Forum - View topicsymbols in anime – what does it all mean?
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subforry
 Posts: 21 Location: Hermosa Beach, CA |
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I have some questions about some reoccurring visuals I have seen in anime.
When a school girl leaves her home in the morning she puts on her penny loafers and taps the toe of the shoe against the floor. What is up with this? Is she just setting her shoes or is there some folklore about this? Also do Japanese students really change shoes when they get to school? Next up, what is with the symbolism of a single drop of water into a still body of water. It seems like this is used at many different times, and symbolizes completely opposite ideas. One interpretation is a single drop causing ripples across the whole pond (a small thing making a big change). Another interpretation is that the drop is just another drop in the bucket (something is insignificant when compared to all the other things). The drop in the pond visual has nice duality, but it seems to be the go to imagery. I can’t help but think the people creating the show are thinking, “Hey, if use that stock footage of a drop falling into a pond, that will be 64 less frames needed.” Any Thoughts on drop in a pond visual? Thanks. |
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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It's customary in many Asian countries to remove ones shoes while indoors and change into slippers. There's an interesting article about it here. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to do this when entering a large, public building like a school, but hey.... |
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Asako
 Posts: 751 Location: Hawaii |
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I don't know if this is the reason, but cleanliness is a big part of their culture.
Anyhow, using your shoes inside a building that was used outside can track in dirt and other things from the outside. It makes sense to keep those shoes out of a building and to keep it clean. I always remove my shoes before walking around the house (either leaving them by the door or outside). Many Asian cultures do this. You also remove shoes before entering a temple or shrine.. to keep it clean. As for the tapping of the shoe? I'm guessing it has to do with showing that they just put on their shoes. Maybe it's easier to animate than showing them putting on shoes. Also it probably takes up less frames than having them animated a foot going into a shoe. This is all a guess. I haven't really got anything to back it up completely. |
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bllanosr
 Posts: 212 |
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I think the shoe tapping has something to do with the old wives tale about someone getting stung by a scorpion in their shoes.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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I doubt it since this referring to the toe-tap after having put the shoe on. If you don't know what we mean, look at the first OP for Cardcaptor Sakura.
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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I always thought that the reason they show a female character tapping the toe of her shoe on the ground after putting them on, was that the character was making sure that the shoe was on her foot securely.
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Isikari
 Posts: 118 |
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Referring back to the original posters second question, I can answer this one thanks to ANN!
That question as well as a few others are answered at the following link; animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2004-10-25 Since we're on the topic of symbols in anime, I might as well voice one of the myriad questions I've had about anime, what is with the Christian symbols seen in a variety of anime. Some examples include Castle in the Sky when its said the castle 'destroyed' Sodom and Gomorrah (Go Bible Stories!) as well as in Evangelion and many others. Anyone have any ideas why this is? ~ Isikari |
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Asako
Posts: 751 Location: Hawaii |
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I've never really questioned why they would have religious symbols and such. I believe that things dealing with gods, and powers fascinate kids. I know I was fascinated with Greek mythology in elementary school and so were many other people. I would think that weaving myths into different stories is very much appealing and brings in money.
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Ramadahl
Posts: 325 Location: MK, UK |
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Simple answer - mythology is cool. Stuff is drawn from lots of different mythologies, but the christian ones are probably just more noticeable to some of us (social upbringing, etc.). I seem to remember an article with the Eva creators (can't find it now though...), who specifically stated that the whole christian mythology thing was just to make it look cool and mysterious. |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Offtopic fact: My old Elementary School used to do this. It wasnt a japanese thing or anything, it was just to keep the place clean. As for the whole mythology thing, Ramadahl summed it up pretty well. Mythological references are cool. Its a little tacky at times, but frankly its cool to have them say a name and go "hey I know who that is!" To elaborate on the Christian references, that always struck me as odd as relatively few Japanese people, especially in Japan are Christian. But it occurs to me that perhaps it is because of this, Japanese people have very little practical experience with Christianity, therefore Christian references/mythology/symbols/etc seem unusual to them and get a reaction more like the way we view Greek/Norse/etc mythology. |
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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good question.. I also have noticed this..
about the changing shoes and probably taking it off when you're in someone else's house or in another building, I heard somewhere that it's also a sign of respect.. One already said that it's because when you go outside your shoes get dirty so it's best to keep the dirty shoes outside.. I also have a similar question.. what's with the piece of cloth that's green and has swirly lines on it? I saw it twice on two different animes yesterday, one was in Akazukin Cha Cha, I think.. |
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suna_suna
 Posts: 550 Location: Ohio |
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i think that symbols are truly up to the interpreter. i know that sounds cliche, but i feel that it is an amazing truth in the world.
if anime is any indication, schoolchildren have a set of outdoor and indoor shoes and change them inside. i love greek myths, but christian references in anime are perhaps there simply because the director wanted them to be there. ere, they are more likely trying to get people to follow the christian faith. |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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On the Spirited Away DVD, one of the English actors specifically mentions how they enjoyed that characters like Chihiro take their time doing ordinary, everyday things, such as carefully putting on shoes. Helps make the character more identifiable.
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bonbonsrus
 Posts: 1537 Location: Michigan, USA |
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Here is a question about a symbol I am not sure where it came from...the blue 9 symbol (or 6 I suppose) seen in several animes ~Blue Seed, I saw it in disk 4 of Maburaho, I have seen it as the stone spirit of past fighters in Ikki Tousen and many others it's in... point is, I have seen this in different animes and have never seen an american equivilant.
thoughts? |
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BrothersElric
 Posts: 1996 |
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As much as I absolutely LOVE mythology, as well as Christian references, (there are a whole lot in one of the hopefully Shonen Jump bound manga storylines I've created, feel free to look at it on the anime storylines thread) as much easier it would be to know what specific series/movie you're talking about, it seems to me, whatever it's from, that this is supposed to be an example of Chaos Theory, where one small thing can change the course of the whole big picture. |
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