Abstract
In 1943, Momotaro no Umiwashi (Momotaro's Sea Eagles), an animated propaganda film directed by Mitsuyo Seo, was released. With the support of the Navy Ministry, this film featured the attack on Pearl Harbor. Seo also directed an animated feature film called Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei (Momotaro: Sacred Sailors), which was released in 1945. Recently, Momotarō Umi no Shinpei has drawn attention as the “roots” of anime (Japanese animation). On the other hand, Momotarō no Umiwashi is relatively ignored by previous research. However, Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei was made as the sequel to Momotarō no Umiwashi. In order to study the roots of anime, it is important to closely examine Momotarō no Umiwashi.
Once, Japanese animation was called manga eiga (manga film). I argue that Seo’s Momotaro series was an attempt to expand the concept of manga film. Momotarō no Umiwashi adopted elements of bunka eiga (culture film), that is, documentary film. The movie referred to news photographs and used cinematic techniques. In Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei, Seo introduced tragedy and violent images to manga film. By adopting such content and techniques that until then were rarely used in manga film, Seo tried to expand the concept of manga film.
