Anime
Anime (アニメ? IPA pronunciation: /ɑnime/ listen in Japanese, but typically /ˈænɪˌme(ɪ)/ or /ˈænɪmə/ in English) (plural anime) is an abbreviation of the word "animation". Outside Japan, the term most popularly refers to animation originating in Japan. To the West, not all animation is considered anime; anime is considered a subset of animation.
While some anime is hand drawn, computer assisted animation techniques have become quite common in recent years. Like any entertainment medium, the story lines represent most major genres of fiction. Anime is broadcast on television, distributed on media such as DVD and VHS, and included in video games. Additionally, some are produced as full length motion pictures. Anime often draws influence from manga, light novels, and other cultures. Some anime storylines have been adapted into live action films and television series.
History
The history of anime begins at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques that were being explored in France, Germany, the United States, and Russia.[1] The oldest known anime is in 1907, a short 3 second clip of a sailor boy.[2]
By the 1930's, animation became an alternative format of storytelling compared to the underdeveloped live-action industry in Japan. Unlike America, the live-action industry in Japan remained a small market and suffered from budgeting, location, and casting restrictions. The lack of Western-looking actors, for example, made it next to impossible to shoot films set in Europe, America, or fantasy worlds that do not naturally involve Japan. The varied use of animation allowed artists to create any characters and settings.[3]
During the 1970s, there was a surge of growth in the popularity of manga— which were often later animated — especially those of Osamu Tezuka, who has been called a "legend"[4] and the "god of manga".[5][6] As a result of his work and that of other pioneers in the field, anime developed characteristics and genres that are fundamental elements of the art today. The giant robot genre (known as "mecha" outside Japan), for instance, took shape under Tezuka, developed under Go Nagai and others, and was revolutionized at the end of the decade by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Robot anime like Gundam and Macross became instant classics in the 80s, and the robot genre of anime is still one of the most heard of in Japan and worldwide today. In the 1980s, anime was accepted in the mainstream in Japan, and experienced a boom in production (It should be noticed that, manga has significantly more mainstream exposure than anime in Japan). The mid-to-late '90s, on into the 2000s, saw an increased acceptance of anime in overseas markets.
Terminology
Etymology and pronunciation
The Japanese term for animation is アニメーション (animēshon, pronounced /ɑnime:ɕoɴ/), written in katakana. It is borrowed from the French word for animation, "l'animé" (it's lacking the article--both are pronounced similarly).[1] Both words come from the Latin, "animare" meaning "to breathe life into" thus "animated" means to be full of activity, or moving pictures. [7][8] The Japanese term is spelled アニメ (anime, pronounced /ɑnime/). Both the original and abbreviated forms are valid and interchangeable in Japanese, but as could be expected the shorter form is more commonly used.
The pronunciation of anime in English differs significantly from Japanese. The first vowel is further forward in English than Japanese: /æ/ is more likely than /ɑ/. As English stresses words differently than Japanese, the second vowel is likely to emerge as an unstressed schwa /ə/ or /I/ in English, whereas in Japanese each mora carries equal stress. As with a few other Japanese words such as Pokémon and Kobo Abé, anime is sometimes spelled as animé in English with an acute accent over the final e to cue the reader that the letter is pronounced as a Japanese /e/. However, this accent does not appear in any commonly used system of romanized Japanese, and English native speakers may produce /eI/.
Definition
Linguistically, the anime definition is subject to interpretation. In Japan, the term does not specify an animation's nation of origin or style; instead, it is used as a blanket term to refer to all forms of animation from around the world.[9] In English, main dictionary sources define anime as "a Japanese style of motion-picture animation" or "a style of animation developed in Japan".[10] Thus, non-Japanese works are sometimes called anime-influenced animation if they borrow stylistically from Japanese animation.
In western countries the word is used usually only to refer to animated programming of Japanese origin, with the term "cartoon" or "animated series" used for most other visual styles. The online anime database AniDB generally defines anime (in the singular form) as "an animated, professionally produced, feature film created by a Japanese company for the Japanese market".[9] However, some anime are co-productions with non-Japanese companies like the Cartoon Network. Thus, anime is no longer specific to the Japanese market.
Syntax and morphology
Anime can be used as a common noun, "Do you watch anime?" or as a suppletive adjective, "The anime Guyver is different from the movie Guyver." It may also be used as a mass noun, as in "How much anime have you collected?" and therefore is never pluralized "animes" (nouns are never pluralized in Japanese). However, in other languages where anime has been adopted as a loan word, it is sometimes used as a count noun in singular and in plural as in Danish "Jeg tror, jeg vil se en anime" ("I think I'll watch an anime") and "Hvor mange anime'er har du nu?" ("How many animes do you have now?").
