L’immaginario del male gender-oriented negli anime dalla fine degli anni ’70 ad oggi

This paper examines the specific traits that evil developed within Japanese anime that became very popular in Italy from late 70's to present day. The aim of the study is to focus on the representation of evil that may take an evident or concealed gender-oriented stereotyped characterisation which is different in anime developed for boys or for girls. A content and frame analysis has been carried out on 16 case-studies in order to explore the features which define an imagery of evil differentiated by male or female audience. Some examples of this occurrence are: physical and psychological evil traits; rhetoric; metaphors; gender stereotypes; punitive actions against evil; the reasons why evil develops etc. Our results showed that gender stereotyping persists in the latest anime and is portrayed through the way the main and secondary evil characters are described. Furthermore, latent patterns of gender-oriented imagery of evil emerge through evil characters’ ability to neutralize the empowerment conquered by female leads during conflicts.