Neve, lua & flores: percepção do tempo-espaço e do bem-estar na animação japonesa Rilakkuma e Kaoru

Abstract

Faced with the profusion of negativity, the acceleration of time and the disconnection of people from each other and the environments that surround them, we found in Japanese culture a work that serves as a counterpoint to these issues. The present research aims to understand why and how the Japanese animation series Rilakkuma and Kaoru (Kobayashi, 2019) brings a feeling of well-being, both for us and for the characters in the narrative. Initially, we studied the body's ability to establish a particular perception linked to the senses and the subjectivity. With the support of Pallasmaa (2011), we address the body's communication with its exterior and the need to intensify the appreciation of synesthesia. Sacco (2014) points out the multiple meanings that objects and environments carry for our identity and the concept of subtle materiality, which allows us to feel the multisensory in the animation, a strictly audiovisual medium. We also explore some aspects of Japanese art in order to outline a cultural perception in common with the animation. The tea ceremony, according to the text by Okakura (2017), proposes an ethical and aesthetic model inspired by Buddhist and Taoist religiosity that brought the concepts of impermanence and universal communion to the Japanese reality. Traditional woodcut and haiku poetry emphasize everyday life as the center of attention in Japanese culture, finding beauty in its fleeting details and in nature. Kato (2012) brings together these notions with a perception of time specific to Japan, which is based on the here and now, inspired by the cycles of nature and the change of seasons, which through constant transformation resulted in a focus on the present, or on the parts of the whole. Siqueira and Padovam (2008) categorize the feeling of well-being with objective, subjective and psychological attributes. Due to this subjectivity, we included some works and expressions of our own to share a little of our understanding of well-being and bring the reader closer to our perspective. Bachelard (2012) integrates the notion of objective and subjective well-being in his characterization of refuges, environments necessary for mental and physical shelter and that make up our identity. Next, we analyze the animation Rilakkuma and Kaoru, describing the main characters and incidents that relate to the protagonist Kaoru. We observe that the narrative is made up of relatively independent stories, but which have as their guiding thread the change of seasons and Kaoru on the path to her own well-being. Subsequently, we analyze the concepts of perception, spacetime and well-being in relation to the series. We discovered that the psychological aspects of well-being are involved in Kaoru's narrative arc, with the way in which she raises her self esteem and escapes social pressures. With Okano (2012), we understand the relevance of the Japanese concept of Ma, potential interval, to favor our immersion in the context of the history. This perception is also present in the construction of rhythm and intervals that provide a space for appreciation and expansion of emotions. As a result of the research, we understand that well-being is vast and subjective, requiring a space like Ma that allows us to get closer to the work, being activated by the attention to the here and now, enhanced by the senses, positivity and cultural references