Censorship

Got a tonne on BBFC censorship and a handy Wikipedia site on US censorship as well as Australian.

Why is anime violence unrealistic?

http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=1521

Ask JohnWhy is Bloody Violence in Anime So Unrealistic?
March 22nd, 2007

Question: Why in anime violence is so intense and disturbing? In samurai anime shows, when a swordsman cut off one of his enemies' arms, the blood burst out rapidly. That seems pretty unrealistic. Even the movie Kill Bill shows a good example like that.

Answer: On the contrary, you may be surprised to learn that the bloody splatter depicted in violent anime is not always as unrealistic as you may think. According to Elaine N. Marieb's medical textbook "Human Anatomy and Physiology, third edition" published in 1995, an adult human body contains roughly 60,000 miles of blood vessels. The human heart has to pump fairly hard to move blood through that much pipeline. And since blood is constantly circulating through the body, there is never a time when any part of the body has significantly less blood than normal. The results of an online search turn up varying reports that blood will spurt from a severed artery anywhere from two feet up to ten feet with each heartbeat. While the precise distance that a spurt or geyser of blood will spray varies in different claims, and will certainly depend upon the severity of an injury, all reports agree that a severe injury such as a dismemberment or deep cut to a major artery does result in blood gushing several feet from the body. So the seemingly excessive, shocking splatter depicted in occasional anime and live action films, in fact, may not be unrealistic at all. On the contrary, it may be the bloodless or tactful "clean" depictions of violence which are actually the unrealistic ones. The adage that violence isn't pretty isn't just figurative speech.

Audience Responses

Be careful with this film., 16 January 1999

Author: Ryuji Henderson (ryujinospam@umich.edu) from University of Michigan

*Stereotype: Akira is a gratuitous bloodbath.

Maybe, but it's also a hard-nosed societal critique. Gore fans get what they want, but they have some morality shoved down their throats, as well. Most people who hate this movie watch it with a predetermined mindset. . . It takes thought and patience to piece together its sophisticated story.

*Stereotype: Akira rocks!!

The animation equals or exceeds Disney's best, the music is awesome, and the characters are complex, but "Akira" has its flaws. Chunked together from a long pre-existing storyline and filled with gritty violence, "Akira" draws fanatics too bloodthirsty to appreciate its message, and scares away critics intelligent enough to understand it. It takes a very open mind to enjoy this movie.

All in all, be careful with this movie; it's not for everyone. Just ignore the hype on BOTH sides and judge for yourself. I recommend the subtitled version; the dub's voice actors suck and anyone who'll understand this movie is obviously smart enough to read.


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Melange of Urban Fears, 20 September 2003

Author: worldwideweird from Cologne, Germany


There it is, the definite Japanese `death-to-Disney' animation piece. One can literally find everything in here that makes children cry, and in this context, `Akira' really is an important movie. It brought to the world that one can draw more than nice animal-things. Animation is only a form and does not have to say anything about contents, and it's really a pity that western people still refuse to see that.

`Akira' got internationally acknowledged because of its aesthetics. Formally, the film is an absolute masterpiece and has not aged a day. Not only the outstanding quality of animation and colouring, but also the dramaturgical aspects have to be mentioned here, some scenes just burn themselves into one's mind and get stuck there forever, like for instance the explosion at the beginning. The music is also ingenious and supports the claustrophobic, yet barren impression of Neo-Tokyo which is the setting of the film. However, whereas the formal standard of the film is very high, the storyline is terribly thin. There is lots of talk going on about PSI, political intrigues and pseudo-philosophical theories, but there is obviously not much behind all of that. Though some dialogues try to appear meaningful, they mostly don't succeed in that task. There is just too much fighting and too little talking - it is clear to see that the makers of `Akira' wanted to avoid explaining things.


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still the cornerstone of all modern anime, 8 February 2000

Author: cygnus x-1 from roanoke, va

The film is very violent, and if you're an unfortunate soul who thinks that animation begins and ends with Disney, your eyes will probably be popping out of your head at some of the images. The plot definately requires the viewer to pay attention since it works with various themes on a lot of different levels to successfully propel the film to it's shocking and over-the-top conclusion.


