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Tonight’s feature comes to us via a tip picked up from Japundit from Peter Payne’s J-List. In his post, Payne had ruminated that the emotional content and engagement in anime were the driving force behind its growing appeal and worldwide reach. I’d like to interject just a few thoughts of my own. While I think these sorts of universal storylines, and emotionally familiar and personally reminiscent characters are a fantastic force in storytelling (think for instance of Campbell’s hero cycle as displayed in Star Wars, which is a further execution of Beowulf). I think that misses a little bit of exactly why this is compelling to so many individuals. Much of the beauty I find in anime, and indeed, a work like Star Wars, is that it has the power to express tremendously complex philosophical and emotional concepts in what would be considered on the surface as a very basic form. It’s not unlike reading a layman’s guide to quantum mechanics. You have the ability to take much more away from it than the narrative or presentation actually impose upon you.

That said, there’s also the issue of stylization, which plays largely into how these narratives are perceived. If you’ve ever looked into anime, you’ve likely heard plenty of jokes about Moe, or alternatively, overt male androgyny (Disclosure: I’m still working on male anime hair). I theorize that there’s actually an extremely clever design behind the stylistic forms we associate with anime, and it’s the same one that keeps kittens and babies safe from predators.

They’re supposed to be exaggerated. You identify more with them that way.

Encountering a stylized human form (large eyes, exaggerated features, childlike behavior). Has always engaged an emotional parental response; it’s a biological imperative. This is what our young are born looking like. No wonder they evoke an emotional response. And look at what gates that opens for storytelling:

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So welcome to Tokyo 8.0, the story of a young girl caught in an earthquake that effectively levels Tokyo. Trying to find her way home she resorts to what children do best, dream.

So, what say you? Have you had the same emotional connection to a character in an anime as you’ve had to a character out of literature, or film, comic, or (dear God) television? If so, what do you surmise drove the connection for you? Was it purely the circumstances of the story? The style? Your unfettered sub-title fetish?

Let us know in the comment thing below. More significantly, even if anime isn’t your particular cup of Oolong; just take a moment and consider the motivation behind actually liking the things you like.

It’s a pause we all need to take from time to time.

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Tags: Aesthetiophilia, I should probably go to bed, Videophilia // Add Comment »