A Different Animation World : ‘Samurai Cyborgs & Outrageous Babes’ ‘toon fest at UCLA has Japan’s stamp.

As the growing number of otaku (American fans of anime) can attest, animation in Japan is very different from what Americans are accustomed to seeing.

In the United States, virtually every feature has followed the upbeat musical comedy model Walt Disney established in 1937 with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Nuanced acting and lip-sync dialogue bring the characters to life as individuals. Although they exist in a wholesome never-never land where the hero and heroine invariably marry and everyone sings at the drop of a plot point, Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel and Beast exist as personalities beyond the screen.

Although foreign audiences around the world warmly embrace American animated movies, particularly those of the Walt Disney Co., the Japanese in general view modern U.S. ‘toon fare with disdain. Japan, which usually is enthusiastic in the extreme about anything American, is the one market where Disney is routinely disappointed in the performance of its animated features. For the most part, many Japanese simply won’t go see them. Interestingly, merchandise based on classic Disney characters sells extremely well.

Japanese films may not offer subtle character animation, but they boast a much wider range of styles and genres. Directors with visions as individual as Kubrick or Altman use state-of-the-art cutting, staging and editing to present stories that may involve motorcycle chases, bloody action sequences, laser battles, robots--and sex. The characters often lack vivid personalities, but the filmmaking is so effective, it sweeps the audience along.

Anyone interested in this hard-edged animated fare should attend the monthlong program of adult films, “Samurai Cyborgs & Outrageous Babes,” the second part of the ambitious overview of Japanese animation organized by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, Saturday-June 1. Most of the films have English subtitles or are dubbed.

Robots, Warriors and Perky Teen-Age Girls

As the festival title suggests, most of the films in the eight programs fall into two groups: One involves giant robots, dystopian cities and alienated warriors who follow old samurai values. The second depicts the adventures of perky teenage girls--or robots who look like teenage girls--who run around in skimpy costumes designed to titillate both the male characters and the audience; they sport manes of blond, red, blue or lavender hair that Dolly Parton would envy.

Although “adult” means the films contain nudity, profanity and considerable violence rather than provocative explorations of serious subjects, “Samurai Cyborgs” showcases how differently American and Japanese artists approach animation. The American prejudice that animation is entertainment for children has severely limited the content of the films: Characters rarely do more than share a waltz or a single kiss before their inevitable marriage.

Violence is usually suggested, rather than depicted; nudity and sexual situations are infrequent, brief and sanitized. It’s rare for an American animated feature to run longer than 78 minutes.

None of these restrictions exist for Japanese animators and directors, including the limit on length. Many features run for 90 minutes or more--”Mobile Suit Gundam--The Movie” lasts almost 2 1/2 hours. The violence is often extreme, if stylized, with bullets piercing bodies, fists smashing skulls, buildings collapsing and red paint spattering to simulate blood.

Hiroyuki Okiura’s striking “Jin-Roh” (Wolf Brigade, 1998, with English subtitles), which opens the series in a special preview screening Saturday at 7:30 p.m., establishes the tone for much of the program. Set in a mythical late ‘50s Tokyo, its complicated story involves double agents, betrayals, false identities and conflicted loyalties in a special police unit charged with combating urban unrest. The internal and external struggles of Kazuki Fushe, the grimly taciturn central character, are far less interesting than Okiura’s noir-influenced vision of murderous chases through a subterranean maze that recalls the sewers in “Les Miserables.” This dark, violent film is definitely not for children, but it establishes Okiura as a director with an often stunning visual imagination.

In addition to being more violent, Japanese-animated films are more sex-laden than American ones, and the sex often takes on curious overtones. Katsuhito Nishijima’s “Project A-KO” (1986, with English subtitles), a silly, slapstick sci-fi action-adventure, centers on a lesbian triangle. Two girls with unexplained superpowers--cheerful, red-headed A-Ko and rich, nasty B-Ko--duke it out for the affections of the repulsively cute crybaby, C-Ko. During the course of their duel, the pair trashes most of Gravitron City and destroys an invading spaceship. (May 23 at 2 p.m.)

The title character in the popular “Ranma 1/2” TV shows and features (directed by Tsutomu Shibayama) is a lanky, black-haired teenage boy who’s a martial arts expert. But whenever he gets splashed with cold water, he turns into a busty red-haired girl (a splash of hot water restores his proper gender). Inopportune transformations provide much of the comedy, but they also add an odd subtext to his relationship with his girlfriend, Akane. Two episodes of “Ranma 1/2” with English subtitles screen in a free program May 23 at 3:40 p.m.

