David E Sutton, PhD.

Character Evolution in Popular Culture The typical argument in mainstream pop cultural artifacts is a character can never truly evolve past their initial limitations. Evil is always evil and good is always good. True, they may try to deviate from these roles, but fate inevitably returns them to their unique position within the fictional world. In most Japanese anime and manga, the path of the character is never concrete and reinventing one’s role is all too possible. The trick is having the audience assist in the character’s evolution, so the new role will be supported and accepted. The voyeur is the ideal mechanism for such an immersive transformation.

Reinventing the Villain: a Story of Atonement The process of seppuku involved the slicing of the belly in an effort to expose the true nature of the individual’s soul. The literary ritual required witnesses who were privy to the emotions, words, and thoughts of the individuals committing the act. These invisible voyeurs were used to give the audience a sense of being present for the events and being capable of agreeing or disagreeing with the honorable nature of the act. While ritualistic suicide in anime rarely features the splitting of the stomach, which is at the heart of the term seppuku, the opening of the soul is still the same, so using the term to describe the suicide of Vegeta is still justified.

The Anime Voyeur Anime viewers or voyeurs are given a unique vantage point to judge the actions of the cartoon characters committing ritualistic suicide. It grants the audience the temporary role of judge and jury as the honor of the sacrifice is weighed. Missing even one moment of character dialogue (either internal or external) costs the audience valuable information needed to fully engage the question of honor. This role creates a greater sense of immersion for the audience and keeps them engaged in their roles of voyeur and viewer.

Voyeur sees Evil

The Decision

Voyeur’s Honor

Vegeta’s Honor

Reinventing the Villain: a Story of Atonement Without the voyeur’s perspective, the audience would have missed Vegeta’s all-important soliloquy. His internal thoughts just moments before he kills himself reveals his true intentions and the selfless nature of his actions. Soliloquy is used as a tool to create a highly immersive environment for the observers, so the audience will be able to judge the sacrifice of Vegeta using every aspect of their humanity to decide the level of honor to be granted as a result of the act of sacrifice.

A Hero is Born: Character Evolution Evolved. Toriyama ensures that Vegeta’s act of seppuku is properly considered, so the audience will have a greater chance of deciding to support or condone the acts based upon all the facts. Rhetorically, the voyeur is a powerful tool which gives the audience the simulated feeling that the author is not there pulling the strings when the author is the one who chose the voyeur tool in the first place.

The Anime Voyeur in Action Anime viewers or voyeurs are given a unique vantage point to judge the actions of the cartoon characters committing ritualistic suicide. It grants the audience the temporary role of judge and jury as the honor of the sacrifice is weighed. Missing even one moment of character dialogue (either internal or external) costs the audience valuable information needed to fully engage the question of honor. This role creates a greater sense of immersion for the audience and keeps them engaged in their roles of voyeur and viewer.

David E Sutton, PhD.