1 00:00:03,490 --> 00:00:10,420 [Auto-generated transcript. Edits may have been applied for clarity.] So welcome to the last, unbelievably, the last session of our fantasy summer school. 2 00:00:10,810 --> 00:00:19,810 And what we have this afternoon are two very different, but two, um, in their own ways, very interesting lectures. 3 00:00:20,050 --> 00:00:28,270 And they're both the full hour. So there's going to be, I think, a call for standing up and stretching a bit between the first and the second. 4 00:00:28,510 --> 00:00:39,969 But first of all, we, um, delighted to introduce Minji Su, who has had such a long career that I can't begin to summarise it, but going backwards. 5 00:00:39,970 --> 00:00:46,150 She's now at the University of Oslo on the Marie Curie Fellowship, working on the figure of the. 6 00:00:46,150 --> 00:00:50,950 She will fit in. We will fellow those we will stories and the follow up to that. 7 00:00:51,190 --> 00:01:00,940 Before that though, she was working on the reception of Old Norse myth and medievalism more generally in manga and anime, 8 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,929 and this is the basis of what she's going to be talking about today. 9 00:01:04,930 --> 00:01:08,200 And that was when she was at Frankfurt, just before she went to Oslo. 10 00:01:08,410 --> 00:01:15,560 So here she is. Minji. Okay. 11 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,120 Sorry. Can you hear me? Okay. Like this. Okay. 12 00:01:20,150 --> 00:01:25,790 Yeah. Thank you for the introduction. Um, I feel like you have half my my introduction, so, uh. 13 00:01:26,270 --> 00:01:29,030 Uh, but anyway, um, I'll just start. Has second. 14 00:01:29,270 --> 00:01:37,820 Um, so in recent years, I increase a number of meteorologists have noticed a remarkable ubiquity of medieval art events in Japanese manga media, 15 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:43,100 especially in the so-called heroic fantasy manga or the sword and sorcery genre. 16 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,629 Naturally, one would ask, why? Why is the matter? 17 00:01:47,630 --> 00:01:52,400 Why you're just so persistent in Japanese pop culture, especially considering gods? 18 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,240 First of all, Japan seems so remote from medieval Europe. 19 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:03,830 And second, neither the trend nor the skull is found in cultural products from other non-European or non-European related countries. 20 00:02:04,550 --> 00:02:07,610 I was one of these medievalist myself, and more personally, 21 00:02:07,610 --> 00:02:13,760 as someone who grew up reading manga and indeed was enticed into medieval studies because of fantasy manga. 22 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,280 Um, a large part of my career, 23 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:23,780 I mentioned in the past large part of my research in the past 2 or 3 years or so is to try to seek answers to these questions, 24 00:02:24,140 --> 00:02:25,910 or at least as best as I can. 25 00:02:26,060 --> 00:02:35,000 Um, as a non-Japanese expert, uh, and also to incorporate Japanese fantasy manga into the greater discourse of medievalism, 26 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:40,100 the discipline that examines post-medieval reimagining and the reception of the Middle Ages. 27 00:02:40,580 --> 00:02:44,750 So what I'm going to talk about today is essentially, um, all of that research. 28 00:02:45,410 --> 00:02:50,180 So in this talk, I will um, first, well, 29 00:02:50,180 --> 00:02:59,480 I will be going with a very brief overview of the debate over the origin of manga as analogue to the ideology core function of the Middle Ages. 30 00:02:59,990 --> 00:03:04,729 Uh, and then I will move on to the introduction and the reception of the Middle Ages in the 18th century, 31 00:03:04,730 --> 00:03:09,830 Japan, as well as its impact on Japan's own reception of its own history. 32 00:03:10,490 --> 00:03:17,870 In the second half, we will turn to, uh, some lighter subjects as we will turn to the heroic fantasy genre itself. 33 00:03:18,140 --> 00:03:18,620 And the use. 34 00:03:18,620 --> 00:03:28,459 The manga series was arc by Kentaro Miura to showcase the ways in which medieval, and especially in this case, all Norse elements are broken down. 35 00:03:28,460 --> 00:03:34,130 Uh, recombine on the recreated in this very early example of heroic fantasy manga. 36 00:03:35,420 --> 00:03:37,880 So, uh, the first question is what is manga? 37 00:03:38,450 --> 00:03:45,440 At first sight, this seems to be a very easy question, literally translated as random drawings or sketches. 38 00:03:45,710 --> 00:03:51,380 Manga as we know it today is basically a form of graphic narrative with all with its own 39 00:03:51,380 --> 00:03:56,840 conventions of ascetics and storytelling according to a set of fairly well defined the genres. 40 00:03:57,590 --> 00:04:06,500 Although manga is considered as a subculture in Japan and sometimes still frowned upon, it is omnipresent both in Japanese society and overseas. 41 00:04:07,220 --> 00:04:12,140 As a result, even for someone who has never read a mango book or watched anime in their life, 42 00:04:12,380 --> 00:04:18,920 they probably when they encounter manga, they probably recognise the style and register it as something Japanese. 43 00:04:20,310 --> 00:04:26,850 But opinions differ as to from which point in Japanese history we can safely call an art form manga. 44 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:39,560 Um. One common practice is to trace manga to the caricature drawing from Japan's distant past, especially the Bishop of Tall girls chortle, 45 00:04:39,570 --> 00:04:46,260 giggle, or scrawls on frolicking animals, which is the middle picture with some rabbit and a frog. 46 00:04:46,710 --> 00:04:51,780 Um, yeah. So this is details to make 12 to 13 centuries. 47 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,630 So, uh, depicting anthropomorphic animals interacting with each other, 48 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:04,770 total giggle tends to be cited as a prototype of the manga form due to its kind of white ink drawing style and narrative nature. 49 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:15,030 This type of argument is further bolstered by the misbelief that, uh, Katsushika Hokusai, who is perhaps best known for the Great Wave of Kanagawa, 50 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:24,390 coined the term manga by publishing a collection of Yuki or U prints titled Hokusai Manga and intended as you draw your manual for his students. 51 00:05:25,230 --> 00:05:31,440 So it's not really a narrative, but a collection of um, which is the other two image kicks off there. 52 00:05:31,590 --> 00:05:38,060 So it's a collection of different, like people in different professions or different animals, different landscapes, basically. 53 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:45,150 How to draw eraser. Um, yeah. So, um, translated as pictures of a floating world. 54 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:52,350 Ukiyo you was in fact considered obsolete in the Meiji era due to the emperor's effort to westernised Japan. 55 00:05:52,890 --> 00:06:02,100 But at the same time, the expedition that forced Japan to open and interpret with the Western in 1853 made the occupant popular in the 56 00:06:02,100 --> 00:06:08,940 West during the first wave of Japanese war and became recognised as representative of the Japanese way of seeing. 57 00:06:10,140 --> 00:06:14,940 Therefore, although Hokusai only used the manga in its most basic form, uh, 58 00:06:14,940 --> 00:06:22,349 the medium that is a collection of random sketches traced in manga back to Hokusai nevertheless links it to older 59 00:06:22,350 --> 00:06:29,730 or even pure Japanese art forms that were developed and flourished before Western influences begun to pour in. 60 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:38,930 In this sense, manga is very much like the Middle Ages in its capacity of being a point of identification as a counter argument. 61 00:06:38,940 --> 00:06:42,270 Rhona Stuart Shaw as far out in styles. Um um. 62 00:06:44,020 --> 00:06:51,159 He thought our Rakuten. Um, he's magazine CC manga uh, which seized the first operation of manga. 63 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:58,480 Two cartoons. Um comics. In particular, Rakuten does not see manga as having grown out of each Japanese tradition, 64 00:06:58,810 --> 00:07:05,500 which he found distasteful but especially foreign in adopting the foreign models that represents 65 00:07:05,500 --> 00:07:11,319 modernity and see Wong ization Rakuten effect him with these that he's manga from the idol period. 