Cyberdojo - Digital Satori - Japanese Animation Archive - Anime Bridging the Action Gap; Spriggan

Anime never really “lacked” action. However early on in it’s evolution it seemed that Anime would always be ultra-fanciful, extreme and break through the generally accepted levels of realism in regards to fights, super powers and character creation. Often it would use humor and slapstick comedy to liven the moment and make the unrealistic action seem more believable. There seems however to be changes occurring in many anime movies that have been released recently in the US. These movies seem to be focusing on the characters and their settings with more detail thus in turn making the action and fighting which occurs seem almost believable. This has the effect of drawing the viewer deeper into the graphic nature of the violence without insulting the over all realism of the movie. There are many examples of what I am talking about such as Cowboy Bebop, Kite, Gunsmith Cats, Crying Freeman and Riding Bean. I am going to focus on a better known artist's movie and how his most recent production applies to the increase in western stylized action. Enter Katsuhiro Otomo, legendary for his Anime sci-fi epic manga and movie Akira as well as Memories, Roujin Z , Domu and Legend of Mother Sarah. Otomo’s most recent addition to his collection of anime works is Spriggan an action packed movie full of ultra-realistic violence and mind spinning intensity. Based on the Manga series Striker distributed by Viz Comics. This anime seems to have taken a back seat to other anime movies recently released. However it still stands apart as an amazing addition to the growing list of achievements Katsuhiro Otomo has been a part of. Using Spriggan I will try to paint a picture of eastern animation borrowing stereotypical scenes and attitudes to paint a realistic action film.

Spriggan makes use of many scenes and settings that are almost cliché in western movies. The scenery of turkey where Spriggan takes place is so realistic that many people I have watched it with have exclaimed that it must be a picture. You look over a valley of yellow rock desert just as if you were watching a nature documentary. The Turkish market that is the setting for a full on action free for all seems to have been stolen straight from Jewel Of The Nile. All of the settings are highly realistic and believable which in turn makes the action and fighting that occurs seem realistic in turn no matter how unrealistic the fighting gets, Granted Sprigged still manages to weave a web of disbelief in many of it’s scenarios. Just as in Predator you believe that you can treat a helicopter cannon as a normal gun because that’s the way a hero would handle that situation right? Being a western hero is almost as much about taking the punishment as it is dealing it out. In that respect Yu exells. You can always see that violence against the protagonist will only make his determination more severe. With a mixed combination of high tech realism and intense character creation you begin to see how the Spriggan seems to be borrowing many western concepts for it’s creation of an anime that almost seems to break out of it’s classification. By being so intense it is believable.

It seems that as much as Western movies may be borrowing from Eastern action in such recent films as Matrix and the Upcoming MI2. It seems that anime may be taking more than it alone gives to mainstream. As the anime action film seems to mature we will be seeing more and more characters that seem so intense the reality of the action almost proves' itself. The balancing of scenery, action and art make anime seem t be the most versatile form for any action movie to take. With the current trend of Anime continuing I am sure we will see anime bridge the action gap and take western entertainment by storm. Not just in the fantasy and entertainment level but Action as well.

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