Didn't I See That in an Anime?

With the release of the trailer for "Black Swan" there have been a few rumors circulating that the new Darren Aronofsky drama is an unofficial remake of the 1998 anime thriller, "Perfect Blue," directed by Satoshi Kon. Though "Black Swan" concerns ballerinas and "Perfect Blue" followed the career transition of a pop star to an actress, some of the imagery is similar. Aronofsky may or may not own the remake rights to "Perfect Blue," supposedly bought for sum of $59,000 back in the 90s. This claim has been repeated all over the Internet but can be tied to no specific source. The best argument for Aronofsky being aware of the anime, however, would be the bathtub scene from Aronofsky's earlier thriller "Requiem for a Dream," which Youtube videos reveal is awfully close to a sequence in "Perfect Blue."

This is only the latest claim of Hollywood creative types secretly referencing or outright lifting elements from Japanese animation. Countless hours have been spent by fans to compile the evidence showing suspicious similarlities between Disney's "The Lion King" and Osamu Tezuka's "Jungle Emperor," better known as "Kimba the White Lion." Or between "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" and GAINAX's "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water." Or between the "Firefly" pilot and "Outlaw Star." Or No Doubt's "Ex-Girlfriend" music video and "A Kite." This year's "Inception" has prompted comparisons to another Satoshi Kon anime, "Paprika," for its dream-manipulation plot and an action sequence involving a hallway. In a few cases, the creators have admitted the influences. The Wachowski brothers famously borrowed imagery from the cyberpunk classic "Ghost in the Shell" for "The Matrix."

While some of these claims may have merit, most do not, or involve such trivial minutiae that there seems to be no point in obsessing over them. Yet the rumors and urban legends persist, year after year, even long after the accused offenders have faded out of the mainstream consciousness. Why they persist is a more interesting question to examine, that really ties into the nature of the Western anime fandom and how it relates to the broader popular culture. Millions grew up with English localizations of "Astro Boy" and "Speed Racer" in the 60s, "Robotech" and "Voltron" in the 80s, and "Pokemon" and "Sailor Moon" in the 90s. However, anime remained very niche until Gen Y and the Millennials started taking an interest and the industry experienced an unprecedented boom roughly ten years ago.

Younger fans won't remember the mainstream's generally unfriendly attitude toward Japanese animation in the 80s and 90s, when anime was assumed to be either kiddie pablum or degenerate pornography. The cult success of ambitious films like "Akira" and "Ghost in the Shell" created a small, passionate fanbase for adult animation, which was often wrongly lumped in with the perverts. Animation was viewed as a children's medium in the West for decades, a view that's still tightly held by much of the American public, and many found it impossible to take the notion of a real, dramatic animated film for grown-ups seriously. The frustrations of dealing with these attitudes and the struggles to gain recognition for the medium as legitimate art created an us-versus-them mentality with many anime fans that persists to this day.

Being an anime fan doesn't have the same stigma anymore, with so many teenagers reading "Death Note" manga and watching episodes of "Fullmetal Alchemist." It's no longer social suicide to admit a yen for the genre, as popular directors like the Wachowskis and Quentin Tarantino have openly embraced and encouraged others to seek out specific titles. In fact, due to the rise in interest, Hollywood has snapped up dozens of anime properties, including "Ghost in the Shell," "Robotech," "Akira," and "Death Note," to be developed into feature films, though almost none have found their way out of development limbo. However, more adult-oriented fare still raises eyebrows, and the old-school fandom remains very niche. It's this atmosphere of quasi-acceptance while remaining on the fringes that allows the rip-off rumors to proliferate.

Typically, the genesis goes something like this. Anime fans will spot something in a mainstream that looks like it's been borrowed from an anime, and assume that the director lifted it without attribution because the original material's obscurity would allow them to get away with it. In many cases, such as the proposed connection between "Atlantis" and "Nadia," the creators won't even have heard of the anime involved, and so don't bother to address any of the speculations. The lack of response just cements the idea that something fishy is going on, which spurs even more speculation. The issue isn't so much that an anime has been referenced or borrowed from, as much as it's about getting acknowledgment from the mainstream that anime was an influence. It's another variant of the same fight for recognition and legitimacy that anime fans have fought for years.

"Black Swan" very well may have borrowed a few shots from "Perfect Blue," but movies borrow shots from each other all the time. Sometimes they're meant to be little references, and sometimes they're done without the director even realizing it. The famous closing shot of "The Searchers" has been borrowed countless times for "The Devil's Backbone," "Inglorious Basterds," and cheesy Dolph Lundgren movies without any such complaints. But the difference is that everyone knows and reveres "The Searchers" in cinematic circles. The fixation by anime fans on directors possibly borrowing from anime is because the originals, in their eyes, get no respect. It's the same sort of grudge that foreign film fans nurse when remakes of their favorites gain success while the older versions still languish in obscurity.

And once in a while, the fans are vindicated. Gene Simmons' son Nick, a would-be comic book scribe, was caught lifting poses, panels, and entire layouts for his new comic from the popular manga, "Bleach," by an enterprising group of online manga fans a few months ago. Faced with mountains of evidence and a storm of controversy, Simmons' publisher pulled the offending books. I highly doubt that Darren Aronofsky needs to worry about this kind of reaction, even if "Black Swan" does take more than a few shots from Satoshi Kon's work, because even a cursory glance at the trailer shows the story takes place in a very different world from the animated landscapes of "Perfect Blue," and Aronofsky is a good enough director that any references would likely be seen as - and meant as - homages.

But if he did borrow a few things, it's best to acknowledge it up front and quickly - or the anime fans will never let him hear the end of it.