66 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:17,830 We are all culture and argue that on a national scale, by producing and consuming this type of manga, 67 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,670 Japan could also become the Asean counterpart to the West. 68 00:07:22,510 --> 00:07:31,450 So to Rakuten, the pre Reformation Japan to which Hokusai in the UK or you Prince Bengal is to be left behind as outdated and undesired. 69 00:07:32,260 --> 00:07:41,100 The past becomes figuratively medieval in its function as a space of the retracts, as opposed to the more enlightened and therefore better, 70 00:07:41,100 --> 00:07:47,649 our societies whose ranks Japan has not adorned in craven new forms on the meanings to an older 71 00:07:47,650 --> 00:07:53,020 appellation rocket and replace the future that would have growing out of the Japanese past, 72 00:07:53,380 --> 00:07:58,120 was one that came out of a traditions of another, which he believed is better. 73 00:07:59,380 --> 00:08:07,300 Therefore, the history of manga is marked by what you out here that reflects and is rooted in the case of Japan's history and national identity, 74 00:08:07,810 --> 00:08:17,200 divided up by the Meiji Reformation. On the one hand, Japan was psychologically colonised and adopted the same orientalist mentality mentality. 75 00:08:17,650 --> 00:08:24,910 But on the other, it's imagine yourself as being in a position of agent by assuming the Western discourse of colonisation, 76 00:08:24,910 --> 00:08:29,140 so it could rise about the inferior status of the other Asian countries, 77 00:08:29,470 --> 00:08:35,530 and on ranks with the United Nations, which ROC within Japan could achieve through the new type of manga. 78 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:46,719 As a result, Japan became its own only a unique argument of East and West, and as such, it is inevitable that Japan's past also needs to be recruited, 79 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:52,630 that is, leading to the coexistence of two the two Middle Ages with their corresponding materialism. 80 00:08:54,040 --> 00:09:04,990 So the first, um, obviously is the European Middle Ages or the medieval proper, as part of Impro Major's initiative to how to catch up with the West. 81 00:09:05,350 --> 00:09:13,570 The studies of the European made medieval past were introduced to Japan as a sort of successful story, success story of the great of nations. 82 00:09:14,290 --> 00:09:18,280 The result is a ring localisation of the European Middle Ages in Japan, 83 00:09:18,730 --> 00:09:26,530 as it involves Japan as a region outside Western Europe to imagine itself as natural inheritors of the medieval past. 84 00:09:27,100 --> 00:09:30,430 This sense that the Middle Ages also been lost to Japan, 85 00:09:30,790 --> 00:09:36,340 but to an early transmision translation and dissemination of medieval texts in the 19th century. 86 00:09:37,030 --> 00:09:46,060 Amongst these, the first that were introduced were also written romances, notably the 15th century dress of Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, 87 00:09:46,570 --> 00:09:55,180 which was included um by the great Irish writer of cardigan in his lectures on Western literature. 88 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:00,790 Employed at Tokyo Imperial University between 1896 and 1903. 89 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:02,350 Chose Malory, 90 00:10:02,350 --> 00:10:11,169 as he believed the tales of the Knights of the Round Table represent a strong Western moral one that his Japanese students might be especially 91 00:10:11,170 --> 00:10:21,070 susceptible susceptible to due to the similarities between the medieval concept of chivalry and old samurai ideal implied in this country. 92 00:10:21,850 --> 00:10:29,620 Hence influence. Along with the growing exchange between Japan and the West, especially through Japanese intellectuals who studied in Germany, 93 00:10:30,010 --> 00:10:34,329 engendered a succession of Japanese academics who studied, wrote, 94 00:10:34,330 --> 00:10:44,260 hung on a translated author and texts, and from there their exper, their area of interest and expertise gradually expanded into Old English, 95 00:10:44,260 --> 00:10:48,940 medieval Irish, German, French, and essentially, um, Old Norse literature. 96 00:10:50,870 --> 00:10:53,330 Um. Although largely confined to academia, 97 00:10:53,390 --> 00:11:01,160 these early studies on the translations contributed in turn to the dissemination of medieval imageries in other cultures fairs. 98 00:11:01,700 --> 00:11:06,200 In particular, they paved the way for the popularisation of the Assyrian framework, 99 00:11:06,650 --> 00:11:10,580 namely knights on their requests and how the impact on arts whom you saw. 100 00:11:10,580 --> 00:11:16,520 So could you, um, who is often considered the greatest, the modern Japanese writer. 101 00:11:17,270 --> 00:11:22,640 Nowadays, Soseki is best known for his Japanese themed novels such as I am a Cat and The Vulture. 102 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:33,110 But during his early literary career, he published two Oscar and fictions, Kyoko the Chango to Do and the title The Shield of Emotion, 103 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:40,100 which remained the most conventional medieval list, a recreation of the Assyrian riano by an East Asian author. 104 00:11:41,030 --> 00:11:45,680 The former is a translation of Malory Marsh The ways Tennyson's The Lady of Struggled. 105 00:11:46,250 --> 00:11:50,330 The latter is a chivalric romance entirely of its own creation, 106 00:11:50,690 --> 00:11:56,180 featuring a pair of star crossed lovers on the magical shield that once belonged to a Nordic giant. 107 00:11:57,110 --> 00:12:06,170 In both, we see a creative combination of various medieval and medieval and medievalist sources with a touch of sorcery own cultural background, 108 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,219 in particular in title. They also ruin. 109 00:12:10,220 --> 00:12:14,570 The story is recontextualized and retold in Japanese historical terms. 110 00:12:15,170 --> 00:12:21,350 For instance, castles are referred to as tinsel, which is the picture up there on the corner, 111 00:12:22,550 --> 00:12:28,220 uh, which are basically pre-modern timber framed multi-story fortification complexes. 112 00:12:28,610 --> 00:12:34,700 Therefore, it produces a mixture of imaginaries that already fall into the realm of the fantastic. 113 00:12:35,630 --> 00:12:39,230 Eventually, as we will see in berserk, heroic fantasy manga, 114 00:12:39,230 --> 00:12:48,770 will follow a quite similar project tree indiscriminately on creating take taken inspiration from both medieval on medievalist sources, 115 00:12:49,070 --> 00:12:54,680 with a distinctive taste for the quest for structure, which works particularly well for the long term. 116 00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:57,820 Serialisation. Once you incorporate. 117 00:12:58,060 --> 00:13:04,150 These elements are recontextualized and freely adopted so as to speak to their Japanese readership, 118 00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:10,210 to refer back to their collective experience, and to channel both their and the manga artists concerns. 119 00:13:10,900 --> 00:13:17,530 But before we go into Arkham and our works, uh, we will work out the Second Middle Ages, the Japanese Middle Ages. 120 00:13:18,810 --> 00:13:21,870 As the key attraction of the Middle Ages for the 19th century. 121 00:13:21,870 --> 00:13:31,890 Medievalism lies in the conceptual local news and connotations of historical national particularity and exceptionalism that the period offers. 122 00:13:32,310 --> 00:13:40,140 It has only been a small step for Japan to move from merely localised in the European Middle Ages to muddy waters in its own past. 123 00:13:41,590 --> 00:13:50,169 The establishment of the Javanese Middle Ages is um is built on a combination of Japan's adoption of 124 00:13:50,170 --> 00:13:56,140 what Japanese scholars described as European historical methods and the European historical apparatus, 125 00:13:56,530 --> 00:14:01,750 and the comparison between elements respecting way from medieval Europe and Japan. 126 00:14:02,470 --> 00:14:07,030 This, regarding the Chinese Taipei is the periodisation of history of the Chinese model. 127 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:12,880 Japanese history is not divided into ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern periods. 128 00:14:13,690 --> 00:14:20,110 Among them, the medieval period has been identified in one view as lasting from the end of the Highland period, 129 00:14:20,110 --> 00:14:27,340 which is in 85 to the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate of Adam Furude, which is 1603. 130 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:32,470 You know the difference will the end of the era could be extended to 1868? 