Cutting Edge: Violence and Body Horror in Anime

Abstract

Anime — animation produced in Japan — contains a diverse range of controversial images depicting death, violence and sexual content. Whether in the form of swordplay, gunplay, fusions with technology or encounters with supernatural and fantastical elements, some of these texts show body horror at its goriest across an array of genres. Anime has a large audience in Japan and is becoming more available to viewers worldwide. In the ‘Western’ world anime texts often gain cult status, as with Akira (Katsuhiro Ôtomo, 1988), or artistic status as with Ghost in the Shell (Mamoru Oshii, 1995). Both films contain transgressive and apocalyptic images of death, violence and metamorphosis of the body. Some examples of Studio Ghibli’s output such as Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki, 1997) that are largely marketed at a young audience also contain violent battles. It is perhaps the controversial nature of some anime texts that makes them appealing as cult films to a niche market outside Japan; such texts frequently make use of violent and sexual images for the purpose of narrative, spectacle and drama.