Ask John: Why Does Jason Frequently Cameo in Anime?

Question:
What is with all the Jason references in some anime? Like the character Jason in Captain Tylor or the little robot in the credits of Twin Signal? They both have the hockey mask and chainsaw. Is there a running gag or what?

Answer:
Especially if you’re an anime fan you’re aware that Japan is a very visually oriented society. Mascot characters like Hello Kitty, Afroken, and Terepanda, advertising mascots like Fujiya’s famous image girl Peko-chan, and internet “memes” like Mona, the OS-tans, and Habanero-tan all reflect Japanese culture’s obsession and fascination with pop culture visual imagery. While Michael Meyers may have been the world’s first iconic cinematic monster serial killer, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th (particularly the hockey mask wearing Jason from Friday the 13th Part 3) was one of the world’s earliest iconic slasher monsters, and he seems to be the one – far more than Michael, Freddy, or Pinhead – that captured the attention and imagination of the Japanese public. Unlike the nondescript Michael, the horrific Freddy, or the relatively conventional looking Pinhead, Jason’s facemask perfectly adheres to the Japanese aesthetic sense of simplicity and immediate recognition. Mascot characters like Hello Kitty, Peko-chan, and Mona are all very simple drawings that have allow for instant recognition. The idea of Jason’s mask may also be endearing (in an odd way) to Japanese viewers because the image of white masks is already a familiar concept to Japanese citizens – from traditional Noh masks to the omnipresent surgical masks that Japanese wear to prevent their colds from spreading.

The hockey mask wearing Jason is, for at least Japan’s genre community, the embodiment of psycho stalker killers. The entire Miami Guns episode 8 is an extended Friday the 13 movie parody. And a chainsaw carrying Jason Voorhees appears in the recent Yamato Nadesico Shichihenge episode 17. In the Irresponsible Captain Tylor anime, the Jason reference is intended to create an atmosphere of horror and violence being impotent or comically inept. In Miami Guns, the Jason reference is used to create a sense of fear and terror. In Yamato Nadesico Shichihenge, the SD Jason gives horror a cute and appealing image. The iconic simplicity and malleability of the imagery of Jason’s hockey mask as a representation of horror is, obviously, a useful and amusing visual and narrative device that expresses the concept of horror effortlessly. So the image of Jason Voorhees is useful to the anime industry in particular because the hockey mask allows animators to create the impression of terror with minimal effort. And observant viewers notice and appreciate the cult reference.