A Reminiscent Take on This Blog Business / EPortfolio

I was apprehensive about writing a blog for this academic year. This blog was started in October to explore academic writing in a public online space. Before I even began writing I had a difficulty deciding what I was going to write about. I found my first couple of posts extremely daunting and feared I was not completing them to a high enough standard. However, with my last post on how manga and anime was consumed in 1980’s America, I felt much calmer and reassured in my abilities to write academically while, hopefully grabbing the interest of the reader.

At the beginning of the first semester the class was instructed to choose a theme and begin writing. With my first post, ‘How important is the comic creator to the audience?,’ I find myself particularly critical of the subject matter and my writing ability. I was very nervous that a blog post centered on comics and their creators would be too steeped in the realm of pop culture and would be perhaps, too low brow for an academic blog. Nevertheless, it was a subject I found myself drawn to.

Batman Issue 1 (1940).

“Finger is now considered by fans to have played an integral role in the development of the Dark Knight. He designed his outfit and his infamous parental death back story.  Finger claims that he made Batman into a superhero-vigilante, whereas Kane made him into a scientific detective. He played a major role in Batman’s villains, including the Joker as he scripted his story.  Finger was pushed out as he was slow to produce work. He received almost no credit for his contributions until Kane publicly acknowledged him in 1989, fifteen years after his death. Jerry Robinson, who was acknowledged as the artist of the Batman series insisted for years that Finger was a major creator of the Batman series but was largely ignored.”

The Dark Knight Poster (2008).

Since I was very young I have read anything I could find on American superheroes. But, even I had trouble remembering who created characters or even who wrote a particular series’. Comic writers and artists are rarely seen as important to the audience. Almost everyone has heard of the two major American comic companies, D.C. and Marvel, but few have heard of Bill Finger, Jerry Siegel or Joe Shuster. Many people have of course, heard of Stan Lee, but he had to fight numerous court cases to own the rights to the characters that he created. This post caused me to research the legal disputes and question the importance of what many believe, to be a pointless and childish past-time. Even with the praise that Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy received, the comics that the films were based on are still viewed as a throwaway and a low brow  medium. As odd as it is, the films gained both the critical and mainstream audience’s approval. This was a huge change for comicbook movies, as now they are some of the highest grossing films that are theatrically released. But my interest lay in the comics themselves and how the creators are discounted from any legal or general recognition from the reader. I was not satisfied with my first entry. I felt it was rushed and far too short. We were told to keep our posts less than six hundred words and I strived to do so. But, in the end this was not realistic, as I continued to write my posts got longer and longer.

My second post began the entries on the seminars that I attended. These seminars were hosted by the English Department in UCC and had a variety of subjects to write about. My second entry, Crowdsourcing – Not as Fun as Crowdsurfing, focused on the different ways that crowdsourcing has been used in recent years. This entry required me to research into areas that I had never heard of. I looked at historical examples such as The Longitude Reward in 1714. But the examples from the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011 were the most interesting. I have only contributed to crowdsourcing once, to support a game based on a comic and it caused me to questions the legitimacy of different platforms for crowdsourcing.

“It has been seen that social media sites like Twitter have been used in disasters such as the 2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami. Misinformation and false tweets were re-tweeted and caused problems for rescue services during the disaster. A fake tweet calling for help was re-tweeted over 11,000 times. Because of instances like this, the public bodies that handle the coordination of information during crises have to work harder to verify the legitimacy of social media crowdsourced claims.”

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami damage (2011).

I spent hours researching different forms of crowdsourcing and different instances where it succeeded and failed. Most researchers did not show crowdsourcing or croudfunding in a good light. It appears crowdsourcing is, at best cheap and sometimes dangerous. This entry showed some of the many problems that arise when there is no group policing the information that is appearing. I believe that I engaged with this entry far better than my first one, however it still felt incomplete. This is because I was still following the six hundred word recommendation for length. I struggled to find the correct tone for these posts and made quite a few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

My next post was on the WikiEditathon, which turned out to be really entertaining. The class was told to pick a Wikipedia article and get ready to edit it. This was another moment where I was terrified I would mess up. We even had to live tweet the process. I decided to edit the Wikipedia article on the video game Martian Gothic Unification. This was partly due to recently completing the game. The most obvious reason was because the page was almost empty. When I wanted to get the game there was useful information on the page, which was frustrating. So I edited some parts and added a lot. In the post you can find the original way the article looked and my changes are highlighted with various colours to denote the differences.

“There was no Development section so I created one. I found an interview with Stephen Marley, the writer of the game. He described how the game came about and expressed his disappointment with the final product. I also filled in more information in the Reception section from more reviews that were available. I then fixed the citations and added links to both Wikipedia articles and external pages.”

 

Original screenshot of Martian Gothic Unification, there is no character or development section.

Edited screenshot of Martian Gothic Unification, I added a character and development section. I used a red line to show the changes.

During another seminar I became interested in censorship in Ireland. I was already immensely  aware  of censorship in anime and American cartoons. The post, Censorship in Ireland and Abroad, caused me to look at censorship in Ireland far closer. I learned that the State introduced the  Defamation Act 2009 and included a blasphemy law. That was both surprising and worrying. However, censorship in Ireland has only affected me once. I have a vague recollection in 2007 of Manhunt 2’s unavailability in Ireland. It is the only video game ever to be banned in Ireland, interestingly, it was never even submitted to the IFCO for review.

Goku, Dragonball Z (1990).

This post went a lot off track as I had very little on the seminar in it. But I managed to salvage it in the last paragraph to an extent. The majority of the seminar focused on censorship in the US. The main reason for this was my experience with it. I remember watching these shows and the episodes would be inconsistent. Sometimes Cartoon Network UK would show the American censored version and other times it would be the DVD uncensored one. It made watching Dragonball Z (1989) and Pokemon (1997) a bit confusing as sometimes the characters would die and other times they were just horribly injured. Even in a show like in Yu-Gi-Oh! (2000), an anime about card games, censorship removed all traces of guns, implied death, and strived to “Americanize” all Japanese names so American children would not become confused. My interest in this post became focused on comedy rather than the Dan O’Brien’s seminar.

“However, censorship was and still is still globally widespread.  For example, in WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) the term “wrestler” is banned. They are called “Sports Entertainers.” One of these “Sports Entertainers,” Kurt Angle, was an Olympic Gold Medal wrestler.”

Kurt Angle, a WWE Sports “Entertainer” and Gold Medal Olympic Wrestler.