131 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,100 That is the beginning of the major period. Either way, 132 00:14:36,100 --> 00:14:45,460 the point is that the Middle Ages has to be a period of upheaval and political unrest sandwiched between periods renowned for peace and stability. 133 00:14:46,060 --> 00:14:52,060 It is marked by crisis on turning points, in which the national character of more than Japan's forge. 134 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,660 So once framed as such, um, 135 00:14:55,660 --> 00:15:05,680 it is not difficult to find equivalences between the two Middle Ages and henceforth to reinterpret Japanese history through medieval Europe. 136 00:15:06,100 --> 00:15:13,479 For instance, um, for quite some 19th century medieval Japanese, uh, medieval oldest, uh, 137 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:19,810 the 13th century transformation in Japanese Buddhist thought can be understood through the Reformation, 138 00:15:20,260 --> 00:15:23,830 and the legal system in medieval Japan can be, um, 139 00:15:24,250 --> 00:15:31,090 discussed through that of the Franks and the rise of warrior power in Japan, uh, through the Norse invasions. 140 00:15:31,780 --> 00:15:37,480 And this we have already this kind of equivalences we have already seen in Han on this also keeps works. 141 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,419 But a more prominent example would be you, 142 00:15:40,420 --> 00:15:48,520 Toby in Knossos 18 that in our treaties butchered all the sort of the so of Japan written in English on the first published in the US. 143 00:15:49,630 --> 00:15:53,830 So it opens with a statement that, uh, chivalry is a flower. 144 00:15:54,070 --> 00:15:58,210 No man's indigenous to the soil for Japan dies is the cherry blossom. 145 00:15:58,630 --> 00:16:05,440 And it goes on explaining to the English speaking readers about the word of samurais, similar to, uh, 146 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:14,350 the English knight or the chieftains of the Gallic Italian tribe, or the to you, who, according to 32 was followed shamanic chiefs in his time. 147 00:16:15,310 --> 00:16:22,780 This result, your familiarity of the terminology which the inter angles their Japanese passed to be easily framed and received. 148 00:16:23,050 --> 00:16:23,270 Yeah. 149 00:16:23,350 --> 00:16:32,530 Internationally recognisable medieval is the paradigm enabling modern Japan, a country so geographically and historically remote from India or Europe, 150 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:37,690 to share with Europe and the United States the I you call power inciting culture trend. 151 00:16:38,990 --> 00:16:44,150 However, this doesn't mean dropout immediately began to produce My Dearest Fantasies, 152 00:16:44,700 --> 00:16:48,950 a fantasy manga which in fact owes to another wave of translations. 153 00:16:51,110 --> 00:16:59,930 So basically, about 100 years after the Reformation, Japan in the 1970s saw the rise of the sword and sorcery of fantasy, 154 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,890 with prompt translations of European and the North American authors. 155 00:17:04,580 --> 00:17:09,320 As can be expected, Tolkien and Wilson were among the most influential. 156 00:17:10,010 --> 00:17:19,340 The Lord of the rings was translated and published in six volumes between 1972 and 76, and became popular towards the end of the 80s. 157 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:25,060 The first three books of the Earth. The series will translated in 1976. 158 00:17:25,060 --> 00:17:29,050 On the 77th was the later ones across the next few decades, 159 00:17:29,410 --> 00:17:35,620 leading to the creation of the anime film The Tiles from the Earth in 2016 by Studio Ghibli. 160 00:17:36,490 --> 00:17:41,050 Two of them should also out Robert Howard, who created The Cold and Vivarium, 161 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:47,500 and whose novel series, along with the spin offs, were translated between 1970 and 73. 162 00:17:48,610 --> 00:17:59,290 Another decisive contributor, um, is the famous fantasy tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons, or the, under which you enter Japan in 1985, 163 00:17:59,290 --> 00:18:08,380 an immediate and massive popularity, with a sales record of 100,000 copies of the Japanese version of the Basic Rule, was out in just a year. 164 00:18:09,850 --> 00:18:18,520 Together, they influenced a number of early Japanese playing games, such as Dragon Quest um, The Guardian of Zelda, 165 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:28,750 both of which were first released in 1986, and the Final Fantasy series, which was first released in 1987 on the Literary Front. 166 00:18:28,780 --> 00:18:35,350 The introduction on the success of these works thought back to the creation of sword and sorcery fantasies by Japanese authors. 167 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:42,820 Two of the most famous, um examples are probably record of Lord of War and Gun Saga, 168 00:18:43,510 --> 00:18:51,370 so GLaDOS was initially serialised as the and the scripts under the title The um the Max Record of Models for reflect, 169 00:18:52,630 --> 00:18:56,800 and it was published in Gaming Magazine from 1986 to 89. 170 00:18:57,370 --> 00:19:04,030 Due to their immense appeal among the readers. The Dungeon Master decided to rewrite the scripts into a high fantasy novels, 171 00:19:04,330 --> 00:19:10,660 which were almost simultaneously made into video games and then into our anime series and manga in the early 90s. 172 00:19:11,350 --> 00:19:12,759 Gonzaga, on the other hand, 173 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:23,830 is an original novel series by Caro Korea model that runs from 1979 to Korea mortal stars in 2009 and is still being continued by other writers. 174 00:19:24,700 --> 00:19:28,750 So it's all up to Taiwan now. It's 130 volumes. 175 00:19:29,350 --> 00:19:33,130 Uh, which is, I think, the longest novel written by a single author. 176 00:19:34,510 --> 00:19:41,889 Well, the story is mostly influenced by cold and the barbarian works by the British censor and fantasy author Michael Moorcock, 177 00:19:41,890 --> 00:19:49,270 and possibly Tolkien, but also a sports manga series called Tiger Mask, which gave us the protagonist of his dual power mask. 178 00:19:50,890 --> 00:19:59,890 As a result, from the 1980s onward, the major features of heroic fantasy rapidly took shape and evolved into a substantial, 179 00:19:59,890 --> 00:20:08,049 recognisable genre in which the fragments or facts or factoids of the European Middle Ages are freely expanded, 180 00:20:08,050 --> 00:20:15,130 transformed, and mixed with other cultural and historical elements according to the artist's own imagination on the market. 181 00:20:15,850 --> 00:20:21,070 These works, on the one hand, further popularised and disseminated through the word and sorcery genre. 182 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:29,380 On the other hand, they facilitated, accelerated, and extended the spread of material imaginaries in Japanese pop culture, 183 00:20:29,980 --> 00:20:34,810 which were quickly acculturated as according to existing generic conventions. 184 00:20:35,650 --> 00:20:43,390 The result is what Karen Post post-taliban the course immediately as the relationship between the Japanese public and the European cultures, 185 00:20:44,170 --> 00:20:48,490 Europe as an international reality coexists in the Japanese consciousness, 186 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:56,140 with Europe as a space of imagination, a bucolic place where one finds stone castles and ancient landscapes. 187 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:05,329 It is within this media that the manga series Berserk by Kentaro Miura was conceived and would carry on for the next 30 years, 188 00:21:05,330 --> 00:21:08,780 becoming the heroic fantasy manga before that. 189 00:21:08,780 --> 00:21:11,389 Horror. I want to, uh, very briefly say that. 190 00:21:11,390 --> 00:21:17,960 So this is not to say fantasy literature or manga inspired by Japanese history and culture does not exist. 191 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:25,730 Rather, um, many of these, um, come from existing literary and cinematic traditions, 192 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:32,689 and as such could be more easily introduced on the promoted under existing categories such as the kaidan, 193 00:21:32,690 --> 00:21:38,030 which is collection of stories of ghosts and the supernatural from Japanese folklore. 194 00:21:38,780 --> 00:21:48,320 Uh, and also there is martial art of sheer drama, most of which features, uh, samurai um for Japanese themed fantasy manga. 195 00:21:48,350 --> 00:21:54,860 Um, you know, we are sure that Rumiko Takahashi is one of the classic examples and also a personal favourite, 196 00:21:55,460 --> 00:22:00,140 even though it's a it's about a dog, but not against dog cat person. 