The Anime Paradox The Anime Paradox Patterns and Practices through the Lens of Traditional Japanese Theater By Stevie Suan LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 Cover illustration: Right image: Fushikizō Mask © Toshiro Morita, the-noh.com (http://www .the-noh.com/); Left image: Yukishiro Tomoe from Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust & Betrayal (Tsuiokuhen) © N. Watsuki / Shueisha, Fuji-TV, Aniplex Inc. Images used with permission from rights holders. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Suan, Stevie. The anime paradox : patterns and practices through the lens of traditional Japanese theater / by Stevie Suan. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-22214-4 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Theater--Japan--History. 2. Animated films--Japan--History and criticism. 3. Aesthetics, Japanese. I. Title. PN2921.S83 2013 791.43’340952--dc23 2013009251 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISBN 978-90-04-22214-4 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-22215-1 (e-book) Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. 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CONTENTS Acknowledgements xi Preface xiii I Introduction 1 Sympathy for the Devil 3 The White Which Lives Within the Inkstone 6 Brief Introductions 12 Comparing Forms 24 II A Simultaneous Part and Whole 37 Pieces of a Shooting Star 39 Narrative and Pacing Patterns 48 Jo-Ha-Kyū 57 Mapping the Stars: Dissecting Anime Structure 64 Splitting of the Beast: Mapping Evangelion 81 Intertextuality and Pattern Utilization 92 Weaving A Story: An Examination of Ga-Rei Zero 106 Weaving A Story 2: Repetition, Reversals, and Intertext 115 Internal and External 125 Character and World 144 III Mixture of Realism and Unreality 169 Like a Dream: Realism and Unreality in Anime and Japanese Theater 171 Outer Elements 181 Inner Elements 196 What Lies Beneath 216 IV Hyperbolized Aesthetics 229 Aesthetic Visions 231 Form Into Content 241 Different Styles 261 An Expression of Reality 269 viii contents V Scattering Blossoms, Falling Leaves 277 The Scent of Gardenias Lingers in the Rain: Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen, A Case Study 279 Sentiments for the Remaining Flower: Some Final Observations 304 Towards a Conclusion: The Form of Anime 313 Glossary 323 Bibliography 333 Index 341 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1.1 Lady Rokujō in Aoi no Ue 5 1.2 Ki no Aritsune’s Daughter Looks into the Well in Izutsu 13 1.3 The Love Suicides at Sonezaki: The Tenmaya Tea House 16 1.4 Gongorō from Shibaraku! 17 1.5 Yukishiro Tomoe from Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust & Betrayal 19 1.6. A Mosaic Configuration 25 2.1 Multiple Viewpoints in Japanese Traditional Theater 43 2.2 Jo-ha-kyū as Mosaic Structure in Noh 60 2.3 The Scars on Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshi: The Movie 127 2.4 Character Design of Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop 129 2.5 Noh Masks: Omi-Onna, Masukami, Fukai, Magojirō 135 2.6 World-setting and Characters Shapes of the World of an Anime 146 2.7 The Mosaic Mega-City of References in Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door 149 2.8 Exploration Sequence of Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door 150 2.9 The Ghost of Minister Tōru. 165 3.1 The Fushikizō Mask 174 3.2 Stylized Facial Features in Anime: Yukishiro Tomoe from Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust and Betrayal 175 3.3 Onnagata from the Kabuki Theater 201 3.4 The Use of Character Types with Puppets in Bunraku 205 3.5 Different Mask Types in Noh: Ishiōjō, Shikami, Kantanotoko, Wakaonna 206 3.6 The Extravagant Costumes in Kabuki 212 3.7 Library War: Kasahara’s Conflict 222 4.1 The Grandeur and Spectacle on the Bunraku and Kabuki Stage 243 4.2 Conventionalized Expression of Contentness: Tomoe from Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust & Betrayal 251 4.3 Exaggerated Conventionalized Expressions: Azumanga Daioh, Library War 262 4.4 Various Depictions of Kurozuka: Noh and Anime 274 x list of illustrations 5.1 Himura Kenshin Receives the First Mark of His Scar in Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust and Betrayal 286 5.2 Live Footage in Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust and Betrayal 292 5.3 Michiyuki-like Sequence in Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust and Betrayal 298 