Rayna Denison

"From mecha robots to shojo anime's hearts and flowers, Anime: A Critical Introduction investigates the wild, wonderful and often misunderstood worlds of Japan's animation genres"--

A Critical Introduction

Anime

Nico J

I'm surprised by the lack of review of this critical analysis, though on the other hand, that phrase alone, "critical analysis" may put people off, or right to sleep. If you're looking for an easy, smooth read this may not be the analysis for you. It has a handful of terms to contextualize before being able to apply them to the many layers that they're used in here. Historical, cultural, and filmic tidbits are sprinkled in here to assist with framing the argument, which is outlined well throughout each chapter. If you remember the classic five-paragraph essay (introduction, supporting points, conclusion), be prepared to notice that structure throughout as each chapters builds on the next to create a great, overarching narrative of the "home" culture (Japan) and the markets that anime connects with, melds with, moves to, etc. Not realizing that this was written in the Queen's English, the phrase "through to" really started to rankle after the 100th time used, but that's a grammar and stylistic distraction, rather than a content-related one. 

What I liked in this? The balance between extrapolating arguments and the support provided by facts about markets, culture, comparisons to other cultural grounds in other countries, and numbers, rather than just an off-hand analysis of aggregate, symbolic pieces. Some of the forays into imagery analysis, most noticeable in the chapter on Horror, pushed a little too far and lost their footing; they just didn't feel as solid. There are gaps, particularly if you're not familiar with animation / anime history and how franchises have proliferated in American (and secondarily, the U.K.) culture, however, those aren't Rayna Denison's gaps to fill because this is quite the deep-dive into true research.

I recommend reading a little bit about well-known franchises, films, or manga / anime stories before delving into this, to ease you in. Studio Ghibli films, Akira, Poke'mon, and mecha are all good entry points to open the door.

Anime A Critical Introduction

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