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Ultraviolent fantasy or eloquent Humanistic statement? Probably both, 5 November 2005

Author: Michael Zeigermann from London, UK


Is Akira a hyperviolent, sadistic fantasy? Or an eloquent statement on modern civilisation run amok, with technology getting the better of its masters and planet Earth having its divine revenge on those who mutilated it? It's possibly both. Most aficionados of Japanese animation (and also some Japanese live action, witness films by Shinya Tsukamoto or Takashi Miike) are aware that stylised violence is nothing particularly new to the genre (for now wanting to avoid the age-old discussion of anime not being a genre in and of itself but rather a style of animation which incorporates several genres like horror, sci-fi, adventure, etc – and indeed, it would do great disservice to the artistic integrity of many anime artists to simply lump them into one category). However, another fairly consistent, and perhaps ironic, feature of these "violent" narratives is the humanistic message inherent within them, and that, as opposed to many Hollywood narratives which use violence in a Biblical way (ie. the Good guys are justified in using violence against the Bad guy), a narrative like Akira, which stems primarily from both a Buddhist- and Shinto background, avoids lazy good/bad categorisations and instead uses violence to make a clear point - That it does not lead anywhere but tragedy. While perhaps the gratuitously stylised nature of the violence ends up clouding this message, the sheer fact is that, unlike in many mainstream narratives, violence is not rewarded in films like Akira. In fact, in Akira it culminates in the end of the world. Some resolution.


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Every Anime fan have to start from a certain place., 22 December 2005

Author: Freddy from Denmark, Copenhagen


I was probably around 8, when I first saw Akira. It was my step dad who asked me if I was interested in watching this Japanese cartoon. I expected something like, my favorite children movies like The Lion King or The Land before Time.

Akira however, was something else. At the time I was to young to understand English, since it was a second language for me. But I remember what kind of an affect it had on me. It was brutal, it was hard, it was edgy. The drums and Neo Tokyo lights flew through my little body as butter, as I witnessed death, gore and sadistic killings. Something my pure and innocent eyes had never seen before. And yet I was strangely excited. I was never tough as a kid. I was a afraid of the dark and often had nightmares about all kinds of things. But Akira, despite it's mature nature, just had me in awe. When I finally re-saw it many years later, when I was an old teenager, I was still in awe.

Akira is simply a wonderful and entertaining sci-fi movie. It was what introduced me to anime, and innovation in a hole new way. If you want to start watching anime or see, what all the fuss is about, then Akira is a good place to start. Even though it's over 17 years old today, it is still a fantastic and visually stunning animation. Even if you don't appreciate animation you owe it to yourself, to check it out. It has spectacular action, motorcycle-chase-sequences, mad scientists and tons of blood and shooting.

8/10

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Handy little comments from people on IMDB on Akira

Spirited Away

The Miyazaki Hayao film became Japan's biggest grossing film ever (later to be replaced by Titanic) on its release in 2001. Miyazaki Hayao and his anime studio, Studio Ghibli, are flagshipping the transfer of Japanese film to mainstream from a very niche market. The film won the oscar for best animated film in 2003 and as such, is clearly making an impact on the western market. The total gross takings in the USA has reached $10m alone, taking almost half a million in its opening weekend. For a non-western film this is a staggering achievement.

Violence in this film is limited to being very cartoon and barely noticeable as the film is aimed at a family audience. With films like this becoming mainstream however, other films that are more strongly violent may be thought of as not going to present this kind of violence. Cartoons are not directly linked to aggressive violence even if comic violence is common i.e. Tom and Jerry.

Evangelion - The Psychological Violence Motif

Evangelion - The Rebirth is a two part film that finishes and recaps on the whole TV series. The "EVA" units are huge robotic giants that combat "Angels" who threaten to create "Third Impact" - a calamity that would act to wipe out all of mankind. The obvious religious connotations are interwoven with one of the most disturbing combinations of violence and psychological degradation within anime. When the series was originally released on American Television the huge uproar caused the sudden influx of cutting to anime that aired and took a hit on such shows as Bebop that had to be cut for the sake of avoiding the same response as EVA. Thus, we see EVA as one of the most violent films to date with a very different approach then most.

