| So, I've watched anime. And because of that I notice a constant and ongoing theme where the powers of benevolent understanding will lead to peace and harmony. Certainly, I don't disagree. However, is this a sentiment so strongly presented in anime because Japanese culture in general is so enthusiastic about it? Or is it strongly influenced by the demographic, the 'otaku' that are often cast out by society? (Correct me if I'm wrong with this generalisation). I haven't seen any of the widely accepted shows. (Sazae-san or doraemon), so I'm not sure how prevalent this is amongst the general family structure. Furthermore, a lot of anime is aimed at a younger audience as well, which suggests that people will be raised with these kinds of beliefs. Though I haven't paid too much attention to the intended age of the audience when I watch anime, so I haven't noticed whether there were any patterns with this or not. ... Am I making something out of nothing? Discuss. Also... First MAL topic~ |
| I've noticed that in your average anime (those that pass on my tv, from Dragon Ball to Doraemon) there's the good vs evil position. In a way it's rare to find anything that does not step into this. And the good side usually (ALWAYS HAHAHA) wins. I don't think it's influenced by the public. Since anime is, after all, a way of conveying opinions and emotions of its makers I tend to think that they want to transmit the "benevolent" feeling. Now, most people are not evil or disturbed and most of them share the values of what is good and evil. Internationally. In my opinion it's not a question of "Japanese are enthusiastic about peace" (well, they are in a way... But let's leave that discussion to a different moment). Generally people are enthusiastic about that sentiment, not only Japanese. ^_^ ^Hopefully the above paragraphs are understandable. I just reread and they don't seem very fit. €_€ The other day my mother was yelling at me, blaming that "anime is a scheme of the empire that only wants you to obey their rules! Here are tickets to a communist event!" I yelled back at her at the moment but if I think seriously about it... Most anime is trying to "educate" the viewers into the opinion of what is right or wrong in the vision of the creator. Not to mention "children anime", there they really educate the kids to be well behaved and do their homework and help their parents at home. |
 Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
| Real question being : How much can one be really influenced by an anime, honestly? Even when you're still a child, I think you see it as entertainment, you don't care about any messages given by the show. Or if you do, it lasts like a week then you get tired of it or forget it. But maybe I'm just pessimistic, but even tho, I can't believe it can influence one's lifestyle, let alone a culture, sub-culture or society. |
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| To be honest, what you're talking about isn't only present in anime. Every medium from fiction novels and comic books/manga to TV shows and movies have, at one time or another, adopted the whole "Good/Nice guy always wins" approach. Star Wars did it, as did Karate Kid, ET, Toy Story, Shrek, Hellboy, Friends, Spiderman, etc, etc, etc... The whole bit about benevolent understanding leading to peace and harmony is an ideal that's universal, and not limited to Japanese culture or Otakuism. Ironically enough, it's ideals like this one that actually help to create Otaku and other such types of fan in the first place. Most of the people I know who fall into the category of Otaku have an idealistic view of the world (which is not a bad thing), but have difficulty dealing with the world as it is (NHK ni Youkoso! is a great example of anime reflecting real life, especially as it touches on this subject). Unfortunately the world as it is now, is far from peaceful and harmonius, and the younger kids are becoming more and more desensitized to violence, criminal behaviour, sexual perversion, etc, etc, through the media (i.e. news, magazine articles, etc). Having shows that promote peace and harmony actually helps to balance things a little, but it by no means suggests that people will be raised with these beliefs, especially given the fact that any news program on TV will usually lead into the show with the current top crisis/murder/genocide/war/rape/kidnapping/political machination, etc, etc. All the kids have to do is watch 5 minutes of any news program and they'll be as cynical as a man with no feet who's been given a gift of a pair of shoes. I don't think you're making something out of nothing, but I don't think it's all that important either. |
| What a day! What a lovely Day! |
Dust2Dust said: Real question being : How much can one be really influenced by an anime, honestly? mmmm It really depends on the person. I think people can be influenced very strongly by anime, just not the mindless stereotypical ones. |
| Every day you spend without a smile, is a lost day. |
| You really think so? To the point of changing lifestyle or something? I mean, it can make one think or feel strong emotions, yeah I understand, it happens to me. But influenced very strongly? I still doubt it. Or maybe "influenced" has a lesser meaning than I think. |
