Course Description
The images of heroes are ubiquitous in popular culture. They are indispensable for movies, television serials, other forms of popular narratives. While it is not difficult to find common traits and characteristics among many popular heroes, there are also many diverse types. These differences are sometimes nothing more than superficial variations, providing seemingly a cornucopia of choices for fans and consumers eager to find heroes that best match their personal interest and taste. Yet when heroes produced by different societies are compared to each other, we often discover that their images are hardly homogeneous or uniform. This is not surprising because heroes are closely linked to the cultural values and traditions of the society in which they are produced. This course is intended to introduce students to comparative cultural criticism of the East and the West by focusing on the images of heroes in popular culture and subcultures. We will primarily examine heroes in Japanese anime and Hollywood movies. The first part of the course deals with Japanese and Hollywood movies as two major representatives of global popular culture.
To further narrow down the scope of our examination, we will more specifically focus on the internationally known Japanese anime franchises and the Marvel superhero films and DC Comics movies. The anime heroes to be examined include, but not limited to, Shinji (Evangelion), Motoko (Ghost in the Shell), Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke), Madoka (Puella Magi Madoka Magica), Akane (Psycho-Pass), Eren (Attack on Titan), Tanjiro and the Hashira (Demon Slayer), and Itadori (Jujutsu Kaisen). As for Hollywood superheroes, we will scrutinize, among others, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and the Avengers. In addition, some antiheroes will be discussed for comparison (e.g., Eren in Attack on Titan and the Joker). We are  interested in exploring what qualities are regarded essential for heroes in Japanese anime and Hollywood superhero movies, what cultural values underlie those qualities, what the differences between anime heroes and Hollywood superheroes can possibly tell us about the cultural traditions and values of Japanese and American societies. In the second part of the course, the focus will be shifted to the popular heroes’ travel across the cultural boundaries of the East and the West. We will take up the case of the 1970s’ Japanese anime UFO Robot Grendizer, which enjoyed enormous popularity in such places as France, Italy, and Arabic speaking countries. If time permits, another 1970s’ Japanese anime Voltes V will be discussed in relation Voltes V: Legacy, a Philippine live action television serial made in 2023. These examples do not prove the universality of Japanese anime heroes; instead, they show that the boundary separating the East and the West is highly permeable, and that hybridization has always been an engine of creativity in global popular culture.

Learning outcomes
Students will learn how to discuss and analyze popular culture not as a fan but as a critical observer. This course introduces them to the basic methods of comparative cultural criticism and cross-cultural understanding between the East and the West. They will learn not only the similarities and differences between Japanese and American heroes but also the never-ending process of hybridization that problematizes a rigid dichotomy of the East and the West.

Teaching and evaluation methods
Combination of lecture and discussion. There will be a weekly reading assignment. Students will be asked to give at least one class presentation on the assigned reading and/or film. The following is the percentage of the overall grade assigned to each evaluation: A (10–25%), B (25–40%), C (25–40%), D (5–10%), F (0–5%)

Bibliography
--Brown, Jeffrey A. 2017. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge.
--Burke, Liam. 2015. The Comic Book Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood’s Leading Genre. University Press of Mississippi.
--Clements, Jonathan. 2023. Anime: A History, 2nd edition. Bloomsbury.
--Napier, Susan. 2018. Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art. Yale University Press.
--Roudometof, Victor. 2016. Glocalization : A Critical Introduction. Routledge.
--Ruh, Brian. 2014. Stray Dog of Anime: The Films of Mamoru Oshii. Palgrave Macmillan.
--Secker, Tom and Tricia Jenkins. 2021. Superheroes, Movies, and the State: How the US Government Shapes Cinematic Universes. University Press of Kansas.
--Tasker, Yvonne. 2015. The Hollywood Action and Adventure Film. Wiley Blackwell.

Last updated: January 29, 2025