tomo's AKIRA

32 Pages·2014·3.06 MB·English

STIC 5 (1) pp. 155–185 Intellect Limited 2014
Studies in Comics
Volume 5 Number 1
© 2014 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/stic.5.1.155_1
Madeline B. GanGnes
University of Dundee
static action, silent sound:
Translating visual techniques
from manga to film in Katsuhiro
-
Otomo’s AKIRA
Keywords abstract
-
manga In the manga AKIRA (1982–1990), Katsuhiro Otomo depicts action sequences, violence and the presentation
cantilevering of space through a visual approach that expertly creates a dynamic sense of movement and presence within
subjective motion the moment. This effect is achieved through the manipulation of the form and structure of the comics page,
film adaptation particularly through the use of a cantilevering technique to unbalance the page structure and make the action
-
sound and music sequences feel visceral and tense. To that end, Otomo also uses embodied perspectives, eye-line matches and
-
translation appeals to the senses, especially sound. Otomo strives to achieve similar effects in his 1988 animated film
adaptation of the manga by incorporating a blend of manga and cinematic techniques. Some of these are taken
from the original AKIRA manga, others from cinematic influences, particularly western ones. The film adapts
155
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 155 7/30/14 8:35:34 PM
Madeline B. Gangnes
the manga in a sympathetic way, but also changes a great deal, especially with regard to the presentation of 1. This is not to say
space, sound, perspective and violence. Much of what the manga alludes to, or leaves in the gutters for the that translations and
adaptations are the
reader’s imagination to concoct, is translated to the screen to quite different effect. This article will also consider same. Both involve
the translation of the manga into English, and how the changes in, for example, sound effects, as well as the creative substitutions
- to capture the ‘spirit’
addition of colour alter the precision engineering of Otomo’s pages. These two forms of translation (from one
of the original text
language to another, and from page to screen) will be considered alongside one another to reveal the complex- while also potentially
ity of O- tomo’s masterpiece in both media, and the difficulties of such adaptations and translations. being transformative,
but this connection
is essentially
metaphorical. In literal
- terms, translation is a
Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga AKIRA is one of the most celebrated and influential manga series ever way of working with
created: a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk epic that spans over 2000 pages and took eight years to the original text and
- altering it materially for
complete. The animated film adaptation of the manga, which Otomo co-wrote and directed, was
- a different audience,
released in 1988: two years before Otomo completed the manga. It, too, has been lauded as a whereas an adaptation
ground-breaking piece of animation and a seminal science-fiction film. takes the more
ephemeral parts of the
In ‘The task of the translator’, Walter Benjamin argues that ‘no translation would be possible if
text (story, character,
in its ultimate essence it strove for likeness to the original’ (1968: 73). The film adaptation of AKIRA themes) and recreates
is a translation (for adaptation is an act of translation from one medium to another) that preserves them using different
tools and in a new
the spirit of the original piece without getting caught in the trap of attempting to simply duplicate it.1 medium, often for the
-
That said, the animated nature of the film allows it to closely replicate Otomo’s distinctive drawing same audience as the
original text and/or for
style. However, rather than attempting to strictly recreate the visual techniques and plot of the
- an expanded audience.
manga in the film adaptation, Otomo plays to the strengths of animation. The resulting film pushed For more information
the boundaries of animated cinema while remaining faithful to the characters, themes and ‘feel’ of on Adaptation Theory,
see Hutcheon (2012),
the manga. The film presents a wider, richer view of the world of AKIRA through the use of visual
Stam and Raengo
and auditory techniques that are unavailable to the comics medium. Both the manga and the film (2005), Cahir (2006)
exemplify the strengths of their respective media, and while each functions as a self-contained piece, and Geraghty (2008).
the two also benefit from the relationship they share. This article will examine the visual techniques
used in the AKIRA manga through the lens of Comics Theory and analyse in what manner and to
what effect they have been translated: both from language to language (Japanese to English) and
from medium to medium (manga to animated film).
static action
-
Otomo’s visual style has been described as ‘consisting of detailed line drawing and dynamic framing
-
with complex perspectives’ (Otomo 2009: 366). This visual dynamism and complexity is most promi-
-
nently seen in the action sequences of AKIRA (the manga). Otomo’s ‘dynamic framing’ is often
achieved through the use of cantilever panel structures, while ‘complex perspectives’ aid in his use of
156
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 156 7/30/14 8:35:34 PM
Static action, silent sound
subjective motion. Both visual techniques are used to create a sense of movement and tension within
-
and between panels and pages. Otomo also portrays violent impact in ways that take advantage of
the comics medium, particularly through his choices regarding when to rely on closure and when to
-
explicitly portray violence. The effects Otomo achieves through the precise control he wields in using
these visual techniques are complicated by the translation of the manga into other languages, and by
the addition of colour. Whereas one might imagine that the transposition to another medium (film) is
-
potentially much more disruptive than an act of translation, Otomo’s pages are so carefully constructed
that the changes brought about by the process of translation to another language are considerable.