It is rather strange to see censorship like this in on American television in 2011. But the sudden changes in WWE was rather humorous as was the removal of blood and references to death in almost show, even when not aimed at children. I forgot about the seminar for the most part and had to try to include it in my final paragraph of the post. I think this post should have focused far more on reacting to the different examples and instances that Dan O’Brien discussed in the seminar on Edna O’Brien’s The Country Girls Trilogy. This post was not detailed enough and did not focus enough on the seminar. But, rather on the more comical instances of censorship that I have experienced.

Sailor Moon poster (1992).

I think my favourite series of posts during this assignment has been on the consumption of manga and anime in the United States since the 1960’s. I wanted to continue with these posts up until the 2010’s but I could not find the time to do so in the last few weeks. What I have written, however, is interesting in its own right. These posts detail the way in which manga and anime rose to popularity in the US. These were particularly interesting to me as my thesis is focusing on manga and anime, but from the 1980’s and 1990’s. I grew up on manga and anime. Manga was and still is just waiting to be read online for free, the Japanese publishers do not sue the fan translators very often. I remember every weekday after school at five o’clock was Toonami. It was a time slot on Cartoon Network that began in 1997 and ran until 2008. It showcased some of the most popular anime of the late 1990’s, such as Dragonball Z (1989), Sailor Moon (1992), and Naruto (2002). I tried to detail the change in under one thousand words each time. I may have broken this limit often, but all in the name of composing a coherent assessment of the rise of manga and anime.

 

Osamu Tezuka, “The God of Manga” surrounded by his works.

Speed Racer (1967).

In 1960’s: How Manga and Anime Was Consumed in the United States, I primarily described the introduction of anime to America in the 1960’s. I was hoping to go into more detail, but I could not find much more information. The introduction of anime to the US was slow and controlled. Only two television anime managed to capture the interest of the American audience in 1963 and 1967 with Astro Boy and Speed Racer respectively. This was the beginning of a long process of marketing and fan organisations illegally obtaining, translating and distributing VHS tapes and later laserdisc copies of anime.

“In 1963 a one-shot of the Astro Boy (1952) manga was translated into English by Gold Key Comics. Later in 1966 an anime adaptation of Tezuka’s Kimba the White Lion was released and won the St. Mark’s Silver Lion Award at the 19^th Venice International Film Festival in 1967. Much of the manga (very limited) and anime that were available in the US in the 1960’s was from Osamu Tezuka.”

Astro Boy poster (1963).

Manga was almost unheard of in American in the 1960’s. Except for a limited amount of one-shot publications. Most of these were Osamu Tezuka’s work, such as Gold Key Comics translation of Astro Boy in 1963. I had to actively avoid discussing Osamu Tezuka as he had the largest role to play in manga and anime in Japan at the time. I could have gone into  greater detail about the anime that was produced and even discussed other anime and what little translated manga was available. However, I think it was sufficient to only discuss the more popular manga and anime that broke into the market. This is due to the later impact and influence that series’ such as Astro Boy (1963), Speed Racer (1967), Kimba the White Lion (1965) and Panda and the Magic Serpent (1958) had on the American audience. Each of these not only caused the acceptability of anime on American screens, but these four anime also continued to influence American viewers well into the 1990’s. For example, as I mentioned in the post, Speed Racer was still relevant in 1997, as seen in the parody episode, Mock 5 of Dexter’s Laboratory (1996). Speed Racer even got a reboot anime with mixed success. The animation was updated and the themes and settings were changed to be more relevant to the youth of the late 1990’s. I am satisfied with this post for the most part. I accurately described the introduction of manga and anime in the 1960’s while using well known examples to help the reader understand the slow but important rise of both mediums.

I believe 1970’s: How Manga and Anime Was Consumed in the United States was a more in-depth look at the consumption of manga and anime. In this post, it was clearer how the fan organisations, the Japanese manga publishers, and anime producers pushed their products in the US. I think this post better exhibits the range of manga and anime available. I focused mainly on the fan groups and the influx of illegal copies of manga and anime that was available in L.A. and New York in the 1970’s.

“A major part of manga and anime fandom in the US was the availability of pirated copies and fan parties in large cities such as L.A. and New York. In 1976 an anime fan named Mark Merlino began taping obscure science fiction and fantasy films to show at fan parties. These parties eventually led to small screens such as the C/FO (Cartoon and Fantasy Organization) which was attended by Osamu Tezuka in 1977.”

This post describes how more mature anime was brought to American screens in the 1970’s. Even though Star Blazers was censored and cut down in episode numbers, it still captured children and teenagers interests. On the other hand, the late 1970’s was the real introduction of manga and anime to the US. There was a massive flood of manga and anime, in part due to fan organisations and comic conventions. This caused a rise in anime that did not hide its Japanese connections. I believe this post better describes the rise of manga and anime than the 1960’s post. There was far more information about the different types manga and anime and how they were translated and distributed in the 1970’s. However, I admit I could have structured my post more. I also think it would have been a good idea to write a post on the use of anime and American comics to promote toys in the US. Overall however, I am happy with this post. I feel I accurately documented the rise and the reasons surrounding manga and anime in 1970’s America .

Top: Berserk. Bottom: Dark Souls.

There was a large shift in the view of manga and anime in the late 1980’s. This was in part due to Streamline Pictures, who dubbed and released a number of mature adult anime in the West. 1980’s: How Manga and Anime was Consumed in the United States focused on the sudden rise of manga and anime in the US. In the last few years I have turned to manga and anime from the 1980’s for entertainment. So much of it has influenced different areas of culture in the US. For example, Berserk (1986) is known for influencing the Dark Souls series (2011) which was universally praised in the US. I wrote this post due to some of these striking images. I had grown up on manga and anime from the 1990’s, now I had begun to turn even further back to understand where so much inspiration and various homages originated.

The interest of Japanese publishers and producers who pushed for English translations and brought their artists, writers, and works to comic conventions such as the San Diego Comic Con in 1980.

“The 1980 San Diego Comic Com was attended by over thirty Japanese cartoonists, including Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai and Yumiko Igarashi. This was also the first year that had several anime cosplayers in its Masquerade (a pantomime with video game, comic, film and cartoon characters).”

Cosplayers dressed as character from Star Blazers at the 1980 San Diego Comic Con.

Princess Mononoke (1997).

