Brian Threlkeld and Greg Smith continue their meandering discussions about anime.
Last time, we took a lengthy look at conceptualization in anime. This time, Greg will be taking the lead as we settle down into our chairs in the full-scale replica Rose Mansion situated on the vast campus of The Fandom Post’s offices in scenic [location redacted for security reasons]. Our thanks to the lovely Roses who have agreed to host this panel. The elegant boutons have brought us our drinks (which are naturally “leaded” versus the “unleaded” fare one would normally have in this room) and now we can get down to business in surroundings appropriate for a discussion such as this.
GBS: When people see the phrase “the anime aesthetic,” it’s usually referring to the visual style of anime, what makes it different from Western or even other Asian animation. That’s not what I want to talk about. I am interested in exploring what is tied to the root meaning of the word “aesthetics,” which is the perception of beauty. Simply put, I want to look at aspects of beauty in anime.
This is not going to be a “Who’s the hottest character in anime?” contest. Character design is its own discussion.
BT: I already know who you consider “the most beautiful woman in anime”, anyway.
GBS: Yes, well, I make no secret of that. Ahem. I think it’s fair to say that a great many people enjoy anime as a medium for the visuals. I know I do. I appreciate the stories and the Japanese style of storytelling, but if the visuals are not there, it can be hard to warm up to a show. There are shows that break that mold, such as the recent Flowers of Evil, which boldly threw aside “anime aesthetics” in both senses of the word to serve a larger point. And there are shows that are without doubt “pretty,” but are also rather empty of meaning. In such cases, we can admire the surface beauty of the piece, but lacking depth, it will be hard to get too much satisfaction out of them.
Let me ask a simple question: what have you seen in anime (other than characters) that you would call beautiful?
Instead of wasting time, let’s just take as written into the record the visual triumphs of Hayao Miyazaki’s work for Studio Ghibli, the feasts for the eyes of Satoshi Kon, and the unforgettable imagery of Makoto Shinkai. I would like to highlight some very visually beautiful work from other sources. So far I’ve only mentioned feature works and that should be expected as it’s well known that theatrical anime (and Original Video Animations) have much more time and resources devoted to them, giving them a great advantage over weekly broadcast television shows. This is not to say that anime produced on a much tighter schedule cannot reach quite remarkable heights of beauty.
I have a few studios and some works to discuss, but I’d like to hear your general thoughts on the subject first, since I’ve been going on at some length.
G.B. Smith
Greg Smith has been writing anime reviews and a review column on anime dubbed into English for several years, first at AnimeOnDVD and now for The Fandom Post. His occasional column on English anime dubs, Press Audio, appears whenever he comes across a dub worthy of a closer look. He is also the deputy editor for our seasonal and year end retrospectives.