The Wistful Allure of Anime

[TokyoGodfather]

The Wistful Allure of Anime

  In celebration of the new film "Weathering With You" hitting theaters, I thought I would make a post to discuss why some people find anime to be a very alluring genre. Whether you like it or not, it is everywhere. All over social media apps you will see people with anime themed profiles and pictures, it's in stores all over America, on t shirts, pants, jackets, and absolutely every other apparel. In the 21st century, anime it seems, has risen to a high level of prominence. But why?

    Is it just the art style and aesthetic? I wouldn't say that isn't a huge part of it, but from my observations anime's arrangements of soundscapes, visual art, and storytelling appeal to an emotion that isn't often talked about but is present in everybody- wistfulness. What is the definition of wistful? 

Wistful-

"Having or showing a feeling of vague or regretful longing."

   In other words, it's longing for something that you do not have. What the viewer doesn't have could be as complex as true love or as simple as a better house. Anime scratches this particular wistful itch if not for a short time when they engage with the kind of content often seen in animes. This is why you see all types of people watching this- adolescents who want to bask in fantasy, a depressed middle aged man living in solitude longing for a more meaningful life, a lonely young adult just looking for love; the plots of the animes put the viewer in that place they long to be.

   To understand how anime can scratch this wistful itch, you have to take a look at the common plots often seen in anime films. Of all of these, the most common I see is the love story. In animes, love stories often toe the line of reality and fiction. They feel so real that the viewer envisions it in their real life but it's just unrealistic enough for it to be engaging and really scratch that itch. Case in point- The aforementioned "Weathering with you".

   The film opens with a high school boy running away from his rural hometown to Tokyo; this too appeals to such a wistful feeling. Tokyo is a massive metropolis and people often long to go somewhere where they can dive headfirst into everything life offers. Tokyo is stuck in an endless rain, throughout the movie you see reflections of neon lights from the rain throughout the movie with scenes of the cityscape, further appealing to the viewer's sense of adventure. Add all that to the introduction of the movie's love interest; a young lady who can pray to stop the endless rain at the expense of her life. The relationship between the two is portrayed in a very genuine way. All this creates a digital elixir of feelings that near-simulate the achievement of the viewer's wistful desire.

    Aside from love stories, anime appeals to the viewer's desire to totally submerge themselves in a fantasy world, and in my opinion no genre does science fiction better than anime. Just look at classics like Ghost In The Shell and Akira. The way these worlds are crafted through the interactions of the characters is very genuine and organic and so, despite the plot having no basis in reality, the viewer still feels like they are there. From this you can glean the common practice of anime directors to build their worlds through dialogue rather than action, and while there is action it would mean so much less if the moments of dialogue that give these pivotal moments their meaning were not present. This is common throughout virtually every subgenre of anime; comedy (welcome to the NHK), horror (Another), romance (weathering with you), thriller (perfect blue), science fiction (Ghost in the Shell), ect. It seems to always be there.

   It is through these slices of life in the dialogue that infuse otherwise typical plots with genuine realism and emotion that hit the wistful viewer in their sweet spot. Additionally, anime tends to throw in metaphysical themes such as Buddism and the concept of God that add to the fantasy and mysticism that people often seek in it, which juxtaposes with the realism of the dialogue.

    When you combine this with the visual presentation, it only serves to reinforce this. To tie it all together, the soundscape of anime wraps all these emotions up in a neat bow. It often sounds emotive despite being in Japanese and the subtitles often confirm this impression. The best example I can think of that really drives this whole wistful feeling is actually a song in english-

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QWQUCMStCms

"Artificial dreams turn into memories

Synthetic life but real perceptions" - Noki

While technically a synthwave song, it was clearly written in the vein of anime, and nothing sums of the argument of this whole article more than that little snippet of this song's lyrics. Anime can impact the viewer in a profound way that is accompanied by real emotions. Despite it being fiction, they put themselves so far into the shoes of the characters that they do in fact experience "real perceptions". And through these real perceptions the viewer can temporarily satisfy their longing for more meaning in their lives.

   Maybe it's the humble and genuine genius of anime directors, maybe it's just my opinion but one thing is certain- anime is not going anywhere.