Miyazaki Hayao [1] is one of the most important modern figures in Japanese animation, enjoying high popularity at home, and growing fame overseas. [2] He and his production company, Studio Ghibli, are well known as skilled producers of family entertainment, and he may be thought of as a kind of latter-day Japanese Walt Disney. However, this title is only partly accurate. [3] Miyazaki came to animation when the medium was already well-established, and his work cannot be called formative or even representative of an entire industry. Rather, Miyazaki is remarkable for the unique way he tells stories, and the kind of issues he chooses to deal with. While some Japanese animation is aimed at children, and some is strictly for adults, Miyazaki combines some of the best elements of both kinds. He deals maturely with serious issues, yet approaches them with a kind of childlike innocence. I intend to demonstrate this by examining two of his films in which this can be clearly seen: Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, 1984), and Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke, 1997). Beginning with a summary of Japanese history and a look at its effects on Japanese animation, I will go on to discuss the types of conflict featured in each movie, and solutions that Miyazaki offers through his young protagonists.
Born January 5, 1941, Miyazaki grew up during Japan's postwar reconstruction. [4] The first few decades after World War II were a period of radical change for the Japanese people. During the war they had made great sacrifices, accepting it as their duty to bring glory to their country and their emperor. Then, in August 1945, the U.S. army dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan. A few days later, Emperor Hirohito announced the end of the war, and Japan's surrender to U.S. and allied forces.
The events of that month became widely regarded as the single most important turning point in Japan's modern history. The U.S. took control of the country, disbanding the army, demoting the Emperor, and instituting a new government with a new constitution. Meanwhile the Japanese had suffered massive infrastructural damage and the loss of approximately three million soldiers and civilians.
Gradually, the country recovered. Cities and industries were rebuilt, the economy grew, standards of living rose. Japan redefined itself as a nation both tied to and distinct from its past. The U.S.-imposed constitution was one of the tools that allowed Japan to both modernize and Westernize. It created greater political openness and opportunity in Japan, ironically allowing the Communist and Socialist movements more freedom than they had in the United States. Although never the most powerful parties in Japan, left-wing parties have exercised a great deal of influence. Besides pushing for civil rights, they have provided momentum to Japan's environmental movement, and have opposed right-wing attempts to make the country more militaristic.
Japan is well known as a peaceful nation. Since the institution of the new constitution, the Japanese have resisted all movements to amend it to allow for an army. This dramatic turnaround from its more bellicose days is partly the result of the shock suffered after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Rather than risk suffering that kind of loss and humiliation again, the Japanese renounced warfare, and redirected their energy into the economic sphere. Japan is now one of the most technologically advanced and economically powerful nations on earth, but comparatively weak militarily. It is thus able to self-confidently celebrate its own pacifist nature and criticize the militarism of others. [5]
This commitment to pacifism forms a major theme in Japanese art. Japanese animation developed somewhat later than the American cartoon, but since then has become internationally famous under its nickname, "anime" [6]. Although often silly and vacuous - as any medium can be - anime can also be used to address serious social issues. Environmental themes have been prominent since anime godfather Tezuka Ozamu used his work to preach against pollution and other social problems. [7] War, or rather, antiwar sentiment, has also been almost ubiquitous. [8] Anime is full of violent imagery, which has often provoked opposition in the West, [9] yet underneath the graphic displays of lethal, destructive force there is also a sense of war's futility. [10] Even in action shows and movies, war may at best be a necessary evil. [11] At worst, it is a merit-less evil, good only at destroying the lives of the innocent and helpless. [12]
Miyazaki's films tend to be topical, dealing with social issues such as environmental damage and war. Actually, in Miyazaki's films these two issue-areas are not really separate; they are two different types of conflict. Miyazaki's films all deal with conflict of some kind, whether between different groups of humans, between humans and nature, or even internal to a single human being. The conflict varies from film to film, and may involve serious, complex issues. Yet the solution is almost always the same: the young heroes - or, more commonly, heroines - must bravely face the problem and attempt to solve it. They do this, not by physical strength, but by bravery and moral fortitude. In Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa (Laputa: Castle in the Sky, 1986), Pazu and Sheeta are willing to sacrifice their lives to prevent a deadly weapon from being re-activated. In Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro, 1988), Mei and Satsuki deal with anxiety over their mother's illness. In Majo no Takkyuubin (Kiki's Delivery Service, 1989), Kiki must overcome her own self-doubt and insecurity. In Porco Rosso (Kurenai no Buta/The Crimson Pig, 1992), Fio's generous nature allows her to see Marco's humanity underneath his pig exterior. [13]