There is a great quote from the vice president of Cartoon Network in 1997. He stated that “our children are safe because anime is not shown on American TV” (Patten Watching Anime 108). That line always made me laugh considering Cartoon Network was the home of Toonami and English translated anime in the West. Even the CEO of Disney publicly stated that Studio Ghibli was not anime studio, it was just an animation studio that happened to be Japanese. As anime was only childish, violent and mindless. When asked about the anime Speed Racer, both executives retorted that it could not be anime as it was too good. It is strange to me, who never questioned the value of anime that there was this misconception that anime was not to be taken seriously. The first anime to truly break that idea was Akira (1988), when it was released in the US in 1989.

“One of the more important anime films to be produced was Akira in 1988. It was subbed and dubbed into English in 1989 and was the first mature anime to be theatrically released… The film gained critical acclaim, even though the plot was muddled and too long. The high production value was what drew an audience to the theatres, along with its gritty violence and graphics. Another important aspect was that it was nothing like anything that had been previously seen in the US as it was not aimed at children.”

Akira poster (1988).

But due to a less than stellar translation, the anime was again seen as just mindless violence. I think this entry feels rushed overall due to the amount of content that was at my disposal. I believe I could have offered more analysis of the reasons for the success of manga and anime in the US. However, this was still a period where both were seen a trivial.  I think in this post I successfully discussed how manga and anime gained more popularity, but I could have delved deeper into one or two of my examples more. However, this final post does show a significant improvement in my blogging, writing and descriptive abilities when compared to my first post.

In this review of my own blog, I did of course find plenty to criticize, I also found plenty to be proud of. I could have given more this blog more if I had the foresight to plan my entries better. As this blog continued to expand I know I felt more comfortable writing about my interests, which I know have generally been seen as childish. Because of this blog, I am far more comfortable writing academically online. I know that I made plenty of grammar, punctuation, and other mistakes throughout my blog. I deem however, that I have improved greatly since my first post back in October.  I feel that I tried to branch out in my subject matter, ranging from American comics, video games, censorship and of course manga and anime. Hopefully this will not be my last time blogging, I may continue posting about my thesis difficulties and discoveries during the summer.

Work Cited

Dragon Ball Z. Dir. Daisuke Nishio. Toei Animation, 1989. DVD.

Fitzgerald, Sarah. “1960’s: How Manga and Anime was Consumed in the United States.” Web log post. sarahfitz374, WordPress, 15/03/2016. 25/03/2016. Web.

Fitzgerald, Sarah. “1970’s: How Manga and Anime was Consumed in the United States.” Web log post. sarahfitzgerald374, WordPress, 24/03/2016. 25/03/2016. Web.

Fitzgerald, Sarah. “1980’s: How Manga and Anime was Consumed in the United States.” Web log post. sarahfitzgerald374, WordPress, 25/03/2016. 27/03/2016. Web.

Fitzgerald, Sarah. “Censorship in Ireland and Abroad.” Web log post. sarahfitzgerald374, WordPress, 14/03/2016. 25/03/2016. Web.

Fitzgerald, Sarah. “Crowdsourcing – Not as Fun as Crowdsurfing.” Web log post. sarahfitzgerald374,Wordpress, 30/11/2015. 24/03/2016. Web.

Fitzgerald, Sarah. “How important is the comic creator to the audience?” Web log post. sarahfitzgerald374, Wordpress, 01/11/2015. 26/03/2016. Web.

Fitzgerald,Sarah. “Wikipedia edit-a-thon: EditWikiLit.”. Web log post. sarahfitzgerald374, WordPress, 04/02/2016. 28/03/2016. Web.

Mathews, Janina. Mecha’s Apocalypse : The Significance of the Mechanoid in Japanese Post Apocalyptic Science Fiction Anime. Thesis. University College Cork, 2009. Print.

Nakazawa, Keiji. Bearfoot Gen. Tokyo: Shueisha, 1973. Print.

Napier, Susan J. From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of the West. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007. Print.

Nobelman, Marc. Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman. Watertown: Charlesbridge Publishing (2012) Print.

Patten, Fred. Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2004. Print.

Schmidt, F.A. “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Why Crowdsourcing needs Ethics”. Cloud and Green Computing (CGC), 2013 Third International Conference on (2013) Print.

Schodt, Frederik. Dreamland Japan Writings on Modern Manga. Berkelery: Stone Bridge Press, 1996. Print.

Toriyama, Akira. Dragonball. Tokyo: Shueisha, 1985. Print.

 

 

Literature Review

For my thesis, I am focusing on the cult of manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese animation) and its consumption in the United States. I will focus on two series’ which contain both a manga and an anime: Akira and Ghost in the Shell. I will examine the ways in which the two series’ were promoted and consumed in the United States when they were released and how extensive their influence had on American culture. Both Japanese manga and anime are highly steeped in traditional and modern Japanese culture. However, Japanese culture has absorbed influences from Asia, Europe and America and this can be seen in their popular culture. Since anime was first seen in America in 1961 with Osamu Tezuka’s Alakazam the Great, it has had a profound impact on culture and has influenced the gaming, film, comic and television industries.

Watching Anime, Reading Manga by Fred Patten (2004).

I am going to divide my thesis into three chapters. The first chapter will focus on the rise of manga and anime and the importance it had on American culture.  Anime was first seen in 1961 in the US, but it did not become popular until 1963 when Astro Boy was seen on NBC. Since then manga and anime has only risen in popularity. I will use Fred Patten’s Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews to analyse this change. Patten wrote many of these essays as different manga and anime was appearing in America. He was heavily involved in the founding and spreading of fan organisations. Patten contributed to the presence of manga and anime at international conventions such as the San Diego Comic Con by working directly with Japanese production companies such as Toei Animation. This text is important as it details manga and anime in American from a fans perspective.  However, Patten does not offer much criticism of the works that were available. I will also use Frederik Schodt’s Dreamland Japan Writings on Modern Manga. Schodt was also writing about manga and anime as it was appearing in America. He was involved in the translation of many manga in the 1970’s and was the author of the first English scholarly work in 1983: Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics. Compared to Patten, Schodt is as important as he was involved in the translation f manga and was also a fan of manga and anime in America. As this chapter will discuss the rise and changes in manga and anime consumption in America I will have to discuss the rejection of manga and anime as childish or as simply ridiculous, violent and without a coherent or mature plot.

Dreamland Japan by Frederik Schodt (1996).

Monsters and Mad Scientists by Andrew Tudor (1989).

