Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy Using Japanese Comics and Animation Resources Daria Dall’Olio Piero Ranalli Keywords Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers Combient AB, Göteborg, Sweden; Public outreach, science communication, University of Technology, Sweden; Lund Observatory, Sweden informal education, planetarium show, ARAR, Planetarium of Ravenna and ASCIG, Italy [email protected] learning development [email protected] Comics and animation are intensely engaging and can be successfully used to communicate science to the public. They appear to stimulate many aspects of the learning process and can help with the development of links between ideas. Given these pedagogical premises, we conducted a project called Costellazione Manga, in which we considered astronomical concepts present in several manga and anime (Japanese comics and animations) and highlighted the physics behind them. These references to astronomy allowed us to introduce interesting topics of modern astrophysics and communicate astronomy-related concepts to a large spectrum of people. In this paper, we describe the methodology and techniques that we developed and discuss the results of our project. Depending on the comic or anime considered, we can introduce general topics such as the difference between stars, planets and galaxies or ideas such as the possibility of finding life on other planets, the latest discoveries of Earth-like planets orbiting other stars or the detection of complex organic molecules in the interstellar space. When presenting the night sky and the shapes of constellations, we can also describe how the same stars are perceived and grouped by different cultures. The project outcomes indicate that Costellazione Manga is a powerful tool to popularise astronomy and stimulate important aspects of learning development, such as curiosity and crit- ical thinking. We show through our experience that Costellazione Manga has attracted a broader and more diverse public than traditional planetarium activities and astronomy lectures. Introduction: The Role of Comics One of the most famous authors currently Le Scienze (the Italian edition of Scientific and Animation in Education is Leiji Matsumoto, creator of several com- American) started to print a series of com- ics and animated series such as Galaxy ics made for outreach purposes that Walt Disney argued that animation is a flex- Express 999, Captain Harlock, Queen include several works originally published ible and stimulating tool that is well suited Millennia and Space Battleship Yamato in Europe, Japan and the USA. The topics for the purposes of explaining and teach- (also known as Star Blazers). Some of the of these comics range from astronomy, ing, provided that an educator knows how characters and plot lines of these sagas physics and biology to computer science to use it (Disney, 1948). Although it may were reused and adapted into shows to and mathematics. seem unusual to make use of fantasy char- be projected inside a planetarium. Leiji acters to popularise astronomy or other Matsumoto himself is active in popularis- general science subjects, such use is in ing astronomy and in collaborating with Effectiveness of Comics and fact a long-standing practice that started universities and magazines to create spe- Animation in Education in America in the early 1940s. During cial lectures and outreach conferences World War II, Disney started to produce (Murakami, 1997). Several fantasy and science fiction com- many animated films aimed at popularis- ics and anime contain references to phys- ing the practical and technical aspects of Unfortunately, in some countries (including ics and astronomy. Most of these refer- war, for example the workings of US avia- our own country, Italy), comics and anima- ences are not fully explained but instead tion. These movies were followed by many tion have traditionally been seen as a lower used as plot devices; other times, they are others that promoted everyday topics such type of art, mostly aimed at young individ- just embellishments. Following the path as the importance of of good nutrition or uals, and they are not considered worthy already proposed by Walt Disney and the good hygiene for disease prevention. of the interest of adults or professionals. example given by Leiji Matsumoto, we set Other films, based on the scientific knowl- However, the market for comics and ani- out to create a planetarium show and other edge of the time, described human anat- mation is changing and has expanded to activities that would delve further into the omy and behaviour, including Reason and include many authorial works and transla- science alluded to in our favourite man- Emotion (1943), a precursor of sorts to the tions of world-known classics. Italy, France gas and address the questions that arose recent Pixar movie Inside Out. and Germany are the three largest mar- from them. These questions not only act kets for manga in Europe (Bouissou et al., as a starting point to generate curiosity We also find examples of the use of car- 2010). An encouraging sign of change is about