Course Number and Title PART/JPNA251 Manga and Anime Studies Updated August 2021 Subject Area Performing Arts Class Style Lecture Year Available 1st Year Term(s) Offered Fall Semester Prerequisites None Number of Credits 3 Instructor Darren Ashmore Course Description This PBL (Project Based Learning)* course is designed as a survey of important examples of Japanese animation – as historical moments, aesthetic movements and as Japanese (world even) popular cultural properties. Through lecture, discussion, debate, group work and presentation it explores anime (and manga), and its connected. We shall examine significant examples of the art, look at the national/global impact and consider how the Japanese perspective on cartoons has come to affect the way the whole world’s media now looks at ‘cartoons and comics’ * Project-based learning (PBL) is involves a classroom approach which places student participation, and teaching (AKA the flipped classroom) alongside more normal lecture and discussion elements. PBL compliments paper-based and teacher-led instruction by ensuring each student has an opportunity to query or offer alternative viewpoints to the material being examined. * Class plan for this academic year based on the students' course evaluation and feedback in previous academic year Based on the previous class, each PBL group will be assigned a specific film research and base their project on this time. Course Objectives Over the course of the program, student will: Develop an understanding of exactly what anime is. Be able communicate their own hypotheses on styles and genres. Define the differences between Japanese and American or European animation Recognize unique and borrowed techniques that are used in Japanese animation. Appreciate anime as an artistic and cultural property. Understand the nature and purpose of anime fan cultures. Students Should: Possess high communication skills in both Japanese and English. Possess Critical, Creative, Independent and Global thinking skills. Possess an inter-cultural understanding and be open-minded towards other cultures. Student Feedback Note that the course is ever in a state of evolution, and feedback is essential for its continued growth. Message to students Attendance is compulsory. A register will be taken each session 1. Each unexcused absence with reduce your overall grade by an incremental amount. 2. If a student misses 30% of the total number of classes (in this case, 5) without reason, they will automatically lose the ability to submit a final paper or research project for credit. 3. If you are to be absent for a legitimate reason (medical, family, etc.), please be sure to see me ASAP. Note that part-time work does not constitute a legitimate reason between the hours of 9am and 6pm on a week-day. 4. Pre-study and class preparation: all students in this course should be sure to fully cover any provided study materials and other work before class. Be sure to devote a enough time to this so that both class work and assignments run smoothly. Also, sleeping in class will be considered an unexcused absence. We are all busy, but dozing is disrespectful to the rest of the class. Prerequisite None Indicative Self-learning PBL Preparation: 2 hours per week Writing across the course: 10 hours Preparation for a final presentation: 5 hours Preparation for a final exam: 10 hours Grading Criteria Student’s achievement of the stated course objectives will be measured in terms of their performance in the following areas: 1. Block Tests 25% 2. Final Exam/Essay 35% 3. Other Homework 25% 4. Class Engagement 15% Organization Each block will be divided into a Lecture and an open seminar session. The lecture will present the main views on each subject area and provide the students with a starting point for their own thought. The follow-up seminar will require the students to discuss and/or make presentations on their understanding of the material. Plagiarism policy Acts of Academic Dishonesty: In accord with University policies and good practices in higher education, acts of academic dishonesty such as plagiarism, cheating, forgery (on a paper, examination, test, or other assignment) will result in the failure of the course at a minimum. An act of academic dishonesty during the final examination or assignment in lieu of the final examination will result in failure of all courses registered in the relevant academic term. Cases of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs for relevant action. Required Materials and Textbooks • Clements, Jonathan and Helen McCarthy. The Anime Encyclopedia. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2001. • Poitras, Gilles. Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2001. • Allison, Anne. Permitted and Prohibited Desires: Mothers, Comics, and Censorship in Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. • Ledoux, Trish. The Complete Anime Guide: Japanese Animation Film Directory & Resource Guide. Issaquah, Washington: Tiger Mountain Press, 1997. • Martinez, D. P., et. al. The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univerity Press. 