197 00:22:00,500 --> 00:22:07,010 Um, yeah. So so this is serialised between 1986 and 2008. 198 00:22:07,460 --> 00:22:13,040 Uh, so it is an early example of the so-called izakaya, which is Otherworld story, 199 00:22:13,340 --> 00:22:20,840 which in fact could be counted as a portal fantasy because it follows a middle school student from old in Japan who time 200 00:22:20,900 --> 00:22:28,340 travels through an ancient well to the single cold period and embarks on a series of adventures with a half dog demon, 201 00:22:28,820 --> 00:22:33,680 which is, uh, the one with years in the middle. Um, yeah. 202 00:22:35,090 --> 00:22:41,270 So in its 2020 sequel, it was promoted as Ottogi Toshi of the single corporate, 203 00:22:41,690 --> 00:22:54,320 with Ottogi sorcery being a very broad term for literature from the rural Maki era, which is 1336 to 1573, uh, to which the single corporate belongs. 204 00:22:55,610 --> 00:23:02,900 So essentially, I think, you know, your show could also be called a sword and sorcery fantasy, or at least like manga and katana. 205 00:23:03,620 --> 00:23:07,210 And I found this type of fantasy a really interesting parable. 206 00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:10,280 Uh, the comparison, uh, to those of the Western models. 207 00:23:11,690 --> 00:23:18,110 But so we are going on to visit. Um, so created by Kentaro Mura, 208 00:23:18,110 --> 00:23:28,670 but there is something or young adult manga that has enjoyed immense popularity both in Japan and overseas since its initial publication in 1989, 209 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:38,450 still ongoing despite the bureau's unexpected death in 2021, the series just published its 43rd volume in August this year. 210 00:23:39,780 --> 00:23:46,590 That's one of the best selling manga of all time, was Earth has been remediated a couple of times into anime and video games, 211 00:23:47,070 --> 00:23:50,250 but I wouldn't really recommend Army because it's not very good. 212 00:23:50,860 --> 00:23:58,200 Uh, yeah. And having influenced some of the most popular Japanese pop culture products of the 21st century, 213 00:23:58,470 --> 00:24:04,740 such as the manga series Bubblegum Saga on the Attack on Titan, and also the fantasy roleplaying game Dark Souls. 214 00:24:06,510 --> 00:24:12,930 Um, filled with complex political interests, endless war and on, and a fantastic array of monsters. 215 00:24:13,380 --> 00:24:21,000 The story of Zarek follows the travails of Coutts, a highly skilled salesman, and his personal feud with grief is the curse. 216 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,990 The leader of a classic chivalric order known as the Hawk. 217 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:35,600 Initially acting as grey faced champion. Through a 100 Years War, so that Griffiths might fulfil his lifelong ambition of acquiring his own kingdom. 218 00:24:36,260 --> 00:24:41,270 However, the two become immortal animals when Griffiths sacrifices nearly all the members 219 00:24:41,270 --> 00:24:46,240 of the band to obtain demonic power and bronze guards on his lower cost car, 220 00:24:46,250 --> 00:24:53,270 with a quasi runic symbol that marks them out as food for demons from the gods. 221 00:24:53,300 --> 00:24:58,280 Wander through the manga's world as an article bearing the burden of grey faced betrayal. 222 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:06,710 Physical, where he is haunted by monsters every night because they want to devour him as the promised sacrifice by Griffiths. 223 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:15,050 Uh, mentally, he is oppressed by the traumatic memories from his past and his unresolved anger towards Griffiths. 224 00:25:15,590 --> 00:25:23,239 This eventually leads him away from the human world to embark on a long journey to a quasi Celtic otherworld filled with witches, 225 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:31,580 elves and other fantastic creatures in order to find a cure for Casca, who has regressed into a child like madness because of the trauma. 226 00:25:34,710 --> 00:25:41,760 Um. Although Muro was an avid fan of Gonzaga fantasy roleplaying games on what he calls old school foreign fantasy, 227 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:46,140 he did not intend berserk to be a fantasy manga when he started. 228 00:25:46,590 --> 00:25:53,750 Rather, he considered creating an historical tarot, a decision that could be partially influenced by the European history theme. 229 00:25:53,790 --> 00:26:00,420 The young girls manga in the 70s, which were branded as educational and achieved financial success. 230 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:09,749 Um, but is quite interesting how he, uh, talked about European history because he saw that I looked into the era underside of actual European history, 231 00:26:09,750 --> 00:26:19,740 such as Count Dracula, and I had idea of what gods to, um, hunt, uh, monsters that could be, uh, framed within a factual, historical context. 232 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:28,320 But, um, just how how factual and how medieval is Count Dracula is a matter of debate. 233 00:26:29,130 --> 00:26:40,950 Um, yeah. So, so as as this era underside of, uh, actual European history, that mirror looked into already bordered on the writing of the fantastic. 234 00:26:41,340 --> 00:26:45,390 It was a very natural transition when he finally chose pure fantasy. 235 00:26:46,140 --> 00:26:52,440 It is intriguing that Tamura attributed one of the decisive factors to the appearance of fictitious countries, 236 00:26:52,950 --> 00:26:59,100 which he seems to, um, to believe to be a staple of the high fantasy genre. 237 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:05,849 So once decided he was obliged to make thorough use of contents typical of fantasy elves. 238 00:27:05,850 --> 00:27:11,460 Witch hunts, magic powerships in a word content representative of medieval Europe. 239 00:27:12,820 --> 00:27:20,500 Another reason why Amuro opts for fantasy is that he believed the genre would give free rein to his imagination and creativity. 240 00:27:21,100 --> 00:27:26,560 This is certainly a sin in God's design who hides a small cannon in his metal prosthetic arm. 241 00:27:28,020 --> 00:27:34,740 But even more in the setting of the world in which gas moves about, which consists of the human world and the fantastic world. 242 00:27:37,210 --> 00:27:41,950 The human world in berserk is divided sort of into Europe, 243 00:27:41,950 --> 00:27:48,760 like a continent with countries that seem to have been inspired by English historical and place names. 244 00:27:48,790 --> 00:27:56,920 So we have 2 or 3 times on the mainland. All of these belong to the so-called Holy Sea territory, forming a sort of Christendom. 245 00:27:58,220 --> 00:28:04,010 As for the fictional historical background, the early chapters are set in a war between two that are on the ground. 246 00:28:04,310 --> 00:28:07,580 Both great based on the 100 Years War between England and France. 247 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:13,250 These angles us a glimpse into the sort of historical manga we might have gotten your start. 248 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:21,120 As the map expands. Um. However, further, the wolf arrow scales up to what seems to be a reverse quartzite. 249 00:28:21,930 --> 00:28:30,000 Uh, when the now weakened Holly say territories are invaded by, um, a vast empire to the east, which is the quarter. 250 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:36,110 Well, nominally inspired by the historical collusion in power in Central Asia, 251 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:42,110 but their execution is presented as a hybrid of Hindu Persian Mongolia and the Chinese Imageries. 252 00:28:42,650 --> 00:28:51,740 So in this series on both of the parts of the World Mirror, have me revise all museum catalogues, travel books, collections of pictures, 253 00:28:51,740 --> 00:28:58,940 and the photos of historical architecture, which is why sometimes readers can't identify the buildings or artefacts in the manga. 254 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:05,120 For instance, the palace of the Kushan capital, there is obviously a copy at all from Hagia Sophia, 255 00:29:05,780 --> 00:29:12,020 um, and the fortress of um of Daldry, which is the coloured image here. 256 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:18,890 Um is thought by some readers to have been inspired by the castle of Koka, a 15th century castle in central Spain. 257 00:29:20,610 --> 00:29:28,740 The fantastic world, um, on the other hand, is designed within pretty much the entire Irish folkloric framework. 