Japanese animation films grow in popularity

Japanese animation films grow in popularity

By Gotot Prakosa

JAKARTA (JP): The world has acknowledged that Japanese animation films are already on par with American ones in terms of their storyline management and production techniques.

Now the animation world knows of the "Japanese style", which is a technique in reducing the number of pictures in forming a meaningful movement. It aims at speeding up the production process and keeping production costs low as well as creating an aesthetic visual expression.

Given a boost by the new digital technology, the Japanese style is growing in popularity.

Characterization and forms found in comics are used in animation films. The manga culture also affects the growth of the animation industry in general.

Manga is an aesthetic approach to character-building and drawing techniques. A character may have a small pointed nose, large eyes and a small mouth, but when screaming, the mouth becomes very large and expressive. This style has attracted huge followings from children around the world.

Characters in Japanese comics which have been TV series, such as Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Candy Candy, Saint Seiya and Detective Conan have become figures of "ideal beauty" for children, both boys and girls.

In Japan, animation films have been flourishing in unique groups. The first group exists in the industrial arena, which grows and markets its products through television, laser discs, video compact discs and games. This group depends entirely on the market, both at home and overseas. Like its American and European competitors, it formed market syndications.

Many of the animation filmmakers have recruited talented but cheaper artists from Asia like Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines to minimize production costs.

The second group belongs to the young people dedicated to innovation in animation film-making. They independently make films. They are also try to enter the mainstream, although they are not as productive as the market-oriented artists.

Akira and Memories made by Katsuhiro Otomo, My Neighbor Totaro and Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki, as well as Perfect Blue the debut work of Satoshi Konk, are works by the second group of Japanese artists presented at the JIFFest from Nov. 24 and Nov. 25.

The third group consists of experimentalists who use animation as a way of free expression. Their works are mostly short, but rich in transcendental messages. Prominent artists include Yoji Kuri and Furukawa Taku. Japanese experimental animation films are just as appealing as American and European films.

Japanese animation films screened on Indonesian TV stations are of the market-oriented types and include Dora Emon, Dragon Ball and Remi. We are lucky to have the chance to view an experimental animation Perfect Blue at the festival. Perfect Blue is a rare wide-screen film shown at the movies.

It is a thriller drama with a well-made plot to give its adult viewers psychological understandings. An award winner at the Montreal's Fant-Asia Film Festival and at the box office in Tokyo and Osaka, the film is based on a popular novel of the same title by Yoshikazu Takeuchi.

It is about the life of a pop icon named Mima who shocks her fans by announcing that she will quit singing to begin a career as an erotic TV film star. In one shooting session, she has to act out a rape scene.

Her drastic career switch becomes a nightmare. In real life, she has a split personality. Her life is made even more complicated by the virtual reality she learns about from the Internet which she surfs to overcome her loneliness when she is alone in her small room in Tokyo.

In short, like some nonanimated films, the film is about current realities. This is unusual in animation films because portraying real life needs extraordinary drawing skills. The artists are required not only to observe closely how each character moves but also to present background visuals that appear natural, just as in nonanimated films.

It is these meticulous technicalities that makes Perfect Blue stand out from Walt Disney and Dream Works productions, as well as most other American animation films.