You May Dream

This is the first frame in the first episode of an anime, directed by Hideaki Anno of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame, called Kareshi Kanojyo no Jijyo--or Kare Kano to speed up time to discuss the show with fans--and right away the central question of the show is out there in the open, with no context or meaning at sight. That is, at least until someone shouts out "Miyazawa," which then cuts to the next scene:

Which is then followed with text and a more scenic frame (all in the same cut too):

Now a context is formed, where the introduction of this character is given a graceful introduction. But then as the episode progresses, drawings that paint the character against that context, like this:

Or this:

Even this:

contradicts with that first impression. And through each image, there's a moral, which is spelled out before the second half of the episode begins:

 

Something's going on beyond of using exaggeration for the sake of exaggeration.

I've been thinking about this aspect of the show for a while now, and it only got me thinking even more deeply when I found a website that has the director, Anno himself, walk around various high schools in Japan and get a better grasp on what high school students think about nowadays, compared to his own feelings as a student himself many years ago. Coming off of a starting point on how to make anime through talking of other people, Anno had this to say (with the part that interests me the most in bold):
   
          I can’t stand people who run away, who refuse to face reality. Surely you’ll find
          something for yourself if you face reality head on. If nothing else, take a good look at
          your immediate surroundings. Don’t turn away from unpleasantness. Have a look at it
          too. With this in mind, ultimately I want to show a little reality in my works. If
          nothing else, I don’t feel any realism in something that has no reality mixed in with it.
          Thus, while my next production will be a girl’s manga about a high-school girl, it’s also
          partly real.


So if he wants to express reality, why go as far to use such abstraction to reach that specific goal? I have my theories on why that is, and if times permits in the future, I'm going to write down some of those theories to figure out something: Is there something deeper going on within this anime that the people who made this anime wanted to get across? Where is Anno going with all these tools out on their own?