A Modern Modest Proposal

A MODERN MODEST PROPOSAL FOR ABOLISHING STEREOTYPES

ON

MANGA, ANIME, AND FANS OF ANIME

PUBLICIZING THEIR VIRTUES KEPT HIDDEN

BY

AND

MANGA, AND FOR

CRITICS

There are stories that explore the human condition denounced as inane due only to their presentation. There are hero stories called idle because of their fantastic nature. There is a repeated tale of personal advancement and exploration of souls, a repeated tale of lessons learned through hardships, ignored because of its caricatured form. There are children shunned, gathering together in their own private slum, ignored and rejected because of a preference of art medium. They are told they are unintelligent, or fanciful, or foolish. Words are binding. The children fall. Large amounts of negativity are directed toward those who have committed no greater crime than any person you shall walk by. Large eyes, ridiculous hair, fanciful costumes, and disproportionate women— of course the makeup of the typical manga or anime character set (Sanchez), or so it is thought by most. Perhaps this is indeed so in many cases, and yet, shall we shun literature purely over an inconsistent style difference? Thus spoke Oscar Wilde through The Picture of Dorian Gray:

Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all. (7) The safest form of escapism is dismissed, over stereotypes and insignificant accuracies. And what if next we examine the enthusiasts themselves? They are often shunned as being counter-culture (Sanchez), and so befriend each other, which, in a self-fulfilling manner, returns as they are seen grouped together and discussing that which makes little sense to those around them. Some plebeians call the male fans perverts because of the prevalence of well-constructed female figures, or homosexual because of the prevalence of female fans and lack of public male fans as most don’t wish to be called perverts or homosexual (Sanchez). Has justice fled? It does seem unjust to those involved in the industry of a common media and to those attempting to enjoy said media, as it is shrouded more than the immoral. This is why I now humbly propose a solution to the issue at hand, and it appears the only way to stop a thing from being hidden is to bring it into the public. I wish to

offend no one, only to have my solution properly heard and possibly put into effect. My modest suggestion, and of course the only reasonable means of adjusting this situation, is to necessitate the viewing of Japanese animation and the comprehension of its written form. Hayao Miyazaki’s motion picture “Howl’s Moving Castle” was in very few American theaters (Surat), and yet was nominated for an Oscar award—evidence, of course, that America is ready for Japanese animation, with a perhaps a bit of persuasion. It should begin young, of course, with manga permitted as appropriate book report material in elementary school. Each student will be required a certain number of mangas to peruse throughout the course of the year, and they shall be tested on the material from each manga. To diversify, they should read from more than one series. Children have malleable minds, and thus the younger the material is given to them, the more effective this method shall be (Healy). There is no need to fear, as critics may, that “true” literature shall be wholly replaced—the children as of now hardly read anything anyway, so there shall be minimal change. They may also watch subtitled anime, currently recommended for higher age levels due to comprehension difficulty (Poitras), to aid in language skills and brain development. A certain Ph.D. discussed at length how young minds can be shaped, and stated that “the environment after birth helps forge the neuronal connections that underlie

later learning” (Healy). What better way to penetrate society than from the softest starting point? Certainly this may be viewed by outsiders as a sort of attack against the defenseless. However, there is no pain for them; who can call this an attack? Manga is not detrimental. It can be worked into regular curriculum flawlessly. It would not be expensive, as most volumes are at a cost of about ten U.S. dollars, and many other regular books cost a great deal more than this. Close to one-third of books published in Japan are manga (Sales), and the Japanese are renowned as intelligent and hardworking. Raising America’s manga production and consumption will only benefit the public. Older children would do well with both manga and anime in an academic setting, researching perhaps hidden meanings in different serials. Ghost in the Shell: Innocence is a film directed by Mamoru Oshii questioning the human condition in an alternate world where there the line between machines and their creators is close to indistinguishable. It would make a good basis for an analysis, perhaps, as allusion- and rhetoric-laced as it is. Sakura Kinoshita’s Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok would do as an aid in a history lesson as well, based on the gods of Norse mythology (Bundy). It would certainly make sense to replace books considered “advanced placement” with mangas and animes.

