19: Anime Uses Meta Sexualization As An Excuse to Objectify: Evangelion & Danganronpa

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April 14, 2023 • 19 mins

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Timestamps
0:00 Intro & Life Update + Content Warning
2:33 Is Sexualizing/Objectifying Characters OK because they aren't real people?
4:08 Japan's "Soft Power" & How Anime Can Effect Real Life
6:04 Making Anime "Political"
7:27 Sexualization is Subjective Objectification is Not
9:09 The Evangelion Hospital Scene
14:09 Asuka Can't Sleep Scene
15:53 The Subjectivity of what is "Appropriate"

Critiquing the way anime sexualizes characters, mostly women, and albeit — very young women, isn’t something that is particularly new or revolutionary to the video essay or critical analysis space. However, what we don’t hear discussed as often is the use of “meta-sexualization” in anime. A simple definition of meta-sexualization explains sexualization of a character for narrative’s sake, or comedy sake, so basically any sexualization of a character that is not necessarily strictly for fan-service or viewer pleasure.

Parallel to the conversation of sexualization of characters we also have the conversation of what constitutes as a legitimate plot point and/or character motivation when it comes to a characters sexualization. This is where we get into conversations about morality and things begin to be much more subjective. Overall, this leads to the conversation of when is the depiction of sexual abuse, rape, and manipulation appropriate and respectful for a narrative basis and in what ways is disrespectful, unneeded or in some cases, fetishization.

In the video essay below we discuss specific scenes in Evangelion & Dangonrompa that explore the conscious artistic decisions that lead to the viewers subconscious normalization of sexual content and asks if anime’s pattern of adding extreme sexualization could possibly be a commentary on the sexualization of anime girls in itself (truly meta) or is it explicit for explicit sake. As it’s easy to simply test the boundaries within anime because anime is a medium where boundaries of sexual exploitation are most easily tested on not-real people. Creations in art, media, music, & videogames influence how and why we think the way we think. explore exactly WHY we think the way we think, and often, entertainment is diminished into an activity that is done passively instead of one to ponder and learn from, so when someone expects more from artists or creators or questions artistic decisions, the opposition is quick to reply with “chill, it’s just a song/movie/show”, and it is. But nothing artistic breathes air that is value neutral.

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