“What was the first anime you ever watched?”
“Dragonball.”
“Sailor Moon.”
“Pokemon.”
These are but typical answers for a dull question. I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and watched every single episode of these shows or read every single chapter of the manga the shows were based on. I specifically remember watching Dragonball quite sporadically, to the point where the narrative never made sense to me.
For nostalgic purposes, I recently picked up a copy of the first volume of the Dragonball manga series by Akira Toriyama. But like I said, I never read the entirety of the series, and ironically, I never even read the first chapters before. So this nostalgia was very narrow, for I was nostalgic for the aesthetic and characters rather than the narrative itself. Anyways, here is a notable scene I encountered.
In the manga, there is a moment where, after having slept in the same vehicle/mobile home as Bulma, Goku gets up and finds a sleeping Bulma. He then finds her “pillow,” pats the area a couple of times, and then takes off her panties to discover she has no balls at which point his panicked scream wakes up Bulma. He screams at her, “You have no balls!” She thinks he is talking about the Dragonballs and is completely oblivious to what had transpired during her slumber.
“What? Is this legit?”
Turns out it was, apparently I was completely oblivious to the instances of panty dropping and flashing in the anime.
But now, before we get all hot and bothered and classify Dragonball as some borderline soft porn, lets consider the context of this scene. The scene is actually quite funny if you think about it. You just have to consider the context; Goku has never seen a girl up until he met Bulma. He thought everyone had tails until he met her. This is innocent, nothing sensual about it.
Which brings me to a work that predates these famed shows and manga – Lupin III. This manga is downright raunchy at times. Lupin is not just a thief, but he is also sex hungry. Leaping out of his clothes and jumping on top of women (who are virtually indistinguishable from one another, all of them sporting Barbie-like proportions) who are lying naked on beds in some bedroom of the building he is robbing. The manga also doesn’t shy away from full nudity, however, an interesting stylistic choice is that Monkey Punch, or Kazuhiko Katō, the creator of the series, draws Lupin’s penis as the gender sign for males. Does this objectify men? Stating that the entirety of the gender can be reduced to the penis? I guess, very slightly. But not nearly as much as the naked women who seem to appear every other chapter in this manga. Also, I mean, the gender sign penis is kind of funny. But anyways, maybe you’d think the manga would stop at nudity. No. No it doesn’t. There are explicit lines about climaxing and pleasure and graphic Lupin on objectified woman action.
Now, why am I reading this? I seem to be saying that it’s horrible, yet here I am, reading it, again. One reason is because I love the art style. It’s incredibly sketchy, and it feels borderline unfinished at times. However, the quick lines and overtly cartoonish postures and expressions add a kinetic energy to the art that I find rare in overly polished comic book art. This is reflective of crudeness of the content at times. Which works. For a long time, Monkey Punch had failed to really develop the characters beyond mere cartoonish caricatures. I mean, the manga volume I’m pulling these scenes from, was published in 2004. It isn’t very progressive, especially considering the second reason as to why I’m reading the manga.
Perhaps the most famous version of Lupin III is his depiction in the film, The Castle of Cagliostro, by the now retired Hayao Miyazaki. This was Miyazaki’s debut and it improved upon the source material in so many ways. First of all, the gender sign penis was gone, the vast quantities of sexual drive was gone, Lupin was now far more chivalrous, and the focus of the film in general was shifted towards a heavy concentration in the adventure aspect of the series. First and foremost, Lupin III is about a thief with a blend of Indiana Jones-esque adventure and James Bond debonair. Miyazaki nails this. Honestly, there was nobody better suited to direct Lupin in the proper manner than Studio Ghibli guru – for he excels at creating films primarily for children.
But although he got rid of most of the adult content, he still retained the cartoonish essence at the heart of the original. This feels like the opposite of the direction many comic book movies are taking nowadays. Miyazaki embraces the silliness and is not concerned in slathering on a layer of drab malaise and deep brooding to characters who were never like that in the first place. Perhaps all directors should see this movie so they may learn about how important it is to retain the essence.
I’ll end with a clip from the film that showcases this arguably inexplicable feel of joy that is so subtly captured in this film. Spielberg himself described this scene as arguably the best car chase scene of all time, simply because you can see how much the characters are enjoying the chase. It also helps that they are in an adorable little Fiat 500.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxbum3is6G0
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