Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! The Tryptophan Coma
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Gasero
 Posts: 939 Location: USA |
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Don't worry Brian, none of the "holidays" in our United States are actually "holy days" anymore. They're just excuses to get off from work and increase consumerism. At least the European countries are honest and just like taking vacation days.
I'd actually be interested in reading about the history of anime origins and the symbolism involved in any anime series. Although, I doubt I would find much with shows like Queen's Blade and Ikki Tousen being so popular. |
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pparker
 Posts: 1185 Location: Florida |
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Funny, last week's ANNcast dealt with reviews and led to discussions about critiques and analysis, so that topic is fresh. I don't know where to suggest looking online. Books are probably your best bet, though most talk about older series of course. The Mechademia books, of which volume 4 was just released, are good for going somewhat deeply into certain shows and how they relate socially and politically to Japan--which is where much of the symbolism comes into play. The articles are mostly well-written and lead to good book references as well. There is a bit of anime/manga history, but a few books address that in more detail. |
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Dorian
 Posts: 111 Location: Houston |
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Hey this was refreshing. No one ever answers the questions kids ask about anime when they are researching it for a class. The column was just the thing for after Thanksgiving, information leavened with humor. Thanks Brian!
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PingSoni
 Subscriber Posts: 195 Location: Lansing MI |
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I think the stories and symbolism in anime and manga are not unique to those genres, and most of the basic stories have been around for eons, across many cultures. Sailor Moon is a telling of the ages-old story of innocents involved in the battle of good against evil (neither of which is ever actually that well defined or distinct one from the other), a battle which good is ultimately doomed to loose, but which must be fought regardless. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for example, tells the same story, as does The Lord of the Rings and many other epic works.
Storytelling is one of the oldest human preoccupations, both for entertainment and for sharing beliefs. |
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YotaruVegeta
 Posts: 1061 Location: New York |
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As simple as the question is, "Why was anime created?" is a good one. I would say that its inspiration was because cartoons existed before and they inspired Japanese cartooning, but there are so many reasons that can be given besides that.
This makes me want to read more books on the history of animation in Japan |
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here-and-faraway
 Posts: 1528 Location: Sunny California |
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This week's "Hey, Answerman!" totally fell flat. I don't need to read a "dumbed down" history of anime/storytelling or a "ha-ha-just-kidding! paragraph" about symbolism. Brian, you're better than this!
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Anymouse
 Posts: 685 |
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To create anime from scratch, we must first create the universe.
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YotaruVegeta
Posts: 1061 Location: New York |
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There have been tons of historical retrospectives written about anime. Why should that question have be taken seriously? That kid needs to go do his own homework!
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here-and-faraway
Posts: 1528 Location: Sunny California |
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I know what this kid did. He/she was supposed to ask a primary/expert source about anime. As a teacher, I appreciate the fact that Brian responded. But how much do you want to bet the kid will simply cut and paste Brian's answer, ha-ha-symbolism-paragraph and all and submit it to his/her teacher? Meanwhile, the usual Answerman readers, who would normally expect this question to be filed under "Flake of the Week", are left a little disappointed. Geez, maybe this is the most intellectual question you got this week Brian? If so, I forgive you, but still... |
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YotaruVegeta
Posts: 1061 Location: New York |
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Just like this student, one guy one the internet should not be teaching you all about anime. Anyway, someone else is probably going to send in a similar anime 101 question. For me, I think it's pointless to ask that sort of question. Maybe Hey, Answerman needs an FAQ or a disclaimer.
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Youkai Warrior
 Posts: 505 Location: Sarayashiki |
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I don't consider Buffy the Vampire Slayer an epic work, it's just a cult series that people watched for sheer entertainment. And while Sailor Moon, The Lord of the Rings, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer all have the good vs. evil theme, they are not all the same as one another. Sailor Moon is basically an all-girl version of power-rangers, and the "evil" that they have to fight, is really weak, they win no matter what. It's not much of a struggle. A real good vs. evil would be if there is a huge struggle, and it is unknown which side will win. It was obvious in Sailor Moon which side was going to win. Plus with the whole "monster of the week" formula, I wouldn't call it epic at all. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was alot like a Marvel comic book, which is no surprise considering the creator based Buffy off Shadowcat. And then there is The Lord of the Rings which really is epic. It was unknown which side would win. It's interesting that in the end, the only reason why the side of good won was because Gollum and Frodo were fighting over The One Ring, after Gollum bit it off his finger, and they both fell off the cliff, the ring falling into the flames. Frodo never threw it in the fire. It fell in. If it hadn't fallen in, hell would've broken loose. I know that was a long-winded explanation, but I just wanted to point out that there is a difference between the good vs. evil themes, depending on what you are viewing. They are not always gonna be the exact same formula. |
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billborden
 Posts: 73 |
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I always love the "why was 'X' created" questions--particularly in the area of pop-entertainment; because so many people always look for a deep, driving answer, but it usually resolves down to "entertainment". People wanted to tell/show a good story and they wanted to do it in a medium that would produce a living for themselves. Whether you are talking about post Passion-play early Medieval English theater or modern Anime it really all boils down to someone wanted to entertain someone else, and they wanted to be able to buy dinner afterward. The deep artistic/symbolism bit usually come later.
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eyeresist
 Posts: 995 Location: a 320x240 resolution igloo (Sydney) |
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A sucky column. It was the standard troll - "please do my assignment for me by answering these boilerplate questions which I don't even understand" - and you fell for it.
Looking forward to the next "proper" column. |
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YotaruVegeta
Posts: 1061 Location: New York |
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How could it be considered "falling for it" if a) he pointed out it was a flake e-mail and b) he really didn't give an answer that's totally appropriate for doing a homework assignment?
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stopher87
Posts: 75 |
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Grats. That was the first answerman article I read in full since Zac stopped writing it.
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