In the second chapter I will discuss the relationship between Akira (1988), Godzilla (1954) and the Cold War as represented in texts from both countries. Both texts represent Japan’s fear of nuclear disaster during two tumultuous periods of Japanese history. I will use Andrew Tudor’s Monsters and Mad Scientists A Cultural History of the Horror Movie as there are comprehensive and universal themes relating to monsters in American culture. As the text was written before either Akira or Ghost in the Shell was released in America it does not have sections pertaining to the films. Nevertheless. it has a broad list of films and detailed analysis of the themes and a section on Japanese monsters and how they are viewed in America. As Tudors work does not discuss the Akira or Ghost in the Shell I will also use Susan J. Napier’s “Panic Sites: The Japanese Imagination of Disaster from Godzilla to Akira.” from The Journal of Japanese Studies which has a broad but detailed examination of Akira and its connection to Godzilla and nuclear destruction. Napier also examines Akira’s place in a cyberpunk world and its notion of identity.

Anime from Akira to Howls Moving Castle by Susan Napier (2005).

The final chapter will focus on the themes of cyberpunk, fear of technology, anti-government sentiments and identity. Both Akira and Ghost in the Shell have all these themes, but Ghost in the Shell is more overt in its exploration of them. I will use Napier’s Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation to discuss the connections between each film and their themes. Napier is the foremost academic regarding anime in culture in America. Akira and Ghost in the Shell are both cyberpunk texts and deal with problems of identity. However, both texts are very distant from each other. Akira is about losing humanity while Ghost in the Shell is about find it. Napier’s text will be useful in exploring the series’ roots in Japanese culture and how they were viewed and consumed in America since their introduction.

For the IT portion of my research I will use Jstor and other web based journals such as Mechademia. I will also make use of other resources that are available in the library.

Work Cited

Akira: 25th Anniversary Edition. Dir. Katsuhiro Otomo. Funimation, 2013. DVD.

Ghost in the Shell: 25th Anniversary Edition. Dir. Mamoru Oshii. Anchor Bay, 2014.

Napier, Susan J. Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005. Print.

Napier, Susan J. “Panic Sites: The Japanese Imagination of Disaster from Godzilla to Akira.” The Journal of Japanese Studies 19.2 (1993). Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

Otomo, Katsuhiro. Akira. New York: Epic Comics, 1998. Print.

Patten, Fred. Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Berkelery: Stone Bridge Press, 2004. Print.

Schodt, Frederik. Dreamland Japan Writings on Modern Manga. Berkelery: Stone Bridge Press, 1996. Print.

Shirow, Masamune. Ghost in the Shell. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Manga, 2005. Print.

Tudor, Andrew. Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Inc, 1989. Print.

 

1980’s: How Manga and Anime was Consumed in the United States

This is the third blog in the collection about the rise of manga and anime in the United States. Here you can find part one and part two.

In the 1980’s manga and anime sales reached an all time high compared with the previous two decades. This was in part due to the efforts of the fan organisations that appeared in the 1970’s. Another important factor was the increase in interest from Japanese companies in selling their goods in Western markets. This was seen in 1978 when Toei Animation sponsored a table at the San Diego Comic Con. Other companies began to promote their manga and anime at conventions and pushed for translated versions of their works.  Another important aspect of the rise was the influence it had on Western comics such as Marvel’s Star Wars #79 which was drawn in a pastiche of Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

Left: Star Wars #79 (1984) Lando Calrissian dressed as Captain Harlock. Right: Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978) complete T.V. box-set.

Logo for 1980.

In 1980 a new branch of the C/FO opened in New York City. This led to members in other cities to start local chapters. Also in 1980 Books Nippon which was a subsidiary of Nippon Shuppan Hanbai, began to import large quantities of manga and anime merchandise. 1980 was a very important year for the fan market in the West. The 1980 San Diego Comic Com was attended by over thirty Japanese cartoonists, including Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai and Yumiko Igarashi. This was also the first year that had several anime cosplayers in its Masquerade (a pantomime with video game, comic, film and cartoon characters).

Cliff Hanger (1983) promotional poster.

The 1980’s saw the rise of mecha in manga and anime. Star Blazers was incredibly popular in the early 1980’s after its general release in 1988. In 1983 Space fanzine Yamato was published. This was the first American fan effort to produce a “Roman Album” style information guide for a specific anime title. In July of the same year the Argo Notes were published. This was a fan magazine that is considered one of the first anime fanfiction magazines. Also in 1983 Frank Miller, under DC, published Ronin comics. These were not Japanese comics, but they helped bring samurai and other aspects of Japanese culture to an American audience. At this time the gaming industry began to pair up with anime companies. Capcom’s Cliff Hanger video game was based on the anime film Lupin III. Cliff Hanger appeared in video arcades throughout America.

 

Ronin (1983) by Frank Miller.

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979).

1983 was also the first year that an English academic study of Japanese comics reached the American public. It was titled Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, by Frederik Schodt.  Yamato-Con is set up. Most anime cons at this point were focused on Star Blazers. Around August the first fan made comedy over-dubbing of an anime was made, titled You Say Yamato. In early 1984 manga, anime volumes and magazines, and model kits began appearing in American comic shops. Mobile Suit Gundam had risen to popularity in the US and it had table top Role Playing Game in the West based off of it. This was part of the rise of mecha in the West. Giant Japanese robots and mechanical suits had already broke into the market in the late 1970’s, but the easy access to new manga and anime made the mecha genre one of the most popular genres in the US due to its focus on high paced robot battles.

Known in the US as Warriors of the Wind (1984).

Probably one of the most important Japanese animation studios to the West was founded in 1985. Studio Ghibli, which was set up by Hayao Miyazaki due to the success of the Warriors of the (original know in Japan as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), which was released in both Japan and the US in 1984. Studio Ghibli with Miyazaki as the director, along with Disney as translator and distributor in the West, brought other more popular titles such as Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001) and Ponyo (2008) to the West in later years. Studio Ghibli became very important in the US as it focused on children’s animation. For years shows like Speed Racer and all of Miyazaki’s work was not labeled anime by Disney. Disney and Bueno Vista Home Entertainment distributed Studio Ghibli’s films and  vehemently denied its connection with anime.

Robotech (1985) No.1.

One of the most popular animes to be released in the 1980’s was Robotech (1985). It, like Star Blazers (1979), was an adaptation of an anime. However the largest difference was that it was based on three different mecha animes: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982), Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross  (1984) and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (1983). Its popularity was due to the marketing campaign surrounding it. It began as a video feature by Harmony Gold USA and Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. called Macross. It eventually was re-branded as Robotech. It was one of the earlier series to emphasize the connections with Japanese Culture. It was also spread across three weekly comics by Comico: Robotech: The Macross Saga, Robotech Masters and Robotech the New Generation.  This was the first big mecha anime and comic to capture the interest of the US market. Even after the show had ended the comics continued publications until 2015.

