Seferian-The Harp of Burma

This week we watched The Harp of Burma, a story about brotherhood during a time of war based off of a classic Japanese novel. I really enjoyed this viewing despite length and how old the film was. From a animation sand point a Harp of Burma wasn’t very visually spectacular, but the story was deep and emotional and that made up for the lacing visuals. After being separated from his comrades during WWII, Mizushima is trying to make his way back to his battalion when he comes across fallen Japanese solders who where never bared and were left to rot in the elements. Overwhelmed by the horror and grief of seeing his fallen comrades so disrespectfully left behind, he sets out to give them proper send offs. We also read chapter six this week in class. In the chapter it discussed how life is amoral and doesn’t always treat good people the right way. The chapter also discussed honor and how the right thing to do isn’t always the best chose for you.  Mizushima douse the honorable thing despite the repercussions and dedicates his life to helping the left behind and forgotten solders. While watching the film it is clear that the captain blames him self for sending Mizushima in his place to explain to the other Japanese solders that the war was over. What is interesting about this is that in western culture it wouldn’t be the officer’s responsibility. If the commanding officer gave a order then you would follow end of story. In eastern culture, the captain was responsible for his men and giving the burden of sending the message. This difference is what makes this film interesting to western viewers. From a western stand point the officer shouldn’t feel bad about sending one of the lower level solders to deliver messages.