Kingsglaive’s Exploration of World War II, Cultural Trauma, and the Plight of Refugees: An Animated Film as Complex Narrative
Document Type
Monograph
Publication Date
12-3-2019
Publisher
Westphalia Press
First page number:
1
Last page number:
76
Abstract
Kingsglaive's Exploration of World War II, Cultural Trauma, and the Plight of Refugees: An Animated Film as Complex Narrative posits that the 2016 film, tied narratively to the video game Final Fantasy XV, merits far more critical attention that it has received. Given that Kingsglaive is both CGI animated and erroneously seen as only a video game tie-in, it has tended to be consistently dismissed by critics. A closer examination of the film reveals a deeply complex narrative, one that contends with the lingering cultural trauma of WWII in Japan, as especially evidenced by images of fire and burning. The film also contends with the plight of refugees and immigrants, both in Japan and around the globe, as recent years have seen a drastic spike in anti-immigrant sentiment. Finally, through the film's hero and protagonist, Nyx Ulric, Kingsglaive presents a man who is himself suffering from trauma, standing in the present, yet unable to fully imagine a future for himself.
Keywords
Film narrative; Cultural trauma; World war ii; Japan
Controlled Subject
Film narrative; Cultural trauma; World war ii; Japan
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Film and Media Studies
Language
English
Repository Citation
Green, A.
(2019).
Kingsglaive’s Exploration of World War II, Cultural Trauma, and the Plight of Refugees: An Animated Film as Complex Narrative.
1-76.
Westphalia Press.