1998. • Schodt, Frederik. Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 1996. • Schodt, Frederik. Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics. Japan: Kodansha International, 1983. Course Schedule Week 1 Introduction: Course outline, and QA. Week 2 The Prehistory of Anime and Manga Introducing the subject of Manga and anime studies, we will examine both the history of narrative art in various countries throughout the world, coming to rest eventually on the styles which developed in the US and Japan into the ‘comics’ of the 1930s, from which manga and anime ultimately draw their current form. Week 3 Rise of the Robots, Part One: Crush Them Now, Giant Robo! (Anime to be watch, Giant Robo Episode 1) Lecture: Looking at the creation of anime and manga of a technological nature this week. Considering what we saw in Session One, we will examine Japan’s fascination with technology and the place which such devices have in Japanese popular art forms. Discussion: Super Robots and the Protean Ideal. Technology as benevolent Tyrant. A class discussion on the basics of early Mecha anime. Question: The anime and manga mecha of the 1950s, 60s and early 70s seems to be concerned with the sublimation of Japan’s fears of external oppression and an almost childlike desire for protection. What signs can you see of this is shows like Giant Robo…? Week 4 Rise of the Robots, Part Two: Real Robots! (Anime to be watch, Mobile Suit Gundam) Lecture: Examining the rise of realism in Japanese Robot manga and anime in the 70s. We will examine how the oil shock affected the way in which even manga-ka thought about their heroes and how Yoshiyuki Tomino turned that issue into the, now legendary Mobile Suit Gundam franchise. Discussion: Real Robots and the Reductive Mind. Technology as Devil’s bargain. A class discussion on the seduction of classic Mecha anime. Question: The anime and manga mecha of the 1980s and 90s seems to be concerned with the two faced nature of power – defensive and offensive – and is clearly aimed at a more adult audience. How does Mobile Suit Gundam employ moral and ethical dilemmas in its narrative to highlight both sides of a technological and arms race? Week 5 Tezuka Osamu and the Humanity of All Things. (anime to be watch: Metropolis) Lecture: The Father of Japanese Anime and Manga. We will examine his life and work, with an eye to his love of classical literature and the potential he saw in technology. Discussion: Deus ex Machina. Technology as Humanity. A class discussion on the boundary between humanity and the mechanical. Question: Consider the relationships between Tima and Kenichi as well as Detective Ban and the police robot ‘Perro’. How does the film maker use emotional expression differently in each character to emphasize different attitudes to artificial intelligence? Week 6 End of Theme Test – The Essential Artificial. There will be a Q/A followed by the exam itself. Week 7 Miyazaki Hayao and the Heroines of Childhood. (Anime to be watched: Any work by Hayao Miyazaki) Lecture: Before he was the best-known Japanese animation director, Miyazaki was one of the best known Japanese manga-ka. In this lecture we will examine the feminine and the child in his work and look at its message of natural conservationism. Discussion: Rite of Passage. From Childhood to adolescence. Question: Miyazaki is often seen as a children’s film maker, but is he in fact oly that? Can films which heavily feature children in a state of emotional and intellectual transition just be for children. How and why does Miyazki succeed as a film maker, using little more than nostalgia as his tool kit? Week 8 Bildungsroman – Matsumoto Leiji and the Heroic Ideal. (Anime to be watched: Galaxy Express 999 or Arcadia of My Youth) Lecture: The man who took the Space Opera genre from Western Fiction and recreated it for Japanese manga and anime. We will be examining material from ‘Capt. Harlock’, ‘Galaxy Express 999’ and ‘Space Battleship Yamato’. Discussion: The Discovery of the Self and the Eternal Hero. Question: Matsumoto Leiji is often seen as the master of Japanese Space Opera. However, his works are rooted in far more than spaceships and blasters. How does this creator use classical literary and moral parables to explore the personal development of all humans, after they have breached into adulthood, with all its attendant challenges? Week 9 Gainax Reaches for the Sky (Anime to be watched: Royal Space Force) Lecture: Royal Space Force is one of the seminal works of the 1980s, as well as being the foundation of Gainax’s reputation as a creative force. Discussion: Sacrifice and Eternity. Making the mortal, Immortal. Question: Hideaki Anno and Gainax are viewed today as the philosophical madmen who brought us Evangelion.