The academic literature written about Grave of the Fireflies and The Wind Rises have frequently focused on studying and analyzing the background and motivations of the authors and directors as influences on the creation of their anime films. For Grave of the Fireflies, scholars analyze director Isao Takahata and writer Akiyuki Nosaka for their intentions. For The Wind Rises, director Hiyao Miyazaki is often analyzed for the more implied meanings and associations behind his work. Many sources have tried using these movies to further their own political agenda, accusing these three artists of rewriting history by producing this anti-war film. The argument from these critics is that the authors are reinforcing a victimization narrative or they are covering Japan’s destructive imperialist past. However, although each of the three authors outside of the film is critical of Japanese imperialism and the country’s contribution to war and destruction leading through World War 2, each of the 3 authors have each denied that their film is an anti-war film.
From my research, I agree that there is an Japanese victim consciousness discourse that influences the narratives of media, although it is not the blame of the authors that the victim consciousness is the dominant ideology in Japan. My argument is that we shouldn’t focus on analyzing authorial intention like most of these articles about these two movies argue or criticize individual artists. I assert that it is more interesting to do a textual analysis approach that analyzes the structure and similarities of Grave of the Fireflies and The Wind Rises in regards to the characters because it can indirectly reveal interesting points about the society where it is rooted in. Using Miyamoto Hirohito’s framework of how to create an excellent character as outlined in the article “How Characters Stand Out,” we can understand how each character is created through a larger discourse of Japanese victim consciousness.
FILM 396R: Japanese Anime 