I am often asked (as I was at lunch yesterday) by friends, family members and readers which anime title is best as an entry point into the world of anime. Somewhat defensively, my first response is that I am no anime
otaku ? obsessive fan ? as I make very clear in the foreword of
my book. And there are plenty of excellent texts out there that serve as encyclopedic introductions to manga and anime.
Frederik L. Schodt's Manga, Manga, first published in 1983, remains a thorough and breezily written account of the medium's history and aesthetic virtues; Susan Napier's Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle, while more academic, proffers well-grounded insights into how that form functions. Both books, and their generous authors, contributed significantly to my account of Japan's pop cultural convergence with American tastes.
Still, I did watch a lot of anime, and read a lot of manga, not to mention books and magazines about both, while conducting interviews in four countries, so I ought to have something to recommend.
And I do: Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies.
Grave was produced and released in Japan in 1988 by Studio Ghibli, home to Oscar-winner Hayao Miyazaki (Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) ? probably the most recognizable Japanese animator in America. I go into considerable detail describing the inner workings of Ghibli, the histories of and relationships between Miyazaki and Takahata, and the shared creative genesis and release of both Grave and Totoro in Japanamerica.
But for the purposes of this blog, friends, family and readers, and to account for yesterday's lunch, I am unreservedly recommending Grave as a starting point for the anime-intrigued. It is the story of two orphans, a brother and his younger sister, roaming Japan near the end of World War II. Their mother perished in the firebombing of Kobe; their father is in the Imperial Navy… somewhere. The two children are taken in by a foster family that includes some extended relatives, but it is clear they are not wanted.
No spoilers here. As in most Ghibli productions, the visuals are exquisite, the silences sometimes symphonic in scope and meaning. And the story, based upon a novel written as an apology, is as riveting and moving as it is distinctive.
There aren't many great stories about the non-incestuous love and need shared between close siblings. (The closing pages of The Catcher in the Rye come to mind.)
Grave cuts through your preconceived notions and expectations about war films, road stories, familial dramas, children's stories ? and the art of animation itself. To paraphrase Kafka: it acts as an ice-axe to break what's frozen in our souls.