Ask John: Is Dead Leaves Anime?

Question:
Would you consider Dead Leaves (Production IG) to be anime? Yes, strictly speaking it is made in Japan and therefore anime, but it looks completely Western.

Answer:
Based on the footage, images, and details so far released for Dead Leaves, In my opinion, the film is unquestionably “anime.” Among Western fans there’s an ongoing debate and confusion over exactly what constitutes “anime” and what the term “anime” should encompass. I’ve personally always defined “anime” as Japanese animation. More precisely, I consider anime to be animation that originates in Japan and is imbued with Japanese artistic & creative sensibilities and cultural traditions. Quite often especially American anime fans seem to classify as anime (or manga) any art that superficially resembles stereotypical Japanese comic art. But characters with big eyes, sweat drops, speed lines, and bright primary colors alone doesn’t mean that a cartoon or comic contains or exhibits the unique literary, cultural and artistic integrity and character of contemporary Japanese comic and animation art. It’s arguably impossible for a non-Japanese artist to create Japanese art. (That’s not to say that foreigners can’t participate in the creation of Japanese art, though.) The fact that something looks Japanese doesn’t make it Japanese. By that same token, the fact that something is Japanese doesn’t mean that it has to look Japanese.

Dead Leaves certainly doesn’t look anything like what viewers expect of Japanese animation. The highly stylized look of Dead Leaves more closely resembles experimental American or European comic and animation art than it does typical Japanese anime art. But the fact that Dead Leaves doesn’t look like typical anime is one of the things that favorably distinguishes it as anime. Part of the creative integrity of anime that I refer to is the fact that anime is reflective of diverse creative styles not always dominated by commercial viability or market demand. Anime is a major, mainstream Japanese industry that exists to support fringe and sometimes alternative art. The fact that Dead Leaves is a product of distinctly Japanese creative minds and the efforts of Japanese artists makes it distinctly Japanese animation. In my opinion as a devotee of Japanese animation, were it produced elsewhere, Dead Leaves, or any given anime, may still look the same, but wouldn’t “feel” the same or have the same thematic emphasis or contain the same creative and directorial and editorial choices. What makes Japanese animation uniquely Japanese animation is not just the way it looks; it’s the entire package of visuals, sound, editing, cinematography, music, atmosphere, theme, and writing. If we use the term “anime” only to distinguish Japanese created animation from other varieties of animation, then Dead Leaves, which looks like Western animation, is absolutely anime while Teen Titans and Totally Spies, which look like Japanese animation, are not anime. There’s no judgement of quality involved in such labeling. Referring to something as “anime” doesn’t mean that it’s automatically better than something else. Calling a particular animation “anime” only clarifies that it originated in Japan; nothing more, nothing less.