Anime and Empathy

i was first introduced to japanese media

at the age of seven

i would spend summer break at my

grandmother’s house those long hot

summer days seem to drag on for an

eternity

looking for a book in a drawer i found a

strange

i had unknowingly stumbled upon a copy

of dragon ball z vol

6. the cover seemed fairly interesting a

bright blue car with the number 22

stamped on top of it

and the characters were dressed quite

casually with the one in the orange

floral shirt standing out the most to me

i opened the book and found out that i

read backwards and the characters were

drawn in a way i had never seen before

i was fascinated with the aliens

fighting and the way each blow exchange

seemed to carry weight with it

and how every panel was arranged in a

way to create a fast-paced scene

this chance encounter introduced me to a

new form of art

one that appealed to my boyish view on

masculinity with its big fights and even

bigger explosions i sought more of this

strange comic

i went online and found out that it had

an animated series

i would watch it on cartoon network’s

late night block toonami

and from there on i discovered the world

of anime

anime like most forms of media has

target audiences

shonen for example is a genre that

mainly appeals to boys between the ages

of 12 and 17.

shonen usually follows a young man’s

journey to achieve his dreams

and he does this through a summation of

power dragon ball z

is one such modern japanese manga

buildings roman

dragon ball z really provided me the

escape that i needed from my daily life

but what has most interested me is how

minority communities within the us

have embraced this series it’s really

become a mainstay of rap culture

with rappers constantly referencing it

whether it be the senzu beans

the flying nimbus or goku himself

however i feel the main appeal of dragon

ball z lies in how

the characters will often start off much

weaker than the villain but through

either intense physical training

or through intense emotion always manage

to overcome insurmountable odds

the way that dragon ball z has been able

to resonate with not only a japanese

audience

but with also young minorities

reinforces the idea

that art can be interpreted and

appreciated for diff

different reasons now if buff man

fighting to the death isn’t really your

thing

i would recommend the films of studio

ghibli

studio give these films have a childish

art style

but don’t stray from tackling more

mature issues which attracts an older

audience as well

this is best exemplified any south

takahata’s

grave of the fireflies grave of the

fireflies may seem simple

it follows two siblings satan and

satsuko and their struggles to survive

world war ii japan but to simply sum it

up like that

would be disingenuous the film touches

on many themes

but i want to talk about the lack of

empathy satan and setzko

are constantly asking for help whether

it be from their own

a farmer a doctor a police officer so on

they rarely receive the help they need

the war has caused

everyone to focus on their situation and

their situation

alone sata trying to figure out what’s

caused his sister to be so sickly

goes to a doctor and the doctor

dismisses his

her plight as malnutrition he gets

frustrated with this answer and exclaims

where am i supposed to get food the

story crafted by takahata places the

viewer in a very uncomfortable situation

it subverts the norm of most media

especially animation

that there must be a happy ending i

never really considered the effects of

war

might have on the citizens of the two

warring nations

and it seems that in most western

audiences it’s been forgotten as well

however this lack of empathy pervades

within the main characters themselves

they rarely acknowledge the death and

destruction around them

it is only until the death of their

mother do they really realize the full

gravity of their

situation sata goes to inform satsuko of

what has happened

and naturally she begins to mourn but

what seyta did next confused me in what

i guess was an attempt to cheer up his

sister he began to swing on a pull-up

bar

what i’m trying to get at here is the

strange reaction people often have to

death

see when my grandfather first died

i didn’t know what to do i just laughed

i didn’t laugh at a disbelief i didn’t

laugh hysterically

i simply laughed it was only after a few

days

that i cried putting my actions side by

side to satas

gave me a better understanding of what

he was going through

anyway on the lighter note i want to

talk about one of my favorite anime

mob cycle 100. mob cycle 100

follows shigeo kageyama also known as

mob

mob is a boy who possesses immense

psychic abilities

yet he has a number of problems he is

physically weak

he struggles to relate his emotions and

he’s pretty awkward

but he understands if he were to use his

powers frivolously

he would gain nothing from it and that’s

why he tries to improve his life through

other means

a part-time job weight training

advancing his social skills

and that’s what makes this god-like

being so relatable and endearing

you see mob works for a local psychic

agency

under a man named regan aritaka reagan

provided mob with the support he needed

to grow into a more well-rounded person

and it becomes difficult to watch

as he confronts reagan about his abusive

behavior

how he always calls him into work late

how he will

constantly belittle his opinion and he

just treats him like a child

despite his growth i’ve always struggled

with this dilemma myself

when should i consider my own feelings

over and others

it always seemed like this unspoken rule

that everyone understood but me

and it’s not a topic that’s covered in

most media it’s often expected that as

children

we must be simultaneously complacent and

assertive

seeing mob go through something similar

was quite comforting

who would have thought a chance

encounter at the age of seven would

leave such an impact

i understand that anime may seem

childish to some

people but i ask you in the audience

to pick up any new book show or movie

that may seem foreign

you may learn something new from it hey

it might even be that anime on your list

[Music]

[Applause]