By characterising them in this way, such narratives can question the presence of the rigid boundary between so-called good and evil, indicating alternative ways of co-existence amongst multiple parties as Others. When the black and the white wings are contrasted, the genuine, sympathetic soul often belongs to the black whereas righteousness, intolerance and lack of sympathy are associated with white wings. When only white, winged entities appear in the manga/anime narratives, their Otherness, ambiguity and fragility are frequently focused on, rather than their superiority over mere humans. Relating critically to this intense, deep-seated dichotomy, this paper aims at gaining an insight into the possible meanings conveyed by the imagery in manga/anime of ‘winged beings’, e.g., angel-like human figures with white wings and/or black (bat-like) wings and question the relevance of the black/white dichotomy, Otherness of these beings, their ambiguous presence as non-human protagonists and the intertexuality of largely Christian iconography within Japanese cotemporary youth cultures. Because of the simplicity of the distinction such deeply metaphoric imagery can be ingeniously exploited as a powerful rhetorical form in numerous ways in literary and artistic landscapes as well as in our everyday lives. The deeply intertwined dichotomy of black/evilness and white/goodness continues to have profound influences on people’s perspectives of others, often causing tangible and intangible pains to individuals and groups in many parts of the world. The thesis also gives many opportunities for further study, such as with the depictions (illustrations and narrative) of women's bodies both in the religious context and modern popular (boys') manga context the use of religious epics as a means to success in "Shonen Jump's" most popular boys' manga in the US and Japan from 2001 - 2005 and a possible shift away from "necessary" tragic endings (that signal and uphold values of cultural uniformity) towards "happy endings" (that signal cultural acceptance of personal identity singularity) in Japanese manga, among younger creators and consumers. It shows that, in "Bleach," seeking spiritual transcendence drives character development, plot, and setting that the Buddhist Wheel of Life best explains “powering-up” of characters to higher spiritual and physical planes of being and that the story’s action and resolution depend on a wish-fulfilling jewel, with several characters rooted in such Buddhist archetypes as nagas (dragon deities), the Wisdom King Aizen Myô-ô, and the Sâkyamuni Buddha. As such, this paper sets out to show that Buddhist imagery is in "Bleach" and is inherent to literary assessment of the story's value as a whole. However, I posit that much of this is due to cultural barriers, as the latter two arcs rely heavily on esoteric Buddhist symbology such as Aizen Myo-o and wish-fulfilling jewels, which were set up in the first arc. "Bleach" is a manga best-selling in the US and Japan in the early 2000s, published by Shuesha in its weekly "Shonen Jump" imprint however, in America the "first arc" ("Soul Society Arc") of the story was received to great success, with the "second" ("Arrancar") and "third" ("Hueco Mundo") "arcs" meeting with great derision as "filler material" and plot-recycling.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |