Anime Fever Sweeps America
By Justin Lowe

Given the rage for all things Pokemon currently sweeping the nation and the success of the recently released Princess Mononoke, moviegoers might be forgiven for thinking that anime -- Japanese animated film -- has suddenly taken the country by storm. In fact, anime debuted in America more than 35 years ago with the introduction of several TV programs that laid the foundation for its increasing popularity in the U.S. today.

The series, Otaku! Japanese Animation in America, which opens tomorrow and runs through Dec. 23 at the Rafael Film Center, traces anime’s progression from its earliest emergence in the U.S. to the most recent big-budget releases. With fifteen programs consisting of both short and feature films, the series has something for both newcomers and otaku (dedicated fans) alike.

The programs lead off with the screening of three influential 1960s TV series that parallel current anime themes. Astro Boy and Gigantor were precursors of contemporary obsessions with apocalyptic scenarios and giant robots, while Kimba the White Lion took a more naturalistic approach to exploring our relationship with the world around us.

Both Astro Boy and Kimba originated in comic books created by Osamu Tezuka, a manga artist whose work revolutionized the field of Japanese comic art in the ’50s and ’60s and that led directly to the origin of anime with the creation of Tezuka’s animated film production company.

Along with the ever-popular Speed Racer, producer Fred Ladd introduced these three TV programs to American audiences in the ’60s and collaborated with Tezuka on the US versions of the Astro Boy cartoons. Ladd will open the Otaku! series with a personal appearance and special screening of his own prints of these original anime episodes (Dec. 10, 11).

Following in the steps of early Japanese animation, contemporary films in the series focusing on futuristic technology include 1995’s -- Ghost in the Shell (Dec. 13), a dark, sci-fi cyborg thriller, widely regarded as one of the best-animated titles to date. Mecha -- (mechanical) oriented themes make their mark with episodes from the Evangelion series (Dec. 15), which looks ahead 15 years to when the earth is being attacked by giant, mysterious aliens that are laying waste to the planet. Humanity’s hope lies with the Evangelions, giant biomechanical robots piloted by young men and women who control the only strategy capable of destroying the mechanized invaders.

Rather then depending on high-tech gadgetry for effect, Hayao Miyazaki’s feature Kiki’s Delivery Service (Dec. 11, 12) continues to rely on the director’s skill for narration and characterization, firmly established with the highly successful My Neighbor Totoro (1993) and recently reaffirmed with Princess Mononoke, the highest grossing Japanese film (anime or otherwise) in history.

Kiki is a 13-year-old witch who must make her teenage rite of passage by leaving her home and family to seek out a new town where she can become the resident sorceress, accompanied only by her black cat, Jiji. Their comic adventures begin when Kiki opens a broomstick-delivery business, plunging through gales and rainstorms to deliver birthday presents to pitifully ungrateful boys and girls. Kiki’s Delivery Service is a delightful contemporary coming-of-age story that has been expertly dubbed into English with the voices of Janeane Garofalo and Phil Hartman.

In contrast to the typical emphasis on fantasy themes, increasingly realistic approaches to anime have been growing in popularity, often incorporating the genres of live-action film. The Cowboy Bebop series (Dec. 17) might be called “anime noir” with its headlong jazz score and off-kilter take on the seedy sci-fi underworld of futuristic drug running and corporate espionage. In the Asteroid Blues episode, intergalactic bounty hunters Spike Spiegel and Jet Black must track down a ruthless drug dealer before he poisons an entire planet with a lethal addictive drug called “red eyes.”

The Blue Submarine 6 (Dec. 18) series takes place on an uncomfortably near-future Earth where coastal regions have been inundated by rising sea levels resulting from global warming. The Blue Submarine crew is called upon to defend the tattered remnants of terrestrial civilization from the destructive underwater forces of Zorndyke and his mutant army. In the Blues episode, young submariner Mayumi Kino is assigned the unpleasant task of retrieving an AWOL, drug addicted crew member who is one of the few underwater pilots capable of defeating Zorndyke’s forces. Looking like a futuristic Joan of Arc with her close-cropped hair and form-fitting body armor, Kino’s girl warrior is a welcome contrast to many of the weaker female characters in other anime series.

Perfect Blue , a mystery that has earned comparisons to Hitchcock, has perhaps received the most recent notice for its adoption of classic thriller elements. When pop idol Mima Kirigoe decides to trade her singing career for a shot at TV celebrity, not all of her fans wish her well. One in particular appears to be stalking her, watching her every move and even setting up a “Mima’s Room” Web site describing her daily habits. As a stressed-out Mima increasingly identifies with her persecuted TV character, several of her collaborators are brutally murdered. Mima begins losing touch with reality, unable to distinguish between actual events and her violent imagination.

More than a dozen other titles round out the Otaku! series, providing an ample overview of contemporary anime adventure, fantasy and dramatic styles, and making this a rare opportunity to experience the remarkable achievements built on Osamu Tezuka’s 35-year-old foundation.

The Otaku! Japanese Animation in America anime series, in English and Japanese with English subtitles, shows tomorrow through Dec. 23 at the Rafael Film Center. Call 415-454-1222 or visit http://www.finc.org for program information.