Can you guess a prominent characteristic of battle narratives in Japanese manga and anime? Watch Prof. Takahashi, in the guise of a hero, outline this week’s story with special emphasis on young protagonists.
Battle has been a universal theme of literature, but in Japanese subcultural genres, a child or a youth has often been assigned the task of fighting with strong enemies. This rather unrealistic, anomalous situation required special means or ‘poetics’ in the story development. How can the young heroes be heroes coping with and beating stronger opponents?
Comments