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Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

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Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#81

Post by aidenn0 »

blincoln wrote: post #77
k__ wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know where to read, but it seems to me that end of the 90s, TV shows (real and anime) became less episode based but got a whole story arc, like we know from current TV shows like "Game of Thrones", "Breaking Bad" or "The Wire". I always hear people talking about how "The Sopranos" was the first TV show that did this, but anime like "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Cowboy Bebop" came out years before it.

AFAIK, J. Michael Straczynski was the first person to get a successful arc-based television series on TV, with _Babylon 5_ - the pilot aired in 1993. He had tried earlier with _Captain Power_ in 1987, but that only lasted a single season, and it was kind of doomed to be thought of as a kid's show because of the toyline tie-in.

Soap Operas?

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#82

Post by deadmetheny »

bitwize wrote: post #46
exelius wrote: post #4

Lol... I was going to say this exactly. Evangelion and Lain were pretty popular even in the US around the year 2000, so I imagine they were near ubiquitous in Japan. Both were well-animated and the power lines a symbol that was returned to again and again. Anime/manga also loves to meme/trope things like this because animation studios are cheap and love 30s tracking shots across 2 hand-drawn panel with nothing more t…

One thing I learned about anime (from discussing it with Japanese folks) is that "anime Westerners like" and "anime Japanese like" can be way different. Something may come out in Japan that has only niche appeal, only to blow up in the West. Azumanga Daioh -- Mother of a Thousand 4chan Memes -- comes to mind. Likewise, sometimes a title takes off in Japan only to find rocky soil here. I think Evangelion was well love…

If I recall correctly, Lain was fairly popular both in the West and Japan, largely for similar reasons, although it was less big in the West since at the time it came out anime had not really become A Thing yet.

To your point, Cowboy Bebop can probably be considered to be one of the biggest causes for anime to gain so much traction in the US due to being on Adult Swim and having a killer feel and soundtrack, but its lasting power wasn't nearly as strong in Japan.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#83

Post by hkmurakami »

nudpiedo wrote: post #58
coolandsmartrr wrote: post #50

Short Answer: Anno Until their depiction in Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995, power lines were virtually non-existent in anime. After all, why draw them when they take up more time and effort during a time-packed production schedule? However, Hideaki Anno, the director of the aforementioned anime, began to implement them in backgrounds, bringing in a new kind of mechanical urban aesthetics. Anno has a certain kind of…

Actually many old manga draws these power lines too, it is just a way to show the way Japanese cities are in the reality (in the present.) However it does not recreate itself to much in this details of the urban landscape. E.g. 歩くひと, (the walking man).

Manga have done this but many manga are created by folks with obsessive traits and a history and culture of depiction of great detail in the backgrounds. I can buy an argument that this wasn't the case for anime for a long time, perhaps because of time or budgetary reasons.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#84

Post by aidenn0 »

vorotato wrote: post #20
exelius wrote: post #4

Lol... I was going to say this exactly. Evangelion and Lain were pretty popular even in the US around the year 2000, so I imagine they were near ubiquitous in Japan. Both were well-animated and the power lines a symbol that was returned to again and again. Anime/manga also loves to meme/trope things like this because animation studios are cheap and love 30s tracking shots across 2 hand-drawn panel with nothing more t…

In Lain it was a motif which represented the interconnectedness of modern society. Notice how they called the internet "The Wired". Idk enough about evangelion to comment.

Probably the most obvious theme of Evangelion is the subjugation of nature to humans (while constantly being contrasted with the futility of doing so). I think it's the very first episode where they get in a car on a hot day and a character turns on the AC while literally commenting on how air conditioning is a crowning achievement of mankind's domination over nature.

Then the wires are shown to be the fragile extensions of people's ability to project power over nature (e.g. the titular giant Mecha only work for a limited time when not tethered to power).

