About

anima
The inner self of an individual; the soul.
In Jungian psychology, the unconscious or
true inner self of an individual,
as opposed to the persona.

Gary Mawyer

These anime critiques are a curious hybrid. Some commenters have noted the “inside versus outside” phenomenon in anime criticism. A large section of the people who are interested in anime consider themselves categorical “insiders” belonging to an anime subculture. They regard those who have not surrendered to the medium as outsiders. Those styled as outsiders tend to critique anime sociologically or as a cultural product or media phenomenon (see the academic Mechademia articles for examples). Insiders more typically critique anime by visual and narrative content (as the outsider-author of Otaku: Japan’s Database Animals points out).

There are also fixed narratives inside the anime universe that do not require explanation to insiders. These range from comic and supernatural to political and apocalyptic, and can be combined or recycled in almost any configuration. To the insider these are not the same plot again, but rather, the real story. (Repetition is not an idle exercise or an artistic failure of imagination if you’re repeating vital truths as part of a larger and ever more meaningful design or pattern). Also visual content is sometimes considered the main point and narrative is sometimes subordinate to it; this somewhat sets anime (or some anime) apart from the rest of film. Also, it is hard to name another genre whose viewers are proprietarial–or who are in some sense attempting to live psychically within the superflat dimension as much as they can.

I feel as if I am in the weird state of not being either kind of animal: I am interested in the broadly sociological/cultural approach but not very tempted to take it; I have no trouble viewing anime from “inside” (I mainly do) but I can’t actually be an otaku for a great variety of reasons including birth and language among others. So these become weird little uncharacteristic pieces of anime criticism and it is a little hard to say what the point is even for me, unless it is just to have fun. (They are fun to write—I gather that’s obvious!)