Nov 27, 2023
"I want to escape anime and its consequences" would be a great T-shirt slogan.
You really went and did it. How many layers is this? I'm gonna take a guess that this isn't one of Lucille's stories and actually takes place in-universe. But even so, you've got:
- A story where the MC is kind of fictional stand-in for the author.
- And this MC wants to live a highly fictionalized Japanese high school life, as portrayed by anime.
- But in the same world, there's a Japanese high schooler who believes she is living in this anime-style Japan, but rather than anime being a reflection of Japanese society, feels that Japanese society is molded by the pop-culture tropes common in anime.
- And wants to live in a fictionalized version of America as seen through imported American pop culture, such as American cartoons and violent movies.
- As well as anime such as Gunsmith Cats, Patlabor, and California Crisis.
OK, that last one is just a bit of my own analysis. Did I miss any levels here?
Just like Lucille, I find myself agreeing with a lot of how Saki sees the world here, even if she's seeing a version of Japan that doesn't really exist. I guess I'm saying I find myself agreeing with how she sees anime. It really can be shallow and materialistic, can't it?
These grounded slice-of-life and CGDCT series are really a form of wish fulfillment for living an ordinary kind of life. (And for much of the audience, imagining the kind of wife they want.) And yet, what do they tend to focus on? Mundane activities which typically require spending lots of money. It's living vicariously in ways you can't afford in real life. Sure, it's also making the kind of friends you were too socially inept to make in high school, but the capitalist aspect can't be discounted.
I don't think this is an intentional message from the creators to the audience that they should strive to live this way. Just like the Shinzo Abe procreation thing was a joke, and not something the government was really forcing anime studios to promote. But in both cases, once you see it, it's hard to unsee it.
