Anime
What is anime? In Japanese, anime is short for animation. Abroad, it refers to the specific animation style used by Japanese animators, but in Japan the word refers to animation in general.
Anime traces its roots back to the twelfth century, when the famous Tale of Genji was produced. This ancient novel about the adventures of Prince Genji was made into emakimono, illustrated scrolls that laid horizontally. At the same time artists were also producing giga, sketches whose name means "funny pictures".
Japanese scroll painting of a scene from the Sawarabi chapter of Lady Murasaki's 'The Tale of Genji.' Heian Period, 12th century, Tokyo.
This unique art form took foreign influence as western comic strips and cartoons gained popularity in Japan. Artists began experimenting with chalk drawings and film painting, but Japanese animation was not produced for entertainment until after World War II. At the time, companies did not have the budget required to produce works in color at the quality that foreign contemporaries such as Flintstones had, so the resulting animation was of much less quality in black and white. However, when anime such as Astro Boy were introduced to America in the sixties, they still won a great number of loyal fans and eventually led to an "anime boom" in the nineties when many more titles became available for American fans.
Art for Astro Boy, an early anime series adapted from the manga by Tezuka Osamu.
Anime is known for its distinctive storytelling methods employing vibrant colors, beautiful scenery, and detailed artwork. Characters often have large, expressive eyes, colorful hair, and intricate outfits. Despite the common American stereotype of animation being exclusively for children, anime caters to all demographics, with a variety of genres from romance to action to mystery. Children can enjoy series such as Pokémon, and teens can enjoy series such as Sailor Moon, Bleach, or Naruto. Adults can find entertainment watching anime like Psycho-Pass.
A piece of official art for the popular anime and manga series Bleach
As it gained popularity, anime gave rise to numerous phenomenons. For example, anime fans have formed their own communities, engaging in activities such as cosplay and organizing anime conventions. Fans cosplay, dressing up as their favorite characters and walking around anime conventions to talk to other fellow fans and potentially meet people in the industry. Communities of fan artists create fan works and post them on line, and some of them choose to pursue a professional career in animation. Anime has went beyond the boundaries of simple entertainment to become a source of community and creativity.
A fan cosplays as Sailor Moon for NemaCon 2011.
After visiting the Studio Ghibli museum today, I saw for myself why this amazing studio truly deserves the crown of anime. As one of the most respected animation studios of Japan, Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli set examples for the industry. For example, expression methods using body parts and scenery employed by Ghibli are now staples in the anime industry. With boundless creativity and a whimsical mood, Studio Ghibli productions are the essence of anime. Not only children, but adults as well, can enjoy each film and continue to gain new understanding with each viewing. There is no fancy CGI like American productions--only a heartwarming story for ages zero to 99+.
Works Cited:
http://movies.about.com/od/animatedmovies/a/Hayao-Miyazaki-bio.htm
http://anime.about.com/od/animeprimer/a/Brief-History-Of-Anime.htm
http://jpninfo.com/31964
Hal Marcovitz, Anime, Lucent Books, 2008
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