My final fanfiction

My fanfiction: princess mononoke continuation

Prologue

Irontown, which used to be a village ruled by lady Eboshi, has resulted in a clash with the rulers of the Great Forest Spirit, and badly damaged. It had been three years since the destruction of Iron town and the death of the Great Forest Spirit. Reconstruction of Iron-Town was well underway, and it was progressing faster than expected, though several months were still need before it was complete. The repairs were going smoothly; children's laughter rang across the street, reaching Ashitaka's ears. Ashitaka hasn’t changed that much. The same handsome face, the same black hair and still sympathetic. Without the presence and help of Ashitaka and San, people in Irontown would not take much progress. Yes, San has finally made friends with lady Eboshi- San has realized that Eboshi was a responsible leader like her, she has promised San never hurt the creatures in the forest. The cruse on Ashitaka has been removed after the destruction of Irontown. However, he still retained part of his demon-strength, and so he stayed with San to help rebuild the town.

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day, Ashitaka and San were wandering around a lake in the forest, followed by their enormous buddy, Moro.

“San, I am sorry to let you help us with the reconstruction. After all, lady Eboshi used to hurt you so bad. " Ashitaka said.

“It’s not your fault. I have decided to make friends with her. She actually has a kind and caring heart. I can see how the leapers appreciate her. "San smiled.

“Just remember. I want to keep you warm and keep you safe your whole life. The first moment I saw you I fell in love with you. " Ashitaka whispered in San’s ear.

“There’s no need to worry anymore. Irontown no longer collected and refined Iron. Lady Eboshi told me that they converted to more environmentally conscious work, such as farming and fishing." San replied.

Suddenly, Moro stopped and halted, “Do you guys smell that?" He asked Ashitaka and San. San and Ashitaka looked at each other and they both found nothing. Then San sniffed the air warily. A sharp scent soon hit her nostrils.

“That smells like fire smog.” San shouted.

Suddenly the surface of the land started to collapse, Ashitaka and San felt like dropping into an abyss……

Ashitaka’s POV:

Pain. That is all I can feel. What happened to San and me? Is someone approaching to me? I must protect San. Who is talking? I can barely heat you.

Chapter 2

Takako and Shimizu’s POV:

Today is Nov 6^th 1990. We have just finished examining a suburban development project. We are walking in the beautiful Tama hills on the outskirts of Tokyo. Before we came home, Takako has smelled the blood. We soon were able to spot to origin of the blood. Two young people were making their way out of the forest. It seemed to be limping heavily, and we could all see the trail of blood it was leaving. We made our way cautiously closer.

“The silver wolf!” Takako flashed out at me.

“What?” Shimizu stared at the giant creature; he remembered what he learned from the history book about Muromachi period.

“She is one of the ancient gods who dominate all the forest. Unbelievable! I can’t imagine that we see her real body!” Takako cried.

“Let’s take the two teens to the hospital! I think they are unconscious now!” Shimizu Said urgently.

Two days later, when Ashitaka and San woke up in the morning, they were confused by the surroundings, which they feel like in a completely different world. They looked through the window, and noticed that they have leapt through time!

“Hi, strangers from the past.” Takako and Shimizu smiled friendly.

“Who are you? How do you know we are not belong to this period?” Ashitaka clasped San tightly.

“We can see from your clothes.” Takako says, “You must come from the Muromachi dynasty.”

“Please come and help us. We are facing a big problem during the process of the development project. I know that little girl must have close relationship with the wolf goddess.” Takako requested.

San gazed at Moro’s eyes. The wolf mother’s eyes gained tenderness.

“Alright. We will listen to the story first.” San replied.

“There are many raccoons attempt to attack humans,” Takako explains, “they tried to frighten the construction workers into quitting. We believe that the development is cutting into their forest habitat and dividing their land-consequently, these guys are threatened and they think of some strategies to protect their home.”

“It shares the same situation with irontown. When we were in Irontown, the leader, lady Eboshi, has taken too much natural resources from the forest and she even shoot the forest spirit. However, in the struggle, numerous people died under the revenge of the forest god.” San said.

“Please come and give some suggestions to our project leader. He’s so scared now. After the raccoons saw their mischievous pranks don’t get the desired results, they started to killing construction workers. We have lost a company last week.”

