As a kid which for me was nearly four full decades ago, Ultraman was my favorite hero. Mrs. Shizaru found the first half of the original series on DVD recently and got it for me. I watched it and enjoyed it, but I couldn’t tell you why…nolstalgia? Childhood memories? Maybe noth.
But I have to wonder…why do japanese shows like this focus on giant monsters so much? Is there something cultural behind that? (I could also ask why say, in a series like Star Blazers, are the characters all white people? Its a japanese show, why don’t they look japanese?) Don’t get me wrong, I love the stuff, I just always wondered that.
#2 answer first: Guess what, most of the characters in Space Cruiser Yamato * (“Star Blazers” in USA release) are supposed to* BE** Japanese. It’s just that as one of the conventions of the Manga/Anime art style, the “default” facial configuration is a sort of generic big-eyed light-skinned caricature because (the artists claim) it lends itself better to expressiveness and to creating memorable characters (and having them be generic it broadens the potential audience).
I guess I always KNEW that, but they don’t look japanese. (Nova is blond for instance) but what the hell…it obviously broadened the audience so ya can’t argue with success.
Yeah, I’ve heard that PC reasoning before, but they are clearly caucasian. Japanese people can distinguish physical characteristics as well as anyone else, and I’d wager it is/was just part of the post-WWII USphile (what’s the word I’m looking for here?) wave that swept Japan, e.g. cosmetic eye surgery, etc. But, you will find a mountain of stuff arguing Delirious’ point.
You think Battleship Yamato (Star Blazers’ Japanese title) was American-philic? You haven’t seen the full version, then. The Gamilons = the US, metaphorically. Well, not quite equal–but there’s no little analogy.
Yeah, I can’t find the article now, but I read one once where it was sad that certain things had t be changed in the US version (probably just translated dialogue and the part where they find the Yamato in the dried up ocean) for american audiences. I guess with that in mind, delirious’ explanation loses a lot of steam. But I wonder still why the characters always look so anglo-saxon. Maybe it is marketing purposes. Maybe not. I stlill wonder why giant robots and monsters seem so prevalent in japanese science fiction.
They do have some kick ass spaceship designs though. I’ve always been partial to Captain Harlock.
A WAG about the “giant monster” thing? Well, I think that Godzilla started it all, and Godzilla was born of intense radiation. As a country, I imagine that Japan has a thing about radiation…
But the monsters also reflected the mood in later years. The Smog Monster (Hedorah?) was in response to air pollution so bad in parts of Japan that they were afraid it was killing people.
The US went through a “big bug” phase having to do with leaked radiation as well.
Well, the Japanese artists that set in motion the dominant anime/manga appearance post-WW2 (Tezuka, etc.) themselves claimed the “western” appearance of the characters was for the sake of better expression and broader range of characters. Tezuka did admit a strong American influence: Disney. (The Disney Corp. sort of returned the favor some decades later…) IOW they figured since Disney comics/toons were so good at expression and made such big hits, they would study that model and develop their own style around it. Got rich at it. Now, the thing is, the average Western casual viewer of Anime/Manga sees stuff like Star Blazers or Speed Racer or Sailor Moon and their stylistic descendants. BUT if you go to Japan itself, you will find that a LOT of Manga is produced that IS pictorially realistic, or even way caricaturesque to the point a PC Westerner would be embarassed, in portraying Japanese as, well, Japanese. So it’s a style decision – however “Western” she looks, the character of Sakura in Card Captors, as written originally IS supposed to be very much Japanese.
The giant-monster thing involves not only the obvious “radiation” meme, but also a standing tradition of ogre/monster/giant myth; combine the two and you have another money-maker in your hands.
What is this Card Captors you speak of? The only US release of that series was the subtitled-only distribution of Cardcaptor Sakura by Pioneer/Geneon. (Taking a cue from the Trek fans about ST:V here).
Actually, that’s one of the things I liked about the US release of Digimon. I’d still like to see the original Japanese version but at least they didn’t try to completely de-Japanify the series (compare with Pokemon or several other shows.)
I have a few DVDs with a more realistic animation style. Grave of the Fireflies, for instance. I figure the style should just follow what effect the creators are looking for. For instance, what the heck is up with the Simpsons? They all look like they have liver failure. The asians in the show look whiter than the whites. And so on.
I have no cite, but I remeber hearing, or seeing somewhere, that the Giant Monster (and Giant Robot to fight the monster) come from the atomic bombs dropped on them in WWII. Radiation is constantly being depicted as making creatures grow or develope special powers, and this was part of.
(Ok, I don’t think that came out as coherent as I hoped, oh well)