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| It's hard to say. When I lived in Japan, many Japanese people conveyed a lot of compassion and politeness almost to the point where it was kind of awkward. It was almost as if the japanese people around where I lived had these social characteristics hard-wired into them. I was living in an air base called Misawa Air Base at the time, so my reflection and observations are limited. I can't vouch for other prefectures or areas in Japan. When my school(DOD School--school on base) would go on field trips to meet other japanese schools/students(I was in elementary school at the time) for festivals, we all coalesced into social groups. Of course, we were kids, so trivial things like cultural discrepencies and ethnical differences didn't bother us. The language barrier made it a little difficult to interact, but all of us as children understood the universal ideas of fun and play. Differences are more noticable when we get older, and when we look at one another, we think different things and believe different things due to stereotypes and other factors, thus congruence and understanding can be sketchy. So, is the theme of benevolent understanding conveyed in anime reflective of the general japanese population? I'm no expert in Japanese Demographics/Sociology, but I don't think this question has a simple answer. |
In sterquiliniis invenitur. |
Itsuru said: Dust2Dust said: Real question being : How much can one be really influenced by an anime, honestly? mmmm It really depends on the person. I think people can be influenced very strongly by anime, just not the mindless stereotypical ones. Everyone is, in a way or another, influenced by anime if they watch it. Now there are people who LIVE for it and follow it as it was a Bible (like my friend who wants to buy a sword so she can be loyal as a samurai on real life) and people that learn the concepts and adapt them to their lives. Archaeon said: Ironically enough, it's ideals like this one that actually help to create Otaku and other such types of fan in the first place. Most of the people I know who fall into the category of Otaku have an idealistic view of the world (which is not a bad thing), but have difficulty dealing with the world as it is (NHK ni Youkoso! is a great example of anime reflecting real life, especially as it touches on this subject). I also think this is also a good point. Picking the example of my friend above (the one that wants to be a samurai, yes), she has deep (but really deep) trouble dealing with people, real life problems and everything that goes out of what "anime says". People in anime are always loyal, supportive, loving and caring. When they are not they are just bastards. The trick is either to distinguish that anime people are characters and real people are not or to start doing anime where characters can characterize a full human. Which is, as far as I know, pretty much impossible, since every human is unique et all. And it's the uniqueness of the human that creates easily influenced otaku, general otaku, non-otaku and cool people like my 6 y/o godson that wants to be Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi when he grows up. Adding... ArcXIII said: So, is the theme of benevolent understanding conveyed in anime reflective of the general japanese population? I'm no expert in Japanese Demographics/Sociology, but I don't think this question has a simple answer. When people do things they tend to express the world they live on. Anime is made in Japan and was originally made to Japanese so they show the society. As far as I've been told they, indeed, have a real astounding politeness. I have seen it with Japanese people living here, it's very weird to assist to a sequence of 9 bows till the European gets tired and quits the game. Now, if all Japanese people believe in the world peace and a sky full of white doves... At least people who make the anime believe. xD |
ladyxzeusSep 25, 2008 4:16 PM
Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
ladyxzeus said: Everyone is, in a way or another, influenced by anime if they watch it. That I understand, but I wouldn't use "influenced". I'd say touched or something. ladyxzeus said: Now there are people who LIVE for it and follow it as it was a Bible (like my friend who wants to buy a sword so she can be loyal as a samurai on real life) That might be even more than influenced ^^ But it happens for very few people, and they must have trouble or disorder already to be that serious about it. ladyxzeus said: and people that learn the concepts and adapt them to their lives. That would be influenced. Tho I doubt lots of people go this far, as hopefully one could have already learnt from their parents/school/friends how to act properly/be civilized. If there's an education/upbringing problem, would simply watch an anime resolve it? I don't think it can be that strong, or it's a rare thing. |
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| I realise the Japanese people are very polite, however I don't feel that relates. It is natural for most human ideals to align as well, as we all have the same feedback from the environment, we all get burned, we all enjoy sweets. (Anomalies aside) By influenced, I meant that their thought processes have changed because of watching the anime. And this is basic human nature, necessary for survival. We receive input, and we use it to adapt to the environment to increase our chance of producing offspring. I never really considered this a "good vs. evil" thing either. Nor had I thought this understanding concept was unique to Japan. What I meant when I started the thread was simply that this aspect is very accentuated, much more so than it would be in other cultures. As with any cult culture, of course the 'otaku' consists of a lot of idealistic people. (This includes cults as well) ladyxzeus said: When people do things they tend to express the world they live on in. This is how I would like to respond to the reflection of culture. As with plenty of classical works, we always find that the messages they convey reflect the things they had to deal with in life. The authors are people like us, after all. Generally, this means it also reflects the society and culture they grew up in. Anyways, the real question I wanted to ask was more along the lines of "Do the Japanese people engage in open and honest conversation, with the main focus on the gaian idealist structure? Or is it more like in Canada, where people vie to live with each other and leave it at that." |
