[Angelan]

Okay, for my A2 film coursework, I have to do a project on an auteur, so I picked Hayao Miyazaki.

Anyway, I have to include various bits of film theory within my essay proving he's an auteur, and I'd like to know about the representation of women in anime not directed by Miyazaki.

Are they useless and irratating like in alot of early japanese cinema, or not? I'd like some examples, or somewhere to start looking for different kinds of representations, to see whether Miyazaki is doing anything unusual in his films or if he's just following genric expectations.

I don't really know enough about anime to know where to start with this, so I'd really appreciate some pointers. Please?

[RommieSG]

While I have not seen Spirited Away I have seen a number of Anime where women are not just some ditzy fill-in to fill a plot line.

Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 Follows a group of four women, called the Knight Sabers as they go around destroying Rogue Boomers (Mad Robots). Throughout the 26 episode series, it showed a lot of strengths of women, and not once did I see them portrayed as weak.

Dirty Pair, and Dirty Pair Flash is about two trouble consultants from the WWWA named Yuri and Kei. They are two walking talking, bad girl cliches with guns. I've never seen them to be weak, but I do think they overplay the flirting in Yuri's character to be a bit too extreme sometimes, and in corrolation, Kei seems to be a bit more butch than she has to be as well.

Love Hina is a story about 5 women who live in an All-Girls Dorm, with a male manager. It can be a little perverted at times, but it shows the strengths of women as well throughout the series, in my opinion.

Sailor Moon can be seen as a series that shows women very strongly. Champions of Justice, fighting the evil forces of the Negaverse. But with Serena (Usagi) always crying, whining, and sobbing all the time, you do tend to wonder.

I hope this helps a bit, as I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for Angelan. But I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. You can catch me on MSN if you've got that.

Rommie

[Christopher]

Well, the protagonists in Miyazaki's films are often female, at least in Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service. In SA there are plenty of strong female characters.

Still, it's important not to judge Japanese films through the filter of American standards. It's a different culture, with different ideas about gender roles -- in some ways parallel to where America was 20-25 years ago, but that's too facile a comparison. You're touching on a hugely complex cultural issue that warrants whole courses of its own.

As RommieSG points out, there are plenty of anime characters who are quite strong, heroic and capable, but who still behave in a very feminine way. I think that reflects modern expectations for the Japanese woman -- to be capable and independent while still being properly, traditionally feminine. This is a culture that simultaneously embraces modernization and takes pride in its traditions.

Or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about and am just engaged in handwaving. But what the hey, it got me through college.

[SeamusSaidPoit]

Cowboy Bebop- perhaps, at least by American standards, the most jarring juxtaposition of female types... and do they work. The main female character, Faye Valentine, basically dressed less modestly than a corner hooker, but her personality is alarmingly complex. She's got what one might stereotypically call the "typical female vices of television" of impulsive shopping, explosive temper, manhandling, and debt racking, in addition to gambling. She's got a debt so enormous to pay off she doesn't even bother. The debt wasn't her fault, and her 'origin' story is actually quite a touching and tragic one. But she's an ingeniously intelligent thinker. Nietzchean almost in her ability to survive and analyze situtions, and its not a trait that's used sparringly, it's apparent in her almost every deed and word. So on the outside she looks like another anatomically improbably pin-up for sweaty teenage boys, but if you close your eyes and just listen to her character, she's intruiging...
The secondary female lead, Ed. It actually takes a long time for someone to even figure out Ed is a girl, especially if you're watching the subtitled versions. A overactive, speaks-in-sing-song riddles, pre-adolscent girl, who seems to have hit the soft spot of her head repeatedly as a baby, but who functions as a kind of hacking savant. She lives in her own crazy world, occasionally dropping by mentally just enough to help the Bebop crew with some hacked knowledge. It's probably her androgeny that make her unique for the case of your study, since you can't really tell its a girl body wise since she's so young, but its that lives-in-her-own-world quality that makes her a favorite character of so many...

The third female main character, though not a lead, would be Julia, who is mainly alluded to sparingly in flashbacks and cryptic conversation. Feminine, but can be hard. Intelligent, but prone to mistakes. Probably the most normal woman, by our standards, but has shown herself to be cold and hard when she needs to.

To really get a feel for how these women (not just Cowboy Bebop, but the other animes people here have suggested) are portrayed is probably to watch the animes themselves... Cowboy Bebop is a series (don't watch the movie exclusively for portrayls of women, it kind short-shrifts the series regulars i just named), so if you'd like soem suggestions on which key episodes to watch out of the 26, let me know...

Oh, it just occurred to me that something else might factor into your study... Cowboy Bebop is more of a weird love-letter to American stereotypes as seen from abroad than a real home-brew japanese-centric anime. It's main claim to fame is its wonderful americanized soundtrack, and the detective noir atmosphere and character types one could say it borrows from classic american cinema. It's actually more complex of a relationship than to say its a flat out love-letter...one could say its a love-letter to a percieved stereotype of a stereotype...but uh, yeah...if you were to see it, you'd be able to understand better and make your own judgement...

[Niko]

Phew. The roles of women in anime could be an entire study-project all on it's own... If you can find them, you may want to take a look at some of the books written about anime/manga to get some ground-work. One that I own, "Samurai from Outer Space: Understanding Japanese Animation", has an entire chapter on women in anime (it's more than five years old, now, but rereading the chapter in question, I think it holds true nowadays). I haven't read them, but Frederik L. Schodt's books are usually cited as good resources for anime-research. Not sure if they address this issue in particular, though.

