BOOK OF THE WEEK
 Napier,
Susan J. (2001). Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke.
New York: Palgrave.
To
begin, I must be honest about a couple of things. First of all,
I have been working with Professor Napier for the last two years.
I took a number of classes with her, was a teaching assistant
for her anime class, and she was my M.A. thesis advisor. I helped
out with a small section of the book, and Prof. Napier mentions
my name in the acknowledgements section at the beginning.
I thought
I would get all my potential biases out in the open before I
talk about how wonderful and useful this book is.
This
is the first serious book-length academic study of anime in
English. Previous to Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke,
almost all anime books, such as Antonia Levi's Samurai From
Outer Space, had been intended for a general audience. The
fact that this is an academic book is something one should
keep in mind when reading it - it is not necessarily for the
casual reader, although the book is relatively jargon-free and
easy to understand.
In
the book, Napier takes a look at a select number of anime films
and series she has found significant. From the title, one can
tell that she will be covering recent anime, eschewing some
of the classics such as Gundam and Macross. Many
of the titles Napier analyzes, such as the titular Akira
and Princess Mononoke, as well as Evangelion,
Ghost in the Shell, and Nausicaa, are critical
high points in the anime medium. Some of the other texts she
analyzes, such as Twin Dolls and Guyver, are somewhat
more perplexing in their inclusion in the book.
Napier
has caught some flack for the presence of a few factual errors
in the book. At times dates, episodes, and characters in pictures
are incorrect. However, one should not make the mistake of extrapolating
these minor errors into thinking that this book is inherently
flawed. On the contrary, the analysis of the many films and
series are spot-on and insightful. This
book is essential for anyone who wants to take a serious look
at the medium of Japanese animation.
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