Deformation as Destiny: Made in Abyss and Kawaii Consumption

Abstract

Postwar Japanese popular culture and animation in particular is often concerned with the relation between the human and a planet on the brink of disaster. While this has been explained in terms of the Japanese experience of war and nuclear disaster, I argue in this article that we should rather understand postwar Japanese animation in relation to a growing awareness of a planetary situation in what is now called the age of the anthropocene. This planetary situation has often been figured through the image of urban fortresses where a community of humans, Japanese or not, unify to fight against an external aggressor and survive. The figure of the urban fortress in Japanese animation such as Multidimensional Fortress Macross or Evangelion resonates with present discussions about the anthropocene articulated in terms of risk, sustainability and survival. By looking at the recent manga and TV series Made in Abyss, I propose to consider another figure of our planetary situation, not defined by survival but rather by an ongoing process of deformation in place allowed by kawaii consumption. Or more simply, Made in Abyss is about how much the body can take in a planetary situation