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Otaku Culture

Mar 09, 2016

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Justin Wagner

An annotated comic book about Anime and it's origins from postwar Japanese trauma.
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Page 1: Otaku Culture
Page 2: Otaku Culture

Where are we?

At a bomb test site.

Why?

We’re anime characters - and we were brought here to Show our

worth.

You see, anime stories originate from the history of Japan and the aftermath of nuclear destruction.

These type of Japanese animations explore Japan’s faults in the Pacific War, while incorporating a positive message of changing values to peace; using machinery for joy instead of for war.

This makes it easy for generationsof fans looking for a brighter future with a keen interest in technology to fall in love with this style and their themes, a part of otaku culture.

This obsession with otaku, known as mania, is usually harmless, with fans proudly decorating their rooms and backpacks with their favorite characters. However, sometimes it gets worse.

History

Japanese artist Shigeru Komatsuzaki left a legacy with his graphic depictions of war in his paintings. The paintings reminded the older generation of war and dread, while the newer generation, bombarded by war documentaries at the dawn of the TV age, fantasized of commanding an immense military force. Leiji Matsumoto, inspired by these “war pictures”, created the anime Space Battleship Yamato, launching the Anime boom of the 1970s. Space Battleship Yamato, based on the name of the Japanese battleship and Japan’s last hope in World War II, was instrumental in the rise of otaku subculture, as it dealt with radiation, sympathized with the antagonists, and discussedoverpopulation issues.

Astro Boy, created by Osamu Tezuka, known as the “father of manga”, is known as the first true cartoon that embodied the aesthetics that would later be known as anime. About a boy robot and his adventures, Tezuka was trying to show a world where man and technology coexist. Tezuka’s art was inspired by Walt Disney and Max Fleischer, and his themes were inspired by the atom bomb droppings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

A painting by Shigeru Komatsuzaki

Space Battleship Yamato

Osamu Tezuka and his characters

DefinitionsAnime: Japanese style of animationManga: Japanese style comic bookMania: Someone with fanatical enthusiasm for a particular subjectOtaku: Literally, “your home”; obsessed fans, primarily of anime and manga

Key ArtistsOsamu TezukaLeiji MatsumotoIsao TakahataShigeru Komatsuzaki

Key WorksAstro BoySpace Battleship YamatoGrave of the Fireflies

Page 3: Otaku Culture

This obsession with otaku, known as mania, is usually harmless, with fans proudly decorating their rooms and backpacks with their favorite characters. However, sometimes it gets worse.

Over time there have been domestic terrorist groups in Japan that used anime tolure in members.

After one of these groups carried out a Sarin gas attackon the Toyko subway in 1995, the media and parts of the public in Japan turned against Anime.

That is why we appeared on this island where we

await destruction.

But WE won’t let that

happen!

But I thoUght the people of Japan love us. surley a few bad eggs couldn’t cause

this?That’s true. entire regions of citiesare dedicated to collecting and trading manga, or japanese comics,and manga newspapers.Are the top 2 and 3 most subcribed newspapersin the country.

Aum Shinrikyo’s Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo Subway on March 20, 1996, was the most serious attack to occur in Japan since the end of World War II. A domestic terrorist attack, the cult released sarin gas in several main lines of the Tokyo Metro, killing thirteen people, and injuring thousands. The group looked to attack trains passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatacho, home to the Japanese government, in attempt to overthrow the government, and insteall group leader Shoko Asahara as the “emperor” of Japan. Aum Shinrikyo was inspired by anime, using an anime film for their recruitment efforts. Space Battleship Yamato in particular influenced the cult, naming their own air purifiers for the attack “Cosmo Cleaners”, a direct reference from the show. The media and the public turned against otaku subculture at this point.

Shoko Asahara

Shonen Jump, a weekly manga newspaper with a circulation of 6.5 million, is Japan’s second most subscribed newspaper nationally. To put this in perspective, Japan’s largest daily newspaper, Yomiuri Newspaper, has a circulation of 10 million.

