The term anime in English refers to Japanese animation, often characterized by stylized colorful graphics depicting vibrant characters in fantastic or futuristic action-filled plots.

Contents

1 Terminology 2 Characteristics 3 Outside Japan 3.1 Growth in Europe 3.2 Growth in North America 4 Notable names in Anime 4.1 People Involved in Production of Anime 4.2 Manga Artists Who Influenced Anime 4.3 Other People who Influenced Anime 5 Types of Anime 5.1 Production Types 5.2 By target audience 5.3 Genres 6 Several Well-Known Japanese Animation Studios 7 List of non-Japanese Anime Distributors 8 See also 9 External links 9.1 General sites 9.2 Specific pages/articles

Terminology

The word anime appears in written form in three katakana characters a, ni, me (アニメ). Japanese pronunciation is /ɑnimɛ/, but in the United States speakers typically pronounce the word as /ˈænɪˌmei/ and in England it is generally pronounced /ænɪmi/.

The English word transliterates a Japanese term. The etymology is generally traced to an abbreviation of the Japanese transliteration of the English word "animation" (shortened, as many foreign words appear in Japanese). Some non-Japanese anime fans claim the Japanese word comes from the French animé, ("animated").

Internationally, anime once bore the popular name "Japanimation", but this term has fallen into disuse. Fans tended to pronounce the word as though it abbreviated the phrase "Japan Animation". It saw the most usage during the 1970s and 1980s, which broadly comprise the first and second waves of anime fandom. The term survived at least into the early 1990s but seemed to fade away shortly before the mid-1990s anime resurgence. In general, the term "Japanimation" now only appears in nostalgic contexts (although anime itself has revived the name quite recently).

The term Japanimation is much more commonly used in Japan to refer to domestic animation. Since anime or animeshon is used to describe all forms of animation, Japanimation is meant to distinguish Japanese work from that of the rest of the world.

The voice actors for anime usually bear the Japanese equivalent designation: seiyuu.

Characteristics

Anime features a great variety of genres, and a unique artistic style. As with live-action cinema, it spans: adventure, science fiction, children's stories, romance, medieval fantasy , erotica (hentai) and others. Anime has become an expressly commercial art form; producers and marketers aim for very specific audiences, with well-defined categories for shonen (boys) and shojo (girls) genres, as well as for teenagers and adults.

While there are many different types of anime and many, if not most, titles do have an obvious and distinct theme or target audience, most anime does tend to include a variety of thematic elements. For example, it is not uncommon for strongly action-themed anime to involve humor, romance, and even poignant social commentary. Likewise, many romance themed anime may involve a strong action element as well.

Osamu Tezuka adapted and simplified many Disney animation precepts to reduce the budget and number of frames. His intent was to use it as a temporary measure to allow him to produce one episode every week with inexperienced animation staff. Anime studios have perfected techniques to draw as little new animation as possible, using scrolling or repeating backgrounds, still shots of characters sliding across the screen, and dialogue which involves only animating the mouths while the rest of the screen remains absolutely still, a technique not wholly unfamiliar to Western animation. Some fans argue that the best anime emphasizes sophisticated direction over actual animation (character movement), providing an illusion of motion where none exists. The overall effect of these techniques — reduced frame rate, many still shots, scrolling backgrounds — has led some critics to accuse anime of choppiness or poor quality in general. For more information, see Cheats, Cliches, Cartoons, Anime....

In addition there are scenes oftentimes where the frame rate of the animation far exceeds the norm of the rest of the work. These are commonly called "money shots" where more effort is put into the animation of one scene to give it emphasis over the rest of the work. Animator Yasou Otsuka was the pioneer of this technique.

Exceptions to these rules are big budget films usually from Studio Ghibli. These movies have much higher production values, due to their success at the box office. Also some animators in Japan can overcome production values by using different techniques than Disney or the old Tezuka/Otsuka norms of anime. Directors such as Hiroyuki Imaishi (RE: Cutey Honey, Dead Leaves) simplify backgrounds so that more attention can be paid to character animation. Other animators like Tatsuyuki Tanaka (in Koji Morimoto 's Eternal Family in particular) use Squash and stretch an animation technique not used by Japanese animators often to save money, Tanaka makes other shortcuts to compensate for this. Some higher-budgeted TV and OA series such as Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex also forego shortcuts found in most other animes. The 2003 version of Astro Boy, despite being a Tezuka creation, was also very well animated as Sony claims to have spent three times as much per episode compared to other series.