The lead character, Shinji Ikari, is a 14 year old boy thrust into a battle for the planet. Despite what you expect however, the film centrals on the downfall of humanity. The organisation "SEELE" breaks into NERV headquarters to initiate 3rd Impact manually. This final act of violence creates a hugely graphic climax to the film in two forms - the EVA battle between pilot Asuka and 9 other EVA units and the death of many of the NERV agents.

The EVA represents a human psychy and as such, the battle that occurs is horribly graphic of human degradation. It begins with Asuka going into a fury, slashing and tearing apart many of the EVA units. Alike to Transformers, the robot form does detract some of the violence, however it is in fact biological beneath the armour. The armour can represent body or reason - either way the battle involves tearing through this and shredding into the "weak" underlying shell. When Asuka is finally defeated her EVA is literally eaten while she is still inside it, destroying her mind completely. The violence is hugely graphic with blood, guts and muscles being torn to pieces and devoured. Asuka's screams of pain accompany this to show a truly horrifying form of death and destruction.

Susan J. Napier writes "Much of the film's action centers around the human heroism and tragedy of the bloody destruction of NERV by SEELE's soldiers, culminating in the death of Katsuragi Misato". It is true this is the major violence focusing on gun battles where most characters are shot down or killed. Some are even burnt with flame throwers. The level of blood is unparalleled in the rest of the anime and you see Misato die bleeding from a gunshot wound after she herself shoots two men in the head. Napier continues to write after identifying humans as the 18th angel (and thus threat to Earth) that "This revelation, embodying the potential for human menace, is further underlined by the vicious hand to hand fighting bewteen NERV and SEELE which prompts one character to lament "Aren't we all human beings?" The ghastly outside forces that beset the characters are thus essentially their own dark sides rising to overwhelm them." This idea of humans as violent threats is ever present within anime but is crystalised by Evangelion with the ideal that humans are the very presence of the thing they have been fighting throughout the film.

Quite a different approach to American film where violence is usually presented just as violence to meet a cause such as in many action films (I.e. The Matrix), Evangelion is using the violence as a metaphor for so much more then just what is being shown on the screen. As Napier writes about the first fight scene within Evangelion, "The soundtrack music is foreboding and the encounter itself is limned in a shadowy chiaroscuro, quite different from the brightly colored fight scenes of mecha." This suggests a much more downcast view to fighting and one of fear and demise as opposed to success we see in many films. This downcast view to the often glorified violence makes it more subtle even while the visuals became quite startling with large levels of"blood" and severely violent actions taking place against both "mecha" units.

Ultimately Evangelion both has startling violence and also a deeper use to this to express psychological arguements. Pages 98 - 102 of Napier's "Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle" deals with many of these and can be referenced for more direct arguements about Shinji's development of finding self through the fights, the unique use of a "womb-like" encasement for the pilots and furthermore the direct damage done to the children as part of the fighting. Much unlike a modern western film, the constant loss incurred by the protagonists within Evangelion can become quite distressing to those watching, especially when coupled with the degradation occuring to all their psychological states as shown through violence.

Cowboy Bebop: Knocking On Heaven's Door

This film follows the actions of a bounty hunter team with the lead hunter, Spike Speigel. Obviously being based around bounty hunters, the film has several scenes of violent action and themes of death. The film is set between the 22nd and 23rd episode of the tv show and introduces the major theme that will run into the finale of the series. The basis of the film is that in the future after man has stretched his reach out across the galaxy, intergalactic bounty hunters will become the new form of defence against criminals. It is depicted as similar to the "wild west" of the US with space acting as the new frontier. Spike is a bounty hunter always strapped for cash but despite his desire to merely "get by" he is forced to act as an involuntary hero.

