As the second highest grossing film franchise of all time, Star Wars’ impact on popular culture is unquestionable. What may surprise you though is the scale of Star Wars’ impact on Japanese popular culture and anime.
It is worth noting that Star Wars, from the very beginning, has taken many inspirations from Japan. Star Wars: A New Hope was heavily influenced by the structure, themes and viewpoints of Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress (a film I highly recommend Star Wars fans seek out). Beyond that, the Jedi are easily comparable to samurai, the Force to Ki and the famous Darth Vader helmet to a kabuto.
According to the Star Wars documentary “Empire of Dreams”, Alan Ladd Jr. (the president of Fox’s film division at the time) attended the Japanese premiere and grew anxious at the silence of the Japanese audience after the film had concluded. He was then informed that silence was considered to be a sign of great respect towards the film.
Within a few years of Star Wars’ release in Japan, Star Wars’ impact on anime could already be felt. A boom in the production of space operas began which saw the release of Space Pirate Captain Harlock (strongly recommended), Space Adventure Cobra, Macross and more. However, I want to bring particular attention to a certain franchise.
Gundam is one of the most successful media franchises of all time and has become a cultural tour de force in its own right. However, it is clear that Gundam took inspiration from Star Wars. An immediate comparison to make is the lightsaber and the beam saber. Both weapons are very similar with a handle that emits concentrated energy that is capable of cutting through pretty much anything (though it is worth noting that beam sabers are far larger than lightsabers since they are wielded by mobile suits.)
In many ways the Newtypes of Gundam can be compared to the Force-sensitive in Star Wars. Both grant exceptional reflexes and allow the transmission of information over vast distances via telepathy. However, Gundam strips the concept of the religious overtones found in Star Wars in favour of racial supremacy where many Newtypes view themselves as superior to the “Oldtypes”. Even later on, Gundam has continued to take influences from Star Wars with several recent Gundam entries featuring a sibling reveal.
While Gundam is undeniably its own franchise with many differences from the Star Wars series, the influence of the latter over the former cannot be doubted. The great thing about the relationship between Star Wars and Japanese popular culture is that it is an excellent example of how culture can be exchanged to create stories. Star Wars was inspired by many aspects of Japanese culture and, in turn, anime was influenced by Star Wars. I truly believe that this shows how entertainment can link cultures and create bridges.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!