| Ew @ my earlier posts, that's what happen when I try to be smart without a good night of sleep. =.= Sorry about that. asandari said: By influenced, I meant that their thought processes have changed because of watching the anime. The thinking process is so complex that it would take much more than watching 6 daily hours of anime to change it. The process is unique to the human species, the way it is conveyed may change with culture. This is why Japanese are more polite than Italians and Italians are better making cheese than Japanese. I only had a very quick insight on this, but I'd say the cultural changes happen because of the environment and experiences of people through hundreds, even thousands, of years. Anime does not exist for that long to deeply affect the manifest of the thought in way to define a culture. We can call it "sub-culture", I guess though ^^ asandari said: "Do the Japanese people engage in open and honest conversation, with the main focus on the gaian idealist structure? Or is it more like in Canada, where people vie to live with each other and leave it at that." As for this... Doesn't it depend on the people that are involved in the said conversation? At least at this corner of Europe where I live people live with each other peacefully (sometimes throwing axes at each other, but who doesn't? *-*) but can also engage in stimulating conversations about the ideals of live and work for that in their groups. I highly doubt that in Japan a random person dialogue would occur. As a whole I believe the country works for an ideal of peace and economic growth, but most countries work for that as well. This went a bit off-topic right now, I guess, but it happens xD I believe Anime can influence (or tough, whatever you call it ^^), little by little, the individual but it's not strong enough to influence so much that it would turn into a cultura issue. *nod* |
Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
| Influence on anime by culture, and anime on culture. Any work of fiction is strongly influenced by the culture it was developed in. I'm sure we can all attest to this. However with mass-media, it also has the effect of drastically changing social awareness and culture. Health Food would have taken longer to catch on otherwise. Or this "anti-specialist" attitude I've been hearing about lately. Or the growing acceptance of government surveillance to fight predators or terrorists I've read a lot in the news about recently. Fictional works that are taken in by, even a mere 1% of the population, can have drastic effects on culture after a couple generations. The focus of this discussion, of course, is whether the trend of understanding ideals in anime is because of the trend in the Japanese culture in general, or because of strong sub-cultural influences. Intention in the phrase "Thought Process" I wasn't speaking of neural mechanics when referring to thought processes, but rather their system of belief. Example: Person x believes that Global Warming is because of the release of greenhouse gases, and is unnatural. Person y believes that Global Warming is because of climate patterns, and is perfectly natural. Both thought processes are logical, both contradict and both can invoke strong allegiance but differ solely on statistical fact interpretation that is most likely affected by their impressions of the presentation. (Adaptive instincts. Cognitive dissonance, etc) How would this fit into the topic at hand? There is the belief that if we understand someone, then we will always realise that they have good intentions. Then there is the belief that "actions speak louder than words". It's a simple process vs. product in a sociological context. (Not particularly contradictory here, but rather a difference of emphasis). Which, I suppose, is exactly what you meant. Cultural Analysis And of course, any culture is simply a sum of its parts. The generalisations I made above or am trying to make about Japan are no type of law, but simply stereotypical indicators. (Let's not get into the ethics of using these...) Thus, of course it would vary based on the people involved, but in some cultures certain situations are more likely due to... their culture, or more specifically, their social conditioning. Bolding titles meant to improve readability since I severely neglected that in previous posts... and even in this one. D: |
asandari said: Fictional works that are taken in by, even a mere 1% of the population, can have drastic effects on culture after a couple generations. *thumbs up* Even though I'd say "even longer". I can use Classical Music as analogy here. =p asandari said: The focus of this discussion, of course, is whether the trend of understanding ideals in anime is because of the trend in the Japanese culture in general, or because of strong sub-cultural influences. I would say it's a general feeling. Let me confuse it a little bit: The sub-culture where anime is created was, firstly, influenced by anime. Anime created a sub-culture that can create it but originally came from the general public. Therefore I'd conclude the general public has the ideals. asandari said: And of course, any culture is simply a sum of its parts. The generalisations I made above or am trying to make about Japan are no type of law, but simply stereotypical indicators. (Let's not get into the ethics of using these...) Thus, of course it would vary based on the people involved, but in some cultures certain situations are more likely due to... their culture, or more specifically, their social conditioning. Just bolded the most important parts ;) |
Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
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