Synonyms
Anime is sometimes referred to as Japanimation, but this term has fallen into disuse. Japanimation saw the most usage during the 1970s and 1980s, which broadly comprise the first and second waves of anime fandom, and had continued use up until before the mid-1990s anime resurgence. In general, the term now only appears in nostalgic contexts. The term is much more commonly used within Japan to refer to domestic animation. Since anime or animēshon is used to describe all forms of animation, Japanimation is used to distinguish Japanese work from that of the rest of the world.
In more recent years, anime has also frequently been referred to as manga in European countries, a practice that may stem from the Japanese usage: In Japan, manga can refer to both animation and comics (although the use of manga to refer to animation is mostly restricted to non-fans). Among English speakers, manga usually has the stricter meaning of "Japanese comics". An alternate explanation is that it is due to the prominence of Manga Entertainment, a distributor of anime to the US and UK markets. Because Manga Entertainment originated in the UK the use of the term is common outside of Japan. The portmanteau "animanga" has been used to collectively refer to anime and manga, though it is also a term used to describe comics produced from animation cels.
Visual Characteristics
Like any art form, anime has a wide variety of artistic styles. They vary from artist to artist or by studio to studio. They are generally characterized by detailed backgrounds and stylized characters in a variety of different settings and storylines, aimed at a wide range of audiences. It is usually coloured and designed to look as realistic as possible, unlike Manga, which uses slightly exaggerated colours and designs. But, anime fantasy creatures, (e.g witches, spirits etc.) can have exaggerated facial and physical features. But, they will always be designed to look as realistic as possible, and bright colours would be rarely used unless needed to.
Animation Style
The basics of anime is based on traditional animation. While anime is considered separate from cartoons, anime still uses multiple still images in rapid succession to produce the animated visual effect. Like all animation, the production processes of storyboarding, voice acting, character design, cel production, etc. still apply. With improvements in computer technology, computer animation increased the efficiency of the whole production process.
Anime is often considered a form of limited animation. That means that stylistically, even in bigger productions the conventions of limited animation are used to fool the eye into thinking there is more movement than there is. [1] What sets it apart from limited animation made outside of Japan, such as UPA cartoons is to what effect and ability it uses the limited animation and for what reason.
Unlike Western animation, which tends to de-emphasize the background (such as the Simpsons [citation needed]), anime tends to emphasize backgrounds for atmosphere.[1] For example, anime often puts emphasis on changing seasons, as can be seen in numerous anime, such as Tenchi Muyo. Sometimes actual settings have been duplicated into an anime. The backgrounds for the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are based on various locations within the suburb of Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.[11]
While different titles and different artists have their own artistic styles, many stylistic elements have become so common such that they are described as being definitive of anime in general. These elements have been given names of their own. The anime drawing style can be learned, particularly with the aid of books such as How to Draw Manga. Such books come complete with information and instructions on the styles used in anime.
Character Designs
A common approach is the large eyes style drawn on many anime and manga characters, credited to the influence of Osamu Tezuka, who was inspired by the exaggerated features of American cartoon characters such as Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, and Disney's Bambi.[1] [12] Tezuka found that large eyes style allowed his characters to show emotions distinctly. Cultural anthropologist Matt Thorn argues that Japanese animators and audiences do not perceive such stylized eyes as inherently more or less foreign.[3] When Tezuka began drawing Ribbon no Kishi, the first manga specifically targeted at young girls, Tezuka further exaggerated the size of the characters' eyes. Indeed, through Ribbon no Kishi, Tezuka set a stylistic template that later shōjo artists tended to follow. Another variation of this style is "super deformed"; which usually feature huge eyes, an enlarged head, and small body.
However, not all anime have large eyes. For example Hayao Miyazaki is known for not having large eyes and having realistic hair colors on his characters.[13] In addition other productions also have been known to use smaller eyes. However, many western audiences associate anime with large detailed eyes as many shounen or boy comics and shoujo young girl comics are the comics being imported over the Josei or women's comics and adult, but not pornographic comics.
Other stylistic elements are common as well; often in comedic anime, characters that are shocked or surprised will perform a "face fault", in which they display an extremely exaggerated expression. Angry characters may exhibit a "vein" or "stressmark" effect, where lines representing bulging veins will appear on their forehead. Angry women will sometimes summon a mallet from nowhere and strike someone with it, leading to the concept of Hammerspace and cartoon physics. Male characters will develop a bloody nose around their female love interests (typically to indicate arousal, based on an old wives' tale).[14] Embarrassed characters will invariably produce a massive sweat-drop, which has become one of the most widely recognized stereotype motifs of anime.
Another stylistic element is that use of lines. In anime the lines are often influenced more from a stylistic look from brush work, rather than that of the calligrapher's pen.[1] This may be due to the fact that Japanese was traditionally written with a brush and has had a large influence on Japanese art, thus how the lines are treated tend to be different from the Western art. Western lettering was done with a calligrapher's pen. the influences of these things can most influentially be seen in the amount of tapering and thickness of the lines involved.