Akihabara, a region of Tokyo dominated by otaku

Page 4: Otaku Culture

We have their power on our side. Here we have Shin.

He’s your everyday manga fan.

Hi...

Shin has grown a special connection with anime and manga. You see, he was

raised without parents, like many children after the Pacific War,

and portrayed in Anime. He’s very quiet, but he’s been brilliant,

and has a wild imagination and interest intechnology.

He’s been working on his father’s robot.

Technology

At the end of World War II, many Japanese children were left without a home. In the postwar subculture that proliferated from the 1960’s onward, Japanese art rarely adressed this topic, but anime did. Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 anime film by Isao Takahata, about two children orphaned by the Kobe firebombings of March 17, 1945, as they lose their struggle for survival. Takahata states that this meant to invoke sympathy in young manga readers who feel isolated from society.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime by GAINAX Studios that hit the same year as Aum Shrinkyo’s attack, and went on to be a massive hit. The anime is about a group of 14-year old orphaned protagonists endowed with unique powers being called into duty, like the schoolcildren mobilized to labor at factories during World War II.

Grave of the Fireflies live action poster

The protagonist of Neon Genesis Evangelion

being abandoned

DefinitionsMecha: A robot-based genre; initially used to sell toy robots, but began incor-porating messages of anti-warFigure: Pronounced figyua in Japanese; plastic representations of popularcharacters

Key ArtistsHideaki AnnoYoshiyuki TominoMitsuteru Yokoyama

Key WorksNeon Genesis EvangelionMobile Suit GundamTetsujin 28-go

Page 5: Otaku Culture

My father used this for conquest. He used this to

invade his enemies. It led to his death. I’ll be using this to defend my city.

To defend my friends.

I just removed the gun.

And I’m installing the shield.

Great job SHin. We’ll be needing

you soon.

The Japanese love to create robots; not only in manga and anime, but real, physical robots. They view robots as extentions of themselves. These robots were partially inspired by Astro Boy, and in part inspired the anime Mobile Suit Gundam (1979), which paved the way for robot or “mecha” anime’s, leading up to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Gundam was so popular because it questioned the meaning of fighting, and gave the enemy a righteous cause. Gundam turned the mecha genre from a promotional tool to sell toy robots, to a genre with deeper meaning. The robots in the anime are made to look like ultimate weapons. Over time, robots in animes began to look much more organic and like animals.

Mobile Suit Gundam

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Honda Robot

Key WorksNeon Genesis EvangelionMobile Suit GundamTetsujin 28-go

Page 6: Otaku Culture

Not only do fans support us. Even the government

uses anime.

The government has even created an entire collection of anime characters to promote regional specialties, organizations, and events all throughout Japan. These mascots, known as Yuru Chara, are brought to life in costumes.

By creating these local icons, the Japanese are following the same ancient Shinto tradition a myriad of gods into “characters”.

These characters along with others are made to becommercially viable, and soare irrefutably "cute", or kawaii.

Cute

The current Japanese Constitution, known as the “Peace Constitution”, was promulgated on November 3, 1946. Drafted by General Douglas MacArthur, Article 9 of the document explicitly renounced war “as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.” This American-made constitution prevented the nation from taking an aggressive stance, thus putting the Japanese people in a mindset of dependency. It is this childlike role that Japan willingly complied with that may have led to the uprise of “kawaii” or cute culture. Although the constitution is still intact, it has been reinterpreted to allow Japan to fight in the current situation in Iraq.

