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Directorial Characteristics Depicting Nietzschean Nihilism in Animation: A Focus on 'Attack on Titan' (니체의 허무주의가 재현된 애니메이션의 연출적 특성 -<진격의 거인>을 중심으로)

Kim Jiwoong;Lee Hyunseok
- The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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- v.10 no.3
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- pp.413-420
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- 2024
After Friedrich Nietzsche's advocacy of nihilism, many literary works, dramas, and films have depicted aspects of human psychology associated with nihilism. Animation, too, has been used to convey nihilism, with narratives infused with nihilistic themes produced as both TV series and theatrical animations. Particularly, animation, as a visual medium capable of realizing any imaginative image unlike other media, possesses distinctive characteristics from live-action cinematography and differs from comics in its temporal properties. Hence, this study aims to analyze how Nietzsche's defined three stages of nihilism are represented within animation characters and how they construct various scenarios, using the anime "Attack on Titan" as a case study. The research unfolds by first examining Nietzsche's types of nihilism and the three stages through a review of literature, while also investigating the portrayal of nihilism in mass media and considering the unique attributes of animation. Secondly, building upon the literature review, the analysis interprets the narrative and constructed world of the chosen case study from a nihilistic perspective, examining four major characters through the stages of passive nihilism, active nihilism, and eternal recurrence. The findings demonstrate that the anime conveys two messages regarding negation and affirmation of one's life and existence, thereby offering viewers an opportunity to deeply contemplate human existence. This study is considered significant as it examines how Nietzschean nihilism is portrayed within the popular entertainment medium of animation.
https://doi.org/10.17703/JCCT.2024.10.3.413 인용 PDF