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.