In short anime tends to be dominated by a school on animation thought that emphasies direction over character motion as means to save money. Other schools of thought in animation do exist in Japan but these works are less common than those that follow a general normal style of animation.

Outside Japan

Traditionally, boys and young men comprise the main audience outside Japan, so most translated anime tends to belong to the shonen style, such as Bubblegum Crisis, Tenchi Muyo! and Gundam. However, shojo anime has had some recent success in the West in the form of Sailor Moon, Card Captor Sakura, and Revolutionary Girl Utena. The recent success of anime in mainstream film awards, such as Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away winning the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and the featuring of Innocence: Ghost in the Shell at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, have helped spur mainstream and critical acceptance.

Growth in Europe

In the 1970s and '80s European companies collaborated with Japanese animation partners (notably Nippon Animation and its predecessor Zuiyo Enterprise ) to produce Europe-themed works for the broader audience. Examples are Vicky the Viking (1974, Wickie in German), Dogtanian (1981, Spain). Others include Ulysses 31 (1982, France's DIC with Japan's NHK), Mysterious Cities of Gold (1982, France's DIC with Japan's NHK), Great Detective Holmes aka Sherlock hound (1982, Italy with Japan's Tokyo Movie Shinsa[TMS]) and Technoboyger aka Thunderbirds 2086 (Toei Animation and U.K.'s ITC Entertainment ) .

In Europe, public interest in anime is growing rapidly. Television companies all around Europe are embracing anime, providing mostly old series. Dragon Ball, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ranma ½ and Sailor Moon are popular series. Anime and manga conventions are celebrated all around Europe, with an increasing rate of attendance.

Growth in North America

Individual anime shows have been shown in America since the 1960s’ Alakazam the Great, but with no more popularity than normal cartoon shows in the US. Anime as a genre was only recognized in America as early as the 1990’s. In a recent issue of “Animation World Magazine”, Fred Patten explains that anime began with a cult following, available only through mail order video and comic book stores. Then, in 1994, the SciFi channel began showing mature-themed animated movies from Japan. These were classics, such as Akira and Vampire Hunter D, that had done well in Japanese box offices. Soon anime series directed at pre-teens were being shown alongside American cartoons in the Saturday morning line up. Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, and Transformers were among them.

Then in 1998, the Pokémon anime arrived on North American televisions, as part of the launch of the video game series which it was based off. The popularity of the anime and the games, and later the trading cards, fed off each other, resulting in a deep penatration of American pop culture few other anime series can attest. The explosive growth in popularity was evident when the first Pokémon movie was released in the United States. It made $10.1 million in ticket sales on its first day, setting a new record for a Japanese production being shown in the United States, and ending up making $85.7 million, the highest gross any anime movie has ever attained.

This marked the beginning of a spurt of growth in anime's popularity in the America. Since then, anime TV series and movies have begun to creep slowly onto the American screen, and have slowly been welcomed, especially by television networks and production companies, for several financial reasons: First, the average number of episodes made for U.S. or European animated series is 26, while Japanese companies tend to make 52 to 150 episodes. An American company can simply purchase rights to the series and only has to re-dub the voices, rather than animate the whole thing themselves. This cuts production costs down to less than a quarter of what it would take to make the cartoon from scratch. This is also highly attractive to newly formed networks, just starting out, who don’t have much money to spend. Another high point for investors was anime’s marketability. In Japan, nearly every show has hundreds of other goods that go along with it. Endless amounts of candy, key chains, and plush toys, among other things proclaim a fan's love of a particular show or character.

While American consumers aren’t as big on plushies or candy, its obvious they aren’t immune to the other onslaughts of goods American marketing has brought over. The ever-popular kid’s TV series Pokemon (short for Pocket Monster) has spun off more than a billion dollars in merchandise, in the US alone. Several video games, a manga series, McDonalds toys, several soundtracks, 5 theatrical release movies, a couple of direct-to-video releases, and a card game (with some cards valued enough to be sold at $100 each) are only the most prominent of the money-making goods. And with more than 300 “monsters” on the show, and the show’s slogan “Gotta catch em all” plastered on every package, there’s no end to the market for action figures and character collectibles. Not only that, there is a store in New York City run by the owners of the Pokemon trademark dedicated to selling Pokemon-based goods.