Chapter 3

The wound on Ashitaka and San’s body has fully recovered. They were brought to Mr. Yagami, who took charge of the project. They were introduced to each other and Yagami allowed them to visit the head of raccoons in Tama Hills- Gonta.

“Mr. Gonta. We must apologize for our behaviour. Mr. Yagami told me he felt sorry for this development project- which unfortunately destroyed your habitat.” Ashitaka apologized.

“You have no idea how sad I felt when I saw the death of my relatives in the destruction and you have no idea how mercenary you human beings are!” Gonta cried angrily.

“I share the same feelings with you, Mr Gonta.” Ashitaka suddenly replied, “When I stayed in the Irontown, my girlfriend San, was threatened by the leader of the town. Those events made me think of the relationship between human and nature. While we were destroying the forest, we are the ultimate victims, for nature is seeking its revenge.”

“You human beings are smart creatures. But you are greedy-while you are distributing the natural order of the world, you will be punished on day.” Gonta emphasized.

In the end, Mr. Yagami has made an agreement with Gonta, to involve new settlements for the raccoons and required them to stop the attack. Ashitaka and San have further learned that the nature is magnificent and unique.

Commentary on my fanfiction

Christopher Vogler, who was known as a famous practicing writer, has summarized and classified characters into seven archetypes. Although numerous character archetypes in mythology have been mentioned by other writers, Vogler (1998) identified the most common ones: The hero, The Mentor, Threshold Guardian, The Herald, The Shapeshifter, The Shadow and Trickster. I initially planned my fanfiction to be about a completely different adventure for the two main characters in Princess Mononoke. However, the 1000 word limitation has restricted me to create a new plot and settings. In the end, I decided to involve some new characters and mainly focused on developing the relationship between human and nature.

I used third-person narration instead of first-person term, which I intend to be more authoritative and provide flexibility to the audience. I focused on Act 1 and Act 2 components of my fanfiction, which replicating Vogler’s ‘mythic structure’ (1998). The hero, Ashitaka and San are ‘introduced in the ordinary world’, the original location called Irontown in the movie. As Vogler (1998) states, “the story starts in the ordinary world where the hero is going about everyday existence, oblivious of the adventures to come.” Then Vogler (1998) indicates in Act 2, “the hero is next presented with a wrong done, a problem or challenge which they feel they must resolve.” According to Vogler (1998)’s theory, I tried to involve detailed description of the lives in Irontown after the death of forest god and the destruction of the town. I have added the ‘ordeal’-the modern Tokyo world to convey the theory of Act 2.

In regards to vogler (1998)‘s seven archetypes, Ashitaka and San obviously plays the role of ‘Hero’, typically ‘ willing to serve and sacrifice’ and ‘ search for identity and wholeness’ (Vogler, 1998). Furthermore, the wolf goodness Moro replicated the characteristic of ‘Threshold Guardian’, which proved to be ‘do the hero a favour in advancing his or her power’ (Vogler, 1998). Additionally, I have implied the raccoons, which appeared in Act 2, to represent the ‘Shapeshifter’ characters. The raccoons were given social structure and mystical abilities, after their habitat were destroyed by humans, they choose to fight back. As Vogler puts it, they are ‘dramatic function is to bring doubt and suspense into the story’ (1998).

In the end of my fanfiction, I chose a happy ending to my story because I want my audience to feel the significance of nature. As I mentioned in the story, human and nature are interactive forces. It is important for human to learn to respect to nature. If a have opportunity to create my fanfic into a sequel, I will certainly extend the story and involve more detailed descriptive language. Unfortunately, the word limitation is 1000 for this particular project.

Reference

Vogler, C. (1998). The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (2^nd ed). Waltham, MA: Rata Press.

Week 10 & 11

How does Hill define reality TV?


Reality TV is very different to normal TV, it is a genre created in the modern times and is growing ever so popular. There are more and more reality television being aired, so now you can almost watch anything on a TV show, whether it is home building, cooking, restaraunt managing, beauty shows and much more. One of the main factors of reality TV's success is that the reality adds more tension and realness in the things that are happening on the show, therefore viewers can feel more involved and pulled in to the TV show. According to Hill, (2005) “there is no one definition of reality programming, but many competing definitions of what has come to be called the reality genre. The reality genre is made of a number of distinctive and historically based television genres, such as lifestyle, or documentary. These television genres have merged with each other to create a number of hybrid genres that we now call reality TV, or popular factual television.”