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#85

Post by unabst »

coolandsmartrr wrote: post #50

Short Answer: Anno Until their depiction in Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995, power lines were virtually non-existent in anime. After all, why draw them when they take up more time and effort during a time-packed production schedule? However, Hideaki Anno, the director of the aforementioned anime, began to implement them in backgrounds, bringing in a new kind of mechanical urban aesthetics. Anno has a certain kind of…

I can't believe I found it, or rather, that someone uploaded just it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II9GZrKztXQ

When I heard power lines, for some reason one scene from Patlabor came to mind.

It's the quintessential Tokyo city view from the window, and the quintessential view inside a window from the city. Outside there are power lines. You cannot avoid them. And looking in, you see the tatami flooring and dudes in their underwear.

I thought it might have been Patlabor 2, but it was the original movie. So that's 1989. Both movies are staples of Japanese anime.

But power lines can also be found in episode 1 of the TV series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFTs97NpnUo

So my short answer would be Patlabor, but that's just from my own memory.

I think the commonality here is that the power lines are used to portray a sense of scale for the robots. A kid growing up in Tokyo knows exactly how high those lines are.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#86

Post by shove »

No one mentioned this specifically, but as someone who's dabbled in animation a bit...

Power lines are fantastic for selling depth / perspective. The poles are long and slender vertically as are the wires horizontally. When you parallax, it's a nice way to have a mid-ground layer that doesn't obscure too much of the background and naturally pokes up above shorter foreground elements.

Not saying the other thoughts re: theme etc aren't valid. Just something else to consider.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#87

Post by aidenn0 »

exelius wrote: post #28
vorotato wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Lain it was a motif which represented the interconnectedness of modern society. Notice how they called the internet "The Wired". Idk enough about evangelion to comment.

In Evangelion, power represented civilization in various stages of decline. It's post-apocalyptic, so the state of the infrastructure shows you if an area has been abandoned, reclaimed, etc. The Evas (basically giant mecha) have to be tethered to power to work, etc. The whole theme of the anime centers around the type of arrogance Man (in this case, a single man) would show in the face of annihilation by God, and how…

There's a lot of imagery from Jewish traditions as well. (Besides the obvious Lilith connection, there is a giant Tree of Life in the opening credits!).

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#88

Post by vanpeebles »

gravy wrote: post #44
vanpeebles wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely ... because the Simpsons is the epitome of all western animation. /s

What is this even supposed to mean? That's exactly their point. The average-to-low-budget (as well as unpopular) anime still has power line shots all over because that's just what they do. On average, our establishing shots in our (Western) cartoons just aren't as detailed. Obviously popularity and quality are not hand in hand, and The Simpsons is one of, if not the most popular cartoon show of all time.

The Simpsons isn't a genre like anime so ... apples and oranges.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#89

Post by aidenn0 »

sexydefinesher wrote: post #65
exelius wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Evangelion, power represented civilization in various stages of decline. It's post-apocalyptic, so the state of the infrastructure shows you if an area has been abandoned, reclaimed, etc. The Evas (basically giant mecha) have to be tethered to power to work, etc. The whole theme of the anime centers around the type of arrogance Man (in this case, a single man) would show in the face of annihilation by God, and how…

Ive heard that they put in christian imagery just because it was cool and with no real purpose.

There have been many comments from creators to this point.

The christian imagery was primarily to give it an exotic feel; just like many SciFi shows in the US borrow heavily from eastern traditions.

Here's probably the most often quoted interview answer on the subject, from Kazua Tsurumaki:

> There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us. Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious. None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians. There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool. If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice.[1]

1: http://web.archive.org/web/20020622231224/http://www.akadot....

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#90

Post by lanius »

exelius wrote: post #4

Lol... I was going to say this exactly. Evangelion and Lain were pretty popular even in the US around the year 2000, so I imagine they were near ubiquitous in Japan. Both were well-animated and the power lines a symbol that was returned to again and again. Anime/manga also loves to meme/trope things like this because animation studios are cheap and love 30s tracking shots across 2 hand-drawn panel with nothing more t…

Were they that popular in the US in 2000? Evangelion started airing on Adult Swim in 2005, and Lain started in 2002 on TechTV IIRC.
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