Many animes are currently released only as OVA, or Original Video Animations. (Poitras) This is, of course, ineffective when attempting to reach the masses. All feature-length anime films should be released in theaters, or better still, only animes should be in theaters. Hollywood films and their kin shall be only released on DVD. Those are the sort of films the general public has come to expect to watch, so they will go to a movie rental facility if they are so stricken. However, to keep such occurrences from being problematic, legislation shall be put in place to prevent too many live-action films from being viewed in any one household. Anime television serials should be released to television, of course, not merely DVD, and as the government seems to possess the means of monitoring each American home, each person shall be required to view, at the bare minimum, two episodes per day of an anime and six unique shows per week. In other words, not only shall they watch it, they shall watch it diversely. Similar monitoring has been discussed before by an English writer, years ago, with a telescreen device that could be dimmed but never shut off completely (Orwell 6-7). It will be an effective permeation, far more so than simply biding for free will to take its course. The language spoken of by this same novelist, Newspeak, was “expected [… to] have finally superseded Oldspeak (or Standard English, as we should call it) by

about the year 2050” (Orwell 246). No, free will is too slow, too ineffective, too useless. To erase free will properly and effectively, the entire culture shall of course be immersed in the culture of anime and manga. This will also prevent the currently shunned fans from being shunned any longer, as this will make them essentially normal. All freaks created equal. Schoolchildren shall wear their choice of school uniforms, but they must be based on those from existing anime and manga. Matching hairstyle shall be optional, of course. Such is defined as costume play or “cosplay,” in the anime community, popular at anime conventions—I should understand this, as I have done so at a few myself. They will be able to buy their uniforms from soon-to-be created specialty stores, which shall create new jobs as a by-product, or make them on their own, teaching the children valuable sewing skills. Japanese food will gain prevalence, and the delectable snack known as Pocky shall be found with less frustration. Anime toys are difficult to find as well if one does not search the Internet or anime conventions. They are slowly coming overseas, yes—but slowly. Naruto is a popular anime and manga, already “with over 14 games to its name” (Ciolek), yet “Hot Topic has [just] been granted the exclusive license to Naruto clothes and accessories” (Ciolek). All may be dead and gone before true change occurs at the current rate.

Perhaps some may think that if I so desire a nation of this sort, it would be easier simply to shuttle me to Japan. However, I care too much about this nation to leave it in this shambles. I have no silly notions of human love or acceptance, no expectations of people who do not judge and categorize, no false hope for attempts at real assimilation into society at the will of the people. It is ludicrous to attempt to show people anime according to their personal tastes thinking that they might see the story before the large eyes, to open more anime and manga stores in more successful locations in hopes of making such paraphernalia more readily available, to expect to have art teachers who do not dismiss anime as “low art” or English teachers who do not dismiss manga as for the illiterate, to have Japanese animated movies in nationwide theaters, to have anime on television on channels and times easily accessible by the general public, to have a larger and more noticeable manga section at each local bookstore and library, or to hope for a society where generalizations are not so easily made and judgments are not so simply placed on things people do not yet understand and have not attempted to understand. People are acutely ignorant, but not so ignorant as to expect such folly mentioned here. So I say sincerely that the one transcendent solution has been herein proposed: to take the simple minds of the people and leave them with none. They

shall lose very little and the world shall gain plenty. My measures may seem drastic for a seemingly minute annoyance, but have no anxiety; my consorts and I are already willing fans and shall be unaffected by the imposed legislation.

Works Cited Bundy, Rebecca. “Myth-Adventures: A divine guide to the gods of ‘Loki Ragnarok’.” Anime Insider September 2005: 56-7. Ciolek, Todd. “Hot Property: The ‘Naruto’ merchandise assault is on its way.” Anime Insider September 2005: 18. Healy, Jane, Ph.D. “Endangered Minds.” NewHorizons.org. 1991, 1998, 2002 Horizons for Learning Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, Inc., 1949 Poitras, Gilles. “The Librarian’s Guide to Anime and Manga.” Koyagi.com. Aug 15, 2004. Sales, Vivienne. “Web Watch: Manga.” Feb 1 2003. Sanchez, Frank. “Anime University SOCL 125: Perception of Anime: Stereotypes.” AnimeInfo.org. Surat, Daryl. “A Howling Success: Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Castle’ can’t move past ‘Spirited Away’ in the U.S.” Anime Insider September 2005: 80. Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Popular Publishing, 2001