ABSTRACT
This chapter explains an affective responses and empathy at the level of our neurons into the larger structure of character engagement. It describes Murray Smith’s structure of sympathy to the specific case of metamorphic narratives. Smith suggests that we readily identify with characters that resemble physically and ideologically. As Smith claims, a “narrative text can attempt to regiment the viewer’s experience, it can encourage the activation of certain schemata over others, but it cannot ‘position’ the spectator.” The chapter examines more specifically metamorphic bodies in Japanese animation, or anime. Metamorphic characters compel viewers to feel their body stretching and moving in ways that are unfamiliar. Theories of identification in cinema often neglect to explore the case of metamorphic narratives. Animation shares its interest in metamorphic characters with literature. The hybrid creatures of Japanese animation are often means to bridge personal identity struggles with broader familial or national issues.
