Racial identity in anime
I once read a theory somewhere that anime (and manga) allow Japanese to transcend the restraint of their national identity. It is like... being non-Japanese/European in a vicarious way.
Of course this all goes back to the whole historic debate since the Meiji Era of Japan (or at least some people in Japan) wanting to distance Japan the rest of Asia and identify more with Europe and North America. I even once heard of a lobby group in Japan that was campaigning for Japan to join the EU.
There are too many anime series out there for us to generalize on this issue. Some series come with explicit info as to the characters' countries of origin, although there may be nothing or little in the characters' physical appearance that suggests they belong to different races. (Think Saint Seiya.) Other series are set in a fantasy world where race is not relevant (Think Kino no Tabi). Still others are set in a pseudo fantasy world where countries are loosely based on real countries and where the only real country that exists is Japan; in other words, every character is of make-believe nationality except for that one and only one character who is distinctly Japanese. (Think Kanda in D.Grayman, Naoji in Meine Liebe). Then there are series out there which I feel are Japanese fantasies of Europe. (Think Le Chevalier D'eon, and The Rose of Versailles.) However, I would hesitate to say whether there are series where everyone behaves like Japanese in spite of bearing western names and looking foreign. Although there are certainly series where characters bear distinctly Japanese names but look racially obscure. (Think Revolutionary Girl Utena.)
And then there are a few old-school shoujo classics where the topdog of the social hierarchy (there are always these social hierarchies in old-school shoujo classics for some reason) is inevitably blonde and blue-eyed, even though they have Japanese names and every other character with Japanese names look Japanese. (Think 'Madame Butterfly' in Ace wo Nerae and 'Miya-sama' in Oniisama E). I would suggest hoping over to Neomarxisme for an excellant analysis on that.
I am ambivalent about this. The thing is, I think if anime allows you to somehow live vicariously, it is in psychological archetypes rather than anything to do with race per se. I believe anime terminology evolves around psychological types and mental processes for this reason.
What do you think? I would appreciate any feedback on this.
I tried to make a list of non-Japanese characters but I eventually stopped because there's too many of them and most of them are minor characters.
Chrno Chrusade is one anime where it is supposedly set in the US but the character's behaviors are Japanese.
Posted by: absolute0 | September 23, 2007 at 02:37 PM
I suppose you mean non-Japanese characters who nevertheless behave like Japanese?
I have never seen 'Chrno Chrusade'. But what do you think of the more recent series that are set in America - like 'Red Garden' and 'Baccano' and 'Moonlight Mile'? I have to confess that I dropped them after a few episodes, but now that I think of it, I should probably go back to see how race is handled...
Posted by: Wabisabi | September 23, 2007 at 05:39 PM
Yup, I meant the non-Japanese characters who nevertheless behave like Japanese.
I have seen Red Garden and I think the characters don't behave like Japanese although some people say that they are based on American stereotypes. Then again, I haven't had any interactions with real Americans so I wouldn't know. But I think Red Garden has used an American setting quite well compared to other shows that are supposedly set in the US.
As for Baccano, I still think some of the characters fill some Japanese anime stereotype roles.
Haven't seen Moonlight Mile though.
Oh yeah, I remember Sakura Wars have various non-Japanese characters but they all behave like Japanese too.
Posted by: absolute0 | September 23, 2007 at 06:02 PM
Thanks for your comment.
Is anyone out there watching 'Darker Than Black' (you know I am talking about you, w-dono)? What about the portrayal of nationalities in that show? I dropped the show too long ago to remember...
Posted by: Wabisabi | September 23, 2007 at 08:50 PM
Haven't watched it since 20, but while not all the nationalities are specifically Japanese-like, they largely seem to be based eitehr on more generic character types or are based on cliches. I think. I might get flamed for this viewpoint but I think it's harder for the typical Japanese anime creators to "get" how to portray foreign people the way they normally are. I can't shake off the feeling that most are relatively insular and haven't been exposed to multiculturalism for most of their lives.
Posted by: w | September 24, 2007 at 12:03 PM
Oh, you dropped Darker than Black at Episode 20? I dropped it back in... Episode 9 or thereabouts...
The thing is, I am not sure if anime portrays real Japanese people as they are either... The characters tend to be archetypal rather than individual. That is perhaps why anime tends to be a myth-making exercise.
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