Concluding Comments
Material presented at MCAD's 2001 "Girls and Mobilesuits" Anime Seminar. All images are properties of their respective artist, publisher, or distributor, and used for academic purposes only.
My basic premise comes down to this:
Spirituality in anime/manga can:
- Encourage, help, soothe, heal, give hope to troubled people
- Help people consider important social issues (e.g., environment, gender)
- Remind people of the priceless, most important things in life
BUT...
- It's easy to get caught up in the glitz (cool violence, pretty pictures, etc.) and forget this substance
- It's also way too easy to do a cheap, shallow version of these
messages. For example, the cases where it's clear
someone "had
to" add a public service announcement, which comes out sickly sweet,
and/or insipid, and/or patronizing.
- To REALLY touch/affect/help/reach someone else, what you do and say must come from the heart!
Also consider:
- There seems to be a growing cultural, spiritual, and visionary vacuum
among Japan youth and the anime/manga industry.
(Materialism, lack of
direction, etc.)
- Anime is now worldwide. Consider the report of a child in Moscow
drinking a Coke and wearing a Dragonball Z T-shirt.
- Many people outside Japan, such as many young artists currently
in school throughout the US, are into manga and anime
So... YOU (yeah, you), the person considering forging ahead into your
own manga or anime or game... you have a choice.
You can help create
material that is just like traditional shallow American Saturday
morning cartoons except with glitzy graphics
and sex and violence
added. Or, you can help create material that has all the cool stuff
but which will also make a real, positive,
and maybe even profound
difference in the lives of other people.
Thank you!
P.S. I had a great time at the Workshop! And also, thanks to many of
you for coming by afterward and talking with me!
P.P.S. Please remember: The important things in life are independent
of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, wealth, status, and yes
... physical age and physical appearances. Thank goodness!
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