Amaburi and Intimate Characterization

Isuzu Sento from Amagi Brilliant Park is a pretty interesting character. In the very first episode, she whips out her magical gun at high school and threatens Seiya Kanie under the pretense of making him go on a date with her. Anime viewers are too savvy to believe such lies, especially when KyoAni magic is involved. She introduces him to the show’s namesake of Amagi Brilliant Park, a decrepit amusement park that surely would disgust Disney. (I will probably return to this subject next month so excuse the brevity.) Kanie-kun is appointed as a manager of the park by Princess Latifa. Currently the park is in danger of closing down and can only be saved by manager Kanie-kun. Our introduction to this character alone suggests that she is someone who clearly falls out of the norm that she is expected to uphold. She breaks both gender roles and one’s proper place in society. She’s quick to violence in one sense but she’s also someone who is quite tough. Or so she seems. Sento is rather deadpan and indifferent around her cast members but she does have a very soft tender side, which ties in well with her loyalty. Despite her toughness through a lot of the series, Sento is revealed as her most vulnerable in Episode 6. Call it Sento’s Ep if you’d like. 

At the episode beginning, Kanie-kun wishes to hold a recruitment fair to garner support for Amaburi to prevent the park from closing down. Later that night, Sento has a dream which she finds rather disturbing: Kanie-kun is covered (left) with three girls who were (supposedly) recruited. Sento responds at first with moderate anger but seems to dwindled to shock and dismay (below); this response is understandable because she begins to feel unnecessary. A lot of this episode surrounds this issue of her new insecurity.

 

At some point, the episode becomes almost voyeuristic. The audiences of shows, whether they are American live-action shows or Japanese anime, are voyeurs; the viewer can peer into the world of the character and be protected from an interaction in return. This exchange is not necessarily intentional and for many people it is not but that relationship is important to consider in art. But voyeurism can be seen as intrusive and disempowering, especially if the audience is simply hungry for learning about the characters. Something such as watching a character taking a bath or dressing/undressing can be construed as voyeuristic and thus creepy, which makes the viewer seem malevolent (or something). When making a work of art, the group or individual response shouldn’t just have someone changing for no apparent reason. But that is quite ubiquitous. Such an occurrence is usually there to appeal to people’s base nature instead of some artistic purpose. For that reason I’m also against the vast majority of sex scenes. These events are chances for characterization that cannot be portrayed through other means. I think that KyoAni’s attention to detail in this scene enhances how we view Sento’s personality as opposed to an appeal to base desires. The scene features intimate characterization, not voyeurism. By that I mean using scenes where characters are  exposed (emotionally) to drive characterization, rather than simply having such scenes for viewer enjoyment.

Yes, I wanted to analyze this short scene that KyoAni included that serves only one purpose: to focus solely on Sento. Because this scene depicts her in varying levels of undress, the balance between voyeurism and characterization should be analyzed.  In the image, Sento (left) is bathing, an action that is rather routine but her expression suggests something extra-ordinary. In particular, she is worried over the dream that she had this morning. Her downcast eyes reflect her discontentment – this can be best explained by Sento musing over her feelings of not being useful to Kanie-kun or Amaburi as a whole. Here Sento is literally and symbolically exposed, which allows the viewer to see her in an intimate light. Thus, KyoAni showing Sento bathing allows for a more intimate characterization than is possible when Sento is with the other cast members. The framing of this image differentiates characterization from voyeurism; here only her head and shoulders are shown, which limits the portrayal mainly to her face while still allowing for closeness. As the scene progresses, Sento’s dismay can be more clearly visualized, even though she hides her emotions to other people.

KyoAni opts to depict segments of Sento changing, filling up the screen with such images. Such a depiction tends to be sexual in nature, even though clothes – including lingerie – and the human body are not overtly sexual. Rather, these are sexualized through how society constructs sexuality – such objects are somehow involved (or “de-involved” with regards to clothing) with sexual activity. This notion is highly relevant  because otherwise this scene could be mistakenly interpreted as sexual or erotic, rather than compassionate.

Sento dons her brassiere (left). Though this image itself presents little information, the preceding images give context that allow us to imagine how Sento feels, even in this image. It follows logically from Sento taking a bath – Sento getting dressed. Though her face is not visible, the action is clearly methodical and pensive. Such slowness is not immediately apparent but at least some delay is observed.  Specifically, her fingers make motion beyond that which is strictly necessary for the task; this fidgetiness suggests that she is still troubled over the dream she had. This action is a direct contrast to what would happen in a “sexually-charged” scene: she would either be taking her brassiere off or someone would accidentally walk in while she was changing. Such would likely be blatant voyeurism. Again, this portrayal of Sento as exposed allows the viewer to empathize with her, instead of appealing to base desires.

Sento donning her underwear (right) is performed similarly but without slightly frantic fingers. Performing this action can garner empathy because it pairs what Sento does privately to how she feels when such emotions cannot be proudly displayed.  Clearly so much is on her mind that getting dressed is merely going through the motions. At the same time, one can refute a claim of voyeurism by pointing out that only her legs, arms, and underwear are shown, which creates a different image than simply showing the whole person. The person’s facial expression can be imagined to be the same as the one who wore in the bathtub. Then lipstick is applied followed by self-analysis using a mirror.

Though the viewer knows the level of effort Sento has put into her appearance for today, she shows a very worried expression (left) looking into the mirror – furrowed eyebrows, slightly open mouth, dismayed eyes, and a drop of sweat indicating nervousness.  Having completed her morning routine, Sento has a moment to reflect again and reencounter her unease; she then lowers her head in defeat (below). Clearly Kanie-kun must view her as worthless, so he must hire more people and replace her.

Though the individual elements have been discussed, the overall trajectory is the most important part of this scene. A scene must create a transition from one part of the episode to another. By showing Sento bathing and then subsequently dressing, the viewer can both see how bothered she is and also how much effort she puts into her appearance. Clearly this action goes above and beyond falling out of bed due to oversleeping.  Thus, through this scene, the viewer can see Sento in a distinct light – her frustration is so powerful, it seems to drown out her efforts. The following claim is subjective but she looks rather nice. Yet that alone is not enough to convince her that she is truly needed at Amaburi, a place she undoubtedly considers her home. This moment of vulnerability that she feels carries the viewer through the remainder of the episode, which focuses on Sento’s metaphorical exposure. Thus Sento’s humanity can be clearly seen – otherwise her indifferent expression would never have been questioned and her personality undeveloped. By the end of the episode, Sento has become a very good character.

Works Cited
Amagi Brilliant Park. Kyoto Animation. 2014. Dir. Yasuhiro Takemoto.