Miyazaki's two most spectacular films, Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä and Mononoke Hime, both deal with multiple levels of conflict. We see warfare between human characters taken to an almost apocalyptic level, and at the same time receive a message about the consequences of disturbing nature. In Nausicaä it is the typical young heroine who is able to resolve the conflict and provide a happy ending. Monoke Hime has a similar resolution, but is somewhat more downbeat, reminding the viewer that there are no easy answers to the problems it raises. [14]
Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä was the film that gave Studio Ghibli its start. Based on Miyazaki's manga series of the same name, [15] Nausicaä is very much an ecological fable. It tells of a post-apocalyptic future in which most of the earth has been overrun by giant insects and a jungle of toxic plants known as the "Fukai" [16]. What humans remain live in small, isolated communities. One of these, Pejite, unearths a giant warrior, one of several man-made monsters that brought the original destruction to the earth. They hope that they can use it to destroy the Fukai and make the earth once more habitable. Kushana, of the kingdom of Tolmekia, hears about this weapon and decides to steal it for herself. She is prepared to use it, not just against the Fukai, but against anyone who tries to stop her. The Pejites counterattack, and a bitter struggle ensues.
Caught in the middle of this struggle are the people of the Valley of the Wind, and their beloved Princess Nausicaä. With destruction and bloodshed imminent, it falls to this young girl to save the day. Her age and gender might make her an unlikely choice, but young girl heroines have been a staple of Japanese anime since the 1980s. [17] Nausicaä is brave and independent, but also gentle, innocent, and kind, and in Miyazaki's world, these are exactly the characteristics a hero needs. Although she does use violence when necessary, Nausicaä is not primarily successful because of her fighting skills. Rather, she is compassionate enough to try to understand all sides in the conflict, and brave enough to do whatever is necessary to bring peace.
Nausicaä has a vested interest in resolving the conflict. The situation has the potential to destroy her people, for whom she is not just a princess, but also friend, daughter, sister, and mother. Nausicaä's compassionate spirit extends to the other human groups: she loves her own people, but does not want to see anyone suffer, especially the innocent. Moreover, she is incapable of seeing the need for fighting. From growing up in the Valley of the Wind, she knows it is possible for people to live together in peace, and she cannot understand why other humans find it necessary to destroy each other to feel secure. She is thus both within the conflict and above it. She truly cares for the humans involved, but is unwilling to take sides because she knows that fighting will not help anyone.
The Valley people are remarkable not only because they live peacefully with each other, but because they have learned to coexist with the Fukai and its inhabitants. Most humans, even some from the Valley, have a knee-jerk hatred of the Fukai, and especially of the giant insects who live there. Their fear of these hideously ugly creatures is understandable: a single Ohm, a bug the size of a battle-cruiser, could crush a human like - well, like a bug! However, Nausicaä's compassionate spirit moves her to see that, far from being mindless destructive monsters, the insects are, in fact, sentient beings. [18] They have an organized social system, with different species carrying out different roles in their society. They care for each other, as can be seen in the final sequence, when hundreds of Ohm mobilize to save a single baby Ohm. They are even capable of respecting human life, so long as they receive respect in return. Although they can wipe out whole cities when provoked, they will leave humans in peace so long as they do not pose a threat or attempt to interfere with the Fukai.
This protectiveness of the Fukai is more than animal territoriality. Over the course of the movie, Nausicaä comes to understand that, contrary to popular belief, the plants in the Fukai are not actually poisonous. The poisons they give off are the result of pollution in the soil and water, pollution originally caused thousands of years ago by humans! Here, we find an obvious ecological warning. The world is a desert, not because of natural or outside forces, but because we ourselves made it that way through warfare and unsafe environmental practices. The humans find it easy to blame the Fukai for their problems, but the Fukai is actually humanity's only hope. It is slowly cleansing the earth of the poisons, neutralizing them over thousands of years. Those who would destroy the Fukai are actually interfering with this process. The message is that nature will take care of itself; it is humans who upset the balance by their actions.