One of the more important anime films to be produced was Akira in 1988. It was subbed and dubbed into English in 1989 and was the first mature anime to be theatrically released. The manga, which began translation by Marvel Comics in 1988 was positively received in the US. It was the first full colour manga and Otomo spent an outrageous amount of time cutting the pages to be read from left to right. Normally manga were just inverted but this caused problems when reading the panels. The manga is considered one of the great success stories of manga in the US, but it still suffered publication problems as it went on hiatus in 1995 and many feared that it would never be finished. The film gained critical acclaim, even though the plot was muddled and too long. The high production value was what drew an audience to the theatres, along with its gritty violence and graphics. Another important aspect was that it was nothing like anything that had been previously seen in the US as it was not aimed at children.

It was not until 1987 that the manga of Astro Boy (1952) and Speed Racer (1966) were translated officially and published in the US. Manga and anime began to creep out from obscurity in the late 1980’s, but it was still seen as a children’s or perverts interest. Akira changed that view for many youths in the West as it showed a gritty, violent and mature side of anime. However, not much changed in the way it was consumed in the US until the 1990’s.

Work Cited

Napier, Susan J. From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of the West. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007. Print.

Patten, Fred. Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2004. Print.

Schodt, Frederik. Dreamland Japan Writings on Modern Manga. Berkelery: Stone Bridge Press, 1996. Print.

 

1970’s: How Manga and Anime Was Consumed in the United States

Toei Animation logo.

This is the second in a short collection of blogs about the rise of manga and anime in the US. Here you can find part one. It was during the 1970’s that anime and manga began to differentiate itself from its Western counterparts in the US. However, it was still heavily altered when broadcast on television. It was also still geared towards children. In the 1970’s the anime film industry shrunk due to the rise of television. Toei Animation had a reduction in their staff numbers and many went to join other animation studios such as A Pro and Telecom. Another large production company, Mushi Productions (stared as a rival company of Toei Animation by Osamu Tezuka in 1961) went bankrupt and its staff went on to found companies such as Madhouse and Sunrise.

Much of the manga and anime that was created in the 1970’s was not available until the latter half of the decade in the US.  It was only during this period that fans in the US became aware of manga that was independent of anime. However, anime was still easier to obtain than manga at the time.  In 1973 Richard Kyle and Fred Patten created Wonderworld magazine and the Wonderworld Bookshop to advertise and sell international comic books via mail order. It was also during the late 1970’s that Japanese anime video rooms became standard at fan conventions.

Choppy and the Princess (1972).

In 1966 Mushi Productions along with Osamu Tezuka’s created an anime adaptation of Choppy and the Princess (Princess Knight). In 1972 after the television show was badly received in the US, it was edited into a movie. Many of these television animes were only broadcast as short films during matinee times in the US. They were also available as 16 mm rental films. In 1975 there was a screening of Japanese television anime for American audiences with a special program at the L.A. Science Fantasy Society.  Also in 1975 early commercial VCR tapes were commercially sold, enabling the fans to create pirated copies.

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Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) called “the god of manga.”

A major part of manga and anime fandom in the US was the availability of pirated copies and fan parties in large cities such as L.A. and New York. In 1976 an anime fan named Mark Merlino began taping obscure science fiction and fantasy films to show at fan parties. These parties eventually led to small screens such as the C/FO (Cartoon and Fantasy Organization) which was attended by Osamu Tezuka in 1977. In 1978 the first official American English translation of a manga was released by the New York City War Resisters League. Kenji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen (1978) which was a semi-autobiographical manga about a child’s personal experience of the 1945 atomic bombings. Later that year the C/FO ran the first anime dealer’s table at the San Diego Comic Con. They were supported by Toei Animation to test the popularity of unknown anime in the US.

Barefoot Gen (1978).

Battle of the Planets (1978).

In 1978, Battle of the Planets was produced. This was an American adaptation of Science Team Ninja Gatchaman (1972) that was generally faithful to the original series. However Gatchaman was 105 episodes long while Battle of the Planets was only 85 episodes. This became a common practice in adapting Japanese works. There were significant additions and reductions in the adaptation that were made to increase the appeal of the show to an American audience. It was also to avoid controversy of parental groups, much of the violence and profanity was removed from the adaptation.

Star Blazers (1979) Toonami’s reactor.

Another important Japanese anime that was adapted for an American audience was Star Blazers (1979). It was adapted from Space Battleship Yamato I (1974), II (1978), III (1980). It was heavily cut from the original show. Star Blazers had 77 episodes and due to its overeaching plot had to be shown in the original order. It was also the first anime that was shown in the US to the originally intended age group. Even though the broadcasting standards and practices were harsh at the time Star Blazers  was not as edited as other titles like Battle of the Planets. The show retained its mature themes, content, plot, character development and philosophies. The only major change was the names of the characters. Once again the characters names were Americanized to be more accessible to the American audience.There was also a reduction of personal violence, toning down of offensive language and alcohol use, the removal of sexual fan service, and a large reduction of references to World War II.  The idea of the honorable enemy is kept intact but the importance of the ship Yamato is completely lost. The backstory of the ship is edited out and the ship is renamed the Argo. It simply became a vessel in which the crew travel.

In the 1970’s manga and anime began to break into the American market. In the 1970’s another genre of manga and anime rose in popularity: Mecha. Mecha manga and anime were extremely popular in Japan. When they were introduced through imported and pirated copies they proved to be popular in the US too. In 1979 Marvel Comics began publishing Shogun Warriors which was paired with Mattel Inc’s toy line. This was the first introduction for many Americans to Japanese Mechs. In the US the small fan clubs in major cities contributed greatly to the rise of manga and anime in the Western markets from the late 1970’s.

Work Cited

Mathews, Janina. Mecha’s Apocalypse : The Significance of the Mechanoid in Japanese Post Apocalyptic Science Fiction Anime. Thesis. University College Cork, 2009. Print.

Napier, Susan J. From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of the West. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007. Print.

Patten, Fred. Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2004. Print.

1960’s: How Manga and Anime Was Consumed in the United States

Manga and anime have become extremely popular in the West since the rise in the 1980’s and the explosion in the 1990’s. However, both manga and anime have been available in the US since the mid 20th century. At the time, however, they were only seen as marketable and consumed by children. It should briefly noted that manga and anime are extremely connected. Most anime is normally adapted from a manga. Before I can describe how manga and anime was consumed in the US, I first must explain how modern manga and anime produced and the genres that were popular in Japan prior to the 1960’s.