A poster with the wordsof Article 9

DefinitionsKawaii: A genre of cute characters and related productsYuru Chara: A group of characters made for the government by local artists to pro-mote their regions specialties and events; literally “loose characters”Tokusatsu: A genre of special effects us-ing costumes and small sets

The Japanese government using Yuru Chara to promote different regions shows how popular the genre is. The characters coming to life in form of actors in costumes is very much like the genre of tokusatsu in which the Japanese would use costumes and sets as a form of special effects. One of the earliest tokusatsu films is Godzilla from 1954, directed by Inoshiro Honda; Japan’s first and most famous monster movie. In the film, Godzilla was awoken from a hydrogen bomb test, and proceeds to terrorize the city of Japan. The dread of nuclear holocaust is apparent in this film, which went on to influence otaku culture. Another popular tokusatsu work that is popular in otaku culture is Ultraman from 1966, about an alien posing as a human, to defend the human race.

Godzilla

Key ArtistsYuko ShimizuSanrioKen Sugimori

Key WorksHello KittyPokemonMy Neighbor Totoro

Page 7: Otaku Culture

HelLo!!!!!!

Oh, hey there little fella. I didn’t see you

there.

Yep! And I’ll be here on your shoulder so in case you get too tired to move on I’ll make sure you do!!

Face it, I’m irrestistable!

These cute or "kawaii" characters are dominantbecuase they allowa moment of softnessin an otherwise toughatmosphere.

A lot of our characters have come from war, so these cute characters exist by their side to distract us from these thoughts while incorporating the same animation styles. They arealso marketing gems.

What was that?!

BOOM

Unlike other characters that have a similar fanbase, kawaii characters do not have dramatic storylines, which convey a sense of lethargy to their audience. Lives are only given to these characters in public events. The characters are “spaced out with peace”, standing for the Japanese themselves. Once having everything blown away in a flash, an infantile culture gained strength under a puppet national infrastructure. What emerged was a culture frozen in its infacy. The kawaii characters fit in so well with an otaku’s groundless, optimistic attitude toward the future, as there is no deceit in their lethargic smiles. The characters are also made with short limbs and beady eyes as markers of an introvert, like many anime fans are.

Since Japan has been a testing ground for an American-style capitalist economy, they have experienced many high peaks. Kawaii characters and their products make up a good part of the marketplace. Akihabara, a region in Tokyo, is full of stores of kawaii characters, along with other otaku products. The most successful company that produces kawaii products is Sanrio, who created the internationally popular character Hello Kitty. Sanrio earns over $1 billion dollars annually.

Yuru Chara

Kiddy Land, a popular kawaii chain store

Page 8: Otaku Culture

What are you two doing?

We need to be working

together!

We are. We’re training.

Dragonbot, come here!

I’ll be flying with dragon. IF I see

any incoming bombs, It’ll

have to face us!

Fighting

Many animes discuss fighting, and what should be worth fighting for. Hayao Miyazaki, director of many classic anime films including Spirited Away (2001), the highest-grossing film in Japanese screen history, makes many of his films about this theme. His movie Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) features a wizard who is evaded his obligations to partake in war until he fell in love with a woman he wanted to protect. It doesn’t take long for the wizard to break down into an evil fighting machine, showing how war breaks down the human spirit. The wizard is saved and turns good again as he travels to the past and rediscovers himself. This is based on Miyazaki’s own childhood experiences of escaping Tokyo during World War II. Like Osamu Tezuka, Miyazaki’s art is absed on Walt Disney, however the body parts are more realistic to match the more mature themes.

A drawing of Hayao Miyazaki and many of his characters

Key ArtistsAkira ToriyamaHayao Miyazaki

Key WorksDragon BallHowl’s Moving CastleNausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Page 9: Otaku Culture

Ha! Even if we make it, I’m only working

TOgether to get through this. Afterwords, I am

going to prove to him that I’m the better fighter. I’m

going to destroy him.

Why can’t you just stop fighting? You’re so immature!

I need to fight him. I need to win. I need it for

my honor.

Shonen Jump, the manga newspaper, has a philosophy of “friendship, struggle, and victory.” The characters in Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball focus on young martial artists as they fight, win, lose, learn lessons, and fight some more, as enemies become friends. The characters can still fight even after death, allowing the manga to run for over 520 installments. This allowed a peak in a never ending form of entertainment.

