Japanimation and Manga
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Final Papers and Projects
This course is unique in that you may either write a final paper (12-15 pages) or work on a final project, which may be done as a group effort (up to 5 students). Both are subject to instructor approval. Final projects must be accompanied by a 6-8 page contextual/analytical description that integrates the project with the course material.
Suggested Paper Topics
- Autobiography of an otaku
- Themes of transformation in Japanese anime and manga
- Feminist critique of hentai manga
- Gender non-conformity in shojo manga
- The amnesia of war in 1970s anime
- Disney and Japanese anime
- Militarism and the nation-state in Japanese anime
- Why are Japanese cartoon characters "Western?"
- Gender changers and Giant Panda Bears: Ranma 1/2
- The absence of the male in 1990s Japanese anime/manga
- Japanese anime/manga in America
- Comparative Analysis of American "Slash" Lit and Doujinshi
- Visions of "China" in Japanese anime and manga
Also:
- Design a Animation / Graphic Literature Major/Minor
Come up with a coherent argument why Mac should have an Animation / Graphic Literature major/minor. What courses would this be composed of? Design syllabi that come with the coures and articulate the major analytical/theoretical thrust of the department.
Suggested Final Projects
- Translating and subbing/dubbing a formerly untranslated anime/manga
- Writing, directing, and animating your own anime *
- Writing your own manga *
* In both of these cases, you must argue in your attached contextual/analytical paper how your anime/manga creation is within the genre of Japanese anime/manga. I.e., what is it that makes it anime/manga and not simply an American cartoon or comic strip?
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