Why are electric cables drawn thoroughly in Japanese animation? Overseas Media Inferred

byMarcus

The appearance that the utility pole (telegraph pole) extends from the ground and the electric wire extends around here like a spider web is an ordinary scenery for the Japanese. Even if such an appearance of electric wires appears in one scene of animation, there should be many people who thru through without being particularly concerned. However, there are many places where electric wires are buried underground abroad, and many people feel electric wires like Japan are unusual, and people who wonder why electric wires appear in such various animation? There seems to be many.

Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines? - Atlas Obscura
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-power-lines-anime-electrical-infrastructure

TumblrAboveA blog collecting endlessly only movie and drama meal scenesYaA blog that anyone can use and save OK photo materials, "Collecting a strange blog on Tumblr"blogThere are various blogs, such as. Although it varies from strange blogs and ridiculous blogs, these are sometimes "lighting the unknown world" and foreign mediaAtlas ObscuraI am writing.

In such "blog on Tumblr who is strange", "only the electric wire that appears in anime" gathered "Power Lines in Anime"Is present.

Power Lines in Anime


"Power Lines in Anime" is a blog that collects images of electric wires appearing in Japanese animation. Operator'swhitequarkIs an animation broadcasted in 2014 "Monthly girl Nozaki-kun"When watching" Monthly girl Nozaki-kun ", I noticed the existence of electric wire for the first time in the scenery reflected on the glass when I was watching the electric wire drawn in the background when I was watching Then I began to think "why there are so many wires?" Whilst these structures should take time to draw in detail, why are they being drawn consistently Wow? "

The image that was first posted in "Power Lines in Anime" was also an electric wire reflected in the background of "Monthly girl Nozaki-kun".


Atlas Obscura Although it is said that although the genre of animation is sports or fantasy, whether it is everyday or SF, if the work set on the contemporary earth, electric wires and telephone poles appear with high probability, surprisingly It is said that it is drawn in detail. And, in the case of a work that relatively simple characters interact, it is said that there are many cases where electric wires are standing together with fine backgrounds.

whitequark says, "Electric wires do not have any intention in the story, they do not appear repeatedly, are not emphasized, and do not seem to have any useful intentions, There exists in there certainly! It is "pretty" with someone going outside, photographing, tracing, coloring and finishing it perfectly, "one of the animation pieces' screen When talking about eye-catching electric wires and love for telephone poles.

Wonder Festival In the poster "Shin · Evangelion theatrical version: || keenly producing" found in 2017 [summer] also electric wire and telephone pole are drawn.


"The most important elements for animation are stories and visual elements" is a film researcher at the University of Concordia and a book on Japanese animation "Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in JapanMark Steinberg, author of Steinberg also conducts research on Japanese animation and he also seems to have noticed that there are many electric wires in the background of animation.

"In my opinion, (the fact that many electric wires came to appear)Neon Genesis EVANGELIONI think that it is a story after the epidemic. In addition to some sort of distinctive, crazy story line, Neon Genesis Evangelion is focused on objects in everyday life. There was not such thing in the previous animation. In the Neon Genesis Evangelion, in addition to electric wires, pay phones, entrances, railroad railroad crossings, etc. are picked up. These things were a part of everyday life for Japan at that time, "Steinberg says.

Atlas Obscura says "In the Neon Genesis Evangelion, electric wires are particularly conspicuous rather than railroad crossing of public phones and trains", the reason being that the huge code "umbilical cable" on the back of Evangelion, the hero's boarding, Because the wire and the wire combine to give a fantastic and outstanding impression, we are doing.


The tendency to use this electric wire is not limited to Neon Genesis Evangelion series, it will become a kind of sign. "Various electric wires are drawn on Neon Genesis Evangelion and it became like a trademark from the latter half of the 1990s to the early 2000s when adult animation became popular," Steinberg . In addition, Ms. Steinberg was broadcast in 1998 "Serial experiments lainHas also helped to generalize electric wires.

Atlas Obscura says, "The most obvious reason for the large number of wires to appear is that many story stories will take place on stage based on Tokyo and Japan." Although it is an electric wire used as a tool for communicating everyday life, although it is not the only object appearing regularly in animation, it is the most common but most visually complicated one I will. In addition, Steinberg raises "train railway crossing" as one of the frequent appearances in animation as a part of everyday life like wires.