Anime Analysis

1st assignment: 3-page anime analysis. Submit to Submissions as a Word Document.

Free dubbed version: https://tubitv.com/movies/405596/akira_dubbed

This is a three-page essay focused on one or two scenes. Craft a thesis on a select scene or two from Akira that draws from the secondary works by Allison or Napier. Develop your essay by describing and analyzing how the anime-as-media communicates the thesis you choose. Think about drawing style, lighting, color, music, voice, editing, mise-en-scène, camera angles and style, as well as story. Ask yourself: how is the story being told audio-visually? And then communicate/analyze that. Have a conclusion that is neither too big nor too small. This assignment is designed to get you analyzing anime as media, while also being able to think about historical and theoretical ideas with a concrete example. Focus on mastering what we’re covering in class. Outside research is not required.

List your name, class name, assignment #1, and date single-spaced in upper left-hand corner. Give your assignment a title (not “Assignment #1)—center it on the first page. DO NOT WASTE your first paragraph with generic statements about “Japanese culture” or “popular culture”—dive right in with specific, concrete ideas and a description of what you’re going to analyze and why. 12 pt font, regular one-inch margins. Yes, it ok if you go on to the 4th page, but not ok to go on the 5th page.

For context and to support your assertions, you must cite at least one work we’ve read: either Napier or Allison. Please use Turabian notes-bibliography citation system for citing sources. Include the anime. This means that you will have a bibliography at the end, left-justified, with the sources listed properly; and references will be in footnotes.

For the guide to citing multimedia sources (i.e. the version of Akira you are citing), see Purdue’s OWL (Online Writing Lab) guide.

From OWL: “If you are citing a video from an online service, such as YouTube, you can follow the general multimedia guidelines, but you must include the URL. The medium for any sort of streaming video where the file type is not necessarily clear or relevant can be cited simply as “video”.

The footnote would look like this: 1. Alejandra Ortega, “Grammar: Active and Passive Voice,” Purdue OWL, February 1, 2019, video, 4:22, http://youtu.be/GEP-8lFTKKg.

The bibliography would look like this: Ortega, Alejandra. “Grammar: Active and Passive Voice.” Purdue OWL. February 1, 2019. Video, 4:22. http://youtu.be/GEP-8lFTKKg .