What Is Anime?

1 Fall 2013 565:333 Anime: Introduction to Japanese Animation M 5: 3:55pm-5:15pm (RAB-204) W 2, 3: 10:55am-1:55pm (RAB-206) Instructor: Satoru Saito Office: Scott Hall, Room 338 Office Hours: M 11:30am-1:30pm E-mail: [email protected] Course Description This course examines anime or Japanese animation as a distinctly Japanese media form that began its development in the immediate postwar period and reached maturity in the 1980s. Although some precedents will be discussed, the course’s primary emphasis is the examination of the major examples of Japanese animation from 1980s onward. To do so, we will approach this media form through two broad frameworks. First, we will consider anime from the position of media studies, considering its unique formal characteristics. Second, we will consider anime within the historical and cultural context of postwar and contemporary Japan by tracing its specific themes and characteristics, both on the level of content and consumption. The course will be taught in English, and there are no prerequisites for this course. To allow for screenings of films, one of two class meetings (Wednesdays) will be a double- period, which will combine screenings with introductory lectures. The other meeting (Mondays), by which students should have completed all the reading assignments of the week, will provide post-screening lectures and class discussions. Requirements Weekly questions, class attendance and performance 10% Four short papers (3 pages each) 40% Test 15% Final paper (8-10 pages double-spaced) 35% Weekly questions, class attendance and performance Students are expected to attend all classes and participate in class discussions. To facilitate class discussions, students are expected to raise a discussion question/comment on their own after the Wednesday screenings each week. Your question/comment should address an issue that you believe to be a crucial one in your interpretation of the work(s). Four short papers (3 pages each [1 page scene description; 2 pages scene analysis]) Students are expected produce four short papers in the course of the semester based on the relevant materials and themes of a given unit. These papers should be analytical in nature (no additional research required) and should be based on specific examples. These papers should display not only the students’ understanding of course material presented 2 and discussed in class but also their engagement with the material in their own terms and through their own ideas. Test Test given toward the end of the semester will check that you have watched all the works carefully and that you have been attentive during class. As such, it will consist, among other components, of passage/character identifications and short answers regarding historical events and concepts discussed in class. Final paper (8-10 pages double-spaced) The final paper is the culmination of the course. The final paper should present an organized argument on a chosen theme. Students are welcome to focus on one anime or compare multiple anime. Just as the case with the three short papers, the final paper should not require additional research beyond lectures, discussions, and reading materials for the class. Students are encouraged to discuss extensively with the instructor to determine their final paper topic. Note on Academic Integrity You are expected to uphold the highest level of academic integrity in this class. For more information, please see http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/. I will also be glad to discuss with you any concerns or questions you have on this issue. Note on absences Students are expected to attend all classes; if you expect to miss class, please use the University absence reporting website https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/ to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An email is automatically sent to me. Required Texts The required text for this class is provided through Sakai. All screened works will be placed on reserve at the Media Center in Douglass Library by the Wednesday following the screening. 3 Schedule (subject to change) 9/4 Introduction 9/9 Preliminary Discussion: What is anime? *Seymour Chatman, “What Novels Can Do That Films Can’t (and Vice Versa), in On Narrative, ed. by W. J. T. Mitchell (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1981), 117-36. *Gilles Poitras, “Contemporary Anime in Japanese Pop Culture,” in Japanese Visual Culture, ed. by Mark W. MacWilliams (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2008), 48-67. *Susan Napier, “Anime and Local/Global Identity,” Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke (New York: Palgrave, 2000), 15-34. 