258 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,630 It centres around the island of Skellig, ruled by an elf called Barnum, 259 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:41,070 which is most likely a reference to the greater than the supernatural race in Celtic mythology. 260 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:43,680 However, likes the human world. 261 00:29:43,740 --> 00:29:52,469 Skydeck is also a hybrid, as it is also home to a group of mages and witches who are conventionally portrayed wearing pointy hats, 262 00:29:52,470 --> 00:29:57,030 pointy hats on the writing rooms, and seem to belong to the human race. 263 00:29:57,870 --> 00:30:05,220 The Dwarf and Smith's Hollow lives here are two whose name comes from almost part in the political and other directory of The Hobbit. 264 00:30:06,150 --> 00:30:12,420 While a deeper layer exists in the fantastical world that remains inaccessible and invisible to humans. 265 00:30:12,780 --> 00:30:18,599 Skylark is present here as a in-between place, as Miro did not want his characters to interact. 266 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:27,660 You saw that his company is cut off. There are four journeys with Scottish lands, becoming quite similar to the underground romance model, 267 00:30:28,020 --> 00:30:36,100 where now is Aaron's enthralling adventure space, where time may flow differently and the way in which they construct their identities. 268 00:30:36,250 --> 00:30:41,700 Requests on the supernatural encounters. But what about the North stuff when they ask? 269 00:30:42,510 --> 00:30:47,030 After all, the title of the manga is berserk. So cat's identity is all yours. 270 00:30:47,030 --> 00:30:51,000 So you constitute areas around the legendary warrior in all our sources. 271 00:30:51,930 --> 00:30:56,670 With the appearance of Hana and the name elf, Han already hinted at it. 272 00:30:57,870 --> 00:31:01,290 It is soon revealed that Vikings do exist in the world. 273 00:31:01,290 --> 00:31:09,450 All but. We are told that a long time ago, the Vikings invaded Scotland, but were magically into goblins by the witches and elves. 274 00:31:10,170 --> 00:31:15,270 No stats. They are portrayed as wearing helmets, um, resembling the water all of a sudden. 275 00:31:15,270 --> 00:31:20,850 Who helmets. Both currently in the British Museum, I think neither is really a Viking, 276 00:31:21,870 --> 00:31:26,950 but both are associated with Vikings in Japanese pulp imagination in particular, 277 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:32,340 the, uh, the war torn helmet, which is the one in the middle, was like two straight horns. 278 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:40,770 Um, is also worn by Ricky the Viking in the 1974 Japanese animated word and based on the 279 00:31:40,770 --> 00:31:47,430 novel Reykjavik and by the Swedish author and more recently worn by a giant in one piece. 280 00:31:47,820 --> 00:31:51,360 Apparel seemed extremely small in fantasy manga series. 281 00:31:53,130 --> 00:32:00,420 Um, so fitting the Vikings into the past of scouting indicates murals historical knowledge of Norse man's activities in Ireland, 282 00:32:00,870 --> 00:32:05,070 and probably in other parts of Europe as well in the early uh Middle Ages. 283 00:32:06,140 --> 00:32:13,790 The timeline makes sense to us first. Europe like continent is filled with imageries from the high and late Middle Ages. 284 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,890 Whereas the Vikings are perceived as belonging to a distant, nearly forgotten past. 285 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:25,300 But any historical facts they may imply is seamlessly woven into the fantastic framework 286 00:32:25,300 --> 00:32:29,650 of the manga through the creative reimagining of the Irish mythological world. 287 00:32:30,370 --> 00:32:36,820 In doing so, Mura also, perhaps quite unwittingly, created a parallel between gods world and ours. 288 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:45,640 In both, history could fade into myths and legends, and the content of our imagination eventually returned to surprise us in new forms. 289 00:32:47,490 --> 00:32:51,870 The same can be said for the manga adaptation of the concept of berserk. 290 00:32:52,600 --> 00:33:01,230 Judging by the earlier image of carts, which shows a scantily armoured angry man fighting with a huge sword uh, with no regard to his own life. 291 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:09,120 Miura clearly had a good grasp of the popular image of Zerk, as can be gleaned from the 13th entry, including the saga. 292 00:33:09,660 --> 00:33:15,990 Namely, they are warriors who are compared to a wild ox or wolves, and fighting and frenzy without armour. 293 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:23,170 This is not surprising, as a number of sagas which feature preserves, including the saga included, 294 00:33:23,530 --> 00:33:31,510 were partially translated into Japanese during the 1970s, accompanied by introductory books on the on Norse mythology. 295 00:33:32,620 --> 00:33:36,219 But the meaning and imagery of berserk soon began to change, 296 00:33:36,220 --> 00:33:44,680 and the ignis is revealed to have a mental calls when the word puzzle is first introduced in the manga. 297 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:50,890 I probably should say that with a single panel you'll need to read from. 298 00:33:52,030 --> 00:33:55,630 Yeah, basically that side. The opposite side of. 299 00:33:57,940 --> 00:34:01,209 Yeah. So, um. Yeah. 300 00:34:01,210 --> 00:34:08,160 When the word berserk is first introduced in the manga, which is quite early, uh, in the first chapter of First Warrior, uh, 301 00:34:08,170 --> 00:34:18,700 it is defined as a collection of negative emotions which, uh, later reveal to have been caused by the, um, the traumatic events at face betrayal. 302 00:34:19,030 --> 00:34:23,530 So it's rage. Sadness on the fear. It's all mixed together, so dark. 303 00:34:23,950 --> 00:34:25,870 And there is something even deeper than that. 304 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:36,340 A few pages later that Samson is identified as berserk, accompanied by the single house of cards, creating a battlefield strong with dark bodies. 305 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:44,439 Uh. This point Mira gave no explanation as to precisely what was okay, is indicating his expectation of, 306 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,490 and reliance on the reader's prior knowledge to draw their own conclusions. 307 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:51,489 For much of the story that follows, 308 00:34:51,490 --> 00:34:58,840 Gaz wanders from one battlefield to another with his unresolved anger and hatred towards grey face fermenting in his mind, 309 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:04,150 dragging him to the verge of madness. The madness is not necessarily a bad. 310 00:35:05,540 --> 00:35:12,170 As in the case of medieval chivalry, could do to ensure pure reason that madness can be read as a means of cleansing the soul. 311 00:35:12,650 --> 00:35:18,590 A spiritual purification that leads to chivalric or spiritual transcendence requires. 312 00:35:18,590 --> 00:35:26,720 This pure is also prepares gods for the construction of a new self, beginning with identifying what is undesirable in his psyche. 313 00:35:28,250 --> 00:35:39,350 So in chapter 131 is really when the trauma he is suddenly inveigled by a giant wolf figure from behind who, in a whisper in size him to kill. 314 00:35:40,010 --> 00:35:43,520 When God turns around, however, there is only his own shadow on the wall. 315 00:35:44,860 --> 00:35:49,030 A few chapters later, he attacks Casca at a wolf's provocation. 316 00:35:49,780 --> 00:35:54,729 When the When the suffering grows, scream brings him back to himself, he realises it stops. 317 00:35:54,730 --> 00:36:00,790 The monster he felt before is not something to be invoked for beyond him, but always in his mind. 318 00:36:02,100 --> 00:36:07,950 Although he still cannot see the wolf, he realises the urgency of separating it from his eagle. 319 00:36:08,310 --> 00:36:12,750 Otherwise, he risks losing his mind and becoming a threat to the people around him. 320 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:21,870 This situation lasts until Garth opens a suit of armour known as the armour, crafted by none other than Hannah of Scarlet. 321 00:36:22,620 --> 00:36:29,040 Originally, the armour comes with a skull shaped helmet, which is pictured one there. 322 00:36:29,870 --> 00:36:33,540 Um. Also, as he suit, he realises an impulse. 323 00:36:33,540 --> 00:36:40,890 Something inside me, something ferocious this season. This is revealed to be the wolf whom God sees for the first time. 324 00:36:41,340 --> 00:36:47,850 In the meantime, the visor of the armour stretches out until the skull shape transforms into the shape of a metallic wolf. 325 00:36:49,830 --> 00:36:56,070 Know. Appearance. The berserk armour seems to reflect God's berserk ness are greater on the former scale. 