The Aesthetics of Anime
An essay by former Secretary and President Benjamin Liu '98, November 2000

Why anime? You may ask.

Fundamentally anime is a different beast from, say, a movie or a book.

As a form of presentation, it is more distilled than a movie and thus closer to pure ideas and thoughts. It is easier to employ symbols and establish diagrammatic relationships. It is also more intentional than a movie. Everything in anime is premeditated. Every feature of the character, every article of clothes. The process of movie making may be more of a choice or simulation. But the process of anime is bona fide new creation. Every strand of ribbon on Sailormoon's uniform is intentionally created, the way Leonardo Decaprio's stupidity is not. In another words, manga or anime characters don't act. They are; much like Emma or King Lear.

On the other hand, it is more direct than a novel in terms of presentation--it appeals less to language, and more to the direct audio/visual impression. Instead of describing, it can show in the way that movie can, and the audience can observe more than the reader. One is not told the metamorphosis of an artificial asteroid, One is shown the gradual opening of the magnificent Magnetic Rose.

It is a picture book of epic proportion, a painting with time duration, like the picture scrolls of Genji Monogatari, the church frescos, and the Arthurian embroidery. In another words, anime is the new representative of the ancient Cave paintings. Its popularity is not surprising--during an age when paintings serve themselves and not some other narration, when TV and movies are either too close to life or lack narrative power. Anime is gradually filling a vacuum. Not only is anime a medium designed for story telling, it defines an unique experience distinguishable from that based on books, movie, painting, music. Video game and computer graphics are but a variation on the same theme.

"Love scenes in movies always gross me out, but I am often touched by those cheezy love scenes in anime," said an anime fan. Perhaps anime is a pure land where ideals and dreams can unfold with full force without the interference of stupid reality.