9/11 Screening: shônen TV shows (Astro Boy, Space Battleship Yamato, Mobile Suit Gundam, Patlabor, as time permits) 9/16 Discussion of shônen TV shows *Maureen Furniss, Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics (Sydney, Australia: John Libbey & Company, 1998), 135-38. *Thomas Lamarre, “The Multiplanar Image,” in Mechademia 1: Emerging Worlds of Anime and Manga, ed. By Frenchy Lunning (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006), 120-44. 9/18 Screening: shôjo TV shows (Rose of Versailles, Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, as time permits) 9/23 Discussion of shôjo TV shows *Deborah Shamoon, “Revolutionary Romance: The Rose of Versailles and the Transformation of Shojo Manga,” in Mechademia 2: Networks of Desire, ed. by Frenchy Lunning (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007), 3-17. *Anne Allison, Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination (Berkeley, CA: California University Press, 2006), 128-143. 9/25 Screening: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Miyazaki Hayao, 1984) 9/30 Discussion of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind *Susan Napier, “Confronting Master Narratives: History as Vision in Miyazaki Hayao’s Cinema of De-assurance,” Positions 9, no. 2 (Fall 2001), 467-93. ***First short paper due (on shônen TV shows and/or shôjo TV shows) 4 10/2 Screening: Castle in the Sky (Miyazaki Hayao, 1986) 10/7 Discussion of Castle in the Sky *Thomas Lamarre, The Anime Machine: A Media Theory of Animation (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009), 45-63, 77-100. 10/9 Screening: Akira (Ôtomo Katsuhiro, 1988) 10/14 Discussion of Akira *Isolde Standish, “Akira, Postmodernism and Resistance,” in The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture, ed. by D. P. Martinez (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 56-74. ***Second short paper due (on Nausicaa and/or Castle in the Sky) 10/16 Screening: Ghost in the Shell (Oshii Mamoru, 1995) 10/21 Discussion of Ghost in the Shell *Sharalyn Orbaugh, “Frankenstein and the Cyborg Metropolis: The Evolution of Body and City in Science Fiction Narratives,” in Cinema Anime, ed. by Steven T. Brown (New York: Palgrave, 2006), 81-111. 10/23 Screening: Grave of the Fireflies (Takahata Isao, 1988) 10/28 Discussion of Grave of the Fireflies *Susan Napier, “No More Words: Barefoot Gen, Grave of the Fireflies, and ‘Victim’s History,’” Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke (New York: Palgrave, 2000), 161-73. *Wendy Goldberg, “Transcending the Victim’s History: Takahata Isao’s Grave of the Fireflies,” in Mechademia: War/Time, vol. 4 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009), 39-54. ***Third short paper due (on Akira and/or Ghost in the Shell) 10/30 Screening: Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anno Hideaki, 1995), Saber Marionette J (Shimodo Masami, 1996) 11/4 Discussion of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Saber Marionette J *Hiroki Azuma, “Otaku’s Pseudo-Japan,” Otaku: Japan’s Database Animals (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009), 3-24. *Mariana Ortega, “My Father, He Killed Me; My Mother, She Ate Me: Self, 5 Desire, Engendering, and the Mother in Neon Genesis Evangelion,” in Mechademia 2: Networks of Desire, ed. by Frenchy Lunning (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007), 216-32. 11/6 Screening: FLCL (Tsurumaki Kazuya, 2000-2001) 11/11 Discussion of FLCL *Brian Ruh, “The Robots from Takkun’s Head: Cyborg Adolescence in FLCL,” in Cinema Anime, ed. by Steven T. Brown (New York: Palgrave, 2006), 139-57. *Dani Cavallaro, The Art of Studio Gainax: Experimentation, Style and Innovation at the Leading Edge of Anime (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2009), 123-40. 11/13 Screening: Millennium Actress (Satoshi Kon, 2001) 11/18 Discussion of Millennium Actress *Melek Ortabashi, “National History as Otaku Fantasy: Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress,” in Japanese Visual Culture, ed. by Mark W. MacWilliams (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2008), 274-94. 11/20 Screening: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Sakaguchi Hironobu, 2001) 11/25 Discussion of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within *Thomas Lamarre, “The First Time as Farce: Digital Animation and the Repetition of Cinema,” in Cinema Anime, ed. by Steven T. Brown (New York: Palgrave, 2006), 161-88 (focus on 161-77). ***Fourth short paper due (on Neon Genesis Evangelion, Saber Marionette J, FLCL, and/or Millennium Actress) 11/27 NO CLASS; Thanksgiving 12/2 Test 12/4 Screening: Summer Wars (Hosoda Mamoru, 2009) 12/9 Discussion of Summer Wars 12/11 Final Paper Consultation ***FINAL PAPER due by noon on Wednesday, December 18 (please turn in papers under my office door at Scott 338 or in my mailbox in Scott 330). .

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