Introduction
Anime, a manifestation of Japan’s pop culture which often carries profound and complex symbolic, cultural and literary significance, has evolved into a multi-genre industry (Halsall, 2010) where anime series cater to a variety of demands ranging from action, romance, fantasy, comedy to thriller and many more. Recent popular series (MyAnimeList, 2015) include Shingeki No Kyojin, an intense battle action series where humanity is at risk of extermination by gigantic humanoid looking creatures known as Titans, and the text of this paper, Tokyo Ghoul Seasons 1 & 2.
Tokyo Ghoul is a Japanese dark fantasy action anime series (MyAnimeList, 2015) set in an alternative reality where ghouls camouflage and live among human beings, preying on them for sustenance. The story revolves around Kaneki Ken whose life as a gullible student is changed overnight after having survived an encounter with a ghoul whose organs have been transplanted into him to keep him alive. He finds himself lost in a society polarised by humanity’s fear and resentment towards ghouls, and struggles to find his place on either side, while torn between his human side of compassion and his ghoulish desires of flesh and carnage. Thus, the series is characterised often by violence both in terms of physical instances of assault, bloodshed and even occasionally cannibalism, and psychological processes where one’s personality and morals are sometimes distorted, twisted and in extreme cases, tortured.
Rationale
Cinematic portrayal of themes has been conventionally examined through popular media such as Hollywood films (Yale Film Studies, 2002). Notably, among many themes portrayed, violence is often considered the most controversial, as it is indicative of firstly a contravention of self-control, and secondly, a projection of the will to inflict harms either as a result of or independent of various motivations (Beaver, 2013). In fact, in a literary sense, violence can be used to further augment the characterisation of the stakeholders involved (Eisenbeis, 2015), mostly because violence penetrates the many layers of socialisation ingrained in these characters and prompts an action or reaction that is seen as more natural and revealing of the root of these characters. Thus, the many violent scenes in Tokyo Ghoul should be treated and studied as controversial, but legitimate forms of self-expression and not be dismissed as mere sensationalism, particularly due to a lack of understanding stemming from obscure research into the newly emerging industry of anime.
Research Questions
-
How does the portrayal of violence evolve throughout the series, with reference to The Extremes of Conflict in Literature: Violence, Homicide, and War (Carroll, 2012)?
-
How is violence reflective of one’s mentality and motivations, with reference to Violence in Literature; An Evolutionary Perspective (Carroll, 2014)?
-
How is inner conflict between the subject and abject showcased through the portrayal of violence, with reference to Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (Kristeva, 1982)?
Thesis Statement
Violence is portrayed through Tokyo Ghoul as diametric tensions that are simultaneous seeking and denial of self-assertion, escape and transcendence.
Scope of Research / Delimitation(s)
Violence in Tokyo Ghoul takes on two forms. More intuitively, violence refers to scenes where characters fight with one another, causing bloodshed, inflicting wounds and in some cases, ultimately leading to deaths. However, on a deeper level, violence manifests itself psychologically, where characters are in a position where they confront, supress or combat their innermost desires that drastically challenge their self-being and worldviews. Importantly, these two forms of violence interact with each other in symbiosis, perpetuating each other’s rise and anticipating each other’s fall. For example, deaths of Hinami’s parents at Mado’s hands and Mado’s repeated insults and taunting enraged Hinami herself sufficiently to a point where she has supressed her compassion and chosen to activate her predatory organ, a Kagune, in order to kill Mado who is threatening to take her life. The physical violence in this case can be observed when she reacts by rapidly stabbing and slicing through Mado’s body with her Kagune, whereas the psychological violence is seen from the violation of her self-control as her memories of her parents are disintegrated by the realisation that both of them had died a terrible death.
Significance of Research / Usefulness
This research is important because traditionally anime has been stigmatized as a childish and vain industry by mainstream pop culture, and thus there is little literary research that takes anime seriously as an agent that portrays intriguing moral dilemmas (Halsall, 2010). Tokyo Ghoul’s emphasis on violence should not be dismissed, especially only because of obscure analyses in the field of anime.
Furthermore, this research attempts to establish the correlations between violence and its reasons, and apply this understanding through a study of the genre of anime. This not only produces a recognition of violence both in literature and in this violence-ridden world, but also pioneers a new research model which examines anime as literary texts.
Limitations
This paper is limited by a lack of research in the field of anime studies. This is likely due to the recent emergence of anime as a popular form of media entertainment whose target audience is largely perceived to be teenagers, despite surveys and statistics which show that the percentage of those interested in anime among Japan’s general population is similar across different age groups (Chambes, 2012). This means that, with a dearth of peers review and cross referencing, this paper is entirely original and the arguments it forwards do not have the direct backing of reliable sources, and can only be warranted by constant reference to established theories and frameworks which are being applied to the study of anime for the first time.
Abstract
Violence in anime has often been stigmatised as cheap, sensational and incapable of discussing complex ideas. By using Joseph Carroll’s The Extremes of Conflict in Liferature: Violence, Homicide and War (2012) and Violence in Literature: An Evolutionary Perspective (2014), as well as Julia Kristeva’s Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, this paper examines the cinematographic portrayal of violence through popular Japanese Anime series Tokyo Ghoul with reference to Yale Film Studies (2002). As various characters seek to find and express their identities, as a human whose socialisation and enculturation prescribe a life of compassion and non-aggression, or a ghoul whose community demands a predatory-prey worldview, violence is employed as a form of struggle for survival of the self and resistance of circumstances at large. This paper pioneers an unprecedented psychoanalytic model for anime literature commonly perceived to be filled with violence, and ascribes academic rigour to the genre.