326 00:36:56,490 --> 00:37:02,280 His fighting skill is enhanced to the degree of nonhuman he no longer feels pain or exultation. 327 00:37:02,610 --> 00:37:05,310 Fire on the island do not seem to bother him anymore. 328 00:37:05,910 --> 00:37:12,690 More importantly, the armour figuratively transforms gods into a wild beast demanding cuts to you. 329 00:37:12,990 --> 00:37:18,660 The wolf Inundates Gods month with casts on traumatic memories which are very present to us. 330 00:37:18,660 --> 00:37:23,190 Whirlpools of commands emanating from God Himself and engulfing him. 331 00:37:23,820 --> 00:37:29,430 As a result, he fires on all fours and as a beast, no longer distinguishing friend from folk. 332 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:38,550 In essence, however, the armour functions as the exact opposite to begin with the image of a full body armour. 333 00:37:38,850 --> 00:37:43,350 In direct contradiction to the proxy Yingling a saga who fight without armour. 334 00:37:44,190 --> 00:37:51,750 It is also revealed that the armour impenetrability is only a means by which to teach scouts to realise his vulnerability. 335 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:58,260 Underneath the metal guards body is being thrown apart. He simply does not feel it anymore. 336 00:37:58,830 --> 00:38:04,080 This, as The Witcher Co explains, concrete. Basically concrete is the endanger the wearer. 337 00:38:05,250 --> 00:38:11,130 It is therefore important that for a goddess to recognise the limits of his body and learn to stop. 338 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:20,700 Contrary to his previous rock, reckless fighting style and armour also helps to draw a line between what is desirable in his ego and what is not. 339 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:28,020 By taking on the shape of the wolf, guards fell down the fair road before the armour symbolically externalised is it? 340 00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:33,480 As a result, well guards on the outside is fighting like opposite toning. 341 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:39,960 The armour in fact transports him onto a internalised psychological battlefield where he is a fighting look a. 342 00:38:41,630 --> 00:38:46,610 In the distance. Gas also becomes more akin to the werewolf in 20th century horror films, 343 00:38:47,030 --> 00:38:51,290 where the human part is trapped within the wolf body and the fight to gain control. 344 00:38:51,890 --> 00:39:00,290 Except that class struggle is facilitated by Shaker, who would dive into a car's ego in spiritual form. 345 00:39:01,940 --> 00:39:04,400 Um, so every time gods dons the armour? 346 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:11,570 Well, meanwhile, in the, uh, physical world, Shekhar would fall into a trance and her body needs to be guarded. 347 00:39:12,140 --> 00:39:15,770 Should they be disturbed, she would be pulled back on the forced to wake up. 348 00:39:16,550 --> 00:39:23,360 At first glance, Shaka's practice resembles the schematic shapeshifter who can transform their consciousness into a beast, 349 00:39:24,230 --> 00:39:27,620 uh, temporarily gaining control of the animal's body and mind. 350 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:32,420 But he or she herself does not transform or take on any animal form. 351 00:39:32,870 --> 00:39:38,030 Instead, she rides the wolf in command and tries to help cast out the wolf under control. 352 00:39:39,230 --> 00:39:47,300 Her primary task is to raise the eagle, which is portrayed as a candle flame back fast in the depths of an ocean of darkness. 353 00:39:48,020 --> 00:39:52,430 Then she reminds gods that he, as a human, represents the opposite of the wolf. 354 00:39:52,970 --> 00:39:59,900 The gentle emotions, including the negative ones, that the wolf dismisses as criminal or in fact what defines gods, 355 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:07,430 the sorrow and the regrets from his past, and his care and love for Casca and his friends whose lives depend on him. 356 00:40:07,910 --> 00:40:15,170 The rage and hatred he feels towards grey face, though important, are only a small part of what constitutes him. 357 00:40:16,660 --> 00:40:21,520 That's a weakened card. Please show force for yanking off the wolf. 358 00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:26,530 Shave the razor. Although he may keep on fighting wearing the armour, he does so other ways. 359 00:40:26,530 --> 00:40:33,220 The ways are put back or always on the helmet at all, showing his face to reassure his companions on the readers. 360 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:41,680 As soon as the fighting is over, Gus takes off the armour and emerges calmer and more sociable than before, leading the young, 361 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:48,580 leading to an improved relationship with Casca on the strength and the emotional bond between him and his friend. 362 00:40:51,430 --> 00:40:55,810 So Murugadoss reshaped the Old Norse bazaar into a kind of therapy sessions. 363 00:40:57,130 --> 00:41:04,840 For this reason, the Japanese sociologist and the film critic Shinji Miyata, who is also among the few people who wrote academic work on berserk, 364 00:41:05,170 --> 00:41:10,540 thinks the fantastic world and the magical elements of berserk are actually the most practical. 365 00:41:11,380 --> 00:41:12,520 According to Miyata, 366 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:19,690 the physical act of entering the magical world from the normal allows the individual to see themselves from a different perspective, 367 00:41:20,050 --> 00:41:24,640 so as to diagnose and treat any problem as a decentre subject. 368 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:32,500 The key lies in what he calls the gift of love, namely one's willingness to care about and fight for one's fellows in society. 369 00:41:33,130 --> 00:41:40,530 The quest of gods is therefore to understand this gift and eventually be able to share it, as opposed to Greivis who, uh, 370 00:41:40,630 --> 00:41:49,420 who is enticed to become demon by the promise of being, uh, being able to do whatever he desires without regard to consequence? 371 00:41:50,050 --> 00:41:57,850 This clash between socio moral obligations on the free will, I found, is a rather distinctive and recurrent theme in Japanese manga. 372 00:41:59,050 --> 00:42:06,790 In addition to the work, many of the perfumer on the globally successful titles in the past ten years also such as being on Saga, Attack on Titan, 373 00:42:07,090 --> 00:42:16,930 Demon Slayer as well also use fiction as a sort of social experiment to demonstrate the potentially disastrous consequences of both extremes. 374 00:42:17,770 --> 00:42:25,060 This seems to reflect the larger debate over collectivism and individualism in Japanese society and the culture in general, 375 00:42:25,450 --> 00:42:33,790 and is perhaps one of the reasons why Miura said during an interview that the berserker world is in terms of the way it feels. 376 00:42:34,180 --> 00:42:41,240 Essentially, Japan. While it may not look like it's on the outside, it reflects on the mental model. 377 00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:50,930 Well, I am concluding on this note. I want to, uh, spend the last few minutes on some more recent trends in fantasy manga, 378 00:42:51,650 --> 00:42:59,570 as the heroic fantasy genre has been so thoroughly on the well incorporated within the, uh, the Japanese manga in the past few decades. 379 00:42:59,990 --> 00:43:03,530 It is only natural that it has also evolved within the media. 380 00:43:03,860 --> 00:43:09,350 According to the media, our children generate expectation as our norms and the market demand. 381 00:43:10,070 --> 00:43:15,000 The two examples that I want to bring up here are, um, delicious in dungeons. 382 00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:25,690 Um, the other record of Ragnarok, Delicious in dungeons, is basically an alternative with the Andes crypt mashed with cooking manga, 383 00:43:26,270 --> 00:43:34,790 a multi genre category that gun the popularity in the 80s, and it normally focuses on, um, specific dishes on the recipes. 384 00:43:35,300 --> 00:43:39,970 Um, so entirely sort of within the Andes sort of gaming structure. 385 00:43:39,980 --> 00:43:47,810 Delicious in dungeon asks a very practical question what if we don't have money to buy provisions but got hungry in the dungeon? 386 00:43:48,350 --> 00:43:52,549 Um, and obviously we need food to fight? Um, yeah. 387 00:43:52,550 --> 00:43:58,880 The simple solution is to use Dundrum authors, um, France as the ingredient and cook along the way, 388 00:43:59,810 --> 00:44:03,410 uh, with the ultimate goal being to kill and cook their dragon. 