Anime's International Appeal
Animation, as an artistic medium, allows us to fully exercise the capacity of our imaginations. In an animated movie, we can experience the rise and decline of entire civilizations, we can travel places and see things that exist only on the fringes of our imaginations. In anime, anything that we imagine can come to life with stunning reality.
In any film, audiences are expected to identify with certain characters and to relate to the world that the character lives in. By creating complex characters with whom audiences can identify, artists and producers can expect that their audiences will be drawn into the "real" world in which the "real" people of the film live. When an audience watches an animated movie, they become involved in the animated character’s animated world, just as when they watch a live-action movie, they become involved in the actor’s "real" world. Through a trick of the imagination, they see the characters of the film react to things in their environment as if they really existed. This is what creates a sense of reality in film.
The congruency between the animated characters and the animated environment creates the same sense of realism that the congruency between a live actor and a realistic environment can create. For instance, in Alien, I saw Lieutenant Ripley shoot a horrible, acid and slime-dripping creature. I did not see Sigourney Weaver pretend to shoot a latex puppet covered in goo. To me, it the scene was close to reality because the alien puppet seemed just as realistic as the rest of the environment. But in Godzilla, it took a little more imagination to believe that I saw a giant monster destroying Japan, and not a man dancing in a big rubber lizard suit and burning paper tanks. The reason that the Alien scene seemed more real than the Godzilla scene was that in the Alien scene there was congruency between the real actors, the realistic puppet, and the surrounding environment. Through some creative imagery, they seemed to be part of the same world. Not so in Godzilla. Not to denigrate the film in the least, it was too obvious that Godzilla just didn’t belong in the world of the film. A small incongruency existed that disrupted the border between the imaginary and reality. We have to work harder to trick ourselves into believing that Godzilla is real.
There is not a moment I can remember watching Japanese animation and thinking about how unrealistic it is. In anime, everything is animated: the characters, their homes, their pets, their entire world. We can see the characters react to things in their world as if they were real. This congruency makes the animation seem real.
Because of this, unlike a live-action film, anime gives us the freedom to create whatever setting, bestow whatever mystical powers, and create as many special effects as we please, and makes them seem completely real. There is no need for expensive, not to mention often dangerous, special effects. Anime doesn’t have a budget for pyrotechnics, models, rubber suits, stunt people, or underwater camera equipment. Any special effects or special settings are simply skillfully drawn in. In an animated world, the possibilities for creative expansion are endless.
By creating complex characters with whom audiences can identify, artists and producers can expect that their audiences will be drawn into the "real" world in which the "real" people of the film live.
Copyright © 1998 by Sheri Le