Reference

Hill A. (2005). The rise of reality TV. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. (pp. 15 – 40). Oxon: Routledge

Week 9 & 10

 

What role does Hills (2004) suggest the fans play in the construction of cult TV? How is new media central to this?

Hill (2004), mentioned that cult TV does not require fans’ special devotion, but their existence is very essential part of cult TV.  Cult TV represents a dedicated group of fans of a television show, who get together and do specific activities related to the television show. Obiviously this can't happen without the fans and their love for that particular show, so fans are an essential factor for the success of cult TV. According to Hill (2004), cult TV is centrally important to cult fans' 'lifestyle and identities' that such fans are so keen to legitimate defend and analyses their own consumption of cult TV. From these fans, appreciation societies are born. Appreciation societies are a society made up of fans and they meet up to have meetings, plan events, and have discussions about the TV show. For example Buffy the Vampire Salyer is a well known exmaple of cult TV, becuase of its huge success, number of fans were enormous, and so were the appreciation societies. People would have Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathons, theme based parties, they would wear Buffy the Vampire Slayer clothing, and much more. And with the improvement of techonologies nowadays such meetings and events can be planned and held much easier.
I remember when I was young and Buffy would play on television night after night, I was never a huge fan but I do remeber going to school and my classmates were always talking about the show.  

Reference

Hill, M. (2004). Defining Cult TV; Texts, Inter- texts and Fan Audiences, The Television Studies Reader, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill. London and New York: Routledge.

Week 7 & 8

What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?


Speculative fiction can be made story-line by “what if?” background (Brown, 2001). When starting the idea of a story with a thought like 'what if?' the possibilities and potential are endless. What if this? What if that? This is why the genres that speculative fiction covers are very broad. Fantasy, horror, mystery, myth, fairy tale, supernatural, superhero, utopian and dystopian, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic and alternate history are all recognised as sub-genres of speculative fiction. Science fiction is also among these genres as it is also recognised as a sub-genre of speculative fiction. According to Robert,(2000) science fiction is "a genre or division of literature distinguishes its fictional worlds to one degree to another from the world in which we actually live." This shows me that The Man in the High Castle is more likely to be categorised as a science fiction story, as the world the story is built around is set in the future, and it is very different to our's. But then at the same time the plot of the story is based on the 'what if?' of what it would be like if the outcome of world war 2 was different, so it pushes it back to speculative fiction. My conclusion is that The Man in the High Castle is a story that falls under both science fiction and speculative fiction.


Reference

Roberts, A. (2000). Science Fiction. London : Routledge.

Brown, E. (2001).Introduction. In Dick, P.K.,The Man in the High Castle(p.v-xii). London: Penguin.

Anime- Location

Looking at Napier and Cavallaro, (2006) discuss how anime is culturally 'located'- in the East or West or somewhere else?

The heart of Anime is still clearly based in Japan, however as the secondary text discusses, Animes popularity has grown to be world wide. Anime is still regarded as a subculture in the West of the world, however the Eastern world regard it as a growing phenomenon and rightly so. Anime is far more than a cartoon, and the comparison some have made to Disney is laughable. Anime is an art in terms of the visual drawings and its content. I believe Anime will always survive most strongly in Japan because as the secondary text describes, Anime is uncompromising. And why should it? Anime is honest, complex, entertaining, engaging and beautiful. Anime has proven it does not need the support of American pop culture so that readers can relate. I believe this is mostly because what makes Anime so engaging to Western viewers is that it is something the West has never experienced- quite original.

I think Anime is very important in popular genre because it represents current Japan. The west has had a hard time letting go of world war two (an idea also in "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick). Anime is intelligent and although some may disagree with me, I find it can have a very peaceful nature to it.

Week 7&8

What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?

 Science fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction. Robert(2000) mentions that science fiction is "a genre or division of literature distinguishes its fictional worlds to one degree to another from the world in which we actually live."

 Speculative fiction is the fiction of 'what if?' It means that speculative fiction implies the what-if-type questions. Also, Speculative fiction can consist alternation of history.

“Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.” (Speculative Fiction, Wikipedia)

 

 I think It is not easy to classify the genres of literature.The story of The Man in the High Castle is about an alternative world where the power of Axis won in Second World War. The Man in the High Castle can be seen as both science fiction and speculative fiction. The Man in the High Castle has an element of Science fiction like future time setting, however, this novel also has Speculative fiction category which is "What if?" condition.

