Anime+Comparison

Ever since Japanese animation (also known as anime) crossed continents and became popular with generations of American viewers, there's been a lot of different views on how they are made. Japanese anime is more spiritual and fair to all. American anime portrays roles of genders, races, wealth, etc.

For example in the movie __ Tangled __ the daughter is portrayed as a beautiful young girl who is rebellious and doesn’t know what to do. When she leaves her tower, she is emotionally distraught and keeps changing her mind to if she should go back to her tower or not. The “stepmother” is portrayed as an old woman who always knows best for her daughter, and controls her life. The men in the film are portrayed as beefy, strong, greedy men. Flynn Ryder, the main male role, always talks about his handsome looks and his way with ladies. However in the movie __ Brave __ daughter still thinks she knows best and has to fix everything herself. The men in the film are still greedy, muscular and eat a lot.

In Japanese anime, the roles of genders, races, and wealth are a lot different. The females are strong and wise, as are the men. There are a lot more spiritual references though. In the movie __My Neighbor Totoro__ there is a spirit that helps the two girls and becomes their friend. There are also these ghost like spirits that used to be in the house they moved into. Also in Japanese anime, there is a portrayal of urban pollution. In the movie __Spirited Away__ there is a river spirit who becomes best friends with the main female role in the movie. The river spirit only lives in the spirit world because his river has been destroyed, and now houses are on top of it. Also in one scene there is a sludge monster that has to be washed. The main character pulls a bike and a lot of other junk out of him. The creator of this anime had once gone to help clean a river and had pulled a bike out of the water with a lot of other junk, same as in the movie.

In both type of anime, the men can be greedy and there is also a huge portrayal of over protection from the parents. In the movies Spirited Away, Tangled, and Brave the parent(s) are very protective of their children. In Spirited Away, a mother spirit keeps her “baby” locked up away from any danger from the outside world, such as germs. When she can’t find him, she loses her mind. The baby even said that if she wouldn't do something for his new friend, he would cry. The mother gave in and listened but the friend wanted to do the task she gave her. In Tangled, the mother would never let her daughter out of the tower because of the outside dangers. However the mother just wanted to keep her daughter for her powers of keeping her young. In the movie Brave, the mother wants the daughter to follow all of her rules and standards, were as the young daughter wants to do everything her way and not listen to her mother. There is also a similarity in magic. In Brave, the witch curses the queen and she turns into a bear. The magic is an obstacle the main character has to overcome. In the movies Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away there is a presence of magic. Kiki is a witch who can fly and talk to her cat. In Spirited Away, the mother can fly, turn people into animals, and take people's names.

sources: Tangled Brave Spirited Away My Neighbor Totoro Kiki's Delivery Service