5.4 The Final Culmination of the Camellia Flower Motif 299 5.5 Separate Aesthetics under One Umbrella of Anime: Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Library War, Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust and Betrayal 318 Tables 1 The Structure of a Typical Noh Play 62 2 Structure of a Typical Anime Series 69 3 Structure of Seirei no Moribito Series 72 4 Structure of Evangelion Series 82 5 Jo-Ha-Kyū Structure of Evangelion Series Jo Section: Episodes 1–2 85 6 Ga-Rei Zero Jo Section (Episodes 1–2): Jo-Ha-Kyū Structure of Episode 1 109 7 Selected, Repeated Quote from Ise Monogatari in the Noh Play Izutsu 118 8 Use of Internal Introspection in Second Half of Evangelion Series 118 9 Structure of Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust and Betrayal 282 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The original concept for this book came to me in 2007, and the majority of the development, construction and research was done during my time as a research student at Kyoto-Seika University from 2008 to 2010. The pro- cess of research and writing was a journey during which I received invalu- able help from many along the way. I am, of course, forever thankful for my family and friends, who have been extremely supportive and encouraging. Throughout my life I have been lucky to have been given such a wonderful family, and to have always been led to the most incredible teachers. It was the advice of Aga Skrodzka who took an early project and extracted the core concepts that became the basis for this book, still evident in its cur- rent structure. She has encouraged me over the years to pursue this project and has provided me with substantial advice. During my research period at Kyoto-Seika University, I could not have asked for a better adviser than Maeda Shigeru. He provided me with constant consultation, research materials, and a steady stream of Anime recommendations. I am indebted to Alexander Vovin, whose guidance has been pivotal. I am also thankful for my publisher, Paul Norbury at Global Oriental and Nozomi Goto at Brill. Their support and assistance helped move this project in a positive direction. Mathew Winchell was kind enough to review an early draft and provide extremely useful comments. My thanks go out to Akira Kinoshita and Setsuko Echigo at the-noh.com for allowing me to use their beautiful images. Tokiko Bazzell at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Library went above and beyond to help me find and acquire many of the Kabuki images for this publication. To all of those that have made this publication possi- ble, I am sincerely grateful. Thank you, Stevie Tong Shun Suan Honolulu, 2012 PREFACE My first experience with Anime was from before I could read. It was actu- ally not on screen, but in a small, well-worn children’s book, adapted from the American release of the Japanese Anime Macross—the compilation called Robotech. In Anime I found a very distinct world, with unique visu- als and interplay between comedy and drama, fiction and reality. I actively sought out that “Anime beauty,” from videos to games, to models to Manga, always searching for that specific “look and feel” that was so attractive. It was this interest in Anime that began my initial knowledge of Japan, sparking a fascination that has traveled far beyond Anime to another infatuation with the Japanese traditional arts. I believe that the similari- ties to the Japanese theater that is the subject of this book can be a bridge from the current culture to the past. I hope this study can be a doorway for the many Anime fans and scholars around the globe to enable them to appreciate the world of the theater from a new perspective, and that those involved in the classical worlds may be given a new avenue with which to view the contemporary art of Anime. I do not think that my experience with Anime—leading me from an avid viewer into a participant in the study and scholarship of Japan, from a personal interest to a professional career—is an isolated case. Through some chance exposure many fans came across a product of Anime or Manga for the first time and could never shake the desire to search for more of “what was like that.” There are no doubt millions around the world that had their first introduction to Japan with Anime, and from there, their interests grew, into diplomacy, into business, into law, into trade, into the arts, into fashion, into friendship and fascination.