 

Reference

Roberts, A. (2000). Science Fiction. London : Routledge.
Dick, P.K. (2001; 1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.
Wikipedia. (n.d). Speculative fiction. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_fiction

Week11&12

How does Hill define reality TV?
 

  I really love to watch reality TV like American's Next Top Model, Hell's kitchen and so on because reality TV is lifelike and create an unexpected sensation unlike programs which have scripts.

 Hill states that "reality TV is commonly used to describe a range of popular factual programming. There are a variety of styles and techniques associated with reality TV, such as non-professional actors, unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage, hand-held cameras, seeing events unfold as they are happening in front of the camera(p.41)."

 Hill (2005) “there is no one definition of reality programming, but many competing definitions of what has come to be called the reality genre. The reality genre is made of a number of distinctive and historically based television genres, such as lifestyle, or documentary.  These television genres have merged with each other to create a number of hybrid genres that we now call reality TV, or popular factual television.”

 

 Cathy Come Home was first broadcast on November 16, 1966 and it had a great impact on reality TV. Cathy Come Home is realistic drama documentary style. Ken Loache expressed the real-life situation of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and the rights of mothers. He did use techniques which are non-professional actors in order to ensure reality, a hand held camera that had followed Cathy and Reg all the time, and careful narrative construction. Narrative of Cathy reminded me a common technique which is interview of cast members in many reality shows.  

reference
Hill A. (2005). The rise of reality TV. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. (pp. 15 – 40). Oxon: Routledge

Wikipedia. (n.d).Cathy Come Home. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Come_Home

Week 11&12

Q. How does Hills define reality TV?

 Hill (2005, p.41) mentioned that “The category of reality TV is commonly used to describe a range of popular factual programming. There are a variety of styles and techniques associated with reality TV, such as non professional actors, unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage, hand held cameras, seeing events unfold as they are happening in front of camera.”

 Reality TV belongs to factual entertainment, which range not only from formatted programmes but also to non-formatted programmes. The BBC divided categories of reality TV into six categories in 2003 (Hill, 2005). There are six categories that Hill (2005, p.42) mentioned: “documentaries and contemporary factual; specialist factual; current affairs and investigations; arts and culture; life skills; and new media.” On the other hand, compared with categorises of reality TV in U.K, categorises in the U.S.A are slightly different. U.S.A defines that reality TV programmes are contemporary reality game shows and talent shows.

I can compare reality TV shows with cult TV shows. Cult TV shows are made interaction between audience and the shows. The audience participate in interaction thought various methods to discuss their interests. But, the audience cannot be one of characters in the shows. On the other hand, reality TV shows require the audience’s attendance by the different methods. The reality shows want audience to be one of characters, like ‘The X factor’ of channel three.

Reference

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television (pp.14 - 40). Oxon: Routledge.

Weeks 5-6: Anime

In these last few weeks, fantastic fiction or fantasy has been the main focus from the many genres explored in pop culture. On the surface, the notion of the quest, archetypal characters and the rites of passage draws massive attention from people of all ages, as it reflects the transitional yet pivotal periods in life within a medieval, mythical setting. On the other hand, a bit more can actually be said for what lies beneath. Escapism is what comes to mind, in other words, an escape from reality or a reflection of reality. In a world where we are bombarded with demands, pressure, propaganda, technology and what not, it is fair to say that a much needed head space for clarity is a good excuse to turn to fantasy for relief or leisure. Now switching focus to anime or "animation produced in Japan" (Mountfort, n.d, Slide 2), comprising of Japanese high-brow, traditional and common art forms in creating a theoretically-rare visually-appealing atmosphere (Napier, 2005), the pull towards escapism becomes a struggle of change and hardship - something that we can relate to in our own lives. This is explanatory in the complex, challenging plots and the saddening though sexual tones imposed on the anime world (Napier, 2005) - a far cry from the conventional style of animation, particularly that of American pop culture where the fairy tale, familial thematic structures may embrace both the dreamlike and the moral, but perhaps clinching too much on the former and less emphasis on the latter (Edsall, n.d).