The film outline is that in 2071, Halloween is a big time national holiday on Mars. However a few days before Hallow's Eve, a tanker truck is blown to smithereens in the middle of a busy street, and a deadly viral infection is released with the explosion. The Bebop crew - Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine, and Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV - are instantly after the culprit when the gargantuan reward of 300,000,000 woolongs is announced. But the case gets stranger and stranger as the cold-blooded Vincent Volaju, who supposedly has been dead for ten years, seems to be the prime suspect. Meanwhile, Spike encounters the dangerous Electra, who too seeks the madman. The result is that Spike is dragged into saving the planet from a deadly virus when he himself is only truly concerned with the money. The film offers up many questions as to Spike's true "hero" nature but as with many animes, the hero is rarely all that they appear.

The violence that occurs is primarily between Spike and main bad guy Vincent as shown in this AMV.



The violence is a combination of graphic Jeet Kun Do performed by Spike along with multiple scenes of gun violence. The fighting, typically oriental, is all done with a kung fu edge. This is specifically noticeable here as it is the style of Bruce Lee which is used, thus anchoring a more western audience then most conventional anime might seek to reach. This form is electric fast and appears devestating to those in combat. Multiple shots are shown where Vincent spits blood or saliva as he is knocked about the combatant areas. The result is a much more graphic fight scene whereby you truly believe damage is being done to the characters.

The style is similar to many kung fu films, shots being encorporated from long and medium range to show the whole fight as it occurs cross cut with close ups of damaging blows. The anime style of imitating a normal movie is perfect here as while in an American cartoon we'd be far more likely to avoid the close ups, this gives a true sense of brutal violence and impact. Characters also degrade as the fight continues with clothes becoming more ragged and more blood and face damage becoming apparent.

The gun fighting, however, is pretty tame during this film in comparison to other films and noticeably the tv series. Vincent, however, shoots Electra in the shoulder,Spike shoots Vincent's hand and Vincent's demise is intrumented by a bullet from Electra's gun - three times when guns allowed for huge spouts of blood and graphic images of the characters bleeding. Bebop used guns to high detail, glorifying them enough so that you could identify the exact guns in use. These close ups gave the guns more power and eminently intensified danger and increased realness of the film. In western films, such glorification is highly avoided, and as such this use creates that true sense of fear of the weapon as though you are actually facing down the gun as opposed to it just existing to kill.

Body images of characters bleeding are also common and despite the "cartoon" appearance, this can appear more real because the charatcer exists in an animated world, so animated blood really is there blood and not just fake. The graphic nature of the injuries as well escalate above the norm shown in an action film, flesh wounds becoming common and the graphic pressure to the ribcage on Spike is far more powerful then most of the simple injuries you'd normally see. These are used to create a sense of power and true excitement that a weaker injury may well not create. The pure extent of damage far exceeds expectations and thus, we expect the characters death alot more then in conventional films, making it more exciting if they survive and more heroic that they actually will risk their lives like this.

The final scene from the series is another great example of violence as follows:

Transformers Case Study

The popular 1980s children's TV show had massive commercial success in England and the US with the tie-in Bandai action figures. What may be surprising, however, is this was not a western cartoon but an anime that brought across many of the fundamental aspects of anime violence.

In the opening of the film that opened the tv series we see 2 "Autobots" attacked by "Decepticons" and shot at multiple times by energy weapons. Despite the primarily cartoon effect brought about by giant robots and laser weapons, there is clearly a sense of violence that exceeds the level most people would feel appropriate for a child. This becomes more obvious as the film progresses with massive fights where robots are ripped apart before leading to the introduction of humans. Humans are seen as frail and are often lifted, thrown and beaten around the screen on multiple occassions by "Decepticons". This violence is unprovoked and could easily seen by many as a bad influence.

On the reverse side of this, we see the principles of anime coming in whereby there is always a hero or group of heroes ready to protect the good. "Autobots" are primarily peaceful, illustrated by the appearance of ambulances and fire trucks as opposed to fighter jets. We side with the Autobots as they protect humans and the majority of the film is taken from their perspective. When the leader, Optimus Prime, is nearly killed, we hope for his survival and clearly the audience is hoping for his success. The laying down of one's life with no distinct sense of success is a motif of anime used to show that the good guy will not always win and sometimes will have to die.

