Into Anime
On a cool spring morning in Seattle, French maids, robots, a variety of superheroes and a slew of jaded, Goth-like figures draped in black trench coats converge on the Convention Center. They look completely out of place on the streets outside, and several passers-by in more conventional weekend garb stop to stare. Their stares are not particularly friendly, nor do they seem intimidated. Some register bemusement, others disdain.
Inside the center, it’s a different world for the costumed throng. Strangers yell to one another, admire each other’s costumes and take photos together. This is Sakura-Con, one of the biggest anime (animated film from Japan) conventions in the US, a weekend-long celebration of Japanese movies, comic books, music and more.
“You see all these kids?” says Meg Uhde, a participant at Sakura-Con. “This is where they come to be themselves and no one will judge them. These are your gamers; these are your lovers of anime; these are people who would be ostracized in any other situation, and they get to come here dressed in fantastic costumes that they made on their own. It’s becoming more popular because people are finding community in it.”
Meg is the chairwoman of Kumoricon, an anime convention serving Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, that was held this September 1-3.
If you are one of those people in their teens or twenties who has grown up on this stuff, you know what Meg is talking about. But for me, a 44-year-old who grew up on Speed Racer and had no idea it was Japanese, Sakura-Con was an eye-opener. It reminded me of the punk rock movement of the 70s and 80s — the energy, the community and the way kids on the fringes gravitate toward it — except with a lot more color.
Michael Arias, director of the stunning anime Tekkon Kinkreet, also sees the parallels to punk rock in the anime communities. He writes in an email from Tokyo: “I think anime fandom does have a great deal in common with the punk music in its early days — perhaps some people watch Japanese animation to rebel against their parents — the dressing-up aspect of it certainly makes me remember Southern California punk clubs I used to go to in the early eighties. But I think Japanese animation’s power is really the huge variety of the stories and the depth of their treatment of various subject matter. Many of these films, TEKKON included I’d like to think, deal with some serious and contemporary topics and have moving themes, in addition to the hand-drawn artistry. And so it’s natural that when you find a piece of art that speaks to you, that’s what you end up looking for more of. If you’re the one who ‘discovered’ it, then all the better (this was also often the case with punk — the more obscure the artist one found, the more of a hard-core fan one was considered).”
For the oyaji and obatarian out there who are trying to figure out why their kids are so into Japanese pop culture, I offer a simple, three-step process for figuring it all out.
- Read Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the US by Roland Kelts. Roland’s book eloquently explains why American youth are so drawn to Japanese pop culture and how the phenomenon is internationalizing as we speak.
- Watch Michael Arias’ Tekkon Kinkreet. Michael is the first American director to release an animated film (or any film for that matter) through a Japanese studio. The world he creates here is stunning. You begin to understand why Michael left Hollywood for Tokyo many years ago.
- Go to an anime convention. These conventions are happening from Anchorage to Miami and many points in between. This is not a West Coast phenomenon or even a coastal phenomenon. Anime is everywhere. You don’t have to wear a costume, just keep an open mind and check out how young America responds to the latest Japanese cultural imports.
If you take these three steps, which is what I did this spring, I think you’ll have at the very least a newfound respect for this burgeoning pop art form. And there’s a good chance you’ll become a fan as well.
Photographs by Laura Totten
