JAPAN 75
Anime
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Discussion and analysis of seminal works of Japanese animation, or anime, created from 1980s to present. Engagement with works in variety of styles, and that deal with broad range of themes. Reading and discussion of recent scholarship on anime produced by scholars working in diverse modes, from philosophical to anthropological. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - I stumbled across class during summer before UCLA orientation and knew I had to take it. Like seriously… an ANIME class at UCLA? I didn’t really know what to expect when it came to this class but it turned out to be very simple. It’s an easy A in my opinion. Older Bruinwalk reviews talk about pop quizzes but we never got those this quarter, which I’m very glad about because I NEVER read the textbook. The lectures are done like a discussion: we’re tasked with watching an anime before lecture and then we talk about it in class. Emmerich asks people how they felt about it, what they noticed, any analysis they want to come forward with, and then does his own little close reading of scenes and shows them to us. He often connects the two animes of the week together or goes back to previous animes we’ve watched. Grades are based off of discussions we have to write, two papers, and our participation. There is NO final despite what MyUCLA shows. He says lecture is mandatory but by midterms, less than half the class was really showing up to lecture which was kind of saddening. There was a day where he told people in class to email our TAs to show that we were in class so he was very much aware about that. Also, he found out one day that people weren’t actually watching the animes. Honestly, there were times I didn’t watch the anime but I still came to class anyway, but he never checked those days. Discussions were much more engaging and my TA, Summer, was very cool and very helpful when it came to writing my essay. I got As on both of my papers so I’m very glad that I came to her to improve my writing (Although, TAs DO grade the papers). You can easily look up the syllabus online and it will tell you everything else you need to know. Good luck to future people taking the class!
Fall 2024 - I stumbled across class during summer before UCLA orientation and knew I had to take it. Like seriously… an ANIME class at UCLA? I didn’t really know what to expect when it came to this class but it turned out to be very simple. It’s an easy A in my opinion. Older Bruinwalk reviews talk about pop quizzes but we never got those this quarter, which I’m very glad about because I NEVER read the textbook. The lectures are done like a discussion: we’re tasked with watching an anime before lecture and then we talk about it in class. Emmerich asks people how they felt about it, what they noticed, any analysis they want to come forward with, and then does his own little close reading of scenes and shows them to us. He often connects the two animes of the week together or goes back to previous animes we’ve watched. Grades are based off of discussions we have to write, two papers, and our participation. There is NO final despite what MyUCLA shows. He says lecture is mandatory but by midterms, less than half the class was really showing up to lecture which was kind of saddening. There was a day where he told people in class to email our TAs to show that we were in class so he was very much aware about that. Also, he found out one day that people weren’t actually watching the animes. Honestly, there were times I didn’t watch the anime but I still came to class anyway, but he never checked those days. Discussions were much more engaging and my TA, Summer, was very cool and very helpful when it came to writing my essay. I got As on both of my papers so I’m very glad that I came to her to improve my writing (Although, TAs DO grade the papers). You can easily look up the syllabus online and it will tell you everything else you need to know. Good luck to future people taking the class!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - I took this class in Spring 2020, the first quarter offered completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall this wasn't a difficult GE, though the workload (mainly the amount of writing) was disproportionately high. As a result of the quarantine/new online format, lecture times were modified to be once a week, and what were originally meant to be in-class screenings were now the responsibility of the students to watch in their own time. Despite the lectures being online, they were never recorded and attendance was taken for part of a participation grade. Grading was 10% participation, 10% weekly quizzes, 30% online assignments (mostly posting responses on the forum), 20% research project proposal, 30% final research paper. Every week we were required to watch an assigned anime movie, with the lecture later that week discussing the movie, its context and impact, and possible interpretations. Additionally, we needed to submit 1) a written response to the movie and 2) a response to another student's response. I don't know if it was the quarantine draining my motivation or just my inability to write, but I personally found coming up with these weekly responses the most difficult part of the class. Most, if not all, of the grading is done by your TA, so if you end up with a chill TA the class should be a breeze. In addition to the screening and responses, there was also weekly reading, with anywhere from 1 - 5 articles/excerpts from books assigned. Quizzes, taken on CCLE, were not terribly difficult, but there would be an occasional hyper-specific question on either the week's anime or readings. Professor Kanesaka himself was extremely accommodating during this time, and made the final paper completely optional (and guaranteed those who submitted would get at least an A- on the assignment). His lectures, though a little dry at times, were informative, and I feel I really learned a lot in this class.
Spring 2020 - I took this class in Spring 2020, the first quarter offered completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall this wasn't a difficult GE, though the workload (mainly the amount of writing) was disproportionately high. As a result of the quarantine/new online format, lecture times were modified to be once a week, and what were originally meant to be in-class screenings were now the responsibility of the students to watch in their own time. Despite the lectures being online, they were never recorded and attendance was taken for part of a participation grade. Grading was 10% participation, 10% weekly quizzes, 30% online assignments (mostly posting responses on the forum), 20% research project proposal, 30% final research paper. Every week we were required to watch an assigned anime movie, with the lecture later that week discussing the movie, its context and impact, and possible interpretations. Additionally, we needed to submit 1) a written response to the movie and 2) a response to another student's response. I don't know if it was the quarantine draining my motivation or just my inability to write, but I personally found coming up with these weekly responses the most difficult part of the class. Most, if not all, of the grading is done by your TA, so if you end up with a chill TA the class should be a breeze. In addition to the screening and responses, there was also weekly reading, with anywhere from 1 - 5 articles/excerpts from books assigned. Quizzes, taken on CCLE, were not terribly difficult, but there would be an occasional hyper-specific question on either the week's anime or readings. Professor Kanesaka himself was extremely accommodating during this time, and made the final paper completely optional (and guaranteed those who submitted would get at least an A- on the assignment). His lectures, though a little dry at times, were informative, and I feel I really learned a lot in this class.
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