We Can Be Heroes!: In Anime

I recently had an interesting conversation with my brother. He’s recently gotten into anime (Yay! A new convert!) and noticed that there is so much more variety of characters, stories, and heroes in anime compared to Western media. We were specifically comparing modern Hollywood movies to modern anime series, and we both noted how strict Hollywood movies were in character types, stories, and who is cast as the hero. In contrast, in anime it seemed like anything goes. While in a Hollywood movie, the hero is very easy to spot. They will be about 25 years old, tall, athletic, and often male. In anime, the hero will be . . . anything! Male, female, young, old, able bodied, deaf, blind, in a wheelchair, a hamster, a vending machine. It really could be anything. And that’s what I think the big take away for me was after our conversation. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you are, in anime there will be a hero just like you. So here are some heroes that would never exist in a Hollywood movie!

Sakamoto – Sakamoto Days

Story: An former assassin is dug out of retirement for a whole new adventure. Hollywood movie producers might go for this if the “Hero” still had the rock hard body of a twenty year old and has had enough plastic surgery that the older actor still looks youngish. But once they heard that the main character was supposed to be old, gray haired, and over weight the answer would be a hard “No!”. This hero would never exist. Anime’s answer is of course, absolutely! Get out there old guy and show those wipper-snappers how it’s done! And we know this because of Sakamoto Days, an anime that shows us just that, an old, gray haired, chubby retired assassin that was living a pretty happy life as a convenience store owner, is dragged back into his past life of assassin work. And he still rocks!

Hamtaro – Hamtaro

Story: A pet hamster goes on adventures with his hamster friends, in the great big human world around him. Hollywood’s answer would be, “Wait, the hero isn’t even human? Could we make him human? No? Than what about creepy CGI characters that are the size of humans? What, it can’t be creepy?! Than we aren’t doing it!” And of course anime would say, “Hamtaro!” The whole theme of the anime Hamtaro is that even if you are little, so tiny and the world around you is so big, that doesn’t mean that you can’t be a hero and go on adventures too. With the power of friendship and working together, anything is possible!

Boxxo – I Was Reborn As a Vending Machine

Story: A man is reincarnated as a vending machine, and now he has to survive a monster filled fantasy world with all the limitations of a vending machine. Hollywood’s answer would be, “Wait, he’s not even a living creature? The hero’s an inanimate object?! No!” And anime’s reply is, “I was Reborn As a Vending Machine . . .”, a fun and imaginative isekai with interesting and oddly believable characters. And what I’ve always been impressed with, the writers always stayed true to the fact that the main character is a vending machine and has to work inside the limitations of his form. Our hero can’t speak, he can only use scrolling messages across his little screen. He can’t move, he has to depend on people around him for help. And yet he has saved lives, gone on adventures, and been every bit as heroic as any isekai protagonist.

Unwanted Undead Adventurer

Story: An adventurer gets caught in a trap and after a magical accident gets turned into a skeleton. Now he has to hide his true appearance and survive in a fantasy world that sees him as a monster. Hollywood producers might think at first that this was a movie they could make, “Great! We’ll just slap a tiny bit of make-up on our latest male super model-esque actor and call it a day! Wait, he’s actually supposed to look like a skeleton? And he’s supposed to be monstrous looking?! But, that’s ugly!” And anime would make, Unwanted Undead Adventurer. This is another anime where I have to give credit to the creators that actually wrote a believable story about what would happen if you were unrecognizable to your community? What if they would suddenly see you as a monster and hunt you for money? And the result was a heart warming fantasy adventure about trust, bravery, and reunions. And plenty of monster slaying too!

Undead Murder Farce

Story: A beautiful immortal lady is beheaded and gathers people from the supernatural world to help her retrieve her stolen body from an evil organization. Hollywood would be completely on board for this story, up until the sixth word. “Wait, Beheaded?! As in she doesn’t have a body? As is no bikini scenes? How are we going to market that!” And anime would make Undead Murder Farce, an action packed adventure through paranormal Europe featuring none other than the talking head of a immortal lady sleuth who’s quick wit is not diminished in the slightest by not having a body. And to top it off, even without a body, there is still plenty of fan service!

In conclusion

I’m not saying that everything about Hollywood is bad and wrong, but I am saying that Hollywood production companies and writers have a lot of growing to do, and need to broaden their minds on who can be a hero. Not just because everyone is a little tired of the same old hero in every movie, but because there is an entire world of interesting heroes out there just waiting for their brilliant stories to be told. And there is also a vast audience that’s waiting for those stories. The stories just need to be written, and transformed into the movies we will one day love!