To the examples already given, I'd add Oh! My Goddess to the mix, because it has a nice variety of female characters. Belldandy is the "ideal" woman - sweet, gentle, forgiving. Her older sister, Urd, is the sexy, forceful bombshell, and Skuld is the cute, sometimes-bratty, kid sister.

[Angelan]

Yes that helps *hugs all round*!

I'm going to see if I can beg, steal or borrow a copy of the Cowboy Bebop film (I'm mostly looking into Films - it is Film studies after all, but I think I can fudge that since alot of animes start out as series, and then get films if they're succesful, no?), although that said, if it makes the women lessened, then, hm, but maybe it's worth getting anyway, since there's no way I could afford the whole series .

It's a complete pain that I only have 2000 words to talk about the whole thing *kicks the examination board*, and his representation of women is only going to be a little bit (although by the looks of things I'm going to have to include a bigger bit than I intended )

And Americanisation of anime is a good point, that I could look into, because I think my film teacher mentioned whether anime uses things like classical hollywood narrative, or subversions thereof.

I think my cry of 'It's educational, honest!' will be heard in my parents wallets this week .

Thanks again

This post has been edited by Angelan: 09 November 2003 - 12:45 PM

[RommieSG]

Another one that I thought of, was Vandread. A tale of two societies separated by gender, which are thrown together on a ship, as forces from a distant world attempt to destroy their respective planets. It shows an interestingly diverse culture that developed without the influence of males. But I think they more than made up for it, with the certain mindset of certain females.

This is an excellent story.

Rommie

[Davesnothome]

As a novice in anime, I don't have as wide an experience in anime. But what I have seen recently, I can recommend. Vandread was interesting with a lighter touch. Men and woman of all ages tryimg to rediscover who each other are, in another part of the universe.

One of my favorites is "Read or Die". Its about secret agents trying to save the world from destruction. Two of the three leads are woman of distinctly opposite personalities. But who grow to understand each other.

Another interesting anime was "Witch Hunter Robin". Its about an organization hunting dangerous witches. Our herione Robin has just joined the group and must prove herself, to her new allies.

And for something a little different, try "Please Teacher!" Once you get past the student/teacher romance hang up. It's quite entertaining! In a quircker sort of way! (g)

Dave

[ArchAngel]

A few others you might like to look into are.....

Noir:Mireille Bouquet is a professional assassin, and a very good one at that. But when she follows up an e-mail from a young Japanese girl named Yumura Kirika, inviting her to take "a pilgrimage to the past", her life becomes even more dangerous than it already is. Now, with a haunting melody invoking the memory of an event long past, Mireille and Kirika decide to work together to find the truth about a thousand year old organization that has controlled both of their lives since before they were born. And the only clue in their search, the only thing Kirika remembers about herself, becomes their working codename: a name designating an ancient fate, of two maidens who reign over death--Noir.

Gunbuster:The story of Noriko Takaya, a young girl who is trying to walk in the footsteps of her famous father, Admiral Yuzo Takaya. It chronicles Noriko's trials and tribulations as she struggles to become a pilot of the massive robot Gunbuster. With the help of Coach Ota and her friends Kazumi and Jung, Noriko conquers her fears and learns one of the most important lessons in life: Believing in one's self.

Plot summaries courtesy of AnimeNewsNetwork

[RommieSG]

Davesnothome, on Nov 10 2003, 05:28 PM, said:

And for something a little different, try "Please Teacher!" Once you get past the student/teacher romance hang up. It's quite entertaining! In a quircker sort of way! (g)

Dave

Agreed. I cannot stress enough, the range of emotions that this series will make you feel. You truly feel for Kei and Mizuho as their relationship progresses throughout the series. I found myself shedding a tear around the 8th episode. While it's only a 12 episode series, it made me feel more than a normal 24-26 episode series has in some time. Highly recommend this one.

Rommie

[RommieSG]

Vapor Trails, on Nov 10 2003, 09:58 PM, said:

Being one of the "old school" Anime fans (actually, ex-Anime fan), my recommendation would be Galaxy Express 999-the TV series, NOT the films. The films, are, at best, mediocre. I personally consider Galaxy Express 999 to be one of the GREATEST TV shows EVER-live action or animation. IMO, it blows away shows like STAR TREK: TOS, and I'd probably rank it near THE TWILIGHT ZONE in terms of the writing. It is THAT damn good.

It is what American animation in the U.S. could strive to be, SHOULD strive to be, in terms of story-telling. Story telling that is serious, that tackles today's issues, that does not shy away from the harsh realities of life, that appeals to ADULTS as well as kids. None of this baby-food, pureed Disney horse turd.   

Saul

A wonderful recommendation, VT, but what does it have to relate to the topic, pertaining to Women in Anime?

How do the female characters of this particular series, come across to the viewer?

Rommie

[gadfly]

I'm rather new to anime but I've been really impressed with the complexity of the storylines and the characters. You might want to check out Millenium Actress. The story is about an aging actress and her career. It's a pretty amazing story.

[RommieSG]

gadfly, on Nov 11 2003, 07:09 AM, said:

I'm rather new to anime but I've been really impressed with the complexity of the storylines and the characters.  You might want to check out Millenium Actress.  The story is about an aging actress and her career.  It's a pretty amazing story.

I have not seen this one, but I have read about it in NewType. If you're looking for strong women in Film, then this is one to look into. Another one, if you're looking for film, would be Armitage III. I'll be back with a description when I get home from work, or you can check out http://www.animenewsnetwork.com for a description.

Rommie