impact of traditional Japanese theatre and art through to the global popularity of contemporary anime and manga. Under the banner of soft power or Cool Japan, cultural commodities that originate in Japan have manifested new meanings outside Japan. By (re)mapping meanings of selected Japanese cultural forms, this volume offers an in-depth examination of how various aspects of Japanese aesthetics have evolved as exportable commodities, the motivations behind this diffusion, and the extent to which the process of diffusion has been the result of strategic planning. Each chapter presents a case study that explores perspectives that situate Japanese aesthetics within a wide-ranging field of inquiry including performance, tourism, and visual arts, as well as providing historical contexts. The importance of interrogating the export of Japanese aesthetics is validated at the highest levels of government, which formed the Office of Cool Japan in 2010, and which perhaps originated in the 19th century at governmentally endorsed cultural courts at world fairs. Increased international consumption of contemporary Japanese culture provides a much needed boost to Japans weakening economy. The case studies are timely and topical. As host of the 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and the 2025 Osaka Expo, Cool Japan will be under special scrutiny.