The current craze for Anime in Japan and parts of North America has a much broader range of genres than go beyond the typical Saturday morning kids’ fare common to Western animation. The gamut runs from science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, sports to included even cookery shows that have featured as subjects of animé, written for adults as well as children. Osamu Tezuka is known as the father of Modern Manga and is responsible for the new age of Anime.
Manga style caricature has attracted the attention of artists like Takashi Murakami who have played with and distorted anime to make larger statements on Japanese Society. In many ways Murakami, like what Andy Warhol did in the West, has worked to remove the distinctions between high and low art. Like an animation studio Murakami has over sixty artists working for him and yet the art work comes out looking as if it were made by one person.
However drawing a distinction is necessary given the privileged position art has over cartooning and animation. It is, in fact, the content of the work that divides pop from high art. While animation is large for entertainment, a serious art work is meant to be more thought provoking and critical of society.
Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki is another example of subversive Manga, his epic films like Spirited away and Princess Mononoke have been upheld by critics as a crucial part of popular culture and art. If you see a Manga image, just ask yourself, what is it saying, and you will know whether its art, pop culture or both.
(Demystify art, e-mail georgina.maddox@expressindia.com)