#anime #detectiveAnime #hamtaro #heroesInAnime #hollywoodVsAnime #iWasRebornAsAVendingMachine #Japan #JapaneseCulture #paranormalAnime #sakamotoDays #undeadMurderFarce #unwantedUndeadAdventurer

Anime Doesn’t Have A Problem with Girl Bosses!

Recently while puttering around on Youtube, I found a whole bushel of videos about why “Girl Bosses” don’t work in a story whether it’s a movie, comic book, or novel, and why they seem to be so hated among all genders. To sum up most of the videos, the problem is that these characters are very one dimensional. They are the Mighty Woman!, and nothing else. Honestly I have to agree, these are both silly and boring characters that most people don’t like.

One side note that some of the video’s hosts mentioned was that most of these “Mighty Women” to show just how mighty they are, become more or already are more masculine. They are “Just One of the Boys”, but isn’t that in itself an insult to women? It’s assuming that women are inherently weak and that feminine couldn’t be strong. Often times in these stories the “Mighty Women” will go so far as to mock and belittle women who choose to be more girly, as if being feminine was shameful or a show of weakness.

I was kind of shocked when I heard this. Until the video hosts pointed out this common story element, I had honestly never even noticed it. But once they brought it up, that common Western story trope was glaring and seemed to be everywhere. It kind of blew me away at how many Disney TV movies I had seen growing up where the “Girly Girl” was the villain and the tomboy girl was the strong, smart, hero of the story. Never mentioning that both were totally fine and that the Girly Girl could be strong and smart too.

After this mind boggling revelation, I went and watched some of my seasonal anime, and what should be the first thing that I watched? . . .

There’s Nothing Wrong with being a Strong Lady!

Always a Catch! Is a delightful anime about the girl heir of a martial arts noble family that, after her little brother was born so she was no longer in line for the head of the family, was ordered by her father to go forth and find a good husband! She has spent her entire childhood training as a martial arts master, and now she suddenly needs to be a lady and attract a noble gentleman. And yes, silliness ensues! The main character Mimi has the heart of a knight, so the first few episodes are about her protecting her soft spoken and gentle cousin. But though she can throw down with the best guards and knights of the realm, it’s not like she doesn’t want to be a lady too. She wants to know how to wear dresses and look fancy. She wants to make lots of lady friends. She wants to get along with the queen and go to tea parties. And in this anime, neither is wrong. The people around her are awestruck by her ability to take on half a dozen kidnappers herself, and are delighted when she tries her best to use proper etiquette at a tea party. She’s never shamed for being too strong or to fussy.

There’s Nothing Wrong with Fighting with Your Head Instead of Your Fists!

In the anime The Apothecary Diaries, though the main character Moa moa doesn’t have big muscles, doesn’t know martial arts, nor carry around a giant sword, she certainly isn’t weak. She might be small and unassuming, but with her sharp analytical mind and clever street smart know how, she deftly navigates the treacherous environment of the royal court of ancient Asia. Her ability to assess other people’s character and motives have gotten her out of lethal danger plenty of times, and solved many a mysteries. Sherlock Holms was never considered weak in his stories, and neither is Moa moa. Anime understands that you don’t need to punch someone in the face to beat them.

There’s Nothing Wrong with Having Big Power and a Big Heart!

I wrote this part almost specifically thinking of Captain Marvel from the movies. There’s a reason very few viewers enjoyed the Captain Marvel character. The movie’s story wasn’t that bad, but the main character was just so cold, unpleasant, and arrogant it was hard to root for her. She might have had amazing powers, but she had no heart. And for anime’s counter character I give you . . . Sailor Moon! Or really any magical girl story. In maho shojo, these girls and young women have gained amazing magical powers. They can summon the powers of the moon and other planets, they can blast power beams, they can even stop time! But by far the strongest power they possess, each character had before they got magic-a-fied. It was the power of their hearts. It was their compassion and empathy that made them strong, not weak. And that’s why generations of fans have been marveling over Sailor Moon, while Captain Marvel will likely inspire generations of cringing and groaning.

#AlwaysACatch #anime #animeDoesnTHaveAProblemWtihGirlBosses #hollywoodVsAnime #Japan #JapaneseCulture #magicGirls #mohoShojo #paranormalAnime #SailorMoon #theApothecaryDiaries