• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.39
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• pp.1-25
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• 2015

"Magical girl" is one of many popular genres that are watched in Japanese animation. The characteristics of "Magical girl" genre shows that most main heroine as the girl in young age, and this young girl play her role as a character with supernatural power. The majority in population of Japanese animation consumers were men. However, women began to become this population of Japanese animation consumers with the beginning of "Magical girl" genre, which also became a cause for the birth of "Shojo anime". The first "Shojo anime", as well as the first animation of "Magical girl" genre in Japan was , and this piece made a great hit when it was broadcasted. Since the great hit of , new pieces of animation in "Magical girl" genre has broadcasted through television continually, making other great hits also with in 1982 and< Sailor Moon> in 1992. Discussing of which, made not only a great hit in Japan, but worldwide as well, that its new season of TV series, , is broadcasted in 2014. "Magical girl" genre was loved by viewers of Japanese animation for a long time, and it is still broadcasted regularly today. In observation of pieces in "Magical girl" genre, magical girls who appear as a main character either fight for the world they live in, or take on an adventure, or take an action according to their idealistic purpose. However, the magical girls who appear in take an action not for the peace of their world, but rather for their own benefits and purposes. In , magical girls fight against the witches and their familiar spirits, which end up in a horrible conclusion. The witches who magical girls fought against were not already the witches in the beginning, but in fact were the other magical girls who took their action in the past. It Magical girls in present time were having witch hunt against the witches, who were once another magical girls in the past. Unlike traditional "Magical girl" genre, where witches and magical girls were used to be an that magical girls end up turning into witches. Witches did not exist in the beginning, but rather someone had to be one, to be hunted down in witch hunt. The cause of witch hunt did not exist in the beginning, but rather the ones had to be tagged as witches to be hunted down. Therefore, this paper is written to discuss an existence of witch in research of its historic origin of witch hunt, and on the witches appear in .

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.39
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• pp.59-83
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• 2015

Magical realism, blooming and improving in Latin America, opened the new vision about reality and rationalism, coming out from the out-styled frame of past. While having common points with unrealistic literature, which uses fantastical components, magical realism is different from Surrealism and fantasy literature that is focusing on reality and realizing reality intensely. In the early stage of this research, magical realism was restricted by the characteristics of literature of Latin America, but the research of magical realism is expanding in planning Post-Modernism nowadays. Lately, the influence of magical realism is identified in literatures, arts, films, and animations over the world; according to the research, however, research about magical realism in animations was not done in Korea before. A Korean independent animation "A coffee vending machine and its sword" was evaluated positively in many international film festivals is valuable as the research of magical realism. Throughout this study, this animation "A coffee vending machine and its sword" was analyzed by its narrative and images. The analysis of narrative consists two parts. One is about the form of narrative and the other is about contents through the story. Analysis of Image is also divided into two parts: background image and character image. In this animation, the protagonist is narrating about the fantastic accidents in his life and his own feelings towards it. The narration leads audience to understand his situation and feelings in meta-fiction. On the surface, audience watches the love story of a normal girl and coffee vending machine in this artwork, but deep inside the animation, it is visible that the directors tried to make audiences think about the life of 880,000-won Generation in Korea. The background image was represented as real places in Seoul including the landmark of Seoul, making mimesis of reality in Korea. The character image has two conflicting aspects with reincarnated warrior, Jinyoungyoung and a coffee vending machine. It is a hybrid-character transmogrifying between two characters. Likewise, "A coffee vending machine and its sword" has the characteristics of Korean magical realism through form, content and image. Through analyzing the Korean independent animation "A coffee vending machine and its sword", this research tried to find a way of using factors of fantasy, of representing reality as a dramatic device and of using magical realism of Korean animation for bond of sympathy with audience.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.36
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• pp.91-119
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• 2014

This paper analyzed and compared the storytelling of female characters in Korean, American, Japanese animations and revealed the ideal image of woman of each culture. Chapter 2 analyzed the superficial images of the female characters and figured out how these images reflected awareness of a reality. This paper revealed that female characters act as a representative cultural symbols and embodies the paradigm and the order of those cultures. In Chapter 3, this paper analyzed and compared how the female characters solve the dramatic events in the entire narrative structure, and revealed the cultural implications of their action and these events. Korean characters were imitating the idols as an extension of the real world, and American characters were drawn as unreal Super Heroes who were utilized to enhance the order of the world if the United States. Japanese characters, the magical girls are led to create a magic circle and then become surreal goddesses. In this way, this paper revealed that female characters in animation reflect the male-centered ideology of each culture according to the awareness of a reality and cultural paradigm.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.18
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• pp.37-56
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• 2010

