Forum - View topicAnswerman - What Was Anime Like Before World War II Ended?
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Huh, so political satire was actually quite popular in Japan before World War II? What happened since then, considering shows like Mr. Osomatsu get under public fire and get episodes banned for making fun of things? Did World War II instill a dedication of sorts to people of authority?
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Rekishika
Posts: 23 |
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If you are referring to the kibyôshi mentioned in the article, you should know a) that they weren't all political satire, and b) that the Kansei reforms at the end of the 18th century put a stop to more or less all of them. Of course, the whole story about the "traditions" that led to modern manga and anime is more fantasy than fact. (And I'd like to see a "serialized manga magazine" for girls from the time before films came to Japan.) As to people, authority and political satire, neither the rise of militarism in the 1930s, the wars with China and then the Allies, nor the American occupation provided a climate of tolerance for open dissent. But even if political satire took hold afterwards, the current climate really does not seem to be too conducive. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13552 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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If the director of the anime on the thumbnail died over 50 years ago, then that would make it among the few anime in Japanese public domain. As such, what is the name of that title?
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0nsen
 Posts: 256 |
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As far as I'm concerned anime was invented in 1982/83. I wouldn't call the animated movies from Japan before that time anime. And yes, I'm knowingly excluding the first Gundam and lots of other stuff. See, these titles didn't have cute little girls flashing their panties so I couldn't possibly consider them to be anime. Yeah, yeah, Cutey Honey started in 1973. I'm willing to compromise and say anime was in the process of being invented since at least 1973. But really, before 1984 (and Nausicaa) it just wasn't the same.
Yes, Tezuka, father of cheap anime and the production committees. Made Black Jack with this 18 year old girl that looks like she's five, constantly flashing her panties. I'm aware. I'm also aware, that the first Black Jack anime was released 1993. Seriously, don't feel the need to search for counter examples. Chances are, I'm aware of them. This is just opinion anyway. This is why I started this post with "As far as I'm concerned..". |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Aw, okay then. I always found it interesting seeing political satire done long ago, like seeing this graffiti from medieval Europe in a town of its lord wearing a jester hat. It says a lot about dissent within a certain population and, in cases of secretly done subversive work like that, shows what people were frustrated about that they weren't allowed to say in public. I noticed political satire is a lot less common in east Asia, even if it's veiled (like Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," which was about eating babies on the surface but really about Ireland's wealthy's lack of concern about normal people) and I know most of the cultures there consider it blasphemy to speak ill of anyone in a higher position than you. So that little bit of the answer stood out to me, because I thought it was unusual and very interesting to have a country in that part of the world have a lot of political satire. |
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Snomaster1
 SubscriberPosts: 2796 |
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Thanks Justin,for that interesting look at anime before World War II. Also,that silent anime was interesting. A shame that it didn't have English subtitles. I'd have liked it more if I could have understood what it was saying.
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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This was very insightful and I hope it opened up more people to early Anime History. I've been doing my own research on the subject pretty much since the moment I finished Shirobako and got really into the sakuga fandom, and I really do think this kind of stuff is very important.
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