As
I’ve said before, I have many passions aside from literature, and I feel they
all combine to make up who I am as a person and what I like best about myself!
One of the things I enjoy that I honestly don’t talk about a whole lot is anime
or Japanese animation.
Now
before some of you start running for the hills (or what passes for hills here
in Indiana), this is still very much related to anthropomorphic animal stories
and stories in general!
I’ve
been watching a little series lately called Shirokuma Café (aka: Polar Bear’s
Café). It’s a fun series about a Polar Bear named Shirokuma who runs a modest
café in modern day Japan. The majority of the series is about the everyday life
of Shirokuma, which is also the Japanese word for Polar Bear, and the visitors
to his café. Many of them are other animals, like Anteater, Llama, and Penguin,
but there are also many humans who attend the café. It is, after all, in modern
day Japan.
One
of the more humorous aspects to me in the show is how the animals lead everyday
lives in human society, and the lines are so wonderfully blurred between humans
treating them like people and treating them like animals. Folks see a bear
enter into a convenience store to buy some balsamic vinegar while talking on
his smart phone and they think nothing of it. Yet, in the same day, children
will go to the zoo and see the same bear there and cheer about how cute it is
as it rolls around in a tire swing.
The
very fact that zoos exist in this kind of world is strangely hilarious to me,
especially with how they are presented. For instance, one of the main
characters in the series, Panda (try and guess what he is), is being forced to get
a job by his mother. However, he has no skills at anything, no ambition, and
really only considers himself to be good at eating bamboo and sleeping. Every
place he interviews at, understandably, throws him right out. However, he
finally lands a part-time job at the local zoo… as a panda. So now he clocks in
every day with his punch card, asks his human supervisor about the finer points
of his job and how to do it better, and then goes into the panda exhibit where
people cheer him on for sleeping, playing around, and eating bamboo. After
work, he clocks out with his coworkers at the zoo and goes to the café for an
iced coffee while they talk about their day.
The
everyday presentation of what really is quite a ludicrous concept just slays
me, and it also makes me think about stories where anthropomorphic animals are
sharing space with humans. In Shirokuma Café, animals have integrated with the
human world almost seamlessly, and yet their animal natures are never
forgotten. In many science-fiction stories that I’ve seen, anthro characters
tend to either work completely separately from humans, or they work in
positions that are socially below or above humans, such as being slaves or
owning human slaves.
I
always wonder why it is that many stories featuring both anthropomorphic and
human characters choose to put them basically in opposition to one another in
society. Even in Treasure Planet, which I rather enjoyed, humans and Kzin were
treated as being very alien to one another, even with two members of the species
being best friends.
Of
course, when it comes to crafting a story, it’s true that conflict creates
interest in most readers, and racial conflicts resonate easily with most
people. While I think this is a large reason why humans and animals are socially
forced apart in so many stories, it certainly would be refreshing to see more
cases where they’re treated pretty much as equals in society, and yet still
very different creatures.
What
do others think? Does anybody have any recommendations of stories that DO
feature a bit more even ground between humans and others? If so, I’d love to
see them and give them a read!
 |
| This is my other part time job... I guess it's sort of like a zoo. |
Until
next time, happy reading, all!
-Chammy
Currently Reading:
Air Ferrets Aloft by Richard Bach
No comments:
Post a Comment