Sunday, September 25, 2016
Week Three: Japanese Horror
I found A Wild Sheep Chase to be quite fascinating and very peculiar. I
am new to the Japanese horror genre and it took some time to transition into
this new story. The amount of symbolic meaning and life meaning in this story
sets it apart from the gothic, which appeared more of personal iterations of
the authors that wrote them. I had assumed the Japanese horror would be written
in that same sense where the characters are foils to people from their life, or
character personalities are based off of those of the author. It is not either
of these, but the embodiment of a metaphorical meaning. The story is based
around the hunt for a supernatural sheep, but also in the supernatural itself.
It has the feeling of a traditional Japanese tale, the lesson behind the story
is more important than the story itself. It is not a western horror, but it
does have some western feel in it with the plot development of this story
feeling similar to an American movie plot of the same time frame. The lack of
names for the characters was also odd, but it works well for the story. This is
another difference between the gothic as well, as the characters are typically
named and stand out to the reader. But in this case, it works to the advantage
of the story. As is the same with the gaming industry, an unnamed protagonist
often pulls the reader/gamer deeper into the story because they can include
themselves in the story. By doing this, the meaning of the story is more
connected with the reader. It is less of a matter of connecting with a
character, but more of a matter of becoming the character. It puts oneself into
the story and makes them experience it first hand, the fear of becoming ruined,
the frustration of searching for a sheep from a single photo taken. However, it
is interesting to look at the karmic balance of the story. There isn’t a
definitive good and evil, but a mix of forces that are natural, neutral. The
story doesn’t favor good versus evil like its counterpart of the gothic, but
favors neutral forces based on the actions of the character. There is small
character development, but more so to say that your actions can have dire
consequences, not that you are a Hero or Villain for the ones you chose to make.
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