AN INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE ANIMÉ
Type of course
The course is designed as a course unit that can be included as a component in a Batchelor’s
degree circle. The teaching is in English. The course is given by the faculty of Media.
Scope and Duration
The course carries 5 ECTS credits and is offered in the autumn semester.
Admission requirements
High school/upper secondary school
Objectives
The course will give the students an introduction to the history, art and culture of the Japanese
animated film usually called Animé
Course content
In a combination of lectures, film screenings and essay-writing, the students will be presented
for the history of the genre from the early works of Osamu Tezuka to the international
successes of Hayao Miyasaki. . Special attention will be given to the specific Japanese
cultural references in the genre.
The course in divided into three parts:
Part 1: Lectures on the history of animé and screening of three central films.
At the end the students will write a short essay discussing special cultural aspects of these
films.
Part 2: Lectures on Japanese culture based on the films screened and the essays written by the
students.
Part 3: Final essay where the students analyse a given animé film.
Organisation
Week 35/36 2 x 2 hours lectures on the history of animé and 3 film screenings.
Week 36/37 Assignment. Short essay. 3-5 pages. Deadline September 15th.
Week 40/41 3 x 2 hours lectures on cultural aspects of the films screened in week 35/36.
Week 2/5 days home essay
Course requirements
A short essay (3-5 pages) to be handed in by September 15th.
Evaluation and exam
2 days written home essay exam. Grading: A – F.
Evaluation and quality
The course will be evaluated in accordance with the institution’s standard regulations.
Syllabus
Napier, Susan: Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Revised and Updated, Palgrave
Macmillan, 2006, 352 p.
Poitras, Gilles: The Anime Companion: What’s Japanese in Japanese Animation Stone Bridge
Press, 1998, 176s.
Films:
Katsuhiro Otomo: Akira (1988)
Takahata Isao: Ildfluenes grav (1988)
Miyasaki Hayao: Chihiro og heksene (1997)
Handbook
Gillespie, John K: A Bilingual Handbook on Japanese Culture, 2004, 357p.