Anime: Reality As It Should Be

It's nice to see that the two rival networks on Philippine TV are starting to recognize the appeal of anime-themed storylines by incorporating them into live action TV series. It's also good to know that Animax is expanding their anime line-up by introducing four to five new anime series every month. Now why am I talking about local TV networks and suddenly about Animax? It's because I feel that both of them have failed to grasp a very important aspect of anime. Animax is obsessed with the idea of good versus evil and saving the world. They even reduced Urusei Yatsura (a story about a troubled relationship between two complete opposites) to "somehow saving the planet." (WHAT!? Hell! That's only the first episode.) Fantasy TV Series, on the other hand, tends to use characters with no sense of loyalty whatsoever; key characters will switch sides about five times throughout the entire series for no apparent reason other than their boyfriends/girlfriends turning traitor or coming from the other side. Of course, "telefantasias" will always use the overly cliché good versus evil theme with no signs of innovation whatsoever.

Now this is absolutely not how all anime portrays reality. This is a very important aspect of anime that both Animax and the local TV networks have apparently failed to grasp.

To illustrate, let's start with an anime whose storyline one would think should be anchored deeply within the confines of the tried and true good versus evil theme: DN Angel. DN Angel is centered around the life of Daisuke Niwa, a just 14-year old boy who secretly transforms into the Phantom Thief, Dark, as part of family blood and tradition. In the dark corners of nighttime, Dark often cleverly tricks the law and nearby eyes in order to steal sacrete works of art, and while in the meantime, trying to avoid his rival and near-equal, the sinister Krad. Now someone unfamiliar with the plot would think that the series would ultimately build up to the battle between Dark and Krad. In other words, one could be expected to believe that the story is to be surmised as a battle between the ultimate good and the ultimate evil. Instead, the climax of the anime focuses more on the resolution of Daisuke Niwa's personal conflicts and Dark's departure, marking the end of Daisuke's dependence on him. This takes a leave from the standard good-fights-evil plot, and centers on desires and troubles that afflict the average person.

In a more down-to-earth story, Slam Dunk, a sports manga and anime, centers itself on another plausible real-life situation. The story revolves around an average girl-seeking teenager boy, Hanamichi Sakuragi, who is unfortunately rejected by fifty girls! In order to prove that he is worthy of any girl, he attempts the Shohoku basketball team, dearly hoping that it will work, although relunctant to try at first. Sakuragi turns out to be a natural athlete and joins a group of other players to form Akagi's team of troublemakers. The team inally chooses to work together, earning the Shohoku team the right to enter the inter-high basketball championships. This accomplishment takes them one step closer to their new dream of becoming number one in Japan (and it also takes Sakuragi closer to getting a girl of his dreams). Although in the manga we later learn that Shohoku didn't win first place in the inter-high championships, it is reasonable; it would have been absurd for a such a new team like Shohoku to somehow steal first place. However, in the course of the championship, they do manage to defeat the number one team in the inter-high championships.

For our next example, we explore the high-school oriented anime Fruits Basket. As its creators would put it, Fruits Basket is a story of a girl living her life kindly and honestly but changes the life of nearby friends slowly as a result. Tohru Honda, the protagonist in the manga and anime series, lost her only parent, her mother, in a car accident. For her own reasons, she decides to live in a tent which she happens to place in a vacant lot within the property of the very affluent Sohma family. A chance meeting with the Sohmas reveals that one of them is actually her classmate: the popular Yuki Sohma. Even more surprising is the Sohmas' dark secret. Whenever they are hugged by the opposite sex, they turn into one of the twelve year animals of the Chinese lunar calendar. This makes for some very hilarious and comedic situations, but Fruits Basket ultimately boils down to Tohru Honda's character. They say that in life, "nice guys finish last." Tohru conforms to this; she is always left out. However, Tohru is the kind of girl who is so pure, kind, and innocent that no one in their right mind could find it in their heart to take advantage of, or to act mean to her. She radiates an aura of "niceness" which slowly influences everyone around her, cracking the thick outer shell of hostility even between the bitterest of enemies.