Ultimately, during this first film, Optimus Prime does win, but by the time of the second film, we see a much bigger change to the view of violence. Optimus Prime is killed within the first few scenes along with many other Autobots whom have been watched multiple times in the past. Still aimed at children, this was a strong message and overtly more adult then other shows such as Spongebob Squarepants in the present day. The second film depicts mutiple scenes of huge violence with robots appearing more human as oil replaces blood as they have limbs torn form their bodies and froth leaks from their mouths as they die. This was however not viewed as inappropriate due to the robotic nature of the main characters. It can easily be argued, however, that due to the robots being presented as human with definite feelings and characteristics of a human, that such things are inappropriate for a child. Due to the animation factor, however, it is allowed to be seen by many children and it presents a much different form of entertainment then the average kids show which deals with much lighter tones.

Robot violence often is ignored in Western culture with shows like Transformers and Gundam Wing but other films such as Evangelion whereby the "EVA" is represented as animal, you find the violence is too great and imposings are put into place. Within the Japanese culture, both forms are viewed as violence and are taken as violence and not just as a cartoon form due to the difference in belief that animation in Japan is another film whereas in the US it is primarily aimed at children. This difference has often lead to censorship issues on anime but furthermore, in the case of transformers, it allowed large levels of violence to be viewed by children.

Robot violence is very different to conventional violence in the sense that there is no violence against humans. The lack of death and blood creates a very different feel in that you do not feel sympathy for those being acted upon. Despite this, the violence is shown in an almost identical manner to that of the human violence with robotic components replacing human life. The violence is exagerated and high action with multiple fight scenes where the robots will damage each other. In opposition to human, this means the robots should be fine to be damaged but anime presents robots as having some form of link to humans. Either the robots are humanoid (Transformers), have human pilots hurt by the damage (Gundam/Evangelion) or pilots die when the robots are damaged beyond repair (Escaflowne). The differing psychological links change how the violence will affect the viewer whether they fear for the human or the robot themself.

Violence with robots comes in two forms. Either they use futuristic laser swords or laser weapons and thus the violence becomes slightly surreal and unlinked to human life. Often it is glamorised by high action music (I.e. You've Got the touch in Transformers: The Movie) and characters making brave or daring exagerative moves. Thus, the violence becomes glorified and the characters committing it actually become heroes as opposed to villains. The audience can become numb to the constant use of violence and as such, violence becomes just another part of a film.

2 Film Clips

Very violent fight scene in which the lead character (Spike) is practically beaten to death by his enemy (Vincent). Similar to the violence in many western action films BUT more graphic i.e. bullet wound to head, slow motion bullet entering, extreme blood use, gasps of pain, spluttering of blood from the mouth etc.



An anime music video (AMV) based on the many violent scenes constructed in the film. Hyper violence is presented as common place such as the scenes where Ashitaka literally shoots off a person's head using an arrow or cuts clear through a person's arm. Violence from "demonic" or "godlike" beings is also shown and creates a sense of fear from the unknown or super powerful.

New Title

After consideration, the title "How is violence represented in japanese animation?" would be a much more accessible title so I am changing to this title though predominantly the research style and areas will stay the same.

Film Analysis

Analysed Princess Mononoke last night after watching it. First impressions taken as a primary audience as opposed to a critic. Rewatching key graphic scenes tonight to examine as an analyst to see how it is represented.

Further analysis to be done on key scenes from Cowboy Bebop, Akira and Ghost in the Shell tonight. Trying to get Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle to act as comparison to strong violence. Ninja Scroll is also being purchased for comparison to an 18 certificate violent as opposed to 12 or 15.

Good Website

http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/animation.html

Lots of animation articles!

Initial Project Basis

Subject Area: World Cinema

Suggested Title: To what level is violence in anime of a gratuitous form?

Principal Texts: Ghost In The Shell, Akira, Princess Mononoke, Vampire Hunter D, Ninja Scroll, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Evangelion: Birth And Rebirth

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