Just checked out a flaming garbage Netflix original documentary called Enter the Anime. Allegedly a documentary explaining to newcomers the origins and meanings of Japanese animation. It fails at everything it claims to be doing and might succeed only at being a sycophantic and crass marketing tool for Netflix.
And you might be thinking to yourself “who cares”? It’s just cartoons. Well, fair enough. I’m not the biggest anime fan (a lot of it is hot garbage but some of the movies are remarkable) but I am curious about the culture and history behind it. Why is it all drawn in such a similar way? What do common visual tropes mean? What are the historical and cultural themes that repeat and why? That kind of thing interests me, not just which tv series or film had the coolest mecha or magical girl.
The documentary fails mainly on two fronts, each a mirror image of the other. If someone isn’t a fan of anime and wants to learn about it, this documentary is too basic and doesn’t explain much history, styles, themes, context, or meaning. If you are an anime fan, then the movie has a superficial, pandering, and borderline insulting tone.
This film has no real interest in anime as a cultural and historical thing. It will talk about a specific anime but gives it no historical context. What is an “Evangelion”, for example. They spend time interviewing someone about this classic of the genre but not what it is or why it matters (PSA: it’s streaming on Netflix right now though). The same is true for other, newer shows like Castlevania and 7SEEDS… both Netflix originals. Hmmm…..
And on top of all that, the doc is filmed with an edgy/faux-edgy editing style where the camera never sits still or fails to overlay special effects. This can be in line with the wacky or edgy side of anime, but it never lets up, even during interviews with subtitles which may be you want to read without the camera tricks. Plus the alleged director/narrator (who is never introduced so I no idea who she is) keeps explaining how she can’t figure out what anime is and is getting tired of the work. Wonderful. And ironic since she apparently is not doing any of the interviews herself anyway.
This documentary is straight-up garbage. You will learn almost nothing about what anime is and why its important or at least why it permeates some of our pop culture. If you already know some of this, you’ll be condescended to. If you want to know the actual somewhat interesting history, you will not learn much at all. You will only learn that Netflix produces some anime and, hey, maybe you’ve been advertised to.
Score: 56