There is similarly a message about the pointlessness of war. Each action taken by the Pejites and the Tolmekians against each other leads only to retaliation, and thus more bloodshed. The monster both are so concerned with may be easily taken as a thinly-disguised metaphor for the atomic bomb. It has the power to kill thousands of people, and render the earth lifeless. No human can tolerate it in the hands of another, for fear that it will be used against him. When the monster dies, the people of the Valley are relieved. They realize that even if their very survival depends on it, the existence of such a terrible weapon is too great a price to pay. [19]
Nausicaä is the hero of this film because she understands all these complex issues. She is also willing to do something about it. Although her message is pacifism, Nausicaä is not a timid character. In standing up for what she believes in, she often puts her own life in danger. At the end of the movie she makes the ultimate sacrifice, giving her life in order to stop a herd of stampeding Ohm from destroying the Valley. Although she is revived, her sacrifice is still significant in that it shows her courage in the face of terrible odds.
Nausicaä is the ultimate Miyazaki hero. If she were merely strong, or skilled, or brave, she would be nothing but a mindless fighting-machine. Instead, she combines masculine qualities like scientific knowledge and fighting ability with feminine qualities like compassion and nurturance. [20] This need for certain "feminine" characteristics to complement her "masculine" virtues is one reason Nausicaä must be a girl. There is another reason, however, why a male would be unable to fill her shoes. Bravery is expected of men; it is not very surprising when a man uses violence to solve a problem. In a woman, such acts are much more meaningful. [21] Nausicaä avoids violence whenever possible, preferring to use her brain and heart to find a compassionate solution for all involved. [22] On the occasions when she does use violence, the audience understands that she does so only under great pressure. She attacks the soldiers who have murdered her father only because of the depth of her grief. [23] She threatens two Pejite pilots with a machine gun only because the situation is urgent. Violence is not simply the means by which Nausicaä achieves her ends; it is a sign of the power of her spirit, the spirit that compels her to seek understanding in a senseless world.
Nausicaä made Studio Ghibli possible. At the other end of Miyazaki's Ghibli career we find Mononoke Hime. One of Miyazaki's most famous and well made works, it is in many ways unique among his films. Its story closely resembles that of Nausicaä, but also reflects Miyazaki's dissatisfaction with the earlier film's optimistic ending. [24] The thirteen years between the two movies saw a decline in idealism. Miyazaki himself became disillusioned with some of his previous beliefs. [25] The Japanese also experienced the burst of their economic "bubble", leading to comparatively hard times in the late 1990s. [26] While these changes cannot be directly observed in the later film, the more sober complexity of its narrative is well suited to a disillusioned age. While other Miyazaki films are more unambiguously hopeful, Mononoke Hime contains problematic undercurrents. More than Miyazaki's other films it is a "wake-up call" to humans in a time of crisis. [27]
Set in medieval Japan, Mononoke Hime revolves around a literal war between humans and nature. Lady Eboshi rules over the industrial town of Tatara, where the people mine for iron and make it into guns. Her mining practices, and consequent destruction of the surrounding forest, have incurred the wrath of the various forest-gods, chiefly the wolf-god Moro, and the boar-god, Nago. When Nago takes a bullet from Lady Eboshi's gun, his rage turns him into a vengeful demon that tears through the forest, blindly destroying everything in its path. It is eventually killed by Ashikata, the young prince of the Emishi people, [28] but not before giving Ashikata a mystical wound to his right arm. Told by his village elders that he will die, Ashikata departs for Tatara, hoping to ask the help of the Shishi Gami, the great deer-god that rules over the forest.
The parallels between this movie and Nausicaä are many. Lady Eboshi believes she can defeat the forest by killing the Sishi Gami. To do this she uses a new and much more deadly form of weaponry: firearms. She is very much like Kushana, who believes she can use a deadly giant to destroy the Fukai. As in Nausicaä, the plan backfires, and the people of Tatara are nearly wiped out. Just as Nausicaä must stop the stampeding Ohm by returning their baby to them, so the heroes of Mononoke Hime must stop the destruction by returning the Shishi Gami's head to it. Just as the end of Nausicaä sees Nausicaä and Valley return to life, so the end of Monoke Hime sees both Ashikata and the forest healed.