As much as I enjoyed watching Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons as a child, I quickly got caught up in the various anime shows that screened in the mid-late 1990s/early 2000s such as Pokémon and Sailor Moon. I honestly can't remember why or how I came to enjoy these shows everyday after school but thinking about it now, the fantasy action-filled adventure and the sense of closeness and the attentive, warm and entertaining interaction between characters and also with their surroundings were probably what attracted me to watching anime television. The direction of Hayao Miyazaki, Japan's top animator and anime film director, undertaken in his work similarly drives towards the appeal of the emotional connection and compassion felt by the characters, where behavioural norms of the Japanese culture, values of respect and understanding, are applicable to the distinctive make-up of anime (Cavallaro, 2006). The humanity aspect of anime characters speaks of that distinctiveness, that individualised trait which sets itself apart from many of the beloved cartoon figures we know - Miyazaki's creation of unconventional roles exhibits both good and weak qualities, regardless of gender and age; therefore, this has problematised the naturalised construction of the traditional gender and age-defined roles we've come to know and accept, given the patriarch-dominated society and culture we live in. Princess Mononoke (1997) exemplifies this real life-like characterisation in San, a girl raised in the forest by the Forest Gods and the Wolf Goddess, whose animosity towards the humans have long consumed her to the point of not only using her anger and resentment as ammunition in combating Iron Town intruders but also fighting or acting on the evil within herself that has somehow possessed her; Miyazaki further paints the humans - the residents of Iron Town who are responsible for the evil imposed on the Forest spirits - in a positive light, choosing to portray them as decent, hard-working, family/community-oriented people (Young, 2012).

The mixed, complex nature of Miyazaki's characters comes to emblematise the struggle of the changes they experience and the hardships they endure in the process of those changes. Anime somehow provides that space for freedom in which people can use their life experiences to make a difference in others and in their environment, for the better; it also provides the perfect escape route from the staticness, the conformities you find in images, texts and media.

Reference(s):

Cavallaro, D. (2006). The Animé Art of Hayao Miyazaki. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.

Edsall, T. (n.d). Anime versus Disney [Web log post]. Retrieved from  http://blog.ledsoul.com/?page_id=63

Mountfort, P. (n.d). 166104 Popular Genres - Week 5: Anime I [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from https://www.autonline.aut.ac.nz/

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle (pp. 3-14). Hampshire, United Kingdom: Palgrave/Macmillan.

Young, R. (2012). Hayao Miyazaki: An animation legend. Retrieved September 10, 2012, from http://robwrite.hubpages.com/hub/Hayao-Miyazaki-An-animation-legend

Week 9&10

Q. What role does Hills (2004) suggest the fans play in the construction of cult TV? How is new media central to this?

Fans play important roles in Cult TV. If there is not any fan of cult TV, the word ‘cult’ cannot be called. Hill (2004) mentioned that cult TV does not require fans’ special devotion, but their existence is very essential part of cult TV.

Fans’ enthusiasm begins to make their societies, ‘Appreciation Societies.’ Through this, they meet each other face to face and talk about their interest in programmes or shows. Even they organise conventions where they can meet each other, discuss on the themes and share their thoughts.

Nowadays, media has been extended, which has been helpful to extend appreciation societies. Fans do not regard the shows that they love as only one of TV shows. They can enjoy the shows that they love by using various methods. Their societies can be divided into three parts. Firstly, by increasing fans who love the programmes, cult TV programmes make props memorabilia, merchandise and props that related with the programmes (Hill, 2004). Secondly, fans can read the shows because a series of cult TV shows are published as book series. Moreover, DVD and video series are also made to watch it whenever they want. Finally, there is internet, which is the strongest method now. Most fans have written commentaries, guidance and explanations online. Moreover, they post their opinions on their blogs. Even they write fan fiction, which is that they imagine what it goes like writers. In addition, they can buy products which are related with the shows through online shopping without visiting to shops. It there were not media, the status of cult TV would not be popular as now.

 Audience of TV programmes was very passive before. However, now people who want to express their opinions about the shows have been increased. Not only the audience but also the programmes want to interact with the audience. For this interaction, media has played an effective role.

Reference

Hill, M. (2004). Defining Cult TV; Texts, Inter- texts and Fan Audiences, The Television Studies Reader, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill. London and New York: Routledge.

week9&10

What role does Hills (2004) suggest the fans play in the construction of cult TV? How is new media central to this?

