week 5 - Anime

Is anime a genre or a media?

I personally think that anime should not be classed as a media as it is not widely viewed or accepted as most mass media. But in saying this, anime has been very popular over the world with movies and tv programmes such as Dragonball Z and Princess Mononoke have been widely loved and accepted within our society as a type of media. Transformers the cartoon series was so popular as a anime that it got made into a film and blew out the box office. Anime genre is becoming more and more accepted into our society today as the technology has become more advanced, because anime is an artform it can be classed as a media and a genre. Animation is an artform combining the medium of film and fine art. If we classify animation according to national origin, then anime is a Japanese artform, and cartoons are an American artform, as subcategories of the classification artform. If however, we are referring to specific artistic characteristics shared by anime or cartoons, then those become genres of the animation artform, with further subgenres including shoujo, mecha, etc.

So whether or not anime is a genre comprised of subgenres depends on how one is referring to anime at a given time. If one is arguing that anime has specific artistic characteristics that distinguish it from the specific artistic characteristics of cartoons, then anime and cartoons become genres
instead of just national artforms.

What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime?

"The term Shojo (spelt ‘Shoujo’ in Cavallaro, 2006) is known as romantic comedy anime.
This type of anime involves young girls aged around 12 – 13. Napier states that Shojo in anime functions to give excitement, as this is rare to Japanese males who are caught up in the stress of their professional workplace. Shojo is also popular with young girls as they are drawn to the ‘cuteness’ portrayed in these stories." which pretty much means that is type of function was created to appeal to a younger audience, typically girls aged around 12 to 13. It is appealing to them as it shows the girls as the heroines which is a great change than the usual guys fighting guys and girls being portrayed as "weak." There is a popular subgenre of shōjo called mahō shōjo, or "magical girl". While there are many subgenres of shōjo, this one is predominant enough to warrant a special mention. In said subgenre the heroines receive magical powers, usually for the purpose of fighting evil in the name of love and justice. Elaborate transformation sequences and cute costumes are a staple of magical girls. This subgenre also tends to feature more action than traditional shōjo.

References -

Lent, J. A. (2000). Animation in Asia: appropriation, reinterpretation, and adoption or adaptation. Retrieved 21

June, 2006, from AnimeResearch.com

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Napier, S. (2005). Anime and Local/Global Identity. In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.15-34). Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.

Cavallaro, D. (2006). Introduction. In The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki (pp.5-13). London: McFarland & Company.