Shonen Jump Weekly

Page 10: Otaku Culture

I have to get out of here. They’ve kept me here for weeks.

I’m starting to feel strange.

Sure. They’ve given me a cozy home here. It’s easy to get... comfortable. And I’m safe here underground.

But what I want is my freedom.

Agh... What is this? Why do I feel so weird?

AHHHHHH

Post-Apocalypse

A very large amount of manga and anime use the story element of planetary bombs falling to earth and exploding in blinding white light, followed by brilliant red. To accomplish this, many narratives being in the catastrophic aftermath of an atomic explosion. This is because of a longing for some fundamental human power to awaken when huanity is backed into a corner.

A popular post-apocalyptic anime is Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira (1988). His innovation to the art style was mechanically cropped images to create a floatless atmosphere. Each panel in his 9-year serial manga was an individual piece of art.

A panel from Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira

Key ArtistsKatsuhiro OtomoKazuo TomizawaKenji Yanobe

Key WorksAkiraMobile Suit GundamNeon Genesis EvangelionSilent MobiusGhost in the Shell

Page 11: Otaku Culture

AHHHHHH

BOOM

Hey!I can’t Let

You Go!

Why do you want this? Huh? You’re just as much of a

prisoner as me down here, on this island.

All you do is follow orders.

I can’t let you go. It’s my duty.

BOOM

These powers are strong. And so is my desire for freedom.

Many of these post-apocalyptic stories deal with a government trying to take control in the chaotic aftermath, while the protagonists try and fight for freedom. This is a cry of freedom from a defeated Japan, its own constitution legislated by another nation after the war. Although the United States brought freedom and democracy to Japan, these anime question if this was really a gift. At the end of Akira, the destroyed city rebuilds itself in front of the protagonists; the reconstruction of skyscrapers representing a movement from dystopia to utopia. Otomo was heavily influenced by Tezuka, and references Astro Boy and the manga grammar that was created from it, making Akira a meta-manga.

An art installation by Katsuhiro Otomo

Page 12: Otaku Culture

Oh, there you are!

Is there anyoneelse we’remissing?

Hey! Forget about me?

Oh of course! Saila here is part of the “bishojo” or “beautiful girl” SCENE.

In the 1980's, otaku dreamt of employing supernatural powers and technology to create a new, better world after an apocalypse. Ever since Aum Shinrikyo's subway attack in 1995, this fantasy in which otaku would be heroes was shattered. After this collapse, otaku interests steadily shifted to "moe", which is a strong interest in a particular style of character, and how they are drawn.

Bishojo is one type of character that caught on in particular, in a culure that embraces cute characters, attracting fans from young girls to men in their thirties longing for fatherhood.

Bishojo

Bishojo is a type of character that is scene in many manga and comics. Bishojo means “beautiful young girl”. Although many shows are made up of Bishojo characters, the term Bishojo in reference to the genre itself is demeaning, implying the shows are made only to market character products. Instead these shows are called harem. After Aum Shinrikyo’s attack changed the otaku scene, interests shifted from science fiction to “moe”, which are styles of characters.

An otaku age group exists, where older otaku were fascinated with science fiction, and interests gradually turned to moe anime and bishojo games. How this evolution took place is a topic of debate among otaku that goes on to this day. However, it is noted that otaku seem to be interested in images of beautiful young girls because society finds it strange, and otaku have an urge for the unnacceptable, indulging in their shy behaviors. A gender gap exists as well, with women enjoying the cute designs of bishojo, while certain men exert distorted sexual thoughts onto the characters, which is a problem for other male fans who enjoy bishojo because it reminds them of protecting the innocent, and of fatherhood. Artist Ohshima Yuki captures this dilemma in his bishojo figures. One example is his figure “Shinyokohama Arina in Akihabara” (2004), as a young girl straddles the city of Akihabara, Japan’s center of otaku.

