Mathew Zurita
ART-263-1108
Professor. Cacoilo
November 27, 2023
Is Anime a Form of Art?
 |
| The show that me and my friends cosplay from |
 |
| My friend Amein was dressed up as Deku, the main character. |
 |
| My friend Javier was dressed up as Bakugo. |
 |
| Aizawa, also known as eraser head, is who I was dress up as at the convention. |
 |
| My friend Luke was dressed up Todoroki |
For the final intervention project, I've decided to do a performance art. However, I'm doing an interview with strangers at the same time. The main objective for this intervention is to see if anime is a form of art. The reason I'm trying to find the answer for this question is because there are some people out there in the world who never consider anime to be art. Anime is type of a Japanese art form that includes drawing characters with vibrant colors and big eyes. Many professional art teachers all over the world disregard it as “ too easy” and do not consider it art. As for me, I do consider anime to be a form of art and the only way to prove this is to hear what other people think about anime. The perfect location to search for these answers is none other than Anime NYC in the Javits Convention Center. In case you don't know, Anime NYC is New York City’s best anime convention. A showcase of the best of Japanese pop culture in the biggest city in America. Anime NYC brings anime fans together for three days of unique exhibits, exclusive screenings, and appearances by some of the biggest creators in Japan. Since there are many cosplayers attending to Anime NYC, this was a golden opportunity for me to not only interview these different cosplayers, but to also dressing up as a anime character and blend in. Me, along with my friends, have already brought Sunday badges for the convention for November 19th already so we were ready to go. For this to intervention to work, me and my friends decided to dress up as My Hero Academia characters for the convention. What is My Hero Academia? It's a anime show where a superhero-admiring boy without any powers enrolls in a prestigious hero academy and learns what it really means to be a hero. The character I was dressed up is Aizawa, who is also known as eraser head as his hero name in the show. He's simply a home room teacher for his students and teaches them how to become heroes but in the hard way. His character is interesting because not only he toughens up his students and let them learn the hard way, but also cares about his students and wants to them achieve their goal on becoming a hero as much as possible. It makes feel like teachers in college are somewhat like that as well because they also want their students to pass their class and graduate as fast as possible too. As for my other friends, Javier dressed up as bakugo, Luke was Todoroki, and Amein was Deku, who is the main character in the show. In the convention, we did wanted to enjoy ourselves and play as character just like the show. We did took pictures with other cosplayers, enjoy the exhibitions, play video games in the gaming section, eat variety of Japanese food, and buy some anime merch. However, I did not forget about my main mission. The interview questions I wanted to ask to these cosplayers in the convention is what character are they dress up as? What made them choose that character? How does that character make them feel personally? And do they think anime is a form of art? Why or why not? I interviewed at least 3 people, one of them was my friend Javier, a Zoro cosplayer from the anime called One Piece, name Briana, and a person that goes by King Laramee, who is a YouTube content creator. The answers I received were so satisfying and proved my theory to be correct.
The question is that how does anime involve with politics? While anime does not show the politics in this generation, it provides a variety of shows that involves with politics from a different perspective. As a type of animation, anime is an art form that comprises many genres found in other mediums and is sometimes mistakenly classified as a genre itself. In Japanese, the term anime is used to refer to all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Like I stated before, some people and professional art teachers never consider it as an art form. A comparison for this is Yoko Ono. Some people wonder why Yoko Ono so hated and there are some reasons for it. Ono gets blamed for breaking up The Beatles, has the reputation of riding the coat tails of John's fame, has a personality that people tend to perceive as annoying, and released music on John's albums that a lot of people find not enjoyable to listen to. She gets blamed for breaking up the band a lot. It wasn't entirely her fault, but her relationship with John was a contributing factor. The band decided had an unwritten rule that significant others weren't allowed in the studio because they might influence the recording process. At some point, either John or Yoko wanted to be always present in the studio, which Paul, George, and Ringo did not approve. Even when Yoko was in a car accident and was ordered to be in bed for most of her recover, John had a bed put in the studio to allow her to continue her presence while recording. Since John was madly in love with Yoko, this created a larger riff between him and the rest of the band. Some people don't consider her as an artist, just like some people don't consider anime as an art form.
Since I mentioned on how anime involves with politics, how does it involve with activism? Mostly every anime that involves with activism has either heroes or villain's in it. Whether hero or villain, the best activists in anime are those who truly intend to make the world a better place, no matter the cost to themselves. Anime heroes are constantly using their unique power to change the world for the better. However, while they certainly make a positive impact, their motivations tend to be more narrow-minded in scope, such as protecting their loved ones or defeating a devious villain. Characters that make protecting the environment, equality for all, and other such grand narratives their ultimate motivation deserve special attention. However, activists in anime aren't always the good guy. Sometimes, they have the effect of providing the villain with a motivation that makes the audience feel empathetic toward their scheme. Whether hero or villain, the best activists in anime are those who truly intend to make the world a better place, no matter the cost to themselves. People never realize that anime artists have creative mindsets and are great observers. For example, from the book "The Art of Activism" by Steve Duncombe and Steve Lambert, on chapter 2 where they talk about the process, on page 60, it states "Creative people are observers. Observing simply means moving through the world with wonder, using our senses, taking notice of and capturing anything and everything that strikes us, without judgment."
The art culture across the world is massive. In the United States, art is also big in this country as well. As for anime, approximately 72 percent of people watch anime regularly. This means that the United States has a greater number of total people who watch anime shows than Japan, but Japan has a higher percentage of its population that watches anime overall. Although anime can be considered by some as distinctly Japanese animation, some scholars and fans relate to them by their animated nature similar to the works of Walt Disney. According to the article " Anime Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report" it provides an report overview of anime market size. It states "The global anime market size was estimated at USD 28.61 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8% from 2023 to 2030. The emerging adoption and sales of Japanese anime content globally are the factors anticipated to drive the growth. Additionally, global sales of anime content along with merchandise are expected to contribute to considerable revenue generation in the market. As a result, the rising preference for internet distribution and application games, which account for the majority portion of overseas sales in Japan, is projected to play a key role in propelling the market growth. Animators, artists, publishers, developers, and other creative agencies have all contributed significantly to the market's value creation." This proves that anime has a big culture till this very moment. Another good example is from the book "The Art of Activism" in chapter 4 on culture, on page 136, "The relationship between Culture and culture is not straightforward, and neither can be said to wholly determine the other. The process is more complex because of us: people. Culture and culture are human creations, and we can consciously and creatively intervene in the relationship between the two, shaping the C/culture around us.' The anime culture is something we have to keep an eye on because it might take over art culture, which is a possibility.
Works Cited
The Art of Activism, Steve Duncombe and Steve Lambert
https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/yoko-ono-art-story
https://www.cbr.com/anime-best-activists-will-fight-for-cause/#:~:text=Anime%20heroes%20are%20constantly%20using,or%20defeating%20a%20devious%20villain.
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/anime-market#:~:text=Report%20Overview,anticipated%20to%20drive%20the%20growth.
https://www.reddit.com/r/beatles/comments/7jcs1e/legit_question_why_is_yoko_ono_so_hated/
https://animenyc.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment