Musical Selves Anime Soundtracks From Domesticating Plagiarism To Hybridising Authenticity
Musical Selves Anime Soundtracks From Domesticating Plagiarism To Hybridising Authenticity

Summary/Abstract: The current paper focuses on three anime movies and their respective soundtracks: Ponpoko: The Heisei Tanuki War (Heisei tanuki gassen ponpoko, 1994, director: Takahata Isao, music: Shang Shang Typhoon), Ghost in the Shell (Kôkaku kidôtai [literally: Mobile Armored Riot Police Against Chaos Attacks], 1995, director: Oshii Mamoru, music: Kawai Kenji) and Princess Mononoke (Mononoke hime, 1997, director: Miyazaki Hayao, music: Hisaishi Joe). The choice of these anime movies falls back to the fact that at the time of their release, they marked undisputed milestones in the history of the anime genre due to their powerful expression modes and idealistic foundations. The music of these three anime movies is comprised in the stress ratio between two concepts – “domesticating plagiarism” and “hybridizing authenticity” – in the quest for identifying their contribution to overcoming classical dichotomies such as original-copy and West-East. While anime soundtracks can be observed from a variety of perspectives – as a medium, a genre, a technique, a form, an ideology or an aesthetics –, the current research endeavor brings in the foreground the ideologicalaesthetical parameters of anime soundtracks, particularly and directly derived from the individual visions of their respective composers and refering unmistakenly to the magic and the deeper levels of significance of animation as a means of expression.

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