Anime also tends to borrow many elements from manga including text in the background, and borrowing panel layouts from the manga as well. For example, a opening may employ manga panels to tell the story, or to dramatize a point for humorous effect. This is best demonstrated in the anime Karekano.
The degree of stylization varies from title to title. Some titles make extensive use of common stylization: FLCL, for example, is known for its wild, exaggerated stylization. In contrast, titles such as Only Yesterday, a film by Isao Takahata, take a much more realistic approach, and feature few stylistic exaggerations.
Genres
Anime has many genres typically found in any mass media form. Such genres include action, adventure, children's stories, comedy, drama, erotica (more specifically ecchi or hentai), medieval fantasy, occult/horror, romance, and science fiction.
Most anime includes content from several different genres, as well as a variety of thematic elements. Thus, some series may be categorized under multiple genres. For example, Neon Genesis Evangelion might be considered to fall into the genres of post-apocalyptic, mecha, drama, and shonen-ai. A show may have a seemingly simple surface plot, but at the same time may feature a far more complex, deeper storyline and character development. It is not uncommon for an action themed anime to also involve humor, romance, and even social commentary. The same can be applied to a romance themed anime in that it may involve an action element, or in some cases brutal violence.
The following is a list of the major genres and designations that are specific to anime and manga.[15]
Genres with Western Counterparts:
- Action/Adventure: Anime that primarily focuses on martial arts, sword fighting, or other action oriented material. Examples: Ninja Scroll or Naruto.
- Horror: Anime or manga which contains darker themes or science-fictional characters. Examples: Vampire Hunter D series or Wicked City.
- Progressive: "Art films" or extremely stylized anime. Examples: Voices of a Distant Star or Byōsoku 5 Centimetre.
Demographic Genres:
- Shōjo: Japanese for 'young lady' or 'little girl'. Refers to anime or manga targeted at girls. Examples: Fruits Basket or Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.
- Shōnen: Japanese for 'young boy'. Refers to anime or manga targeted at younger boys. Examples: Dragon Ball Z or Digimon.
- Seinen: Japanese for 'young man'. Anime or manga targeted at teenage or young male adults. Examples: Oh My Goddess! or Cowboy Bebop.
- Josei: Japanese for 'young woman'. Anime or manga that is aimed at young women. Examples: Gokusen.
- Kodomo: Japanese for 'child'. Anime or manga that is aimed at young children. Examples: Hello Kitty or Pokémon.
Thematic Genres
- Bishōjo: Japanese for 'beautiful girl'. A blanket term that can be used to describe any anime that features pretty girl characters. Examples: Magic Knight Rayearth.
- Bishōnen: Japanese for 'beautiful boy'. A blanket term that can be used to describe any anime that features "pretty" and elegant boys and men. Examples: Fushigi Yūgi or most CLAMP shows.
- Sentai: Literally "fighting team" in Japanese. Refers to any show that involves a superhero team. Examples: Cyborg 009.
- Robot/Mecha: Anime or manga featuring super robots. Examples: Mobile Suit Gundam or Mazinger Z.
- Post-Apocalyptic: Anime dealing with a post-apocalyptic world. Examples: Neon Genesis Evangelion or Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
- Mahō shōjo: Subgenre of shōjo known for 'Magical Girl' stories. Examples: Sailor Moon.
- Mahō shōnen: Male equivalent of Mahō Shōjo. Examples: D.N.Angel.
- Moe: Anime or manga featuring characters that are extremely perky or cute. Examples: A Little Snow Fairy Sugar.
- Expertise: Anime that deals with a specific topic in depth, such as Eyeshield 21 and football, or Yakitate! Japan and bread-making, etc.
Romantic Genres
- Harem: A genre where several girl characters are attracted to a single boy character (or sometimes to multiple boy characters). It is more often than not a Shonen Anime and may be considered a sub-genre. Examples: Ranma ½ or Love Hina.
- Reverse Harem: As a Harem anime, but where several boy characters are attracted to a single girl character (or sometimes to multiple girl characters). It is more often than not a Shojo Anime and may be considered a sub-genre. Examples: Ouran Host Club or Fruits Basket.
- Shōjo-ai/Yuri: Japanese for 'girl-love'. Refers to anime or manga that focus on love and romance between female characters. It is often being replaced by the term "Girls Love" (GL). Yuri is like Shōjo-ai, but sometimes involves older characters or explicit sexual activity. Examples: Revolutionary Girl Utena or Kannazuki no Miko.
