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.