 

 Cult TV is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of culture by doing mutual activities. Fans play important roles constructing cult TV. Hills (2004) states that cult TV is centrally important to cult fans' 'lifestyle and identities' that such fans are so keen to legitimate defend and analyses their own consumption of cult TV. Cult TV cannot grow without fans. For example, Buffy the vampire slayer which is one of the biggest cult TV show, has a large groups of fans around the world. Fans make their intertextual network by creating many websites and they share their opinions, ideas, and information. Also, Fans can create fan fiction, commentaries and analyze characters.

 

 According to Hills, cult TV expresses dedicated fans' fandom. Hills(2004) mentions that "This type of argument position cult TV, as a 'grassroots' phenomenon, assuming that it is created by fans rather than by media producers (p.510).”

 

  New media increases the activities of fans and the Internet has had a big impact on fans. Nowadays most fans’ activities take place internet. Fans can meet each other easily in a virtual space and discuss their thought about Cult show. Also, they are able to propagated fandom. Hills(2004) also states that “by making it easier for fans to contact other like-minded devotees, the web increases the possibility of small-scale organised fandoms emerging around a wider variety of TV shows(p.519).”

Referece
Hills, M. (2004). Defining Cult TV; Texts, Inter-texts and Fan Audiences, the Television

Studies Reader. London and New York: Routledge.

Week 7&8

Q. What does Dick (1995) himself theories about the I Ching?

Philip. K. Dick regarded I Ching as synchronicity, which means every event happens now without a pattern that an event happens not only yesterday but also today and tomorrow. Because it is not connected, individual connections with other people cannot exist.

 “I Ching has been around for three thousand years and still being used.” (Dick, 1995) Although it has been used for long time, proposes for using it are different. Firstly, China and Richard Wilhelm used for a prediction for future. Contrast with this, Dick’s opinion is totally different and he (1965) mentioned “the book is analytical and diagnostic, not predicted.” He also pointed out that we can use the book for any purpose and he suggested its examples. John Cage, one of American composers and music therapists, has used I Ching for his music chord. In case of Dick, he used it to “develop the direction of a novel.” Moreover, we can find that he mentioned “I speak from experience. The Oracle- the I Ching- told me to write this piece” through ‘Schizophrenia and the Book of Changes (1965).’

Dick followed what I Ching gave advices to him, and he further regarded himself as a schizoid person. And, he theorised that a schizoid-effective people are imprisoned in their own world which there are the things they want. As a result, they cannot get out of there. As he mentioned, he also put himself in the world.

Other people might think that he is crazy and abnormal, but I differently think about him. Even though what he mentioned is unreasonable, he is not crazy because his novels that he wrote through I Ching have been recognised as the best novels. His thoughts and eyes that looked at the world are just different from us. I believe that it was possible that his novels are involved in the best novels because he is just different.

 

Reference

Dick, P.K. (1995). Schizophrenia and the I Ching. In Sutin, L. (Ed.), The shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick (pp.175-182). New York:Vintage.

 

week5&6

Is it a high or low cultural genre, according to Napier (2005)? What are some of its subgenres?

Japanese refer to animation as anime but this is not a terminology which passes just within Japan. This is in common use all over the world.

 Anime is a high culture genre. Napier mentioned that anime is a popular cultural form that clearly builds on previous high cultural traditions. (P, 4) Anime is influenced by the woodblock print, cinema, and Kabuki which is a classical Japanese dance-drama. So anime can be considered to have relation to high culture. Napier also states that many of the issues which explores in anime are familiar to high culture literature.  For example, Princess Mononoke from Miyazaki is a work which break the stereotype that anime is just children’s cartoon. It means that anime often portraying important social and cultural themes which can appeal even to young people or adult.  

 

 Anime has many subgenres. Some of genres include children’s cartoon like Pokémon and Hello Kitty, science fiction like Astro Boy, sex and crime like lchi the killer. According to Napier (2005), to define anime simply as Japanese cartoons gives no sense of the depth and variety that make up the medium. Essentially, anime works include everything that Western audiences are accustomed to seeing in live-action films-romance, comedy, tragedy, adventure, and even psychological probing of a kind seldom attempted in recent mess-culture Western film or television (p, 6)

 

 

 

Refereces

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In anime: From Akira to Howl's Moving Castle (pp. 3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.