Ask John: Should American Fans Take Anime Seriously?

Question:
I’ve heard people, mostly severe die-hard anime fans, put a new anime like Wolf’s Rain down too often to keep silent. I say give it a break. Yes, it has a couple of plots that needed to be explained or developed more, but the drama & the wolves’ desire to make it to Paradise makes up for it for me. But what gets me is when did people get so serious about anime in the USA? What I like about anime is the escapism it provides after a round with the real world. So I watch it for pure enjoyment.

Now if it’s a short series, like Wolf’s Rain, then the plot I won’t sweat, I just kick back and see where’s it going, but if it’s going to be a long series and it still hasn’t explained itself, then I let it go and don’t look back. That’s how I look at Wolf’s Rain, a short series that’s meant to be enjoyed and not be taken seriously since it won’t be around much longer. Why do some people have to get so serious about certain anime that should be considered pure enjoyment or escaspism?

Answer:
I have to respond to this question in two ways because the question itself has two aspects- a critique of Wolf’s Rain and the validity of criticizing anime. To first address Wolf’s Rain I have to rebut that I don’t consider the 30 episode long show to be a “short” series. Relative to anime TV series collectively, I consider a short anime TV series one with 13 or fewer episodes, or 15 episodes including home video exclusives. A 26 episode series is thought of as a full single “season.” Wolf’s Rain had not only 26 episodes broadcast on Japanese television, it also had an additional 4 episodes produced to conclude the story that its animators weren’t able to finish in a standard 26 weeks. Furthermore, I can name countless other anime television series that more effectively explicate a more complete story than Wolf’s Rain, in fewer episodes. There’s no way I can look at Wolf’s Rain and not see a failed project that required four more episodes to compensate for shortcomings in its original production. (Although I don’t entirely lay the blame on the production staff, as external factors may have influenced the production.) Furthermore, the pretentious tone of Wolf’s Rain is so heavy and omnipresent that it virtually defies criticism by making those who dislike the show appear spiteful or narrowminded. But atmosphere without substance is merely smoke and mirrors. Wolf’s Rain very obviously wants to be taken seriously as a weightly work of art, but there’s very little to actually respect within the show when faced with the series’ absent character development, stagnant story progress, inability to maintain suspension of disbelief, and gaping story holes. Besides its attractive superficial art and pleasant music, there’s virtually nothing to Wolf’s Rain despite what the show clearly wants viewers to believe.

As far as analyzing anime as fine art rather than disposable entertainment goes, I personally find it offensively impolite to encourage the apprehension of anime as merely escapist entertainment with no artistic, cultural or literary value. However, I do want to clarify that I believe that every viewer should take from anime what addresses that viewer. I think that anime is a personal hobby, so one’s reaction to anime should be personal and not determined by what anyone else tries to mandate as universal. I believe that Japanese animators are artists that put great care and devotion into the creation of their art. And I believe that such effort deserves respect.

Certainly not all anime is worthy of classification as high art or fine literature, but nevertheless all anime is hand crafted art. (After all, computers can color and animate, but computers can’t draw.) And American fans have evaluated anime as contemporary fine literature as far back as the days of early American fan magazines like The Rose and Animag. I think it’s only recently, as anime has exploded into mainstream awareness, that there has been some dilution of the traditional American fan community’s respect of Japanese animation as contemporary Japanese pop culture art. Major domestic distributors that edit and alter anime for American mass consumption, and distributors that focus on the trendiness of anime rather than its artistic or cultural value can be largely blamed for the increasingly common perception of anime as disposable merchandising rather than thoughtfully constructed pop culture art.

A look at the philosophical and linguistic theory in Evangelion, the political awareness of Ima Soku ni Iru Boku, the social satire of Perfect Blue, the literary brilliance of Saishuheiki Kanojo, and the visual impact of Innocence should more than adequately establish the viability of Japanese animation as fine art. Unquestionably not every anime is an example of artistic excellence, but for many people, deconstructing and critiquing the individual components of any and every anime is a method of totally immersing oneself into anime. I’m not going to demand that everyone either consider anime disposable kitch culture or acknowledge it as art worthy of critical evaluation, but I personally do consider Japanese animation a contemporary art form worthy of academic scrutiny, and I think that the hardcore American fan community has also viewed anime that way since the late 1970s.