In Tsutsui’s article, the author sorts out the source of the monster story genre. After reading it, from a personal point of view, the appearance of Godzilla does not point to the United States but to the old Japanese Empire. Why does Japan always show a “two-beat jazz” between destruction and reconstruction in movies? Why are the Japanese people so obsessed with this? The reason for this is not just the fear of Japan, but also the desire for liberation and closure (Freud), the fear of the old Japanese Empire, and the joy of rebuilding that ended the war with the atomic bomb. From a very psychoanalytic point of view, Godzilla is ostensibly about radiation, the fear of America, and the atomic bomb, but at a deeper level can be seen as a “transference”. The combination of the war that the people feared and the radiation from foreign countries gave birth to Godzilla. So in fact Godzilla’s fear comes from the old Empire of Japan, not just the atomic bomb itself.
Davis’ article first explained the homogeneity unique to Japanese works through “superflat”, that is, the characters and the ground are of the same material. It shows a very strong tendency toward deconstruction. The author then expresses this tendency through “ghost in the shell” and Hong Kong. From a postcolonial perspective, this is actually a kind of deconstruction of traditional Eurocentrism by East Asian authors using “superflat”. Finally, the author ends with a karaguri doll. In my understanding, karaguri, like Godzilla, is a metaphor for the desires and fears of the Japanese nation. One is big and the other is small; one is from the West and the other is from China, and from two powers that dominated Japan in culture; and both are wrapped with a strong outer shell and a Japanese-style spiritual inner shell. Such a metaphor is the mask of the Japanese nation. The Japanese nation expresses its meaning implicitly through the mask until the mask and other components of the same plane are integrated to form a “superflat”, forming a unique Japanese monster movie, Tokusatsu Drama, and a different obsession with cyberpunk which is different from the West.
HOU Xiyuan 3035835258
You made various bold and intriguing points in response to the readings, some of which may require some elaboration and clarification. For example, can you elaborate on how “superflat” deconstructs traditional Eurocentrism? I also appreciate how you tried to discuss the karaguri with Godzilla and draw the connections between the two readings.