About symbols in Anime and Manga

[alma]

I have a question about symbols and meaning of some images or scenes in anime and manga.
My first question: What is with the cherry blossoms? I know the pink trees with pretty flowers are abundant in Japan, but do they have a special meaning? Why they are so often used in animes?

[Atria35]

Sakura blossoms have lots of meanings, depending on what's going on in the scene.

1) It can be used to just make the scene look prettier.
2) They bloom in April, so they're a "sign of spring, the beauty of nature, renewal of life, and first love...but can also represent the transiency and fragility of beauty, life, and love." (TV Tropes- I really couldn't put it any better than they do)
3) New beginnings and going from one stage of life to another. If you ever see a high school graduation or the beginning of the new school year in anime, you see cherry blossoms, and this kind of embodies that thought.
4) Death. I've actually only seen one anime actively use this motif as death, but there's a legend in Japan about how a body buried beneath a sakura tree turned the petals pink.

[alma]

Sakura blossoms have lots of meanings, depending on what's going on in the scene.

1) It can be used to just make the scene look prettier.
2) They bloom in April, so they're a "sign of spring, the beauty of nature, renewal of life, and first love...but can also represent the transiency and fragility of beauty, life, and love." (TV Tropes- I really couldn't put it any better than they do)
3) New beginnings and going from one stage of life to another. If you ever see a high school graduation or the beginning of the new school year in anime, you see cherry blossoms, and this kind of embodies that thought.
4) Death. I've actually only seen one anime actively use this motif as death, but there's a legend in Japan about how a body buried beneath a sakura tree turned the petals pink.

Thanks for the info.
I also saw an anime, only the first episode, where a man choose a sakura tree for hanging himself, but he did not died: Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Goodbye, Mr. Despair). It was way too crazy story for me to follow as an anime but I may give it a try as a manga. There is something I like about it. I will not be able to hear the music though. I liked it.

[Kaori]

In Japanese literature, they have long been a symbol for the transitory and fleeting nature of life, so that is always the first meaning that comes to my mind when I think of cherry blossoms. This makes perfect sense if you’ve ever lived in a place that has cherry trees (and they are everywhere in Japan). The cherry blossom season varies according to geography—in Okinawa, south of Japan, they bloom in January or February; and in Hokkaido, in the north of Japan, they can bloom as late as May. But regardless of when they bloom, they appear, come to full bloom, and disappear completely within the space of about two weeks. Because they are there only for a very brief time and then vanish completely, their ephemeral nature makes them the perfect metaphor for the brevity of life.

It’s very much like Isaiah 40:6-7:

All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.

However, in anime, those other meanings that Atria listed probably appear just as frequently as this one, if not more so.

I also saw an anime, only the first episode, where a man choose a sakura tree for hanging himself, but he did not died: Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Goodbye, Mr. Despair). It was way too crazy story for me to follow as an anime but I may give it a try as a manga.

If you’re interested in the Sayonora Zetsubou-Sensei manga, you should be aware that usually an anime version of a manga will have the objectionable content (violence, nudity, etc.) toned down somewhat compared to the manga. I haven’t seen the anime to be able to compare the two, but the two volumes of the manga that I read do have a significant amount of crude sexual humor, and the title character’s repeated, failed suicide attempts are a running gag throughout. There’s a lot of punning (I don’t know how the translators handled that) and black humor, and also the aforementioned crude humor. The humor and social commentary (something else that would be hard to translate) are the main reasons to read the series, so if the kind of humor I described doesn’t appeal to you, then there is maybe no reason to invest any time in it.

[Maokun]

The manga that tells the story of the dead man under the Sakura tree as a narrative point is Tokyo Babylon.

Another symbolism I've noticed for it is "the carefree time of youth." Often characters are portrayed under raining Sakura petals in their early years and then wistfully reminiscing those times years later after several things have changed.

[alma]

If you’re interested in the Sayonora Zetsubou-Sensei manga, you should be aware that usually an anime version of a manga will have the objectionable content (violence, nudity, etc.) toned down somewhat compared to the manga. I haven’t seen the anime to be able to compare the two, but the two volumes of the manga that I read do have a significant amount of crude sexual humor, and the title character’s repeated, failed suicide attempts are a running gag throughout. There’s a lot of punning (I don’t know how the translators handled that) and black humor, and also the aforementioned crude humor. The humor and social commentary (something else that would be hard to translate) are the main reasons to read the series, so if the kind of humor I described doesn’t appeal to you, then there is maybe no reason to invest any time in it.

Thanks for the warning. I will keep it in mind. Now that you explained more I realize that what I liked about it is the black humor and social commentary. But if there is also a lot of crude sexual stuff I will probably not read it. I am currently reading Angel Densetsu, and I have a bunch of other mangas and anime that I know I can watch or read safely.