Shinyokohama Arina in Akihabara

DefinitionsBishojo: :”beautiful young girls”, a genre of anime, manga, and gamesMoe: :Literally “bursting into bud”, a rarefied pseudo-love for certain fictional characters and their related embodimentsDame: “no good”, “unacceptable”, “hopeless”, or “inept”

Key ArtistsNaoko TakeuchiMahomi KunikataOhshima Yuki

Key WorksSailor MoonMahoromaticShinyokohama Arina in AkihabaraThe Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Page 13: Otaku Culture

We all need to work together.

It’s coming soon.

What Do I have to do?

You'll figure it out. You're a product

of the histories and lessons of the Japanese. You will know what to do when it comes to

saving us.

It’s here! It’s coming!

Hey YouGUys!

NO!!

wait! I’m here to help! I don’t want anymore prisoners. I

don’t want any more war.

Okay.Let’s do

this.

“Dame” is a story device used in manga and anime in which pathetic, unnacceptable behavior is apparent in the protagonists. This goes along with otaku’s bashful behavior. When Neon Genesis Evangelion came out in 1995, everyone fell in love with dame as the main character doesn’t try harder to solve his problems. Dame is based on classic Japanese literature, jun-bungaku (pure literature), which was also about the unacceptable.

A poster for jun-bungaku

Page 14: Otaku Culture

AHHHHHHHH!!

Heroism

Themes of heroism and sacrifice are prevalent throughout anime. Wanting to use technology and robots for the good of mankind, otaku fans, tinged with the nostalgia of destruction and starting society over, fantasize about being heroes in a new world where they help rebuild society. In this world of heroes, enemies become friends to work together to maintain peace in a once broken society.

Key ArtistsAkira ToriyamaNoboru TsubakiAya Takano

Key WorksPrincess MononokeSpirited AwayDragonball Z

DefinitionsUyiko-e: literally, “pictures of the floating world”Nihonga: modern exponent of traditional Japanese painting

Page 15: Otaku Culture

No. It isn't enough. We're so close but its not enough.

It can't be. I know we have the power. Ever since the franchise Pokemon helped bring Anime to other countries in 1997, we have been in the mainstream eyes. And with director HAyao Miyazaki winning awards for his anime films from the past decade, the art form has started to become appreciated by critics.

We’ve branded tough themes for any age group to enjoy, helping to comfort and educate Japanese children at a young age of their country’s history with war and nuclear destruction.

I’m not afraid of you, bomb. You’ve been a part of us before, but we learned. And here we are, using technology to protect ourselves from you. All we need is... mY HOPE and good nature.

I can do this!

Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has noted all of the connections made between nuclear annihilation and anime. All of the research for his theories are compiled in the book for his exhibition, “Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture”, connecting postwar Japanese psyche to anime and modern day otaku culture. A famous series of images Murakami has made is Time Bokan, named after the anime. In the anime, the villians plan would fail in the end as they would be destroyed in a mushroom cloud explosion. Children learned not to fear this image, but to love it, as the villians returned each week without injury. By exaggerating and stylizing this mushroom cloud, Murakami self-mockingly portrays the confounding tendency of Japanese culture to find cuteness in an icon of war.

Takashi Murakami’s “Time Bokan - Pink’

The phrase otaku has a negative connota-tion in Japan because of the association with Aum Shinrikyo and related events, but the storytelling and style that make up anime and manga are just as popular as ever in Japan, and more popular than ever in the international scene. In America, otaku holds a different connotation, as a sort of pride in one’s knowledge of the subculture.

Page 16: Otaku Culture

Destruction

NO!

NO!

NO!

NO!

