The Study of the Effects of War on the Visual Elements in the Pictures of the Japanese Anime Grave of the Fireflies by Isao Takahata

 
 
 
Throughout history, humans have faced the phenomenon of war in their lives, and war is also a set of social issues that are included in the category of anomalies in human life, as well as damage and consequences. It brings with itself destruction, anxiety, chaos, and death. Naturally, due to the mentioned reasons, the artists of the societies react to this issue and are influenced by it. Artists, as leaders of art and culture, have different approaches to war based on the time and place conditions, the aesthetic standards of their era, as well as their expertise in different artistic fields. The effects of historical wars, both big and small, can be seen in different ways in the cinematographic, visual, literary and musical Artworks. In Artworks related to war, artists represent narratives and individual and collective feelings. These concepts make the survivors and the new generation understand the events and disasters that sometimes bring a sense of shame and sometimes a sense of collective pride. Artists throughout history, inspired by some common cultural, political, and social conditions, record narratives or embody their personal view of events, among which some retell the war with a heroic perspective, and some also depict catastrophes and destructions. These cases are sometimes evident in the world of anime and animation. Anime and animation, due to their features, i.e., conveying feelings with the help of images and movement, the freedom of the artist in designing characters and using visual elements and qualities, makes it possible to create a deeper connection between the artist and the audience. Many artists around the world have recounted the tragedies and consequences of war by relying on this field of art. For example, Japanese anime artists such as Miyazaki and Takahata have started creating works of art in line with the Second World War, which had engulfed Japanese society at times. The swing is considered to be the work of Isao Takahata. It should be noted that animes, which are animation products specific to Japan, include a collection of several artistic fields, including drawing, painting, acting, dancing, sculpture, photography, and music, and in this, it can be said: Anime art is included in the category of visual arts, in such a way that aesthetics, the effect of its elements and its visual quality require a general understanding of the principles and basics of the aforementioned arts, as well as having visual literacy, because having a coherent artwork comes from the basic combination of qualities and visual elements that some of these qualities and visual elements are changed in line with the theme of the anime. It seems that the focus of the war on some elements and visual qualities was not unaffected in the anime "Grave of the Fireflies". From this point of view, the question raised for the researcher is: What effect did the centrality of war have on some visual elements in the pictures of the Japanese anime, Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies? And the purpose of this research is to study the effects of the focus of the war on the visual elements in the pictures of the Japanese anime, Grave of the Fireflies, by Isao Takahata. This article has been done in a descriptive-analytical way, and the information contained in it has been obtained through the use of some library and internet sources, as well as observation and study of Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies anime have been collected. In this way, some of the visual elements and qualities present in the considered sample pictures have been investigated based on the effects of war on them. The findings of this research show that: the lines that in some way lead to the formation of the texture as well as the rhythm, in the example of this research, have the task of showing the facial scars, scratches, and characters having mud on their  bodies. In this anime, the intensity and weakness of the lines in some scenes intensify and induce the sense of isolation, loneliness, and suffering caused by war. If we pay attention to the design of the two characters Sita and Setsuko during the anime, we will find that the closer we get from the beginning of the work to the end, the more lines appear on their faces, bodies, and clothes, The multiplicity of these lines and the textures formed through them in the pictures of the artwork can express the helplessness, fatigue, endurance of many hardships and the physical damage caused by the war to Sita and Setsuko, which, of course, in this anime is similar to the rest of Takahata's works. The peripheral lines of the elements and characters are also preserved, of course, these types of peripheral lines are a signature of the director. In animes such as Grave of the Fireflies, which follows the theme of war, in the scene after the air strike on Kobe city in this anime, when Sita looks at the cityscape from a distance, the  ruins look like they are covered with a layer of grey colour. For example, the greenness of the plains has been replaced by dull green colour and the blue colour of the sky has been mixed with grey as if they carry a layer of dust and sadness with them. Of course, it should be noted that the game with the element of colour and its saturation is also used as a tool for emphasis in the pictures of the work, such as when the people of the city start collecting debris and destroyed household items. They say that Sita and Setsuko appear in the centre of the frame with a bright and clear colour and the rest of the people who are struggling in the background are depicted with high colour saturation, thus emphasizing the main characters of the story. The presence of contrast both in the content and visual layers of the work shows the contrast between a peaceful life and a life full of anxiety and pain caused by the war. In the content part of the work, we can mention the cherry blossoms. In Japan, every year during the blooming of the cherry blossoms, a ceremony is held along with an excursion in nature. These blossoms do not survive more than a few days and soon They are lost. The depiction of the family of four, Sita and Setsuko, in the middle of a bunch of cherry blossoms, can be a sign of the short life of this war-torn family, because in the rest of the scenes of this anime, each of these characters painfully lose their lives. It is clear that the desired visual elements do not create a sequence by themselves or by chance, but it is the director who arranges the characters and other elements according to the centrality of the work and the content in it. In the anime "Grave of the Fireflies," it seems that the composition has been done carefully and based on the principles following visual arts and cinema. For example, the opening images of the movie Sita's Half-life at the train station, show the use of golden proportions in the composition of the desired anime image. The correct use of elements made this work known as the best anti-war anime. The images in this anime are like paintings that have preserved their beauty despite portraying a bitter and dark story. In the image of the escape sequence of Sita and Setsuko, the composition of the page is such that the two characters are surrounded by circles. The placement of two figures from the back view in the middle of the circular frames, which themselves induce a magnifying glass-like look, evokes a sense of pursuit in the audience, these views, through the correct composition design, even the moods, the spirit of the characters has also been well conveyed to the audience. Movement, as a visual element in anime, sometimes carries with it a sense of enchantment and magic, in the anime "The Bury of the Glow Worms", the movement and vibrancy of the worms give the audience a magical and enchanted feeling. Because, when the characters of the work are disappointed, fireflies appear, in the middle of the rice fields in the dark of night when Sita and Setsuko talk about family and parents, the sky is full of worms. It becomes a nightshade. And when the candy can of Setsuko is thrown out of the station as garbage by the train station attendant, the fireflies start moving again in the form of luminous and magical points.