389 00:44:04,340 --> 00:44:12,380 Uh, the result is a hunger entertaining story that brings something new, therefore unpredictable, to two existing narrative formula. 390 00:44:13,190 --> 00:44:19,580 Similarly, um, Record of Ragnarok adopts an essential Norse mythology called framework, 391 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:27,469 but adapted into a fighting game setup which normally features one of the original fights in the near future, 392 00:44:27,470 --> 00:44:30,860 when all the goals as a collective roll to destroy humans. 393 00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:32,320 Brunhilde, uh, 394 00:44:32,330 --> 00:44:43,160 the crew initiates a game called Ragnarok for which the Valkyries saga 13 human representatives to fight against 13 Gauls in Valhalla are enough. 395 00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:48,230 If the human fighters manage to win seven, we guys will survive. 396 00:44:49,220 --> 00:44:56,960 Um, so you might have noticed, uh, the Warriors, uh, being chosen come from warriors, culture, backgrounds and time periods. 397 00:44:57,650 --> 00:45:01,010 Um, so can we call this greater diversity? 398 00:45:01,670 --> 00:45:07,999 I'm not sure, because the, uh, the more careful you portray, the ones are primarily drawn from European, um, 399 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:16,700 Chinese slash Japanese history on the margins, namely, since the more fall into the two Middle Ages and are frequently featured in the two, 400 00:45:16,700 --> 00:45:27,170 uh, medievalist fantasies for the world record of Ragnarok that feel a bit bigger as it showcases our general trend of even more creative blending, 401 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:31,850 inviting, um, encouraging us to compare very different traditions on equal footing. 402 00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:39,650 I suppose shows, as well as many others are streamed on and promoted on that flex and other major online platforms, 403 00:45:39,980 --> 00:45:47,720 we can easily achieve a level of popularity and publicity far greater than any manga made or anime made 20 years ago. 404 00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:52,730 This, together with the overall, uh, global success of manga and anime. 405 00:45:53,090 --> 00:46:00,350 I wonder what sort of impact manga would bring, or perhaps have already begun to bring to the fantasy genre as a whole, 406 00:46:00,770 --> 00:46:06,380 and more generally, in what direction would the genre of fantasy manga included trend in the future? 407 00:46:06,890 --> 00:46:18,760 Is it? Hi, that was a really interesting talk, and it was really interesting to see how Japanese fantasy manga stemmed from Western fantasy culture. 408 00:46:19,150 --> 00:46:24,250 And I suppose I just wanted your thoughts on why Western adaptations, particularly those of TV and film, 409 00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:29,080 seem to often fall short of the source material and fail to appeal to fans. 410 00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:33,129 Do you mean like, why the western ones? Yeah. 411 00:46:33,130 --> 00:46:40,630 So, like, I know that was like a Death Note movie that everyone hated the old Dragon Ball Z movie that everyone just tries to forget exists. 412 00:46:40,630 --> 00:46:45,100 But then you have something like one piece that everyone seems to love and seem to draw in new fans. 413 00:46:45,460 --> 00:46:48,010 Why do you think that? That seems to be the first one that's done. 414 00:46:48,010 --> 00:46:59,800 So, um, I think with the, um, the adaptations, especially the films, I guess first of all, mangas are these, um, to be a long term serialisation. 415 00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:07,090 So the kind of the story develops as it goes, and sometimes the author does not really have a long term plan. 416 00:47:07,090 --> 00:47:13,660 So they would add the new stuff as it comes. Uh, and you can't really do that with, uh, with a film. 417 00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:23,290 And just based on my experience with the task, not with the movie and also the sunset movie, um, both of which are horrible. 418 00:47:23,830 --> 00:47:36,880 Um, I feel they try kind of very hard to fit the story into a Hollywood blockbuster sort of framework, which doesn't really work. 419 00:47:37,450 --> 00:47:45,280 And also, I think they try quite hard to appeal international audience or least English speaking audience. 420 00:47:45,550 --> 00:47:48,220 So they have to change the story a lot. 421 00:47:48,550 --> 00:47:57,040 And normally they will have to have a, um, a European or American protagonist fit into the original manga story. 422 00:47:57,790 --> 00:48:02,680 Um, yeah. That's the that's the problem with, um, with censor, I think. 423 00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:11,500 Um, yeah. And I think, um, more practical side, it's much, much cheaper and easier to draw stuff. 424 00:48:12,160 --> 00:48:19,450 I mean, obviously there is a human cost because that means the manga artists on, on their team have to work really hard behind the scenes. 425 00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:22,170 But then it's it's fairly cheap and easy. 426 00:48:22,180 --> 00:48:31,209 You can draw whatever you want and within um, because I think manga, I think the reason why it's a bit hard to talk about what is fantasy manga, 427 00:48:31,210 --> 00:48:35,860 what is not is that manga is already quite fantastic because it's not real at all. 428 00:48:35,980 --> 00:48:42,370 The style itself is not real. Um, so anything can happen in your manga, and that's okay, because once you, you know, 429 00:48:42,370 --> 00:48:48,700 when you when you see images like that, you don't expect that to be real or any like realistic or anything. 430 00:48:49,180 --> 00:48:59,170 Um, so you can have this really rich imaginative sense going on, uh, you know, drawing, but then you can't really do that in. 431 00:48:59,500 --> 00:49:04,690 I think most of the time they don't really have the budget to do it, you know, you know, 432 00:49:04,690 --> 00:49:09,639 like, um, yeah, you know, adaptogen and so on especially they tend to in manga. 433 00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:14,560 They tend to have like a really exaggerated style, like different colours and stuff, 434 00:49:14,860 --> 00:49:20,260 which always come out as quite cheap and a fake, you know, adaptation. 435 00:49:20,380 --> 00:49:21,850 I think that's also a problem. 436 00:49:22,300 --> 00:49:30,370 Um, obviously we have a very big fan base and it's, um, nobody's going to be happy with, um, yeah, whatever that comes out of it. 437 00:49:30,730 --> 00:49:34,959 Oh. Thank you. So thank you for the talk. Uh, very ignorant question. 438 00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:43,390 My knowledge of manga proper comes from my first born and, uh, kind of occasional glimpse of, um, what she's reading. 439 00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:54,190 So what I noticed, it's either the kind of regional stuff like this or, um, um, it's a kind of version of, um, European classics. 440 00:49:54,190 --> 00:50:01,420 Like, she has got a whole bunch of, um, like Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet and Crime and Punishment and something by Dickens. 441 00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:14,290 And, um, it kind of made me want to do more recent Western works or fantasy get converted into manga, 442 00:50:14,740 --> 00:50:18,060 or I'm like, if not, why do you think it's the case? 443 00:50:18,070 --> 00:50:27,250 Is is because, like, it's the copyright thing or, you know, or it's just that sort of medium doesn't like more recent Western stuff. 444 00:50:27,520 --> 00:50:34,320 Uh, I think there is certainly the copyrights and, um, obviously you have the, uh, studio. 445 00:50:34,330 --> 00:50:36,520 Okay. Please. Uh, Earth series. 446 00:50:37,060 --> 00:50:47,320 Um, and I guess you have to be, uh, you have to be already well-established to have an agent or a publisher to negotiate copyrights on that reason. 447 00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:55,780 It has to be, you know, that's the practical side of things. Uh, but for many artists that just started, they are nobody. 448 00:50:56,350 --> 00:51:03,700 So it's very hard to, to kind of try to do that. And also, I wouldn't say they, they don't like it only more. 449 00:51:04,240 --> 00:51:11,710 Um, but I think at least my personal impression with, uh, uh, with Japanese. 450 00:51:11,730 --> 00:51:17,970 Academia in medievalism is that they are still very much interested in the classics. 