Why Create Dark, Apocalyptic, Depressing Anime?

I am taking a Modern Japanese Literature class this semester and we have been analyzing certain works of art and literature. We recently watched Oshii’s anime film Ghost in the Shell. I had seen it before and could recognize it as a highly creative popular film. But my teacher in the class made me think of the WHY. Why is this anime film creative? Why has it become so popular? Why is it appealing to audiences all over the world?

For background, the film is about a cyborg character (Kusanagi) who questions her humanity, her identity, and her purpose in life. She is part of this futuristic, ambiguously Asian setting with Western influences. In this world, there is a threat in the form of a highly intelligent computer system (originally designed by a government sector—obviously) called The Puppet Master who has been “infecting” humans by erasing their memories and using them as shells. The Puppet Master seeks out Kusanagi because he feels that their inner selves are very similar. In the end, he asks Kusanagi to merge their whole entities to become one. Kusanagi struggles with this decision because she does not want to loose who she is (even though she does not even know what that means). They eventually merge and become a powerful, unattached entity.

[As an aside, I would like to point out to anyone who has seen it the contrast between the dark

themes and beautiful images and aesthetic of the animation.]

This film is categorized as dark and apocalyptic in the world of anime because it questions whether there is a self, or soul, in each individual. What makes us human if we do not have that soul? The question the main character Kusanagi struggles with is if she has a soul, an identity, or something that makes her her. This anxiety about identity and needing to define it is very much engrained in modern Japanese society and culture. This identity crises stems from Japan being the only non-Western country to be considered fully modernized, industrialized, and even post-modern. They are the only country to have experienced an atomic disaster. They question and battle with modernity because their culture, history, society, and country is embedded with ancient tradition that cannot simply be forgotten. In addition, they constantly experience apocalyptic-like events—the atomic bombs, tsunamis, hurricanes, stock-market crash, and a record-breaking number of suicides. All this sounds like incredible motivation to be creative, to release this anxiety and express it in a productive manner. In psychology there are two theories on motivation—intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation arises from within the creator who wants to create for a reason, whether that be to work through some anxiety on identity and the existence of a soul, or simply because it brings them joy to be creative.

Ghost in the Shell explores dark, existential topics because it feels the need to. This motivation sounds so simple, but it remains an important one. The film brings to light the underlying issues Japan has been suffering for decades. And it also demonstrates that everyone deals with the questions Kusanagi has.

Even if the viewer does not recognize these deeper questions, you can still appreciate the stunning aesthetic, beautiful colors, and ground-breaking animation of the film.