Felix the Cat (1919)

The Mountain Where Old Women Are Abandoned (1924) by Sanae Yamamoto is often called the first anime feature film. The 1920’s titles were silent and many had taken inspiration from American films such as Felix the Cat. The majority of the anime from this era focused on folklore and had a traditional Japanese art style. During the 1930’s “Western-style fast-paced” humour became popular in Japan.

Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors (1943).

This however made way for more militaristic cartoons such as Private 2^nd-Class Norakuro (1934) directed by Mitsuyo Seo. After Japan went to war with China in 1937 Mitsuyo Seo and a team of animators were assembled under the direction of the government to make an animated film. Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors (1943) was this film. During this time productions needed to get approval from the government censors to release anything. This meant a large flow of military propaganda during the war periods.

Astro Boy (1952).

It was during the 1950’s that modern manga and anime was produced. In 1952  Shōnen Kobunsha published Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy. It was a huge success. The original anime series ran from 1965 until 1968 in the US and was later adapted into three different anime series and a feature length film. The studio system was overhauled after the war to run more like their Western counterparts. The first to make this change successfully was Toei Animation Co. in 1956.  They followed the Disney formula closely. The films were produced a year apart and they were based on Oriental folktales. The first big success of the company was Panda and the Magic Serpent (1958).  These animations were not popular in the US. As such Japanese anime was not seen in the West unless it could be marketed to children in afternoon broadcasting slots.

Alakazam the Great (1961).

In the 1960’s anime broke into the American market. It was still primarily aimed at children. In 1961 an adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s Alakazam the Great was released theatrically in the US. The audience was not aware that it was based on a manga nor did they know it was a Japanese product. The original manga was based on the 16th century Chinese story Journey to the West (1592). It should be noted that Osamu Tezuka was at the forefront of modern manga and anime in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He produced many works that were popular in both Japan and the West.

Also known as Jungle Emperor Leo.

In 1963 a one shot of the Astro Boy (1952) manga was translated into English by Gold Key Comics. Later in 1966 an anime adaptation of Tezuka’s Kimba the White Lion was released and won the St. Mark’s Silver Lion Award at the 19^th Venice International Film Festival in 1967.  Much of the manga (very limited) and anime that were available in the US in the 1960’s was from Osamu Tezuka. He introduced a “star system” to his works. This was based on the Hollywood namesake, but was slightly altered. He was unique as the star of one manga could be the villain or a secondary character in a different title.

Dexter’s Laboratory (1996) parodying Speed Racer’s intro.

In 1967 Speed Racer appeared on American televisions. This was heavily edited when it was dubbed. Many of the names of the characters were changed. For example the main character is a called Go Mifune. The name is an homage to Japanese film star Toshiro Mifune. In the English adaptation the name became Speed Racer. The show was favoured for its emphasis on familial relationships. The show is best remembered now for its fast dialogue. Complicated plots were forced into existing lip syncs. This made the show prime parody material in the 1990’s from shows such as Dexter’s Laboratory (1996).

Ghost in the Shell (1989) Vol.1

There are other anime such as Marine Boy (1965) and Space Ace (1965) which were well received in the US in the 1960’s. A major problem that hindered Japanese works availability and consumption in the US was the lack of marketing and advertising. The works were not normally advertised as foreign cartoons. The editing and dubbing tried to remove almost all traces of the cultural markers. This was a period where Japanese animations and comic writers were looking to the West for direction. There were a few breakthrough works, but much of it was ignored.  Almost all the animations and manga were aimed at children during this period in both the West and in Japan. This did not change for mainstream television or cinema until the 1980’s where adult manga and anime such as Akira (1882) and Ghost in the Shell (1989) were introduced to the US and gained popularity among teenagers and on college campuses.

 

Work Cited:

Gustines, George Gene. “Return Laps for the First Voice of Speed Racer.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 May 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

McCarthy, Helen. The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2009. Print.

Patten, Fred. Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2004. Print.

Thompson, Jason. Manga: The Complete Guide. New York: Del Ray, 2007. Print.

Censorship in Ireland and Abroad

The Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O’Brien.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a seminar by Dan O’Brien that focused on censorship and sexism in Ireland from Edna O’Brien’s The Country Girl trilogy. He highlighted the books focus on social matters and sexuality. Censorship in Ireland seems distant for many of us now, but the censorship board in Ireland was very powerful for a long period of time.

Manhunt

Playboy Magazine was under a ban in Ireland until 1995 and the last book to be banned in Ireland was in 1998. However it was not the last item to be banned in Ireland. I experienced the annoyance of Manhunt 2 being banned in 2007. Of course it was later lifted but the game was impossible to find here so I just ordered it from Great Britain but it was very annoying. It was not nearly as violent as the original Manhunt (2004) so it was strange that the second game was banned. Only eleven games have ever been submitted to the IFCO and Manhunt 2 was not one of them.

Almost everything was banned in Ireland if it in anyway went against “good honest Catholic values.” In 1926 the Irish Free State and the Department of Justice organised a censorship board. In a comical twist, the name given to the board was the “Committee of Evil Literature.” It sounds like a villainous group from a Saturday morning cartoon like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983). They banned their first thirteen books in 1930.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Prince Adam protects the Castle Greyskull from Skeletor on Snake Mountain.

Yu-Gi-Oh! (2000). Invisible guns are far more threatening than actual ones.

Other countries had rather humorous policies regarding censorship. For example when Japanese animation was translated by (primarily) American and Canadian companies large amounts of the animation was changed. This was normally called “localisation,” nowadays commonly ridiculed as “Americanization.” In many instances nudity was covered up by placing objects in front of genitals. In Dragonball Z “HELL” became “HFIL” and also removed tears from an infant (minutes later we watch his father and uncle’s murder by a laser through their chests). More bizarrely black characters were white washed to be Caucasian. Guns were removed but the action was still present. These removals or changes made for some odd and confusing scenes. These changes can be seen as necessary as the Western audience that many of these shows were aimed at children aged 6-12.  However shows like Dragonball Z were aimed at an older audience in Japan (It was for teens predominantly). By changing the target audience the translators had to remove violence, language, references to death, death, and other more mature themes.

Dragonball Z (1989). Left: Censored English version. Right: Original Japanese version. Gohan’s tears were too much for the American audience.

