East and West, Past and Present, Avant-Garde and Rustic…What Anime really Means:
What does it mean to bridge the gap between East and West, Past and Present, avant-garde and rustic through Anime? In a nutshell, this sentiment provides the mission statement for this collection of anime resources. Anime as a general genre, and the stories of InuYasha in particular, provide a lens into not only our past but also our present, and the process of acculturation by which the anime tradition has formed synergies and tensions with our own cultures provides an immensely valuable pool of knowledge for better understand our own selves and our own cultures. To understand the cultural interactions and cross-evolutionary patterns that this powerful artistic genre has engendered around the world of the mission statement of this journal. We have revamped our appearance and re-committed ourselves to being ambassadors for the wonderful world of anime both to the west and to the world wide web.
The love and passion for anime, and of illustrated Japanese fiction in general, has not been without it’s devout followers in the west. However, there has also been much misunderstanding in this creative genre that blends literature, art, poetry, and folk tradition and weaves them into an entertaining and moving story. In fact, despite the surface differences between Japanese anime and the Western fantasy tradition, there is great synergy and creative parallels in their genesis, evolution, and impact on their respective cultural sets.
Although much of the anime genre is focused towards a more sophisticated and perhaps tech-savvy audience, the core themes that define it’s role in our global culture can actually be argued to have their roots seeded in deeper traditions. Not only does east meet west in the genre of anime, but old meets new with the blending of technology and historical folk traditions.
Anime has opened my eyes to more subtle literary themes that had frankly escaped me in my study of the western tradition. Although on closer examination these themes do exist in the western tradition, if not overtly then surely in subtext, it was not until I was engrossed in the fantasy of anime that I began to understand certain key human struggles and tensions that this genre highlights so well. In fact, coming back to the western literary or artistic tradition, whether it is directly related to the fantasy genre or not, I gain more insight and maturity in my perspective and begin to see subtle insights from my own tradition that I never would have appreciated had anime and it’s heartbreaks and triumphs not opened my eyes.
Although this journal and resources site will focus more on certain stories, themes, and characters, the goal is nevertheless to be a content-rich and well-organized resource for the serious study of anime and it’s complex cultural impacts across the globe. Anime has much more to offer than great entertainment and aesthetic beauty and this journal is dedicated to capturing and distilling those cultural contributions in real time.
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