Forum - View topicAnime and the Environment
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lisamarie
 Posts: 25 Location: Beer Capital of the World, STL MO |
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I just read this article about Disney animated films and their possible impact on the awareness of environmental/animal rights issues.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/23/arts/bambi.php The only anime I could immediately think of that tackles environmental issues issues is Spirited Away. I thought Princess Mononoke did too but it has been awhile since I've seen that movie. With all the coverage on Global Warming in the media I have become more vocal with coworkers and family who do not recycle and maybe from all years of watching cute talking animals in cartoons has made me a vegetarian for the past 10 years! j/k I would like to see more anime movies or series dealing with environmental and animal rights, are there any you can think of? Have any of these movies/series impacted your views or actions towards the environment? |
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HyugaHinata
 Posts: 3505 |
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The Nausicaa manga and anime focus on the environment. More so the manga though.
Earth Girl Arjuna is like a (more) modern Captain Planet. That's all I can think of from the top of my head. |
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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Not to sound like too much of a fanboy, which I am, but Eureka Seven actually takes on environmental issues. Sure, the environment is different and more complex in that series than it is now, but the parallels are quite obvious in the second half. I mean, when all is said and done, spoiler[the Gekkostates goal is to save the planet and find a way to co-exist with the life on the planet, while Dewey essentially tries to destroy it all]. The parallels aren't quite as significant as the more heavy handed messages Ghibli films deliver, but it's still there.
Another would be the movie Origin: Spirits of the Past. It basically takes place in a future in which the forest has basically fought and defeated humanity, though certain groups of humanity still fight to subdue the forest. Unfortunately the film suffers from awful pacing, as the first half flows well and develops well, and then the second half rushes to the conclusion and wastes most of the development from the first half. Heck, there's even characters that are developed in the first half and are then forgotten and completely wasted. It's a shame too, it had potential but sadly it blew it. While it's possible the manga of Nausicaa has more of a focus on the environment than the anime, it's only due to length and extra details as a result of it than anything else. The anime still puts significant focus on the environment; I mean, it's the very central focus of the entire storyline. I would say Nausicaa's story is more focused on the environment than Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away. Even Castle in the Sky touched on the environment to a smaller extent in some scenes, it tends to be a message Ghibli cares quite a bit about. |
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BellosTheMighty
 Posts: 767 |
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I would bring up E.Y.E.S. of Mars, but I don't think anyone wants to remember that. Actually, there was a fair bit of stuff going on back in the early 90's, when this stuff was trendy. Most would seem stupid or preachy today, I think. Green Legend Ran comes to mind as one of the better ones.
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MorwenLaicoriel
 Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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I think pretty much all of Miyazaki's films deal with environmentalism on some level. It's one of the issues he really cares about, so it's almost like a signature of his. (The only film of his that I can think of that doesn't tackle that issue is Porco Rosso.)
Off the top of my head, the only anime I can think of that hasn't been mentioned so far is Wolf's Rain, and....I can barely remember anything about it. |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Although it's most probably my least favorite anime, I'll follow the Ghibli theme and reccommend Pom Poko. It covers the plight of raccoons as they try to retain their woodland home against human development. These raccoons can talk and transform.
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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Did Howl's Moving Castle do so? It's not my favorite of Ghibli films so it's been awhile since I last saw it. Kiki's Delivery Service didn't touch on it much, although Urusula's relationship with the Crows and how she lives could be seen as a subtle environmental message. Whisper of the Heart, which I just saw last night, didn't really seem to touch on anything environmental though. Miyazaki was involved with that story, though he didn't direct it, so it's hard to say if it counts or not.
True, surprised I didn't think of this one. The direction the story took was more social in nature and a look at society. There was definitely some environmental elements put in there as well, which was often a result of the society elements that the story focused on. Heck, the wolves themselves were somewhat of a result of the environmental state of the world. |
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Josh7289
Posts: 1253 |
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Definitely Princess Mononoke, but since it's a fantasy world, I'm sure a lot of viewers don't make the connection to the real world.
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skyfishing
 Posts: 30 Location: West Coast, USA |
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well the most environmental animated show i remember was of course.... Captain Planet!!! it dealt with alot of environment issues and whenever things looked their darkest you could always count on the planeteers to save the day by calling out Earth Wind Fire Water and of course the worst power to have when fighting evil doers... Heart.
then my memory gets a little hazy and i think captain planet kills the bad guy and restores the planet back to normal... you know just like in real life. *edited so as i do not offend and i only promote good humor Last edited by skyfishing on Sun Apr 27, 2008 7:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kyokun703
 Posts: 2505 Location: Orgrimmar |
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Sorry, but that's a pet peeve of mine. "Gay" does not equal "stupid." |
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skyfishing
Posts: 30 Location: West Coast, USA |
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well your right gay does not mean stupid. it means....to be happy. ahhh the 1930's where life was so simple and pure.... except for WWII and all.
anyways i digress ... sincere pause.... sorry. |
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BladeDragoonZETA
 Posts: 586 |
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just be honest, how would you feel if you were on the Planeteers and everyone else was moving earth, throwing fire, whipping up gales or controlling water and all you could do was listen to animals....
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skyfishing
Posts: 30 Location: West Coast, USA |
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i always did think that aqua-man had the worst super powers of all the super friends... but even he was more pro environment then most other super heroes..... hmmm smething smells fishy
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Murasakisuishou
 Posts: 1469 Location: NE Ohio |
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Arjuna is a really great environmental series; it's wrapped up in the skin of a magical girl show, so it's quite accessible, but it discusses some important issues that I'd been aware of but never really truly understood the impact of. A lot of people say it's preachy, but I didn't think so; quite the contrary. The views of the characters are presented in a very natural and human way and as information instead of just someone's agenda. It's also beautiful to watch.
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MorwenLaicoriel
Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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Ahh, I wasn't thinking about Howl's or Kiki's. From what I can remember, Howl's Moving Castle doesn't bring up the subject, although it does make a point of having a few scenes of characters lingering in beautiful outdoors locations a few times....I was going to say that maybe those two movies didn't have the enviromental themes since they're based on novels (at least, Howl's is, and I think Kiki is, too), but he didn't have any problem with forcing an anti-war theme into Howl's so that's probably not the reason. I didn't include Whisper of the Heart since he didn't direct it. Same with The Cat Returns, which is really more of a (slightly generic, although I like it) coming-of-age story with some fairytale trappings. |
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