I've heard people say that cute is what remains of the Japanese empire, and I think people like Tom LaMarre, and Baskett, would change that statement to "anime (and manga) is what's left of the Japanese empire." Have you read LaMarre and Ohtsuka's pieces in Mechademia on wartime animation? They are thought-provoking to say the least.
Now, do you think anime that depict Japanese imperialism in Asia, even in passing as in Millennium Actress, work against this sort of sanctioned national amnesia?
Hmm. I'd have to give that one a qualified "yes." I think that, even if anime and manga as we know it today were transformed by the wartime national-imperial project, both are certainly capable of problematizing the war. There's a manga written by Ohtsuka, Hokushin Denki, that I'm thinking of in particular here--it features a half-Japanese aboriginal folklorist protege of Yanagita Kunio in Manchuria and in Japan and his struggles against the (agents of the) empire.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-10-08 08:16 pm (UTC)Now, do you think anime that depict Japanese imperialism in Asia, even in passing as in Millennium Actress, work against this sort of sanctioned national amnesia?
Hmm. I'd have to give that one a qualified "yes." I think that, even if anime and manga as we know it today were transformed by the wartime national-imperial project, both are certainly capable of problematizing the war. There's a manga written by Ohtsuka, Hokushin Denki, that I'm thinking of in particular here--it features a half-Japanese aboriginal folklorist protege of Yanagita Kunio in Manchuria and in Japan and his struggles against the (agents of the) empire.