The identity of a society can be defined through the modes of expressions used in media. During Japan’s eventful history in the twentieth century, it has adopted several modes of expression. These modes reflect that history into Japan’s works of art, especially anime. Anime is well-known in displaying one of Japan’s most common modes of expression - that is apocalyptic. This particular mode mirrors Japanese society’s culture and history, as well is its change through time (Napier 21).
The apocalyptic mode of expression in anime reflects a great deal of devastating effects that occurred in Japan. Throughout its history, Japan has suffered numerous natural disasters, such as earthquakes, typhoons, and tidal waves. More recently, Japan has suffered the immediate and after effects of an atomic bomb by the United States near the end of World War II. These events, especially the atomic bombings, changed postwar Japan’s direction in anime; it had become more adult-oriented and included complex storylines and structure, a great departure from the concepts utilized in Western animation. In the three films analyzed, their plots, themes, and characters symbolically express Japan’s traumatic events through history, as well their effects on its society.
Akira
After World War II, Japan was left to rebuild what was lost. Throughout the first decades after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan set its sights to modernize, under the regulation and help of the United States, which at the time became a superpower. By the 1960s and 1970s, Japan became the first non-western county to successfully modernize; in addition, it became a model for other developing nations to modernize (Napier, "Panic Sites", 330). As of today, Japan has become one of the world leaders in the economy, especially in technology; at times, its economy power rivals that of the United States. Japan’s return to prominence from what was known as a war-torn and poverty-stricken nation was quick and impressive. Despite the overwhelming success, Japan had undergone economic troubles once again in the 1980s, as its stock market almost crashed (Napier, "Panic Sites", 331). Japan’s incredible story of modernization is paralleled in the 1988 anime film Akira, directed by Katsuhiro Ôtomo, through its plot, themes, and characters.
The imagery of the atomic bomb remains ingrained in the Japanese to this day. As mentioned before, Japan is the only nation in the world to endure the devastation and after effects of the atomic bomb. This destructive time is one of the main reasons why apocalyptic themes are common in anime. However, the images of destruction also address the concern about technology. In Akira, mankind’s tampering with nature through technology show just how great power can lead to disastrous results. In a flashback, scientists are shown attempting to create children with telepathic powers. Known as the Espers, this group of children includes Akira; out of all the children, Akira has developed power well beyond the scientists’ control. This inability to control what they had created leads to a huge explosion portrayed at the beginning of the film's narrative. Despite several methods of employing devastation, an atomic-like explosion in Tokyo serves as an effective reflection of the events that occurred nearly forty years before the film’s theatrical release.
In addition, the effects of meddling with technology are shown through the Espers. The physical appearance of the Espers is grotesque, having the bodies of young children with elderly, radioactive-like green faces. It is reminiscence of the physical effects endured by those exposed to the atomic bomb. The use of children in the aforementioned experiments also presents a moral panic, as it is usually the adults who sacrifice themselves for their children (Napier, "Panic Sites", 342). Images of children suffering through the experiments portray how mankind’s obsession with technology can lead to social destruction as well. In Akira, this social destruction leads to the distrust of adults by children, and the adults' inability to control the children, as they rebel against them, such as Kaneda and his bike gang causing mayhem in Neo-Tokyo.
Prophecy of Destruction from the Tampering of Technology | Toho Company Ltd., (C) 1988
Parallels in Nuclear After Effects and the Moral Panic of Sacrificing Children First | Toho Company Ltd., (C) 1988
In the film’s climatic ending, the protagonist Kaneda and his good friend Tetsuo, who has undergone a telepathic and physical mutation (apparently from the influence of the mythical entity Akira), engage in a fast-paced and psychedelic battle. As the battle ensues, Tetsuo is destroyed in a huge explosion, and it is hinted that a new universe has been created from this explosion.
The scene parallels Japans’ development to become modernized and how the new face of Japan overshadowed the atomic bomb's destruction and the nation's economic collapse. As it was technology that gave Akira his power and was later super-imposed onto Tetsuo and led to his physical transformation, it mirrors how Japan’s expertise in the technology led it to economic prominence. In addition, Japan’s quick rise within the economic sector in just a few decades is reflected in Akira through Tetsuo, whose physical transformation occurred within a matter of days (Napier, "Panic Sites", 342).
Japan's Quick Transformation to a Economic Power | Toho Company Ltd., (C) 1988
Towards the film’s ending, Akira symbolically displays the effects of Japanese modernization through the image of the Olympic stadium, which serves as the battle arena for Kaneda and Tetsuo. The Olympic stadium, which is being built for Neo-Tokyo’s hosting of the coming Olympic Games, bears a strikingly similar appearance to that of the 1964 Olympic stadium hosted in Japan (Napier, "Panic Sites", 348). As Tetsuo dies in a large explosion, the blast destroys the stadium as well. In a spectacle of awe and amazement as the explosion envelopes the stadium, Japan’s past as a war-torn nation is enveloped too, as Japan has risen to become a superpower.
