UlasanAnime.com – This week, with limited time, I’m sharing some scattered thoughts. CrunchyRoll’s newsletter presented an interesting perspective on B156, which I found particularly empathetic and largely agreeable. The newsletter suggests that the maturation of anime is partly due to the blurring lines between genres that were once distinctly adult and those that were not. This is a logical observation, as it’s a visible trend. I’m also not a fan of Moetan, though I wouldn’t say I hate it.
More significantly, the maturing of anime can likely be attributed to its audience growing older. This point, however, was absent from the newsletter’s write-up. The newsletter states:
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Sex sells; or more specifically, moe. Moe is rife in modern anime, more than ever before. Granted, sexual content has been present in anime (who hasn’t heard of hentai or ecchi?) but up until recently, the boundaries between mainstream and hentai were well established. These boundaries have blurred considerably with series such as Strike Witches and Moetan leading the way in using moe to promote questionable or feeble material. The latter is particularly responsible. The main character, Ink, is meant to be sixteen years old and yet she looks like she’s ten. The dialogue enforces constantly that her age is sixteen but there’s no getting away from the fact that she DOES look like a pre-pubescent girl. That was three years ago. Nowadays, there’s always at least one series per season that tends to one-up the previous season in terms of sexual content sparking outrage with organisation and public figureheads like Ishihara.
This leads me back to the title of this article. I believe that this legislation, if it goes ahead as planned, could stimulate anime into producing more mature and accessible series that are more engaging narratively speaking and less sexually awkward. However, I’ll make this clear. I’m not a fan of Ishihara and the need of a bill to make anime not resort to controversial tactics to generate interest regarding a show. Studios and directors should come to that conclusion themselves and not out of fear of reprisal from the government. I liken anime in 2011 to a teenager – exploring the boundaries of risque subject matter whilst not being able to fully comprehend the consequences for doing so. A bill may change that – whether it will be a positive or a negative action remains to be seen.
I believe that the blurring or pushing of boundaries is a natural evolutionary process, evident in how art and entertainment develop. This boundary-pushing should ideally be accompanied by a sense of social responsibility. While B156 may have aimed for this, it’s not explicitly stated within the bill. Nevertheless, the author Masako might be correct in his conclusion: that eventually, we will witness something remarkable as things evolve, even if his reasoning is flawed.
Take, for example, Magica Madoka. The most captivating revelation so far was QB’s real name. It’s a clever bilingual pun, derived from the second and third syllables of his name, which is essentially English. It makes one wonder if an aging audience, still attached to magical girl shows from their youth, could have led to this unique blend of despair and frilly combat outfits. I might also touch upon the wordplay revealed at the end of episode 8, but I suspect others can articulate it better.
Before QB’s identity was unveiled, Homura’s intense outpouring towards Madoka felt somewhat amusing. This doujinshi seems to capture why I found it funny, and it was created just a few episodes prior. The lingering question remains: how “GAR” can she possibly become?
