School centric anime and their importance in current day Japan

As Goodman (2011) points out, the Japanese education system provided a clear connection for both male and female workers between success in education and the quality of the jobs they could secure (Goodman, 2011; 52). Generally speaking Japanese school children are made aware from an early age of the direct correlation between the size of a potential employer and the job security, salary, and status that employer would be able to offer. From the early Post-War period onwards, top employers would choose their new workers from top universities, which in turn chose their intake based on high school hierarchies, that in turn took students based on scores of the high school entrance exam that everyone sits when they are 15. The entire education system of Japan is based on a meritocratic structure that engenders high competition amongst students, and produces what Ronald Dore (1976) describes as a ‘very expensive intelligence testing system with some educational spin-off, rather than the other way around’ (Dore, 1976; 48-49).

Samurai Society: an exploration of Japaneseness in post-war Jidaigeki

Post-war samurai films, or ‘Jidaigeki’ (period drama) represented a renewed interest in the cultural foundations of Japanese society, and are part of a broader search for national and cultural identity that embodied notions of Japan’s unique place in history a newly globalised world. The samurai in such films, while fictional figures, are nonetheless grounded in a version of Japan’s historical past that has been embellished by oral traditions and isolated from the problems and insecurities of an unfamiliar period, thereby elevating them to the level of myth (Silver, 1977). Jidaigeki, like The Samurai Trilogy, present us mythical, often tragic heroes who both push against authority, while also conforming to widely held cultural and social norms. The reality of historical figures, such as Miyamoto Musashi, is replaced by the legend of someone who is seen to embody essential elements of ‘Japaneseness’, and who helps to demonstrate the true power and prestige of the Japanese people.

‘Animating’ society

Anime is a fascinating cultural artefact, with over 50% of Japanese studios producing animated works instead of live action, thus demonstrating a shift in the Japanese studio system from live action films of the 1950s and 1960s to one focussed on anime as its primary product. This shift to the animated medium means that anime is arguably one of, if not the best way with which we can explore Japan’s depiction of its own society and culture. The wide variety of anime, ranging from early morning children’s shows through to late afternoon/early evening series focussed for families and then onto edgier, often darker series for teenagers or those in there twenties is astounding. Such wide variety of series and anime’ broader appeal puts it in an important place within contemporary Japanese culture; whereas traditional culture such as Sa-do, Kyu-do and Ka-do have been refined over centuries and are the very basics of Japanese culture, anime is a relatively recent phenomenon, starting in 1963 with the release of Osamu Tezuka’s legendary Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy). Furthermore, whereas traditional culture is often focussed on the self, a form of meditation and a path to Zen enlightenment, anime provides a fascinating and important means with which we can view Japanese society and culture, along with the issues that are important at any given time.

Aku no Hana – A Polarising Anime

When Aku no Hana first aired you would have thought that the series was the anime equivalent of the antichrist judging from peoples reactions on Twitter and other social media. The outpouring of rage and abuse thrown at the series, along with the counter abuse thrown by those who proclaimed it to be the saviour of anime without any hint of the maligned and hateful moe was something to behold. From my perspective I thought it was rather silly of people to proclaim it to be the best series ever simply because it annoyed those who ‘only watch moe-blob anime’, and the general polarising nature of the series seemed to feed into debates, or more accurately arguments that have been circling for years. From my own personal perspective I have so far found the series quite boring and haven’t actually enjoyed it at all, which is not to say that it is a bad series, just that it has a few fatal flaws that mean I am not going to complete it. But, before we get onto these flaws, a quick discussion of what is interesting about Aku no Hana, and why I like these elements seems in order.

Suisei no Gargantia – Cultural Divides and Collateral Damage

The story of Suisei no Gargantia seems to be one about the differences between cultures and how they shape our perspectives on life. Ledo, for all of his combat experience is currently incapable of understanding the way of life on Gargantia. As we found out in episode one he has spent 145,000 hours in combat, effectively living his entire life inside the cockpit of Chamber either in combat or stasis waiting for the next deployment. We have seen him flying emotionlessly into battle, neither fearing death, nor worrying about what the future might bring, instead he is utterly focused on the task at hand and carries out his duty as a soldier with ruthless efficiency. This is the kind of attitude towards his and others life that can only really be created through constant exposure to war and the fight for survival. Ledo’s society, what little of it we saw, is militaristic, with citizenship and the ability to breed only granted to those that survive. In effect, their fight against the Hidengauz acts as a form of natural selection, one that weeds out the weak elements and attempts to breed strength – although this way of thinking is inherently flawed and largely reinforces the strict, militarist governance that they have to live with.

Guilty Geass: Attack of the Vampire Mecha – aka – Kakumeiki Valvrave

Guilty Geass: Attack of the Vampire Mecha (Aka, Valvrave The Liberator) is a truly wonderful series, one that plays with the giant mecha genre in a way that is both entertaining and self-aware. I have never been a massive fan of mecha anime, with the Gundam franchise, and a few other seem far too serious minded for my taste. There is something truly brilliant, but also rather ludicrous about giant robots fighting each other with flashy weapons and special moves, unfortunately, by taking themselves seriously, the comedy that could come from such things is often lost. This doesn’t mean that I dislike mecha, just that I tend to gravitate towards the more light hearted side of the genre, where giant robot series like Gravion and Aquarion reign supreme. What Guilty Geass: Attack of the Vampire Mecha does is take the more serious elements of global politics and super weapons and present them in a far more self-aware form that is serious enough to be entertaining.

Suisei no Gargantia – Giant robots and water worlds

I have to admit that I was rather cautious when approaching this series, largely because of Gen Urobuchi’s involvement. As a writer he comes up with some interesting ideas and settings, but over the years I have watched series he has written and been consistently disappointed or generally bored by his approach to character and plot development, and largely horrible dialogue. So with this in mind I was wary of something similar happening to Suisei no Gargantia, and the first episode surprised me with its energy, colour and overall feel that made me want to watch it again. The first half of the episode was well directed, although the space battles felt oddly lifeless, without the same sense of energy and life that battles in Macross frontier, Vandred and Mouretsu had. Not that it’s a bad opening first half, but more that it didn’t grab me in the same way that other series have, and while it looked very pretty, it felt slightly like a throwaway scene, one whose purpose was to set up Red’s back-story so that we understand his actions on a strange, and to him, dangerous new world.