The idea of freedom in the visual culture of Japanese animation: A case study of the anime "Darkside Blues" and "Jujutsu Kaisen"

The aim of the study is to identify how visual imagery is used in Japanese animation (anime) to convey the idea of freedom. The research focuses on the analysis of two anime: "Darkside Blues" and "Jujutsu Kaisen", with the goal of showing how these works create conceptual metaphors of freedom through visual and narrative means. The first part of the article examines the anime "Darkside Blues", where the main emphasis is placed on the symbolism of darkness and concealment, associated with political freedom and resistance to the system. Visual images of a dark, abandoned city, the lower urban strata, excluded from the system of society, emphasize the idea of freedom manifesting itself in conditions of complete control and surveillance: the image of darkness-freedom opposes the image of light-control. The second part analyzes the anime "Jujutsu Kaisen", where freedom is presented through the prism of characters with supernatural abilities who express various philosophical and ethical concepts, such as following duty and striving for self-development, adaptation, and reevaluation of values. The scientific novelty of the research lies in demonstrating that anime, thanks to its unique visual nature, is capable of creating conceptual metaphors that deeply influence the perception of viewers. These metaphors help the viewer to comprehend complex philosophical concepts, such as freedom, through vivid and memorable images, which is shown in the analysis of the two animated films. As a result of the research, it was established that the anime "Darkside Blues" successfully conveys the idea of political freedom through the use of the image of darkness, which is an allegory of the concept of "concealment" from the philosophy of M. Heidegger, in which being always has its hidden side, capable of revealing an infinite variety of new forms and ensuring, through this, change, development, and freedom. In the anime "Jujutsu Kaisen", various ethical models associated with different ways of realizing freedom are presented using the characters as examples. It is shown that freedom in this anime is conceived through the idea of overcoming oneself and reinventing one's values, which makes this anime, like the shonen genre in general, an expression of the ethical ideas of F. Nietzsche. The study confirms that the visual culture of anime can serve as an effective means for conveying philosophical ideas, such as freedom, through conceptual metaphors.