The past influences the present—the literature and art of the past influence the media we create and consume today. Today, anime is a popular media format and several aspects of anime can be linked back to kabuki and bunraku theater. Bunraku and kabuki are two styles of theater that originated in Japan, both of which are known for their distinct styles.
Kabuki theater is a genre of theater that is known for its distinct makeup looks. Kabuki theater involves a lot of flair going into the makeup, costuming, and staging, including music and dancing. It originated in the early Edo period as an all-female dancing troupe, but in 1629, women were banned from dancing in kabuki theater. They were banned because the government determined that the women’s dancing was too sexual. Over the 17th and 18th centuries, kabuki theater developed and peaked as an all-male profession, with roles falling into two categories, aragoto and wagoto. Aragoto means “rough style” which tends to be the male characters and wagoto means “soft style” which is the female characters who are still being played by men in modern times. A defining trait of the genre is that some characters are characterized by a special pose they do called a mie.
In Japan, Bunraku is a genre of puppet theater. Bunraku puppets are a special style of puppets that are larger than average puppets. They required three puppeteers to control it: a main puppeteer and two assistants. The puppet’s smaller features such as the eyes and mouths were controlled by strings. Usually during a bunraku performance, there would be music playing throughout the show on drums and a shamisen to set the mood, and one person would narrate the entire show, including voicing all of the puppets.
Anime is Japanese animation. It is usually called its own genre, but in reality, there are as many genres of anime as there are for live-action shows. Japan began producing animation in 1917 during the age of silent films. In the late 1920s or early 1930s, Ōfuji Noburō produced Bagudajō no tōzoku (The Thief of Baguda Castle), a movie he made out of pieces of chiyogami, Japanese colored paper, that he cut up. This movie is known to be the first animated movie that gained attention outside of Japan. In 1956, Ōkawa Hiroshi, who was president of the Tōei film company, built Tōei Dōga, now known as Tōei Animation, after seeing Disney’s Snow White. He was inspired by the colors and animation in the film and wanted to make his own studio that produced similar quality work. This studio would eventually employ the legendary Miyazaki Hayao of Studio Ghibli fame.
What we know as anime now wasn’t seen until 1963 with the premiere of Tetsuwan Atomu, known in English as Astro Boy. This show kicked off a boom in anime production. In the 1970s, anime, then known as “Japanimation,” had millions of fans of varying ages worldwide, from kids to young adults. Over the next few decades, anime has gained popularity and has become a regular piece of pop culture all around the world.
Anime is known for its art style; while every artist and animator has a different drawing style, certain distinctive features are common in anime such as large eyes, colorful and wildly styled hair, and strange clothes. These features can be related to previous media created in Japan in regard to theater.
An anime that borrows techniques directly from kabuki theater is JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. This anime makes a play on the mie with a technique called a Stand, a Stand is essentially a magic technique that is triggered with a pose that is specific to each stand user. Another thing in which anime, in general, took inspiration from kabuki theater is the flashy appearances, anime characters are known for having wild and colorful hair, especially the main character, who is known to typically have the most distinctive appearance.
Similar to bunraku theater, anime is known for its music and the way the music steers the mood of the show; many animes are renowned for their soundtracks.
Annotated Bibliography:
Japan Guide. “Bunraku – Japanese Puppet Theater.” Japan-Guide.com, 21 Oct. 2019, http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2092.html. Bunraku puppets are puppeteered by 3 people, “a principal operator and 2 assistants.” One person narrates the entire show, including voicing the characters. Usually involves similar themes to kabuki, tragic love stories, heroic tales, and historical events. Music played on a shamisen dictates the speed of the narration. In anime, music is an integral part of setting the mood of a show; many animes are known for having epic songs in the opening and ending credits. Anime usually involves stories of the same nature.
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Kabuki | Japanese Arts.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 Apr. 2017, http://www.britannica.com/art/Kabuki. Flashy singing, dancing, and costuming; known for its specific style of makeup. Established in the 17th century by a female dancer named Okuni who was known for her performing parodies of Buddhist prayers. She made a traveling troupe to perform, until 1629, when women were banned from performing due to concerns of morals. Then young boys were dressed up as women and told to dance until 1952, when young boys were banned from performing due to morals again. Since 1952, men have been performing in kabuki theater. By the early 18th century kabuki was established as an art form. Kabuki had ties to the Noh theater and Joruri theater.
Kabuki shows often involve actors interacting with the audience by addressing them from the stage or running through the audience. Performances could last all day so food would be passed out between scenes.
UNESCO. “Kabuki Theatre.” Unesco.org, 2018, ich.unesco.org/en/RL/kabuki-theatre-00163. Kabuki originated in the Edo period at the beginning of the 17th century. Only males perform in these shows, in roles of aragoto, which means rough style, or wagoto, which means soft style, the masculine and feminine roles respectively. Shows are about historical events and relationships of the heart. Actors speak in a monotone voice with music playing in the background. The stage had gadgets such as trap doors and revolving platforms. The character-defining pose is called the mie, similar to JJBA Stand.
Yasuo, Yamaguchi. “The Evolution of the Japanese Anime Industry.” Nippon.com, 20 Dec. 2013, http://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00043/. Japan began producing animation in 1917, but what we know as anime didn’t appear until 1963 with the premiere of Tetsuwan Atomu, known in English as Astro Boy. This show kicked off a boom in anime production. In the 1970s, anime, then known as “Japanimation,” had millions of fans of any age worldwide. Anime studios are struggling to produce enough content to make themselves known and relevant. Important to establish the background and basic knowledge.
Sprockets and Springes 