122JA – Japanese Anime

Why do we watch anime? How is it different from “normal” live-action movies? What kind of role does it play in today’s global media consumption? Examining key texts and notable phenomena in the history of Japanese animation since Tezuka Osamu’s Astro Boy, this course aims to come up with some compelling answers for articulating our life-long obsession with this particular genre. No prior knowledge about Japanese culture and language is required.