This paper focalizes on the 'evolution' of monster animation and . Actually, Many characters' 'Evolution' is a very powerful convention of Japanese genre animation. Lots of young people feel a huge pleasure about character's evolution. It is a fantastic spectacle to boys and girls. The first characteristic point of characters' evolution is growing-up body to an adult. For example, magical girls genre shows a woman's sexy body. This scene gives a sexual fantasy to young girl spectators, a voyeuristic visual pleasure to young boy spectators. The second point is that a transforming-body gains some super power or magical power. The third point is that a great many characters is in one text. In , characters' numbers go on increasing through 6 ways-hybrid type, mutant-reiteration type, metamorphosis type, simple-grownup type, narrative type, multiple evolution type. The evolution of has to pay attention to only one transforming way. Most Digimon characters are becoming to a human-weapons cyborg. In my opinion, this is very dangerous phenomenon with a political ideology.

• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.65-101
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• 2010

By considering the final purpose and meaning of two fairy-tales, we can summarize two things. Firstly, a woman with father complex not only positive, but also negative can easily sacrifice her femininity and her own personality as an individual. A woman with father complex has to get out of father imago. By separating from father imago, she can make her own steps to realize her own personality, namely individuation. During normal development, detachment to instinct and archetypal contents can cause problems normally to the ego consciousness. Contrary to this developmental notion, women with father complex experience problems because they are too closely attached to father archetype. Therefore, continuous excessive identification of ego with father imago or a state of ego caught by father imago leads to death of her own personality. Some women intentionally attach to father imago in order to be powerful or to receive magical power of father archetype to make compensation to her inferiority and deficiency. Weak ego wants to be stronger and superior by intentional attachment to father imago. Then, she can succeed in some tasks in life. But These successes are not by her own effort, but by magical or superhuman power of father imago. During early childhood, young girl with weak ego strongly attaches to father imago to make success and achieve goals by magical power. She wants to compensate her weak ego. But the more her ego makes successes in real life with help of father imago, the more she loses her own character or personality. Ego can be strong enough only when it is detached or separated itself from father imago. In other side, there is a woman destined to realize request by the father imago. She is chosen by the collective unconscious, though she try to run away from dominant power. In this case, ego of selected woman is not weak. She is destined to be a heroine. She knows that she has to complete every task given to her to realize what father imago wants, and she will not own any of her products at all. She is a real or true heroine. She wants to avoid her destiny, but she can't and should not do it. Secondly, a woman with father complex is called for again to save father imago or to solve problems of father imago. In this case, father imago of a woman should be considered to be related to the collective conscious. Therefore, it is said that all women with father complex are invited for healing the society or the collective consciousness. To complete this request, she has to heal herself by recovering her femininity. The healing power is based on the maternal receptive capacity. In modern society, the women are always demanded to be a social being. These social demands can make women caught by father complex. In this sense, number of women with father complex are increasing. Through the understanding of two fairy-tales, increased number of women with father complex should be easily considered as events at personal level, but seriously considered as a phenomenon reflecting problems in the collective consciousness of our age. In the other hand, all women with father complex are invited to solve the problem of modern society. She will be able to realize her own individuation without being possessed by father imago, to save our society and to become a heroine of our age.

• Archives of design research
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• v.19 no.2 s.64
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• pp.293-300
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• 2006

Mr. Miyazaki's heroines tend to be plucky young women who combine guileless decency with tough-mindedness. However, in his the latest film the female character often change herself into wise older women who sometimes serve as foils, sometimes as mother figures. His heroine, Sophie, starts out as a shy girl, but then a curse transforms her into 90-year-old. Her partner is Howl who supports and is supported by Sophie their mutual drawbacks. At first horrified by the change, she comes to embrace it as a liberation from anxiety, fear and self-consciousness, and discovers in herself a new zest for adventure. The castle is surely one of the most extraordinary contraptions to appear on screen recently, more ingenious in its way than the intergalactic armada. It ranges freely from place to place and is also, somehow, in several places at once, its magical front door opening onto different landscapes with the flip of a knob. It is not exactly haunted, but it is nonetheless infused with whimsical and sometimes somber spirits. Sophie, in both her incarnations, joins an impressive sisterhood of Miyazaki heroines, whose version of girl power presents a potent alternative to the mini-machismo that dominates American juvenile entertainment.