Reading
Once again I start my week off my reading some Animation Studies Posts.
Anime’s Identity Crisis: Closed Borders, Global Networks, and the Neoliberal Self
I also read the Style and the Fleischer Studio chapter of Animation The Global History.
Watchlist
This week I decided to go and finish off the Asian Animations from the Watchlist (Chinese and Japanese).
Chinese Animations
Havoc in Heaven-Laiming Wan : This was a very fun film about Wukong and how he became recognised as equal to heaven, and while I am not very familiar to chinese mythology and folktales I was able to recognise Wukong. I thought the animation was very fluid and charming, with some beautiful character and background designs. The way that the sound played in time with the beats of the fighting almost made them seem like dances and I think this was a fun film, having a strong narrative paired with conflict, drama and comedy. I really enjoyed the stylisation of this a lot, and can see myself looking into how the character movements as well as the water was made.
Feelings from Mountain and Water-Te Wei : This film is definitely my favourite of the Chinese animations. The style chosen is very pretty, inspired by the Chinese ink paintings, using a quite limited palette and stiff backgrounds that lets the animation of the characters and the water stand out. The animation itself is very smooth and ties in well with the score that makes the piece quite dreamy and elegant. The story tells the tale of a master teaching his student how to play the Guqin, before passing away and ending with the boy playing a piece to honour him. It is a very emotionally charged piece that ties in the natural world, mainly the smooth and silkiness of the water that works well with the silkiness of the ink. The animation is precise, focussing only on what counts and that is why it is impressive and beautiful to me.
Super Soap-A Da :Super Soap is a 6 minute story that i believe to be a version of the story the Emperor’s New Clothes, its a commentary on how everyone desires the latest trend and craves what others want, as well as commenting on a capitalist sale method. The style of this cartoon is very unique, it isn’t craving perfection and perfectly drawn shapes but instead uses caricatures of people you can recognise without too much detail. It allows the colours, and lack thereof to be the main focus, since it is the focus of the narrative. The way sound is used also exemplifies the actions, everything moves to a beat and a rhythm and it helps to pair the tone well (at the start everyone wants this new soap, there’s a nice beat and major key but when everyone has these white clothes and there’s not a lot of colour on the frame then we get a slowed down tempo and it uses minor tones). What is important to this is commentary is how the narrative is cyclical, as people chase the next trend and how the hyperbole of everyone is even including monks in this story, those who shun possessions are also roped in.
Three Monks-A Da : Three Monks is a moral story about teamwork. Essentially, the more people there are that come after you the lazier you can find yourself being. Just like the last short film by the same creator, the style is simplistic and allows the narrative and the actions to be the main focus, with colour and distinct shapes language being used to differentiate between each of these monks. The story shows that when you are by yourself, you will take on any tasks as it is for our own interest and ambitious. When another person comes in you need to overcome your own pride and share the workload or it won’t be fair and you won’t accomplish any tasks without harmony. Then again another person throws more spanners in the works and you just need to overcome the differences between each other and try to work together and split the workload to make life efficient and happy. I really liked this cartoon and I think it has a very important lesson, especially for this line of work that is constantly about working as a team.
New Gods: Nezha Reborn-Zhao Ji :I didn’t expect to like this movie as much as I did, as I’m not a big fan of 3D animated films. Honestly, I adored it. This movie combines western, modern Disney style visuals with stunning VFX and Chinese Folklore. It is a lot of fun, and since I watched this last I could take what I learnt from havoc in heaven and have an idea of the gods and powers in this film. The setting is modern and combines this dystopian type world as a result of the god’s wars past, and uses the typical beats of a family animated film with music to heighten the tone. I enjoyed pretty much every moment of this, and can say that it makes a Chinese folktale very accessible to those in the West should they chose to watch it and I hope that more films like New Gods start to be prominent in animation.
Japanese Animations
Millennium Actress-Satoshi Kon : Millennium Actress was an amazing movie, using the pacing and tone of both standard live action films with documentary blended. The way it is done is engaging to learn about the story and see the characters that our actress finds herself involved in. Animation allows this to have seamless transitions as we blend together different periods of time, plots and genres as well as blending in with the actual moments of the interview. It allows for comedy, tragedy and a lot of emotion throughout the piece that crescendos upon her death at the end, showing that everything had led up to this moment and that she had been chasing after a shadow the whole time. The pacing is really nice throughout, we always have this hanging moment as we get new information and try to decipher what is fiction and what is her real story, overall this was a great story presented in an engaging and unique way. I have adored every Satoshi Kon film I have seen so far and I can say that I am a big fan of his work now!
Your Name-Makoto Shinkai : Kimi No Na Wa, Your Name will always be one of my favourite movies. It reflects a story of two intertwined lives of high school students. It reflects on real locations in Japan and targets topics like natural disasters and Shintoism and faith, as well as the more modern life of Japan- two types of living that you can still find in Japan today depending where you visit. It is just a beautiful movie overall, with the mystical colours and smooth animation I will never not praise Makoto Shinkai, and how beautifully he combines the narrative with the beautiful settings that incorporate almost all life in Japan. The way that comedy, romance and the highs and lows work for the plot and let you be attached to both of these characters, mainly from them experiencing each other’s lives really places you into their shoes as we are new to them like they are new to each other. It should also be noted that this has more of the ‘anime’ that we have come to know now, with the big stylised eyes, and linework which is unlike what we see in Satoshi Kon’s films.