451 00:51:18,390 --> 00:51:27,810 So, like Tolkien, a Narnia, and they are not interested in even Game of Thrones, uh, because all the authors too bloody and gory. 452 00:51:28,500 --> 00:51:34,200 Um, on the on the interest like this is white and fluffy and no, it's not. 453 00:51:34,530 --> 00:51:42,930 But yeah, but somehow they, um. Yeah, but somehow if you do it, you know, sort of unrealistic to the form that's kind of toned down, 454 00:51:43,410 --> 00:51:48,540 although, I mean, there are many, many, many mangas that are extremely, uh, body. 455 00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:54,570 But then it's not really poetry that, you know, like that really stick with you just kind of. 456 00:51:54,570 --> 00:52:01,050 Okay. I mean, like, when I was a child, I watched a lot of sons, you know, arms frozen orphans now, 457 00:52:01,560 --> 00:52:07,440 which is probably not okay for a child, but but I didn't really think about it. 458 00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:12,330 I just kind of accept that, you know? So I'll just read this, uh, as it is. 459 00:52:12,660 --> 00:52:20,160 Thank you for your presentation. Do you think the use of Western motifs in modern Japanese manga can be understood as a kind of cultural translation, 460 00:52:20,430 --> 00:52:25,140 where Japanese creators adopt foreign traditions to create a distinct identity for manga? 461 00:52:25,530 --> 00:52:30,660 I suppose that hybridity, one of the theoretical frameworks, could be applied to understand the characteristics of manga. 462 00:52:31,640 --> 00:52:37,780 Um. Gosh, that's us versus, uh, yeah, I guess the short answer is yes. 463 00:52:38,260 --> 00:52:45,160 Uh, but I don't think they are using that sort of consciously to build identity for manga, 464 00:52:45,670 --> 00:52:51,970 because I feel for most artists, they just want to put whatever that is cool in a story. 465 00:52:52,540 --> 00:52:57,790 Um, yeah. I think I remember an interview about one of the final fantasies. 466 00:52:58,390 --> 00:53:07,660 Um, and I think somebody asked about, you know, it's not realistic to do this or not to jump that far or to do certain, uh, actions and stuff. 467 00:53:07,990 --> 00:53:11,230 There were just like, we don't care. Just we just think it's really cool. 468 00:53:11,710 --> 00:53:22,510 Um, so I think, I think one of the kind of the bigger differences between, uh, fantasy manga and western fantasy stuff is that, 469 00:53:22,510 --> 00:53:29,140 um, there is um, I think manga artists in general, uh, care less about accuracy. 470 00:53:29,950 --> 00:53:35,469 So they can they can have a name from Old Norse mythology and footnotes. 471 00:53:35,470 --> 00:53:43,090 I would say just. Yeah, we were saying today, like I'd say that's near the excellent horse in, uh, Odin's horse in Norse mythology. 472 00:53:43,630 --> 00:53:49,150 Um, and they may just like the sound of it. I think it's really cool, um, to use it on a space ship. 473 00:53:49,900 --> 00:53:57,760 Um. That helps. Kind of. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I guess, um, it depends on sometimes there is sort of a deeper connection. 474 00:53:57,760 --> 00:54:03,250 So maybe the spaceship is, like, really fast and can go across different rhymes and stuff. 475 00:54:03,520 --> 00:54:10,060 So in that sense, you have a very kind of essential connection to the original source. 476 00:54:10,360 --> 00:54:14,769 For the pure this is different, but sometimes they just yeah, they like the sound of it. 477 00:54:14,770 --> 00:54:20,650 It's very cool. Uh, and I think the same applies to any other like nomadic war motives. 478 00:54:21,010 --> 00:54:30,340 So I guess the principle is, um, the their priority is to make songs that are very exciting and potentially financially successful. 479 00:54:30,760 --> 00:54:37,450 So hopefully something that no one has done before and they will just put whatever in that to achieve that goal. 480 00:54:37,930 --> 00:54:45,450 I think it was really interesting to hear you mention Inuyasha specifically because as an izakaya, because obviously a lot of recent izakaya, 481 00:54:45,610 --> 00:54:53,829 um, media, especially like I think the ones in the recent years have relied a lot on like the Western European kind of generic fancy. 482 00:54:53,830 --> 00:54:58,899 I'm thinking of stuff, especially izakaya, where like the world building isn't a big part of it. 483 00:54:58,900 --> 00:55:03,129 Stuff like, um, I, uh, I don't know if you're familiar with it, but like the, like, 484 00:55:03,130 --> 00:55:07,650 um, trend recent trends of villainous izakaya where the, I don't know, adequate. 485 00:55:07,840 --> 00:55:11,020 But they basically go into like games and stuff and that sort of thing. 486 00:55:11,020 --> 00:55:17,079 You're often used as a Western European generic fantasy build, and I was just wondering if you had any like, 487 00:55:17,080 --> 00:55:20,920 thoughts on why so many izakaya now seem to rely on that sort of world, 488 00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:31,410 whereas the origins of izakaya seem to be in like more traditional Japanese, um, fantasy rather than generic European kind of a static, um. 489 00:55:34,460 --> 00:55:46,370 I did read, um, one argument on why they didn't kind of use too much materials from the so-called Japanese Middle Ages. 490 00:55:46,820 --> 00:55:59,360 Um, I think the argument is that, um, because it's kind of harder to present that I guess this because that history is closer to most of the readers, 491 00:55:59,840 --> 00:56:10,220 and then it's harder to find a, I guess, children friends better way to portray all that horror, like of war and all those fightings. 492 00:56:10,610 --> 00:56:14,030 Whereas, um, European history is a bit more remote. 493 00:56:14,570 --> 00:56:23,390 So you can, you can kind of do things with it and also, uh, enjoy it with all really, I guess, without any personal feelings. 494 00:56:23,990 --> 00:56:31,250 Um, but yeah, I didn't I haven't really been, uh, following on a used car genre because I'm not really a big fan of that. 495 00:56:31,670 --> 00:56:42,740 Uh, but I do notice, I think, on, uh, Crunchyroll, there are also of pretty much the gaming setup with really weird titles like my. 496 00:56:43,070 --> 00:56:47,240 It's like my daughter is reincarnated into a Civil War warrior. 497 00:56:47,520 --> 00:56:52,490 Well, censor that. Uh, so I, I kind of wonder if that is. 498 00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:59,230 It's kind of easier to make fix because there is already this well established model, 499 00:57:00,010 --> 00:57:05,440 or is already kind of, I don't know if it was a very big mass produced in a way. 500 00:57:05,440 --> 00:57:07,719 So you have a, you have a, you have a temple. 501 00:57:07,720 --> 00:57:15,010 And I would just say in my reasoning that I'm just kind of go, yeah, but then I guess, uh, with Inuyasha in particular, 502 00:57:15,010 --> 00:57:22,270 uh, the author herself is quite, um, because she, she has done quite some Japanese themed manga. 503 00:57:22,750 --> 00:57:29,890 So that would be, uh, I think that would be, uh, more kind of her personal choice to do this particular person. 504 00:57:30,550 --> 00:57:35,290 Um, uh, firstly, thank you so much for your presentation. I really appreciated the depth that you went into. 505 00:57:35,590 --> 00:57:39,910 Um, so my question is, uh, with the surge of global interest in anime among mainstream audiences, 506 00:57:40,030 --> 00:57:46,509 the example you gave, for example, was, um, Demon Slayer. Um, what are your thoughts on Western studios like Netflix producing their own anime shows? 507 00:57:46,510 --> 00:57:52,480 For example, Blue Eyed Samurai, which uses the figure of, uh, obviously samurai and is set in feudal Japan. 508 00:57:52,810 --> 00:57:59,680 Do you consider these Western produced anime to be authentic representations of the genre, or do you see them as more westernised versions of it? 509 00:57:59,680 --> 00:58:07,600 Oh, sorry, no, I don't really um, I don't think one can say what is more, uh, 510 00:58:07,600 --> 00:58:13,510 authentic or not, because the whole season is already a blending of very different sense. 511 00:58:14,230 --> 00:58:29,710 Um, I do feel, um, I mean, I did watch several, uh, I mean, while I did enjoy else, but, um, I do feel like it's it's kind of one of these things, 512 00:58:29,950 --> 00:58:37,900 um, you do and then you say, you know, we are being, um, well, basically we are trying to have more diversity. 513 00:58:38,620 --> 00:58:46,720 Um, but then. Yeah, so we took the diversity box and then we're doing this great story about strong women and all that. 514 00:58:47,230 --> 00:58:58,390 Uh, yeah. So but at the same time, it's, it's hard not to feel like, you know, they're just trying to basically to tick tick boxes on all that. 515 00:58:58,960 --> 00:59:05,530 Um, yeah. So it feels a bit weird because it doesn't feel very genuine, if that's okay. 516 00:59:05,530 --> 00:59:11,530 Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I think now we should all thank you once again to.