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Anime influenced by the '95 aum cult attacks?

I think Japanese cinema (anime/kaiju especially) have had a bit of a fatalistic bent since WW2 - witness how many times Tokyo is destroyed and/or seriously damaged in Akira, the Godzilla movies, and Nihon Chinbotsu (Japan Sinks).

Andrez wrote:

I think Japanese cinema (anime/kaiju especially) have had a bit of a fatalistic bent since WW2 - witness how many times Tokyo is destroyed and/or seriously damaged in Akira, the Godzilla movies, and Nihon Chinbotsu (Japan Sinks).

I have to disagree with this -- the perennial destruction of Tokyo is no more a sign of Japanese fatalism than the perennial alien invasion of middle America is. Apart from the obvious metaphorical import (Godzilla symbolizing the spectre of nuclear war; alien invasion as a stand-in for cold war xenophobia), what we are seeing is simply an application of the principle of proximity: a storyteller will prefer to set an outlandish story in a familiar setting (or, alternately, tell a familiar story in an outlandish setting), in order to give the audience a familiar element to hang on to. A Japanese audience would find a tale of Godzilla rampaging through New York somewhat less relevant than the same story set in Tokyo. Notice, for instance, that the American remake of Godzilla did, in fact, set the story in NYC instead.

Although the main thrust of the story is about sexual tensions in a group, the setting is the core constituency of an Aum-like cult.

yeah i know what you mean. i'm reading a book on the aum cult and i'm just so surprised that they were able to get so many recruits w/ their bs beliefs. although the book did mention the cult targeted alotta people who were "outsiders" such as otakus and scientists who tended to be loners

spikespiegel98 wrote:

yeah i know what you mean. i'm reading a book on the aum cult and i'm just so surprised that they were able to get so many recruits w/ their bs beliefs. although the book did mention the cult targeted alotta people who were "outsiders" such as otakus and scientists who tended to be loners

Don't underestimate the power of belief in the unbelievable. Viewed from the outside, any faith is complete lunacy -- yours and mine included.

just rewatched bebop's 23rd episode brain scratch and the cult members in the story bear resemblence to aum in real life; for example the members handing out flyers are all young and attractive, plus the cult call scratch always seems to emphasize the "A" in their name, and Aum of course begins with an A. the cult members sit in lotus positions and wear white pajamas in the episode and in real life...

Krystian Woznicki: So Anno changed the original plot of the story when he saw the news about the invasion of Aum's hide out by the police. Did he change it because it was too close to reality?

Azuma Hiroki: Yes, he said so.

KW: But did why he change it? What is the problem with Evangelion being so close to the Aum case?

AH: Anno thought that the original scenario will not be suitable for broadcasting. [...] But anyway, the original scenario is so shockingly close to the political motivation of the Aum Shinrikyo group, they fight against the upshot of the enemy, without knowing what the enemy really is. The angels change their form for example into pyramids, into shadows. I asked Anno about such abstract characteristics of the angels. He said that this reflects the feelings of his generation. For his generation the enemy is not political. It is also not definite. I mentioned to Anno that such abstract characteristics of the enemy are very close to the conception of Aum as enemy (e.g. poison gas) which he admitted. He also admitted the similarity of Evangelion with Aum. Nevertheless it is too simple to conclude that Anno was sympathetic with Aum. He emphasizes the closedness and exclusiveness of this group. They lost any contact with reality. In Anno's view this again is very close to the situation of anime fans. In fact Evangelion criticizes anime fans, and anime culture: it begins with ambiguous flirtations with conditions central to Aum, and ends with its critique as launched on the situation of anime fans.

[...]

KW: But do you really think that the parallels to Aum are characteristic of, or say, unique about Evangelion? For instance the case you just mentioned has occurred in various cases of recent film productions e.g. in the case of Fukui Shojin's Rubber's Lover whose production goes back to 1992 and which shortly after Aum came to fruition. Out of the fear to provoke misreadings Fukui changed some parts, as he feared those to be mistaken for a sympathetic account of Aum. Rubber's Lover is, on various levels, permeated with an ambiguous critique of Aum, such as their concept of the self, enlightenment through isolation, etc. Angel Dust made about two years before Aum happend describes certain conditions that became dominant in the Aum phenomena: again isolation, brain-washing, extortion. But the aspect of circulation, as it is linked to the mode of reception is perhaps unique about Evangelion and on this level also comparable with Oe's case: Evangelion was broadcasted at 6:30 p.m. in the afternoon on a major channel, reaching millions of people whereas the films just mentioned are usually seen by a limited audience. By the way, how popular was Oe at that time?

AH: I think that he was even more popular than he is now. But I admit that the closeness to Aum is not the privilege of Evangelion. The point is that Evangelion is an intrinsic critique of Aum. Anno's career is so close to that of Aum. The Anime fan is the typical type of Japanese otaku. The Aum affair tackled the cultural territory of the Otaku. [...] The problem with Otaku is not that they are underground but major and at the same time completely closed, "anti-social" and isolated. Their number is very high...

KW: ...and they are "alone but not lonely." (laughs)