This leaves one important question: if all the major features of Nausicaä have parallels in Mononoke Hime, then who is Nausicaä? Who is that gentle, kind, innocent-yet-wise character who can provide a moral centre for the story? Ashikata is the protagonist, but he is a boy, while Miyazaki's other heroic figures have typically been female. Moreover, while Nausicaä tries to do what is best for all parties, she is herself personally involved in the conflict. Ashikata is neutral because he is an outsider. He has no connection either to the forest or to Tatara, and therefore no understanding of the underlying issues. He identifies with no group, leads no army, holds no authority, and really has no constructive advice to offer beyond, "Why can't we all just get along?"
There is a young girl in Mononoke Hime, the title character San, [29] but she bears little resemblance to Nausicaä. San is Moro's human daughter, adopted by the wolf-god after her biological parents abandoned her. While Nausicaä's compassion extends to both humans and animals, San cares only for the forest and its inhabitants. [30] She loathes all humans, and is determined to kill Lady Eboshi if necessary. She is full of anger, hatred, and probably self-loathing (considering that she is a member of her own least-favourite species). San is the unique exception to the gentle, kind, self-confident females found in all Miyazaki's other films.
Another surprising thing about Mononoke Hime is the ambiguity of San and Ashikata's relationship. There is a general law in film that when two of the main characters are a male and a female they should, by the time the movie is over, have formed some kind of romantic relationship. [31] There are indications that Ashikata has romantic feelings for San, and it is even possible that she reciprocates. Yet at the end of the film she rides back into the forest, while he heads back to Tatara. They promise to visit sometimes, so their friendship may continue, but they are certainly not a couple. Why?
Romance usually signals the happy ending. In Mononoke Hime the characters manage to avoid annihilation, yet there is still sadness in the ending, not only because of what the audience sees, but because of what we know. Nausicaä is set a thousand years in the future. In between, we are told, the earth will be nearly destroyed, most of the human race will die, and the land will be covered by a toxic jungle inhabited by giant insects. This is a bleak picture, yet the ending of the movie is full of hope. The Fukai is slowly neutralizing the toxins. One day, the earth may be purified, and people will once again enjoy good health, peace, and prosperity. In the meantime, the Valley people have learned to live in harmony with their surroundings, and the other kingdoms may be able to do the same. The audience is free to project the most optimistic scenario it can think of onto the unknown future.
By contrast, Mononoke Hime is set hundreds of years in the past, at a time when humans were just beginning to dominate nature. [32] In the short term, things seem to be going well for the heroes, but in the long-run, the audience knows what will happen: the land will be mined, the forests will shrink, the cities will grow, the cost of war will increase, and the gods will be forgotten. In truth, then, there is no happy ending for the characters, but only an ongoing struggle to survive in the world without destroying it in the process. This is a complex task that defies easy clichés like, "Love is the answer."
In fact, love, compassion, and loyalty are seen as problematic. Often considered virtues, these qualities are both the main weakness and the saving grace of many of the characters. There are no villains in Mononoke Hime. [33] Despite their bitter and deadly feud, all the major players are sympathetic. On the human side, Lady Eboshi is something of an Überfrau, a woman trying to do a man's job, and trying to do it better. Yet she is also a caring, compassionate individual. She takes in society's outcasts, employing lepers and ex-prostitutes. [34] She may be waging war on the forest, but she is doing so in order to protect her people. [35] Her one failing is that her "respect for life is narrowly limited to human life." [36]
On the side of Nature, Moro is a terrifying beast, a she-wolf the size of an elephant, with no fear of humans or their weapons, and no compunction about killing them. Yet she also cares for San, and is more of a mother to her than her natural mother. [37] Ashikata invites San to return to the human world with him, but she stays in the forest to fight beside the mother who raised her. Moro, for her part, treats San as her own child, despite her "ugly" appearance. Ashikata may choose to see San as a human, but her connection to her adopted mother transcends their biological differences.
Feelings, even noble ones, are thus a great source of conflict in Mononoke Hime. Both sides are driven to fight and kill because of emotions like compassion and loyalty. However, love also has at least the potential for good. In one sequence, Moro is lying half dead by the lake. She is saving the last of her strength to kill Lady Eboshi, but when she realizes that San's life is in danger, she instead uses her energy to save her. In this case, Moro's love for San wins out over her hatred of Eboshi. Moro dies, but San lives, as does Lady Eboshi.
