Recent events in the Computer Animation department have caused a wave of thinking among the programs’ students, primarily in reference to anime and its place in the Western world of animation. Without divulging into the details, it was made clear to the students that not only that the faculty adamantly believes anime and manga have no place in their students’ work whatsoever, but additionally that the genre isn’t a successful form of art at all due to its “repetitive nature”. Stereotypically referring to art students and anime, it is perhaps understandable where the hesitation for the style may come from, but especially after reading Osamu Tezuka’s “Phoenix” I believe it is impossible and unreasonable to box an entire genre of art into one label as “good” or “bad” media, and that this genre is undeniably a form of art.
“Phoenix” is a beautifully constructed story that demands the reader to question what it means to experience life as a human, told through expressively bold artwork that evokes feelings that the reader is perhaps not familiar with, but understands.
When Leon is first brought back to life after falling from the air car, his journey back into the world of the living is jarring and disruptive from the calm that death brought. The straight lines across the panels are interrupted by Leon’s presence as the two try to coexist in the same space.
Even page to page, the novel emits extremely different vibes and styles to evoke different feelings. From highly exaggerated goofy drawings to show how inhumane the people appear, to heavy stitched lines emphasizing the weight and anger the characters feel, and again to warped angles and stretched anatomy to stress the pace of the story moment, there is nothing “repetitive” about this work at all.
Even within just one section of one series, “Phoenix” provides more than enough evidence to the versatility of the anime and manga art style with a unique art direction that serves its story effectively and uniquely.
No comments:
Post a Comment