Dragonball Z (1989). Goku and Raddiz’s death. This was fine for the young American audience.

Dragonball Z (1989). Here is Mr. Popo on his vagualy Middle Eastern flying carpet.

Another aspect that was changed in “Americanization” were cultural plot points and themes. Something as simple as a rice-ball was almost always changed to burgers or subs when aired on television in the West.  There are of course uncomfortable moments such as Mr. Popo’s  (Dragonball and Dragonball Z) and Jynx’s (Pokemon) apparent blackface. Both characters can be seen as a blackface reference, but there is not much talk of it in Japan. I could not find any argument from Japan that they were meant to be black characters. In the 4Kids versions of these shows the colourisation was changed.  Mr. Popo became a blinding blue and Jynx became purple. Interestingly in Dragonball Z there are plenty of black characters who do not have these blackface aesthetics. Honestly as a child I thought he was some sort of genie because he was immortal, he lived in a tower with the protector of the Earth and his clothes were very Middle Eastern. This is still a show that had humanoids that can be red, green, etc.  This show also has talking pig men, flying talking cats and an afterlife that you can just come and go to almost at your pleasure.

Dragonball Z (1989). Left: Original uncensored version of Mr.Popo. Right: Bright blue censored version.

Censorship is something that every country has experienced. Even within the Western world in the 21^st century.  Much of this has been directed at children’s shows or other aspects that have impressionable youth involved. Interestingly Thailand’s censorship is by far the strictest. Bikinis, shoes, and male bare chests are censored.

Even Japan censors odd scenes. In Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker (2010) a torture scene involving electrocution was replaced with a tickle torture scene involving laughing rod. It made the scene uncomfortable.  The reason for this was because the PSP console was primarily used by children. But this game received a C rating under CERO. Which means only those over the age of fifteen could purchase it.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker (2010). Promotional art.

Kurt Angle, Olympic Gold Medal Winner in 1996.

Censorship laws and policies are at best ineffective. Their changes are often easy to spot and many times they change important factors in works from television shows to literature. Dan O’Brien brought up important aspects of censorship in Ireland. The Country Girl trilogy was important for highlighting social problems and sexism that were kept hidden and relatively ignored. John Charles McQuaid was mentioned as he allowed sexual abuses but censored books. There was this hope that book censorship would keep Ireland sexually and racially pure. That idea seems laughable in many ways. Censorship was and still is still globally widespread.  For example, in WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) the term “wrestler” is banned. They are called “Sports Entertainers.” One of these “Sports Entertainers,” Kurt Angle, was an Olympic Gold Medal wrestler.

Work Cited:

Dragon Ball Z. Dir. Daisuke Nishio. Toei Animation, 1989. DVD.

Manhunt. Rockstar Games. 2004. Video Game.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. Konami. 2010. Video Game.

O’Brien, Edna. The Country Girls Trilogy. New York: Plume, 1987. Print.

Pokemon. Dir. Kunihiko Yuyama. OLM, Inc, 1997. DVD.

Textualities 2016 Mini-Conference

With the end of the mini-conference it is time to reflect on the turbulent experience. 6 minutes and 40 seconds is such a short amount of time in retrospect. Even when I was attempting to write down what I was hoping to say during my presentation I found the time much too short. The Pecha Kucha style felt rushed and impossible to analyse the subject in great detail. Nevertheless I got through the day.

My time on the podium.

Akira (1988) Poster.

I spoke on the place that the anime Akira has in American culture.  I focused entirely on the film adaptation from 1988. It was pointed out to me that I focused more on description than analysis. I had to use cue cards to keep myself from tripping up and forgetting what each slide represented. I spoke about the relationship between American culture and Japanese works from Godzilla to Pokemon. I opened my presentation with a brief summary of how anime was viewed in the west prior to 1988. With Akira however, I focused on the internal threats, youth dissatisfaction, social and political upheaval and the films connection to the atomic bomb. In the presentation I used various images from Reagan to the process of cel animation. I also used stills and MPEG-4 video files from the film to emphasis certain points. I was terrified of the questions segment. But I think I managed to answer any questions posed with confidence and with the correct information.

The conference ran from 9.00AM to 16.00PM with an hour break, but it felt much shorter. There were various topics covered from Shakespeare to the film Being John Malkovich. The day felt exciting with the differences in opinions, topics and the variety and enthusiasm of questions that were asked by the crowd. The day was incredibly successful, we even managed to get #textualities16 trending on twitter.

Textualities 2016 Live Blog of From Femininity to Finitude: A Re-Imagining of Freud.

Today, on the 4^th of March the English MA students took part in UCC Textualities 2016. Everyone is nervous but excited. This post is about Conor McGovern’s re-imagining Freud presentation from early this morning.

Sigmund Freud

Conor McGovern’s presentation was on the position of sexuality and trauma in Freud. He presented Freud as a humanist rather than just a psychoanalyst. McGovern entertainingly makes not that the preconceptions are not too far off. This is due to Freud’s association with the unconscious mind and sexuality. But many forget that Freud is not very compatible with science or many aspects of femininity. McGovern instead presents Freud as a humanist in discourse.

He mentions that Freud is incompatible with many aspects of feminist and the huge role that mythology played in his psychoanalyse. He mentions that they don’t talk about the soul in a more humanist idea. Tori Moi strips Freud’s theory of all its sexist connotations and bares psychoanalysis as a study of understanding how the human psyche reacts to trauma. This is a form of victimisation which she suggests should replace castration in Freud and be replaced with the idea that the trauma is caused by the person discovery that they are not whole and that we are mortal.

McGovern argues that Freud is largely misinterpreted. We only know Freud as the abstract and scientific psychoanalyst. He suggests that because of this process, we have failed to see Freud as a struggling humanist.

McGovern used orange, blue and white text to contrast a striking black and white photograph of a blindfolded person. Prezi looked amazing with the contrasting colours and the almost 3d bubble effect as it moved from point to point. There was also an excellent use of pictures which were striking ways to show different psychoanalysis ideas.

Screen shot from Conor McGovern’s presentation.

Wikipedia edit-a-thon: #EditWikiLit

Yesterday I took part in a Wikipedia edit-a-thon as part of my literary research module as part of a class assessment. I chose to edit Wikipedia’s Martian Gothic: Unification page due to its emptiness and my growing interest in sci-fi. A year ago I stumbled across this game and could find almost nothing about on Wikipedia. I still got the game and played it but it would have been helpful if there was accurate information relating to it at the time.  I was apprehensive about editing an article and live tweeting about the process.

