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to sympathize with the characters, and yet escape from bland, normal
daily life to a fantasy world that is far different.
Even in worlds that exist in the far future, or long ago, the reader is
drawn into a 3-dimensional character, one who is far from perfect, one
who has stupid little habits or major character flaws --- and who has
hopes and dreams that the reader can sympathize with. Unlike some
American super heroes, who often seem to just go around defeating
Evil (as wonderfully spoofed in American comic "The Tick"), Japanese
characters usually have other goals in life that play large themes
within their lives. I heard recently the characterization that manga and
anime are "character oriented." The more I think about, the more I
think this is the right description. Characters aren't forced into plots,
like a foot into a too-tight shoe; instead, stories grow out of the
characters. The heart of manga and anime is in the hearts of the
characters.
That brings us to three other aspects of manga and anime that I really
like: the reality of the world, the spirituality, and the fact that things
end.
With comics, the merging of art and words creates a unique medium.
The art pulls in the mind, and the words make the reality. A picture
may be worth a thousand words, while words may convey what art
cannot, but the two types together are truly powerful. As for Anime,
animation can do inexpensively what special effects crews couldn't
even touch until the recent rise of computer graphics. Art is a limited
form of virtual reality. Art, however, requires plot to make a story come
to life.
As I've said, even children's Japanese comics and animation deal with
things like death. They also show that one's enemies aren't Just Evil. In
series like Gundam, you can see that the enemies have hopes and
dreams of their own, and do, in fact, have reasons for what they do.
They aren't just crazy, or just plain evil. They're real.
Actions have consequences. If the protagonist screws up, he or she has
to deal with those results ... and, if the person is smart, he or she will
remember not to make that mistake again! The characters grow and
change, learn new skills, get better at old skills, mature and gain
wisdom (unless, of course, it's a comical series like Doraemon :)
Another trait of manga and anime that I have always liked (though
perhaps I hadn't realized it until recently) is their tendency to contain a
sense of spiritual optimism ... and not just simplistic good-over-evil
stuff. Bad people can improve and find redemption. Unhappy heroes