Apocalyptic Anime Mirroring Japan's History

http://www.deviantart.com/art/Environment-POST-APOCALYPSE-20125872

               Out of post war Japan came numerous depictions of apocalypse culture. In Susan J. Napier’s book, Waiting for the End of the World: Apocalyptic Identity she analyzes four films created in the 80’s to the late 90’s that were imagined with Japan’s history in mind. The four films she looks at are Nausicaā of the Valley of the Winds, Akira, Legend of the Overfiend, and Neon Genesis Evangelion...

Napier begins by describing the forms in which an apocalypse can arise. There are “geographic and climactic factors peculiar to the Japanese archipelago,” (Napier 253) which we can see sprouting from natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and land dropping below sea level. Another ultimate destruction which is succeeded into a Utopian society is one where a religious figure is overtly present to dictate the new state of affairs. And finally there is an apocalyptic depiction related to psychic forces. Hidden within these apocalyptic states is the metaphoric imagery of death and rebirth. And in many cases, linked to these images of death and rebirth are cultural criticisms, “most works, even the apparently nihilistic Akira, include such elements as an explicit criticism of the society undergoing apocalypse and an explicit or implicit warning as to why this society should be encountering such a fate,” (254). So we can see that apocalyptic literature or film is not apocalypse for apocalypse sake, if you will. It is a technique that allows us to look at society as a whole and present a community that succeeds or is driven into absolutely nothing. For example a few societal norms that have been depicted as the genesis of an apocalypse are human transgression, the misuse and abuse of technology, and the destruction of traditional values depicted in the family settings. The most obvious relation in Japan of this apocalypse society is the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

            Looking at Nausicaā of the Valley of the Winds, Napier points out that the main message passed along is that “with kindness and intelligence, all varieties of humans (and even insects) can learn to live together,” (260). This film is specifically linked to the “transgression of nature through human technology,” (271). And in the end, the heroin’s sacrificial rite resolves the destruction of the post war metaphoric apocalyptic society which results in humanity’s reuptake of natural conventions. This results in a lack ethereal paradise due to the earthly presence of an insight utopia.

In the next apocalyptic depiction the film Akira is analyzed. This film delves into the realm of experimental fantasy and works to overturn convention. The menippean genre of Akira works to criticize attitudes rather than individuals. Here too human transgression of moving away from nature is present. The apocalyptic destruction is a cathartic practice here because it is a necessary evil in order to move on. And once the new order takes over there is a complete rejection of what came before. This can be mirrored in reality as the overturning of the new economic superpower Japan had become in the 80’s.

The last two films are more nihilistic in appeal and have no promise of the Utopian society as an outcome. This new depiction mirrors the Japan of the 90’s, plagued by recession. Legend of Overfiend links sexual transgression to destruction which can in turn be interpreted as the linking of apocalypse and orgasm. The three main revelations of this piece are, “it’s obsession with transgression and punishment, the importance of sexual themes and imagery in the film, and a focus on the basic meaning of apocalypse, “to reveal” or “uncover,” (264). Legend of Overfiend punishes those prideful in their ignorance which can be seen in Japan’s government at the time according to Napier.

Finally the Neon Genesis Evangelion evaluates Japan’s society in the most severe way.  In the end the characters are left alone without hope, “Ultimately the real apocalypse of Evangelion is on a personal level, the bleak vision of Shinji’s total alienation from others,” (270).

Work Cited

Napier, Susan J. Waiting for the End of the World: Apocalyptic Identity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, 2001. Print.