astronomy but also ignite a pas- toons in education and learning in Japan. that at the beginning of 2017, the magazine sion for asking questions and looking for CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018 7 Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation with huge success. New songs for the opening and closing titles, written by some of the best Italian composers of the time, probably contributed to the success: their disc sold more than one million copies. Grendizer even had an impact on the older generations, not least because of the con- troversies that arose when it was first aired (Nicora, 2017; Montosi, 2007). A combination of the liberalisation of TV broadcasting and availability of cheap imports made Japanese animation the dominant form of children’s entertainment throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with non-Japanese animation soon becoming Figure 1. Front of the flyer for the first edition of Costellazione Manga, held in 2011 in Ravenna, Italy. The subtitle may be translated as “Stars in Japanese comics and animation”. Credit: D. Dall’Olio the minority. This created a shared system of imagery and cultural references for at least one generation, whose members are answers, thereby connecting the pleasure under production to satisfy the curiosity of now in their thirties and forties, although the of reading science fiction to the process the public. The second approach takes an most popular shows are known by younger of discovery. In the following sections, we opposite stance, where no new material is and older generations, too (Pellitteri, 2018). describe some of the pedagogical prem- produced but what people have already It is on these shared cultural references ises on which our project is based. seen and is already part of their back- that we based the development of our grounds is instead built upon. The main planetarium shows, seminars and nightly Many formal and complex concepts can examples of this approach are L. Krauss’s observations. be easily transmitted to the public with the book The Physics of Star Trek, J. Kakalios’s help of cartoons and comic books that book The Physics of Superheroes (more The Costellazione Manga (Manga Constel- support the learning process (Tatalovic et pertaining to comics and animation) and lation in English) adventure started in al., 2009; Hosler & Boomer, 2011). Using T. Handa’s book on understanding astron- October 2011 (Figure 1), during the 9th references from comics and animation is a omy Space Battleship Yamato 2199. These Edition of “Japanese October”, a cultural way to reduce formality and break the wall books take something most people know, event organised by the Association for between scientists and the public. Such at least superficially (in Star Trek, space- Cultural Exchanges between Italy and an approach includes most of the “dimen- ships travel faster than light; Superman Japan (ASCIG) in Ravenna, Italy. In the sions of change” that identify modern and flies; etc.), to introduce a topic and dis- initial stages of the project, the authors effective science communication1: story- cuss the underlying science (Why is the collaborated with and benefited from the telling, humour, artistic expression, sci- speed of light a limit? What is gravity?). expertise of Marco del Bene, the President ence as part of everyday life and emotion Since this approach builds on pre- existing of the ASCIG and associate professor (since adults from the general public prob- knowledge, by choosing the right cul- at the Department of Oriental Studies, ably have childhood memories of several tural reference, it can directly hook peo- La Sapienza University in Rome, and of the series). Moreover, it has been shown ple’s emotions and memories. Our project Alessandro Montosi, a freelance writer that learning is deeply connected to previ- Costellazione Manga2 follows this latter and expert on Japanese animation and its ously acquired knowledge: students con- approach and, in the next sections, we will impact in Italy. Since the first conference, nect the new things they learn to what they give an account of how and why it works. hosted by the Planetarium of Ravenna already know, and the same happens for (Figure 2), we have been collecting ideas the general public when they learn new and materials from several manga and things (Hemminki et al., 2013). The Birth of Costellazione Manga anime (Dall’Olio, 2015), considering both works that are famous worldwide and the There are two possible approaches to Japanese animation started to be imported more avant-garde ones. The proposed sto- using comics and animation for teaching to Europe at the end of the 1970s. In Italy, ries are often pure fantasy or science fic- purposes. One follows in the footsteps the breakthrough happened in 1978, when tion. From these, we built an outreach show of Disney’s seminal work and includes the national TV broadcaster RAI imported that aims to take the public through an unu- works produced with the main purpose of the anime UFO Robot Grendizer (localised sual universe: not just an imaginary and fic- explaining a subject.