The animated nature of film allows for the depiction of movement, violence and impact in a
much more direct and controlled fashion than on a comics page. Animating still images that already
convey a sense of movement (such as those present in the manga) can amplify that movement, just
as animating still images that depict violence or impact can amplify the brutality and force of those
-
elements. In the film, Otomo takes advantage of the fact that as a filmmaker he has almost complete
control over the pace at which a viewer experiences the action, whereas a comics reader, though
guided to some extent by the structure of the page, has the flexibility to change the pace at which he
-
or she reads, skip around or reread certain sections. Otomo uses animation to create a faster, some-
times more visceral kind of action in the film. Just as in the manga, the contrast between highly
charged and calmer sequences increases the impact of the action, as does the film’s use of colour. In
-
order to appreciate the choices Otomo makes both as a comics creator and a filmmaker it is first
necessary to describe how his pages work.
Cantilevering, panel structures and the architecture of the comics page
The comics page is a construct composed of images that are generally contained in panels. Charles
Hatfield explains: ‘[S]uccessive images in a comic are laid out contiguously on a larger surface or
surfaces (that is, a page or pages). Each surface organizes the images into a constellation of discrete
units, or “panels”’ ([2006] 2009: 139). These ‘discreet units’ are carefully composed and organized by
the artist to create meaning and rhythm. The panels themselves work in conjunction with the spaces
between panels (gutters):
The […] space between the panels can be used in various ways: […] an artist can vary these
distances to various effects […]. Moreover, the size (small versus big) and the form (upright,
oblong, square) of the page’s space can be of importance.
(Lefèvre [2006] 2009: 161)
-
Otomo’s pages are meticulously constructed to manipulate the pace at which the reader moves
through the manga and the emotions he or she feels while reading; panel sizes, shapes and
157
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 157 7/30/14 8:35:34 PM
Madeline B. Gangnes
placements as well as the angle and width of gutters are carefully chosen to achieve particular effects. 2. This tension recalls
Whereas comics pages are more open to interpretation and the reader arguably has a greater meas- Hatfield’s discussion
- of the tension between
ure of control than in other media, Otomo wrestles back some control with a variety of narrative sequence and surface
techniques, some of them drawn from cinema. While it is perhaps a cliché to say his pages are ‘cine- in ‘An Art of Tensions’
(Hatfield [2006] 2009:
matic’, this is a function of the control he exercises over pacing and perspective, as well as his fast-
139–44).
paced cross-cutting. This is most evident in the action sequences.
The most noticeable visual technique upon first glancing at many of the action sequence pages
of the first three parts/books of AKIRA is the use of cantilever panel structures. In architectural terms,
a cantilever is ‘any rigid structural member, esp. one projecting from a vertical support, in which the
fixed end is in compression and the free end is in tension’ (Random House 2000). Cantilevering
functions in a comics page as follows:
When the action is relatively static and just talky, the page layout is rigidly perpendicular (aka
standard). When action is rising […] the horizontals start to slide and slant ever so slightly.
And when the climax arrives, the tiers are about as level as the slides at a water park.
(Consequentialart 2008, par. 2)
Figure 1 is a two-page excerpt from the AKIRA manga with relatively mild cantilevering (read these
pages right-to-left; for English adaptation see Figure 2). Even the slight tilt of the gutters draws the
reader’s eye back and forth through the panels and down the page, creating a sense of motion and
slight disorientation that ‘standard’ panels would not achieve. The structure of such pages mimics
the architectural concept of cantilevering in that the vertical page borders can be seen as vertical
support beams from which the horizontal gutters project, so that the panels press against and
support one another in a state of tension and compression. The overall effect of this page structure
is to elicit an emotional response in the reader consistent with the tone of the action: tense and fast-
paced. The panel structures propel the reader forward just as the characters are propelled on their
-
motorcycles. Otomo also makes effective use of the panel shapes, so that even small panels or
awkwardly shaped wedges contain images that use the panel shape to their best advantage.
