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A review by tinycl0ud
Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation by S. Napier
3.0
Very dense, very thorough, very academic, requires a background in critical theory to understand the meat of the analyses. Quite eye-opening! Covers a wide range of anime across the decades. References films from the western canon too.
Chapters I enjoyed:
3. Akira and Ranma 1/2: The Monstrous Adolescent
Very interesting takes on representations of the unstable/amorphous adolescent body
5. Ghosts and Machines: The Technological Body
The last part talks about NGE through a psychoanalytic and mythic framework to comment on how this anime subverts mecha conventions
6. Doll Parts: Technology and the Body in Ghost in the Shell
Paralleled comparison of GitS with similar films like Blade Runner
8. The Enchantment of Estrangement: The Shojo in the World of Miyazaki Hayao
The first half talks about Totoro as a “classic fantasy of compensation” and Kiki’s Delivery Service as straddling the line between the fantastical and the realistically economical.
Chapters I enjoyed:
3. Akira and Ranma 1/2: The Monstrous Adolescent
Very interesting takes on representations of the unstable/amorphous adolescent body
5. Ghosts and Machines: The Technological Body
The last part talks about NGE through a psychoanalytic and mythic framework to comment on how this anime subverts mecha conventions
6. Doll Parts: Technology and the Body in Ghost in the Shell
Paralleled comparison of GitS with similar films like Blade Runner
8. The Enchantment of Estrangement: The Shojo in the World of Miyazaki Hayao
The first half talks about Totoro as a “classic fantasy of compensation” and Kiki’s Delivery Service as straddling the line between the fantastical and the realistically economical.