Even stranger is Masami Shimoda’s “Saber Marionette J” (1996, with English subtitles), a space epic set in the all-male society of Japoness on the planet Terra II: The only females are realistic robot marionettes; they do the menial labor. When Otaru, a lower-class teenage martial artist, awakens the emotions of the marionettes Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry, all three fall in love with him. Adding to the emotional complications is Hatani, an effete rich boy who seems to have a crush on Otaru.

“Ghost in the Shell” (1995, English dubbed) adds a sexual component to the robot genre. The enhanced cyborg Motoko Kusanagi (“The Major”) conceals the murderous powers of Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator” within the body of a Playmate of the Month. Director Mamoru Oshii’s skill at combining drawn animation with computer-generated imagery has excited fans in Japan and America, who see “Ghost” as a harbinger of the next wave of anime sci-fi. Two episodes of “Marionette” screen with “Ghost” May 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Yoshiyuki Tomino’s “Gundam” series has become one of the longest-running franchises in anime history. “Mobile Suit Gundam--The Movie” (1981, English dubbed) is the first of three theatrical features recut from the original TV series, which redefined the giant robot mecha (from the English “mechanical”) genre. Tomino turned the robots into a cross between a spacesuit and a spaceship: The pilots engage the gargantuan machines in mechanical hand-to-hand duels.

“Gundam” shows the influence of “Star Wars,” but lacks the compelling characters. Amuro, the teenage pilot-in-spite-of-himself, whines that he’s ready to abandon his life-and-death mission one minute, then eagerly challenges his archrival Shaw the next. This rambling film is more interesting for its historical significance than its entertainment value. “Gundam” screens with a direct-to-video of “Giant Robo” (1992, directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa, with English subtitles) and an episode of “Gigantor” (1965) May 20 at 7:30 p.m.

In Kazuki Akane’s “The Vision of Escaflowne” (1996, with English subtitles), Hitomi, a typical high school girl, gets involved in the affairs of the planet Gaea when a fire-breathing dragon and Prince Van materialize in the school track stadium. Hitomi and Van eventually escape in the robot-suit Escaflowne, a wonderfully baroque construction of organic and mechanical shapes.

Prince Van is alienated and sullen; Spike, the alienated bounty hunter in Yoshiyuki Takei’s TV series “Cowboy Bebop” (1998, with English subtitles), displays a rakish charm reminiscent of Monkey Punch’s Lupin III. Spike and his partner Jet roam the futuristic frontier of outer space, fighting a murderous drug dealer in “Asteroid Blues” and matching wits with crooked blackjack dealer Faye Valentine in “Honky Tonk Woman.”

Even more alienated is Tetsu, the ne’er-do-well star of the weird TV program “Blue Submarine No. 6” (1998, with English subtitles). “Submarine” is done entirely in computer animation, but the contrast between the limited movements of the two-dimensional characters and fluid motions of the three-dimensional machines, monsters and water is so striking, it feels like director Mahiro Maeda is cutting between two different films. “Escaflowne,” “Blue Submarine” and “Cowboy Bebop” screen May 22 at 7:30 p.m., the latter two having their North American premieres.

The short films offer some of most interesting and individual work. “Oni” (Demon, 1972) and the dazzling “House of Flame” (1979) by Kihachiro Kawamoto (both with English subtitles) translate stories and movements from Kabuki theater into exquisite stop-motion animation. “Love” (1963) and “Au Fou” (1967) offer viewers glimpses into the darkly comic world of animator Yoji Kuri.

“Jumping” (1984) and “Broken-Down Film” (1985) are two of the last and most personal films of the late Osamu Tezuka, best known as the creator of “Astro Boy” and “Kimba the White Lion.” “Oni” screens with two episodes of “Vampire Princess Miyu” (1988, directed by Toshihiro Hirano with English subtitles) on May 13 at 7:30 p.m. “Jumping” and “Broken-Down Film” screen in a program of short films Sunday at 7 p.m. “House of Flame,” “Love” and “Au Fou” screen in a second shorts program June 1 at 7:30 p.m.

BE THERE

“Samurai Cyborgs & Outrageous Babes”: All the films in the series will screen in the James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall, UCLA. Admission: $6, general; $4, students with I.D. and seniors. Information: (310) 206-8013 or https://www.cinema.ucla.edu