In this chapter, Tsutsui suggests some cultural and historical factors which give rise to Japanese people’s fascination with destruction through discussing how this fascination is expressed in films and animation.
When it comes to the cultural and historical factors which contribute to the obsession with ruination, we should not neglect Japan’s traumatic experience with nuclear warfare during World War II. This harrowing experience is reflected through presenting every imaginable form of nuclear explosion and imagining the destruction of Tokyo in various media forms, such as monster movies, disaster films, and end-of-the-world anime. The apocalyptic pop reveals the social, economic, and political anxieties in postwar Japan.
In addition, Tsutsui compares the general fascination with destruction and disaster in Japan to that in America. Tsutsui figures out that scholars following in Susan Sontag’s interpretation generally stress the darkness and pessimism in the apocalyptic imagination of postwar Japanese popular culture. However, fascination with destruction is not necessarily a reflection of nihilism but rather a form of pop millenarianism.
All in all, Tsutsui provides an insightful analysis of the cultural significance of the recreational apocalypse in postwar Japanese popular culture.
Name: Xie Hanyu
UID: 3036067119
A very comprehensive summary of the reading with quite a number of complex concepts introduced. However, your response is in lack of coherence as the complex terms are not linked well. Rather than only extracting the key ideas of the writing, what is your take on the reading? Any reflections you want to share? Would like to hear more of your own thoughts.