Japan Overshadowing Its Past | Toho Company Ltd., (C) 1988
Also through the use of Akira’s characters, the United States is represented through the aforementioned Kaneda. At the beginning of the film, Kaneda is revealed to be the leader of a biker gang, while Tetsuo is a member. During this scene, Kaneda playfully mocks Tetsuo as he admires Kaneda’s power bike, which is considered the best of the gang’s motorcycles, stating he cannot handle its power. As Tetsuo undergoes the premature effects of Akira’s telepathic powers, Kaneda is always present and willing to help him out. This situation reflects the United States’ willingness to help the devastated Japan to pick up the pieces of its post-war mayhem and turmoil, while Japan looks up to the United States because of its gained power and leadership in the world (Napier, "Panic Sites", 339). Because of Japan’s desire to regain economic power, it changes and modernizes, which is mirrored through Tetsuo’s desire to gain power over Kaneda, and uncontrollably change in order to have this power .
Japan's Desire for Prominence | Toho Company Ltd., (C) 1988
The overall use of imagery, plot, and characters serve to have Japanese society, and the world, to never forget the devastating times Japan has endured. In addition, it united the Japanese people to consider the consequences of their decisions, to prevent a real disaster from ever happening again.
Princess Mononoke
Not only has the use of technology affected Japanese society, It has also affected Japan’s natural environment. Japan’s environmental history is one of great interest and concern. Before the turn of the twentieth century, Japanese society adopted the rice paddy culture. As the wet rice cultivation continued spread throughout the island, it began to destroy the surrounding wildlife and landscape. By the twentieth century, most of the wildlife was wiped out from contemporary Japan. This sense of environmental crisis provokes Japanese society. In the critically-acclaimed 1997 film Princess Mononoke, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese people realize how much they have already lost and how much more they stand to lose (Napier 233).
In Princess Mononoke, the loss of nature and wildlife mirrors how Japans’ terraforming in the past devastated the wilderness. In the film’s setting, the ironworks, where the people of the West reside and produce iron, served as mankind’s’ intervention of nature. Against a background of the greens and blues of nature, the ironworks (appropriately called Irontown) severely contrasts it. In a color pallet of browns and blacks, Irontown leaves a bold, visual statement that it is not in harmony with nature. In addition, the unwelcoming sharp wooden barricades, high walls, and the fact Irontown is on an island emphasize the isolation and contrast to the surrounding forest and lake. This striking scene reflects on how Japanese society’s actions have led to a similar consequence in real life. It also opens the film to destabilization, leading to an ambiguous note of possible destruction and horror to come.
Lack of Harmony | Toho Company Ltd., (C) 1997
Princess Mononoke also addresses spiritual crisis. Japanese society is known to be more spiritual then religious, as most Japanese incorporate more than one religion, in addition to referring to mythology. During the Second World War, Japanese society was forced to practice Shinto, a religion with respect for nature. After Japan surrendered and the United States occupied the island country in 1945, Shinto and its shrines were taken away from the public.
Through the film, director Hayao Miyazaki portrays this event in history through the animals shown in the film, particularly the Deer God. The Deer God is symbolically portrayed as the beginner and ender of life; as he walks, flowers bloom where he steps, then quickly die after. He reflects to the Japanese the mythology they have adopted, in which nature and religion coincide, particularly in Shinto. The loss of Shinto is reflected as Eboshi, the leader of Irontown, apparently beheads the Deer God. What makes this scene more symbolically interesting is that Eboshi is depicted as a person from the West. This would coincide with the term applied to Americans (Napier 251). In addition, Irontown’s industrialization emphasizes that it is indeed mirroring the United States and western society in general.
The Deer God - The Symbol of Shintoism | Toho Company Ltd., (C) 1997
Loss of Shintoism... and Spirtuality | Toho Company Ltd., (C) 1997
Despite the seemingly lack of balance between nature and technology, the film ends with the restoration of nature and harmony, in addition to Irontown being destroyed and the surrounding area becoming green again. The consistent portrayal of destruction destabilizes the Japanese audience’s expectation of how the world should be.
Paprika
Similarly to Akira, Satoshi Kon’s Paprika addresses how technology can lead to destruction, chaos, and panic. The narrative of Paprika revolves around the DC Mini, a device that allows psychotherapists to enter a patient’s dreams to understand what is causing their psychological problems. However, one of the DC Minis has been stolen; the thief is now able to enter anyone’s dream, prying into their secrets and fantasies.
Paprika analyzes the complex issues surrounding the power of technology. On one side, the DC Mini has the ability to help troubled people; on the other side, it has the ability to cause mayhem. This reflects Japan’s current situation as a major technology developer. As technology continues to advance, questions will arise pertaining to the responsibility and ethics of it. While a device as powerful as the DC Mini does not exist, Japan must prepare itself on how to handle this kind of situation should technology of serious consequental magnitude occur.
Japan’s first hand experience of the atomic bomb is strong evidence that great power can lead to massive destruction. The gaping crater-like hole depicted near the end of Paprika serves as a foreshadow. If technology of great power or destruction be mishandled or fall into the wrong hand, similar disastrous effects which occurred in Paprika will become a reality (Napier 252).
The Effects of Misusing the DC Mini | Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2006