Next, we have a girl whose personality, though just as admirable, is in total contrast to Tohru Honda: Miyazawa Yukino from Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou. Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou is another high-school anime, but comedic to an even greater degree than Fruits Basket. Miyazawa Yukino knows what she wants out of life, and she's not afraid to work hard to get it. She's pretty, talented, confident, athletic, and intelligent. She's always at the top of her class; she's a sports heroine, and teachers love her personality, while all students, male or female, idolize her. Only, this is her outside face. In truth, Yukino studies all night (as if her life depended on it so very well), even forgetting to sleep sometimes just so she can be number one in the honor roll. She does secret training in athletics to become a sports heroine. Yukino practices her poses in front of a mirror in her free time, just so she can look like a confident and professional woman ("kyahahaha!"). Her good personality is also just a facade; she's actually a klutzy, ditzy, and childish girl when she's at home. In fact, the only reason that she works so hard is because she wants people to praise and envy her, not because of her own self-driven ambitions. Enter Arima Souichiro, at the same grade as Miyazawa and just like her: smart, handsome, and admired by both students and teachers. Now obviously Miyazawa doesn't like the idea of having a rival (regardless male or female) to share the spotlight. It gets even more interesting when Yukino and Arima suddenly fall in love. This anime has its fair share of lovey dovey situations, peer pressure, family conflicts, and yes, even pre-marital sex. Yet, what Kareshi Kanojo focuses on is how Miyazawa sheds her faux personality, finds acceptance among the students and faculty she had deceived, and discovers the value of love, friendship, and just having a good time.

Then, let's take a true comedy anime Daa! Daa! Daa! (or also known as UFO Baby). Daa! Daa! Daa! is about a young man, Kanata, and a girl named Miyu who stumble upon an alien baby named Lou (Rue) and a "petsitter," a cat-like creature named Wa-Nya. Miyu's parents had left her behind in the care of their neighbor, Kanata's father, but Kanata's father suddenly has to leave on a trip to India. Kanata, Miyu, Lou and Wa-Nya start living together in the same house, with Kanata and Miyu acting as Lou's foster parents. Of course, being just adolescents, things don't always go smoothly. Although filled with nonsensical episodes, cliché storylines and stereotypical characters, Daa! Daa! Daa! does not detract from the anime trademark of portraying realistic emotions and struggles "as it really is" (minus the space-setting). In the end, Lou has to return to his home planet together with Wa-Nya, and Miyu has to say goodbye as well when she transfers away. Everyone is sad; everyone remembers the memories and experiences they've had together. Yet, the tearful goodbyes are not without their positive resolutions when in the epilogue. We see Miyu and Kanata happily married ten years later, carrying a healthy baby daughter resembleing Lou.

Now lastly, we have a mecha anime Gundam Seed. Gundam Seed is the story of a war brought about by hatred and misunderstanding between "better" humans ("Coordinators") who have had their genes artificially modified to enhance their physical and mental reflexes and ordinary humans called Naturals. The use of nuclear weapons on a neutral farming colony of Coordinators creates an incident that would later be known as "Bloody Valentine." The trouble sparks the flames of war and the Coordinators launch Neutron-jammers in order to render all nuclear weapons unusable. The protagonist of the story is a Coordinator named Kira Yamato, a kind-hearted teenage boy who is dragged into the war when the Zaft Army of Coordinators attacks a small colony under ORB, a supposedly neutral state. He is forced to pilot a Mobile Suit (giant robot thingy) in order to protect himself. He is later drafted into the Earth army of Naturals, being the only one who can properly use the Coordinator OS inside the Mobile Suit Strike. Kira agrees to pilot Strike mainly to protect his friends, but later on, he discovers that his best friend from his childhood days, Athrun Zala, is an officer in Zaft and is actually the pilot of Aegis, the mobile suit that he had been fighting for some time. As the war progresses, Athrun desperately tries to get Kira to switch sides. Both Kira and Athrun eventually kill off each other's trusted comrades, but the climax of the story builds when both of them realize in different situations that to continue in their hatred would achieve nothing. In a war, no side is the winner; both sides will lose lives, and the innocent bystanders will always be the first to suffer.

And there you have it, six different examples of how anime portrays reality as it should be. The element of the extraordinary is never the main focus of the story. It is instead used as a tool to tell the greater story, often about the triumph of the human spirit and, though not always in the way we expect, against seemingly insurmountable odds.

This original article is available from Radical Dreamers.