Ashikata, too, is driven to do good by his feelings for San. He saves her life in Tatara when she attempts to kill Lady Eboshi, and it is their partnership that reunites the Shishi Gami with its head, and saves both the people of Tatara and the forest. Ashikata and San's friendship provides a link between the human world and the natural world. Neither one individually may be the deep wellspring of compassion and magnanimity that Nausicaä is; Ashikata is still clearly linked to civilization, San to the forest. It is their relationship with each other that keeps these two worlds in balance. It serves as a reminder that the natural and human worlds cannot be kept separate, and cannot expect to dominate each other, either. It provides hope that even if man cannot live in complete harmony with nature, he can at least maintain a respectful relationship with it, so that when conflict breaks out, it need not lead only to mutual death and destruction.
San and Ashikata come from two different worlds that can never be fully reconciled. Whatever personal feelings they have for each other, their loyalties to their people take precedence. This is why they must part company at the end. [38] San may care for Ashikata, but she says she cannot forgive the humans for what they have done. Ashikata is a wanderer without a home, exiled by his people, but unable to renounce his human identity. There are no easy answers for them, just as there are never easy answers to complex issues.
Miyazaki's heroes face difficult challenges, especially when confronting complex problems like pollution and warfare. Humans can try to respect nature, but even the most humble human existence damages its natural surroundings. Humans can try to love each other, but compassion cannot solve every problem by itself. Nausicaä takes on these challenges and triumphs by virtue of her kindness and bravery, but not everyone can have such a great impact on his surroundings. I do not believe that the message is that we should give up or not try. It is rather that we should keep trying, even if we appear to fail, because success rarely comes easily. Miyazaki is not naïve enough to say that all problems can be solved easily, or even that they can be solved at all, but despite the dark tone of some of his films, they remain idealistic works, with heroes who bravely face up to their respective challenges. San and Ashikata may not have Nausicaä's messianic power, but they are heroes because they continue to try in the face of great obstacles.
1. I have rendered the Japanese names in their original form, family name first, followed by given name.
2. Susan J. Napier, Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation (New York, NY: Palgrave, 2000) 123.
3. Patrick Drazen, Anime Explosion!: The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation (Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2003) 253-254.
4. Drazen, 254.
5. Andrew Gordon, "Society and Politics from Transwar through Postwar Japan," Historical Perspectives on Contemporary East Asia, ed. Merle Goldman and Andrew Gordon (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000) 272-296.
6. "Anime" is not a universally accepted term, and there are some who seek to distinguish "anime" as a specific genre from the wider body of Japanese animation. For example, Miyazaki generally dislikes "anime", which may be seen as a degraded form of the medium, and prefers to place his own films in the latter category. (Miyazaki Hayao, "About Japanese Animation," Course Japanese Movies 7 - The Current Situation of Japanese Movies, Iwanami Shoten, 28 Jan. 1988. Online. 25 Mar. 2005 <http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/aboutanime.html>.)
7. Drazen, 185-191.
8. Drazen, 192-206.
9. Antonia Levi, "New Myths for the Millennium: Japanese Animation," Animation in Asia and the Pacific, ed. John A. Lent (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001) 48.
10. Drazen, 192.
11. For example, the T.V. series Gundam Wing centres around fighting, but also contains characters who question the need for war, and try to find alternatives. (Drazen, 202-203.)
12. In films like Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka, Takahata Isao, 1988) or Barefoot Gen (Hadashi no Gen, Masaki Mori, 1983) it is children who are victimized, those who have no part in starting wars, but are nonetheless made to suffer its consequences. (Drazen, 193-194.) This popular image of the child-as-victim may be reflective of Japan's own self-image, as a small, peaceful nation surrounded by mightier powers. (Drazen, 204.)
13. Of the characters mentioned, only two are male: Pazu is an adolescent boy, and Marco is a middle-aged man (or he would be, if he hadn't turned into a pig). The rest are young girls, ranging in age from four-year-old Mei to seventeen-year-old Fio.
14. Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 (Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2001) 310.
15. Drazen, 259.
16. English translations of "Fukai" include "Sea of Corruption" (Clements and McCarthy, 270.), "Sea of Decay" (the official English subtitle), and "Toxic Jungle" (the official English dub).
