final paper

Final project 

‘Murica!

An analytical look into the portrayal of American in anime

By, Melvin L. Ellis

Part 1- The lenses of  anime

            So, as we all know, anime is a fantastical art medium, which can convey various meanings, stories, or genres. As we have seen in this course so far, the same goes for society and cultural views. We have spent the past semester exploring themes such as sexual identity ender norms, gender equality, and even philosophical things like being human. The reason we studied, discussed and analyzed those themes was due to the way we saw them presented. In those cases, they were shown through the lenses of anime. Therefore, they presented to us as reflected by cultural or individual views of the time. The same goes for nationality and ethnicity. When found to be a feature of an anime, what does it say? What does the American character reflect about the views of the Japanese public/animator; in relation to American foreigners? I found it to be an overshadowed topic, but a relevant one nevertheless. In this paper, I will draw from various anime over the years to extract what exactly the Japanese anime public conceives Americans to be.

Part 2- Brutes & Heroes!

            Brute: a harsh, very strong or forceful person; not having any reason; cruel and or savage person- Merriam-Webster dictionary

There are few anime which contain American characters fleshed-out enough for proper analyses. Scholarly papers on this subject are also scares, so I am limited to only a couple examples. I will begin by explaining that I will only discuss characters and anime which explicitly refer to a character as being American, or a setting that is also explicitly American.

The roles for Americans in anime are generally brutes or “heroes”. This is to say, they are typically depicted as an ignorant brute, or a hero in their own mind. The hero shows many stereotypical American-isms .these included, but was not limited to: constantly coming to someone else’s aid regardless of if they are needed, infringing on people with their own views, referring to themselves as a hero, and taking credit for a success or accomplishment. Characters also feel the need to mention their country of or origin. A well-known example of the ignorant “hero” in anime would be America, from the Hetalia series. 

He fits every one of the “hero” traits listed above. He has a tendency to overindulge in junk food, as well as hamburgers (stereotypical diet of unhealthy “fat” Americans).On top of that, Hetalia’s depiction of America is entirely based on a mix of American stereotypes and events from American history which bend the character to the forceful, idiotic character that they want American to be. For example, in episode 46 “Black Ships have Come “of the second series, America is order to “make friends” with Japan and get it to open its borders. This is done to reference the actions of commodore Perry in 1854. The narrator explains that “America sent a group of black war ships with a man named commodore Perry to politely ask them to trade or be wiped off the face of the earth”. I personally find most of this show extremely offensive.  Not only for the shameless stereotyping, but also for the offensive English dubbing. In this episode he asks “why do I have to go”. In the dub version he replies “YEAH! But only if I can kick ass and chew bubblegum! (A reference to the “Duke Nukem” franchise). America goes on to say “getting this cheap whale fat is too hard, can’t I just shoot them all?.” The character goes on to ignorantly bumble through conversations as he goes to Japan, not knowing any Japanese customs or language. For this paper, I decided to show this 5 minute episode to people I encountered in the park to get their opinions as Americans. I received almost 100% negative feedback, one person even telling me “this series is the equivalent to cultural black face (the equivalent to someone wearing black face for humor, in this case our country is being shamelessly made to look overly ridiculous)”.  As the series goes on, the characters America and Japan gradually become closer, but America’s overbearing and idiotic nature remains constant. 

 Another American character found in anime is Dan Eagleman (name obvious pun on the bald eagle). In the anime “Guilty Crown”, Dan is an American ex-athlete, now working with the special military group.  Similar to America (hetalia), he is upbeat, and sees himself as a hero. He is also known for giving pep talks to his subordinates and abusing his catchphrase “guts”. He is different from America, in that he has the personality of both the brute and the “hero”. Whether its defending women, fighting for “chivalry”, or exerting enough strength to knock over a surface-to-air missile, Dan Eagleman Is the Yankee for the job.

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On the other end of the spectrum, opposite America (hetalia), we have “bandit” Keith Howard. With his baker vest, hulking appearance, and flag bandana, Keith is an obvious walking biker cliché. She enjoys stealing, bullying, and steak. He also hates sushi and is well known for his catchphrase, “in America”, ad even more known for being the only  civilian in the Yu-Gi-Oh series to hold someone at gunpoint. Keith is a brute in every sense of the world. He travels to Japan to defeat his adversary after losing to him in America, a failure he could never forgive. Unlike Dan and the Hetalia character, he shows none of the “hero” traits; not even remotely.

Earlier work and depictions

Early on in this semester, we took a look at early anime. Anime, as an art form was a product of post WW2 Japan. As such, many early anime featured war propaganda. Examples of this would be: ‘Evil Mickey attacks Japan” and “Momotaro’s Sea Eagle”.  In the first, the evil Mickey Mouse wages war on japan. Mickey; an American classic is depicted as a much more gruesome, feral animal. He attacks the happy island, and heroes from Japanese folklore must arrive to slay the evil mickey and defend their country. Among them we find Momotaro, who is featured in the second short film. In this film, we see him and his band of adorable animals launch a surprise attack on the demon island.  The large, boorish “demons” are drunken, sloppy and asleep for most of the attack. Leaving their aircrafts exposed to be destroyed by the sly and cute animals. Before the attack, we can see on the map, a place which resembles Pearl Harbor. So, we can conclude that the pathetic, sloppy “demons” were nothing else than Americans, as depicted for the war time anime. Meanwhile, the almost godlike Momotaro has a dignified appearance. He appears calm, in command, and has dominion and control over his animal subjects.  

American women

During the course of my research, I came across few female American characters in anime. This is to say, the ones I found were ultimately the same: loud, stubborn, bouncy, exaggerated bust and gluts, and wearing a bathing suit. As general as that is, I decided to insert at least one example of the character , Monica Adenauer from yakitate.One example being, Monica Adenauer. Other than being greedy, chewing bubble gum, and wearing an American flag bikini, there is little-nothing to this character. But they had little to no development, and it was and to draw what the message was behind her.

I have the idea that the lack of validated American women in anime may be linked to the gender issues of women in anime to begin with. There have been advancements in this field, but they have been done by the Japanese animators. I am willing to bet that the lacking of American women is due to the difference. I mean that, Japanese animators are familiar with the cultural issues facing women in Japanese society.  Through that, they know how they want to depict positive change I gender equality on a Japanese stage.  However, they may be unclear on the situations and national position of women in American society. If that is the case, there may be confusion/ unwillingness of how to present women in anime other than stereotypes which can be applied to all genders. 

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Saying it, but NOT saying it

This is an interesting situation I found in Code Geass. As I wrote in my first blossey, Code Geass is about the struggle. Japan struggle to find its culture, freedom, and cast out the evil Britaniann Empire. The series is so deeply philosophic. You get caught up in questions of “what is Japan?” and “what is Japanese?” that a large point in-between the lines is often missed by most fans. The Evil Britannian Empire is a depiction of America. An extermination of America’s over baring intervention in foreign affairs, as Britania rules over 60% of the world at the start of the first episode. In fact, in the narration about the history of Britannia, you can see the map of its expansion. It begins in North America and moves into Europe and Japan.