- Shōnen-ai: Japanese for 'boy-love'. Refers to anime or manga that focus on love and romance between male characters. The term "Shōnen-ai" is being phased out in Japan due to its other meaning of pederasty, and is being replaced by the term "Boys Love" (BL). Examples: Loveless or Gravitation
- Yaoi: Like "Shōnen-ai" but often involving older characters and explicit sexual activity. Examples: Sensitive Pornograph
Some anime titles are written for a very specific audience, even narrower than those described above. For example, Initial D and éX-Driver concern street racing and car tuning. Ashita No Joe and Hajime no Ippo were about boxing. Hanaukyo Maid Team is based on the French maid fantasy.
Distribution
Licensing
Anime is available outside of Japan in localized form. Licensed anime is modified by distributors through dubbing into the language of the country. The anime may also be edited to alter cultural references that may not be understood by a non-Japanese person and certain companies may remove what may be perceived as objectionable content. This process was far more common in the past (e.g. One Piece), when anime was largely unheard of in the west, but its use has declined in recent years because of the demand for anime in its original form. This "light touch" approach to localization has proved popular with fans as well as viewers formerly unfamiliar with anime. The popularity of such methods is evident by the success of Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block, both of which employ minor edits. The "light touch" approach also applies to DVD releases as they often include both the dubbed audio and the original Japanese audio with subtitles, are typically unedited. Anime edited for television is usually released on DVD "uncut," with all scenes intact.
Anime has also been a commercial success in Asia, Europe and Latin America, where anime has become even more mainstream than in the United States. For example, the Saint Seiya video game was released in Europe due to the popularity of the show even years after the series has been off-air.
Fansubs
Although it is a violation of copyright laws in many countries, some fans watch fansubs, recordings of anime series that have been subtitled by fans. Watching subtitled Japanese versions, though not necessarily downloaded fansubs, is seen by many enthusiasts as the preferred method of watching anime. The ethical implications of producing, distributing, or watching fansubs are topics of much controversy even when fansub groups do not profit from their activities and cease distribution of their work once the series has been licensed outside of Japan.
Television
TV networks regularly broadcast anime programming. Pay TV channels such as Cartoon Network, Disney, Sci-Fi, and others dedicate some of their time slots for anime. Then the Anime Network specifically shows anime. In Japan, major national TV networks broadcast anime regularly.
Anime beyond Japan
Anime and the Internet
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The Internet had played a significant role in the exposure of anime beyond Japan. Prior to the 1990's, anime has had limited exposure beyond Japan's borders. Coincidentally, as the popularity of the Internet grew, so did for anime.
Current reception in the United States
AnimeNation’s John Oppliger had this to say on the matter:
The support for anime among American anime fans is very strong. The availability of anime in America is truly impressive, especially within the anime fan community. Awareness of Japanese animation in America is at an all time high. However, mainstream acceptance of anime in America lags far behind the advances anime has made in other respects. A close examination of the support for anime on American television may provide a revealing and realistic gauge of the actual penetration of anime into America and American culture. Anime may seem like it's tremendously successful in America because its high profile, but the facts tell another story.
According to AC Nielsen, Pixar's The Incredibles sold 16 million copies on DVD in America last year. Shark Tale sold nearly 10 million copies. Even the DVD release of Bambi sold 6 million copies in 2005. In comparison, all four Inuyasha movies combined have sold just over 1 million copies in the past year and a half. Evidently, the success of anime in America is very relative. American anime fans are very devoted. Through underground means hardcore American fans now have access to brand new Japanese anime before even many Japanese residents do. America's anime fan community is influential because it's affluent and highly motivated; but not very large.[16]
Despite assessments like that, and its rare and limited release in American theaters, anime's legitimacy and respect in North America has grown well enough to garner major native artistic awards such as the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002 for Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki. Anime has a dedicated fan following in English speaking countries, particularly active on the internet, and at conventions regularly held throughout the US and UK.
Commercial appeal
Anime has become commercially profitable in western countries as early commercially successful western adaptations of anime, such as Astro Boy, have revealed.[17] The phenomenal success of Nintendo's multi-billion dollar Pokémon franchise[18] was helped greatly by the spin-off anime series that, first broadcast in the late 1990s, is still running worldwide to this day.
Influence on Western culture
Western Animation
Anime-influenced animation refers to non-Japanese works of animation that emulate the visual style of anime. Though most of these works are created by and primarily shown in the United States, many also involve production studios from Europe and non-Japanese Asia. These generally incorporated stylizations, methods, and gags described in anime physics. In addition, works such as Avatar: The Last Airbender features Asian themes. While these examples are not considered anime by the fanbase majority, they are best noted for being "influenced by anime".
Conventions
Fan-based conventions have long existed. Conventions for anime began to appear in the early 1990s, starting with Anime Expo, Animethon, Otakon, and JACON. Eventually, anime conventions are held annually in various cities across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