17. Napier, 124.
18. Drazen, 260-261.
19. Drazen, 198-199.
20. Napier, 137-138.
21. Napier, 137.
22. Clements and McCarthy, 270.
23. Drazen, 261.
24. Clements and McCarthy, 310.
25. Nausicaa.net, Hayao Miyazaki: Details about Miyazaki: Miyazaki's political beliefs, N.d. Online. 25 Mar. 2005 <http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/miyazaki/101.html>.
26. Gordon, 294.
27. Napier, 180.
28. The Emishi are a fictional people invented for the film, but equated with the Ainu, a tribe of non-ethnic Japanese people. Here, as elsewhere in the film, Miyazaki foregrounds groups of people who were marginal in ancient Japanese society: racial minorities, women, lepers, and, of course, nature itself. (Napier, 177-179.)
29. "Princess Mononoke" is Lady Eboshi's nickname for San. "Mononoke hime" is impossible to translate directly into English, but means, roughly, "possessed princess", and refers to the fact that San fights like one possessed. (Napier, 179.)
30. Napier, 185.
31. It should be noted that romantic pairing is not the norm in Miyazaki's films. Romance is common in anime, as it is in the West, but there are virtually no romantic couples to be found in Miyazaki. In most cases this is explained by the age of the protagonists; from four-year-old Mei in Totoro to adolescent Nausicaä, they are almost always children. However, the films usually hint at potential romances - between Nausicaä and Asabel, Sheeta and Pazu in Laputa, Satsuki and Kanta in Totoro, Kiki and Tombo in Kiki. We never see these relationships evolve beyond friendship, but this is probably because the characters involved are too young to be thinking in these terms. They are still in a state of pre-sexual innocence, and Miyazaki is content to leave them there. At the same time, we see adult characters, in happy, successful marriages - Mei and Satsuki's parents in Totoro, Kiki's parents in Kiki, and even the Dolas in Laputa. The implication is that similar relationships lie in the children's futures. The difference in Mononoke Hime is that the characters are adults, or at least teenagers. They are at a stage of their lives when they could be thinking about romance and family. The fact that nothing comes of this suggests that there are other factors working against their relationship. Of course, it would be very interesting to get into a discussion as to exactly why no one ever hooks up in Miyazaki films, especially if one factored in Porco Rosso, which involves much older characters. However, that would be the topic of a different essay.
32. Napier, 181.
33. With the exception of Laputa, most of Miyazaki's films refuse to point a finger at a specific villain. In movies like Nausicaä and Mononoke Hime, all the characters are sympathetic to a degree. In Nausicaä the closest thing to an evil being might be Kushana's giant, but that is more of a weapon than a character. In Mononoke Hime the destruction is seen as the natural end-product of human interference with nature. Humans are to blame, but only inadvertently. The emperor could be blamed for starting the whole mess by putting a price on the Shishi Gami's head, but he is a non-character who is only mentioned in passing, he never receives any kind of punishment, and in any case, his actions identify him as more stupid than evil. Meanwhile Totoro and Kiki deal more with internal conflict, and contain no enemies at all. (Clements and McCarthy, 202, 265.)
34. Napier, 190.
35. Napier, 185.
36. Levi, 41.
37. Drazen, 139.
38. Napier, 192. Drazen, 38.
Clements, Jonathan and Helen McCarthy. The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2001.
Drazen, Patrick. Anime Explosion!: The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2003.
Gordon, Andrew. "Society and Politics from Transwar through Postwar Japan." Historical Perspectives on Contemporary East Asia. Ed. Merle Goldman and Andrew Gordon. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000, 272-296.
Levi, Antonia. "New Myths for the Millennium: Japanese Animation." Animation in Asia and the Pacific. Ed. John A. Lent. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001, 33-50.
Napier, Susan J. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2000.
Nausicaa.net. 17 Mar 2005. Online. 25 Mar. 2005 <http://www.nausicaa.net>.
Online Ghibli. 17 Mar 2005. Online. 25 Mar. 2005 <http://www.onlineghibli.com>.
Comments: This is a very good essay, well written and well researched. It could be excellent if you included some info about the development and/or importance of "anime" for Japanese people and/or their film history.
Mark: 84%