The atom bomb “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima by America on August 6th, 1945, at 8:15 AM, in a successful effort to end World War II. Nagasaki was bombed 3 days later by the atom bomb entitled “Fat Man”. The survivors gave their own nickname to the bob, known as “Pika-don”, in reference to the intense flash of light (pika) and sound of the blast (don) it produced. By the end of the year, an estimated 140 thousand died of bomb-related causes. The cities have recovered, but the bombs have left a permanent scar on Japanese history. Pikadon symbolizes the visual, aural, and other sensory imprints that were made on the Japanese psyche, which may have led to otaku and kawaii subcultures.

A photograph of Hiroshima after the bombing

Many anime’s depict a large nuclear explosion as an explosion of blinding white light. This type of explosion is prevalent in a very large amount of important animes. DAICON, a Japanese science fiction convention that breeded otaku, featured opening animations that would go on to be landmark anime shorts. They featured abundant references to elements of otaku subculture, such as Godzilla and Space Battleship Yamato, while demonstrating an extraordinary artistic and technical talent. In the end of the DAICON IV opening animation, the fundemental metaphor of the atomic bomb, a symbol of destruction and rebirth, explodes in an unexpected way. As the explosion destroys everything, a beam powered by tons of otaku characters goes off and brings life back to the world.

Key Artists:Katsuhiro OtomoToshio OkadaYasuhiro TakedaHideaki AnnoHiroyuki YamagaTakami Akai

Key Works:AkiraDAICON III opening animationDAICON IV opening animationGodzilla

Page 17: Otaku Culture

Wait! What’sHAPPENING?!

An explosion still from the Akira anime

An explosion drawing from the Akira manga

An explosion still from the DAICON IV opening animation

An explosion still from Dragon Ball

Page 18: Otaku Culture

Reconstruction

They’re...They’re OTAKUcharacters!

TONS OF THEM!

We DID IT!HOW DID YOU

KNOW THAT YOU WOULD BE OKAY?

The bomb is only technology. It’s only

bad if we put it to bad use. My

good human nature overpowered the

bomb, and instead, it was used for good!

Although otaku are fascinated with dame, the unacceptable, and with the depiction of destruction, in the end of most animes comes a glimmer of hope towards a better future. This shows that even though otaku are interested in the unacceptable, they view themselves as the good guys.

At the end of the anime masterpiece Neon Genesis Evangelion, focus is on the protagonist and his painful search for what his life means as a person and as a part of his society. When he finally accepts his fate in society, he becomes comfortable with himself, and the ruined world around him turns into a beautiful world of life. This is based on director Hideaki Anno’s own psychological dilemmas, and epitomizes the difficult obstacles faced by postwar Japan, a nation that had recovered from the trauma of war only to find that it had to rediscover itself.

Certain parts of the otaku subculture are viewed down on by parts of society, but the subculture has grown so large into the mainstream national and international scene that otaku blend in seamlessly. The critical acclaim of anime films in the past decade along with the spread of the culture to the rest of the world cemented anime’s place in the world as a legitimate form of storytelling.

Key ArtistsTakashi MurakamiHideaki AnnoToshio Okada

Key WorksTime Bokan seriesDAICON IV opening animationNeon Genesis Evangeilion

Page 19: Otaku Culture

Hey, YOu!

Great work out there.

So, you don’twant to fight

anymore?

No I don’t. I realized that I was fighting

for selfish reasons; for my own

ego. Instead, I should be fighting to

defend my friends. To defend us all.

Yeah! Lets do it! Lets keep helping

our friends! When we work

together, we can overcome anything.

And So, the JAPANESE STYLE characters, using good nature, overcame the struggle against nuclear chaos. The characters went on to continue their stories, telling the TALES OF A japan that has rebuilt itself, touching the lives of children and adults across the world.

THE END

A panel from the end of Akira of people rebuilding the city

A panel from the end of Akira of the rebuilt city

An otaku beam bringing life back into the world in the DAICON IV opening animation

The protagonist of Neon Genesis Evangelion brings life back to the earth after he finds his place in the world

Page 20: Otaku Culture