The page was a bit of a mess when I started. There was a confusing section on gameplay and nothing on the development of the game. There was nothing on the characters and there were only four reviews. The story synopsis stopped about three hours into the game.

The first section I tackled was the Setting. This was very straight forward as it simply needed editing and small bits of information to make it more relevant. The story is complicated so I only edited what was there as it would have required me to spend at least fifteen hours replaying the game to write an accurate description of the story. But the characters were memorable and there was plenty of information to work with. Hardcore Gaming and Kenzo Uji were very helpful as I was able to both read the critical in-depth review of the game and watch it being played.  There was no Development section so I created one. I found an interview with Stephen Marley, the writer of the game. He described how the game came about and expressed his disappointment with the final product. I also filled in more information in the Reception section from more reviews that were available. I then fixed the citations and added links to both Wikipedia articles and external pages.

First the original version, before I edited it.

Fig.1 Unedited version of article. 

Fig.2 Unedited version of article. The Gameplay section is missing key elements and the Setting section needed editing.

 

Fig.3 The Story section needed heavy editing and more need to be added to the Reception section. There was no Development section or a character section.

Fig.4 The References section need to be updated, as the did the External Links.

Second the edited version.

Key: GREEN=Unedited PURPLE=Edited and/or expanded upon RED=Added

Fig.5 The first section did not need editing. The category section was changed due to changes in the article.

Fig.6 The Information section was not edited as it had all it was complete. The Gameplay section was heavily edited in this image. 

Fig.7 In the Gamplay section I added a short piece on how the game is saved and the differences between the PC and PlayStation version. The first paragraph of the Setting section was edited. But the second paragraph had enough information. The Story section is also heavily edited.

Fig.8 The Story section edit is continued in this image. I added a Character section to the article as the story was too complex to add at this moment.  I added links to internal and external pages about the voice actors.

Fig.9 The added Character section is continued here. I added a Development section as I found an interview with the writer of the game.

Fig.10 I edited the Reception section and expanded on the amount of reviews. I did not change the Aggregate scores table. I added four references to its section. 

By the end of the class I felt I had contributed in a large way to this article. Before it was sparse, now it has a lot more relevant information for those who might be interested in Martian Gothic: Unification.

Isolation and freedom in Bowen, SOMA and Shadow of the Colossus

Oak tree with birds, in basement.

There is a close connection between freedom, isolation and landscape. Recently I attended a seminar by Eibhear Walshe titled “Elizabeth Bowens and the Landscapes of Loss.” For Elizabeth Bowen, the landscape that she found herself in was deeply reflected in her work. She spent a period focused on Augustus’ wife Livia, who spent her life trapped in her Villa ad Gallinas Albas for protection. Here her only freedom was a painted garden in a basement. I began to think about freedom and space within SOMA and Shadow of the Colossus, two very different games that centre on isolation and freedom, or the lack there of.

SOMA official cover art.

SOMA (2015) traps the player underwater and makes the player fear other life forms. The game mostly consists of Simon (the protagonist) searching though Pathos II looking a way to escape and reach an idyllic haven called the ARK. the main menu of the game starts with a normal picture of Simon’s face. As the game progresses the face separates into an unrecognisable image. Sometimes he interacts with probably the only one truly sane person/A.I Catherine, who may or may not be capable of creative thought. Of course Simon is the same, is he truly alive or just a copy of an original Simon from Toronto. Simon only meets hostile corrupted humans and robots or unresponsive distorted bodies. He feels distressed at the thought of not existing. He lashes out, fears isolation and desperately searches to escape his underwater prison. Like Livia who felt trapped in her Roman Villa, Simon is trapped in Pathos II.

SOMA Lab in Pathos II. It shows the eerie silence that Simon must trek through.

SOMA pushes the idea of isolation by trapping you in an underwater environment. When traversing the dark expanse between liveable structures, you can meet hostile sentient robots who appear to have gone insane due to their own isolation. The environments range from open underwater areas that are filled with corrupted wildlife to tight corridors. Both of these environments treat the player to different kinds of isolation.  The game relies on fear as former humans and robots will hunt the player down in both areas.

Livia statue.

Livia is described by Tacitus and Cassius as an interfering and domineering women who caused her son Emperor Tiberius to flee to Capri to be away from her. Simon has the choice to interfere with the A.I that are left in Pathos II. He can choose to kill them so that there won’t any copies of a person or leave them in ignorance until their batteries run out. Neither find a way out of their isolation as Livia died in AD22 at her Villa and Simon waited out his existence in darkness alone.

Wander and Argo in front of the Shrine of Worship in the Forbidden Lands.

As a young girl Bowen was exiled to Kent after her father fell ill. Bowen’s first drastic change of landscape was associated with loss and exile. Similarly Wander in Shadow of the Colossus (2005) abandons his home to personal exile in the Forbidden Lands due to the sacrifice of a young woman (Mono). The game is completely open for the player to explore. There are no load screens between areas and the map is vast. However this game has a different sense of isolation. There are no characters to interact with. Wander travels from place to place at the command of a disembodied dubious deity with orders to kill mostly benign colossi. When he returns to the temple he can only look at the dead body of the girl he hopes to resurrect while he becomes more and more corrupt. The only interaction Wander has is with his horse Argo who he watches ‘die’ before his final battle. Bowen died in hospital no longer isolated like she had been in her youth. In comparison Wander is consumed by corruption completely alone, as he thinks his horse is dead and that Mono was never resurrected.

Wander comparison. Left: Beginning of game. Right: End of game.

The fear of isolation is a common human feeling. Bowen’s period of change and loneliness influenced her work. However no work of fiction or film can force the audience to feel isolation like a game can. You become attached and invested in your character. In SOMA, Simon’s volatile reactions and the crushing lifelessness of Pathos II indicate the horror and eventual dread that comes with the games ending. In Shadow of the Colossus, Wander is explicitly told that the price he will pay will ‘be heavy.’ Wander commits himself to corruption, isolation and agony to resurrect Mono. In the end humans seek to curb loneliness and isolation. However many times in games, one can only watch as characters destroy their hope and generally sprint towards a tragic end.

Work Cited:

Cassius Dio. “Vol. VIIp111 Book LVII.” Cassius Dio. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.

Shadow of the Colossus. Sony Computer Entertainment. 2005. Video game.

SOMA. Frictional Games. 2015. Video game.

Tacitus. “Book IV (end).” LacusCurtius • Tacitus, Annals. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.