More extreme cantilevering can be seen in Figure 3 (English adaptation Figure 4). The angles at
which the gutters are slanted create panels that appear sharp at the edges, and their positions feel
so precarious that it seems like some of them would be in danger of sliding out of place if they were
not held there by the vertical support beams created by the page borders and by the tension
between panels. Again, this visual tension enhances the excitement of the scene.2 The exaggerated
cantilevering also moves the reader’s eyes through the pages at a more extreme pace and rhythm
than seen in Figure 1; in Figure 3 the reader might feel as though he or she is falling or sliding
through the panels in an unpredictable path that is interrupted by sharp vertical panel divides.
158
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 158 7/30/14 8:35:34 PM
Static action, silent sound
3. This tension between The closure at work between panels with cantilevered structures mirrors the comparatively
compression on the compressed storytelling that occurs in these fast-paced action sequences. The transitions are handled
comics page and
decompressed narrative so that while closure does inevitably occur, the fast pace of the pages leaves little opportunity for the
also recalls Hatfield reader to pause and consider what is happening. Just as cantilevering squeezes the panels together,
([2006] 2009).
mirroring the fast editing style of action films, it also limits the scope for the reader to imaginatively
4. See the next section construct what is going on as the architecture of the page propels the reader through the space at a
entitled ‘Motion
considerable pace. This effect is all the more pronounced because most of AKIRA, in the tradition of
(subjective and literal),
speed, perspective and manga storytelling, is characterized by narrative decompression, so these highly compressed scenes
violent impact’. stand out and feel even faster and more action-packed.3
5. Domu (O- tomo 1994b) Cantilevering is seen consistently throughout AKIRA Part 1, most prominently in motorcycle
-
and Fireball (in -O tomo chase scenes, and is frequently used in action sequences throughout Parts 2 and 3. However,
1994c), two of Otomo’s -
Otomo’s use of panel shapes undergoes a marked transformation in Part 4. Cantilevering is no
sci-fi precursors to
AKIRA, rigidly adhere longer present in action sequences, which are instead presented in a more decompressed manner
to this style, as do his and rely on dynamic perspectives and speed and impact lines within panels.4 Cantilevering is used
shorter works. -
in Parts 4–6 to depict scenes containing mental or emotional upheaval. In such scenes, Otomo often
combines cantilevering with variations in gutter width to manipulate time and space and convey
disorientation and psychological distress.
-
Throughout his work, Otomo’s page layouts are almost exclusively structured so that hori-
zontal gutters are roughly twice as thick as vertical gutters.5 This holds true in AKIRA, even when
cantilevering is involved. Several rare and striking exceptions occur within the second half of the
series. The first is seen during a drug-induced hallucination/memory Tetsuo experiences near the
middle of Part 4 (Figure 5). In this scene, variations in horizontal gutter widths serve two
purposes: first, they indicate which portions of the scene are part of the hallucination and which
show Tetsuo himself having the hallucination; second, they link together fragmented images in
the hallucination despite the fact that they jump around in time. All of the vertical gutters on
these pages remain thin, but the only thick horizontal gutters are those that frame images of
Tetsuo in the present (rather than his hallucination). Panels that are part of the hallucination
have horizontal gutters that are the same thickness as the vertical gutters. This technique manip-
ulates time, pacing and tension within the scene, all of which are amplified by the extreme canti-
levering of some of the gutters and the fact that the thinning of horizontal gutters appears
extremely rarely in the series before this point. There is a sense that the form of the comic is
becoming unhinged, like Tetsuo’s mind. Whereas the first half of the manga uses cantilevering to
suggest the disruptive nature of gang warfare, its use in the second half, when the city is devas-
-
tated, suggests the disruptive and violent nature of the psychic conflict. If Otomo’s page struc-
tures were not so disciplined and rigid, such variations would not have so much power and
symbolic significance.
159
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 159 7/30/14 8:35:34 PM
Madeline B. Gangnes
Figure 1: AKIRA Part 1, Kodansha Ltd. Japanese edition, pages 304–5.
160
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 160 7/30/14 8:35:36 PM
Static action, silent sound
Figure 2: AKIRA Book One, Dark Horse English language adaptation, pages 306–7.
161
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 161 7/31/14 1:51:13 PM
Madeline B. Gangnes
Figure 3: AKIRA Part 1, Kodansha Ltd. Japanese edition, pages 122–3.
162
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 162 7/30/14 8:35:40 PM
Static action, silent sound
Figure 4: AKIRA Book One, Dark Horse English language adaptation, pages 124–5.
163
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 163 7/31/14 1:52:15 PM
Madeline B. Gangnes
Figure 5: Excerpt from a drug-induced hallucination/memory sequence in AKIRA Part 4, Kodansha Ltd. Japanese edition, pages 110–11.
164
STIC_5.1_Gangnes_155-185.indd 164 7/31/14 1:52:44 PM