In North America public reaction to anime remains mixed, with lingering negative memories of television series like Speed Racer combining with sensationalized reports of the more risqué adult entertainment productions. However, anime series have gradually become a staple of cable television such as the Cartoon Network for both their children's and adult programming blocks. Local networks in the United States, such as Fox and the WB, have (dubbed) Japanese series in their Saturday morning children's television blocks. The Action Channel frequently shows anime movies. YTV and Teletoon in Canada also have a few anime programs on their schedules. The Video on Demand service "Anime Network", the first channel in North America wholly dedicated to anime, started operations in late 2002 and later spun-off into a 24/7 cable format in mid-2004.

Anime has in the last few years become an extremely strong seller on home video, with many major retailers now carrying and displaying anime as a distinct genre. Strong North American sales of anime (such as Spirited Away) have encouraged Disney to make home video releases of other Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli features to which it owns distribution rights.

Manga is also appearing quickly as more and more companies start releasing their own lines. Among the most popular companies are Viz and Tokyopop.

Print publications focused on the world of anime have also become increasingly popular in the United States, with Newtype USA (the English-language version of the Japanese magazine Newtype) the circulation leader.

Many of the more serious anime, and many of the direct-to-video productions called OVA (Original Video Animation) or OAV (Original Animation Video), originate with an American anime fan audience in mind. In Japan these more mature series lack the popularity of the more child-focussed productions, although in Japan adults also greatly appreciate these seemingly child-oriented series.

Of late, anime has become so popular in North America (specifically, the United States) that even some cartoon shows are now imitating the style of drawing in what is known as amerime.

Anime conventions form an important focus for the anime fan base. Often annual, these conventions allow fans of anime to come together and socialize on a large scale. Many conventions invite guests from overseas. Some of the longer-established and larger conventions include:

• Anime Expo in Anaheim, California, near Los Angeles
• Otakon in Baltimore, Maryland, near Washington, DC
• Project: A-Kon in Dallas, Texas
• Anime Central in Rosemont, Illinois, near Chicago
• Canadian National Anime Expo in Toronto, Ontario
• Anime Weekend Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia

Notable names in Anime

The following section is devoted to those artist who made an impact through direct contributions to anime as opposed to other artists who were in manga and other fields that had an impact on the development of Japanese animation.

People Involved in Production of Anime

• Yoshitaka Amano's flowing artwork has spread widely in the west; as well as being responsible for anime features such as Angel's Egg, he has produced concept art for Squaresoft, including character designs for the Final Fantasy series of games, and has even collaborated with Neil Gaiman on Sandman: The Dream Hunters.

• Shōji Kawamori is a renown Mecha designer, having received awards even from Japanese industries and companies. He is responsible for the creation or mecha design (or both) of Future GPX Cyber Formula, The Vision of Escaflowne, Ao no Rokugo (Blue Submarine No. 6), and the legendary Macross saga, with all its sequels (with the exception of Macross II).

• Hideaki Anno, a controversial figure, directed the Neon Genesis Evangelion series and three live-action movies: Love&pop , Ritual (Shiki-Jitsu), and Cutey Honey. He also directed the first part of the television adaptation of the manga His and Her Circumstances (Kareshi Kanojo no jijou).

• Satoshi Kon, the young highly-regarded director of Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and the TV series Paranoia Agent . Often seen as the most promising young director of anime.

• Leiji Matsumoto is commonly credited for starting the Golden Age of Anime in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He achieved fame for creating several interconnecting series of space opera such as Space Battleship Yamato (known outside Japan as Star Blazers), Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999 and Interstella 5555 for which he collaborated with Daft Punk.

• Hayao Miyazaki has achieved general respect as director/producer of many important anime works such as Kaze no Tani no Naushika (Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind), Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro), Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke), Laputa: The Castle in the Sky and Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away). He also worked on other famous early anime like Lupin III and early World Masterpiece Theater television shows (with his long time friend Isao Takahata). His works typically feature elaborate and painterly background drawings combined with animation that has higher framerates (and budgets) than most anime.

• Mamoru Oshii gained notoriety and worldwide popularity through his 2 Ghost in the Shell movies. As a precursor, he created Dallos, the first OAV in history, and was a former member of Headgear involved in creation of the Patlabor series. Considered a "genius" by Stanley Kubrick himself, he has directed a number of anime projects and live action films including his great non-anime classic Avalon in 2001. His last ambitious movie Innocence: Ghost in the Shell (Inosensu: Kokaku Kidotai) was selected to compete at 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

• Tezuka Osamu has become the "god" of anime and manga. He directed the first fictional anime television series Astro Boy and pioneered many conventions of the Japanese style of animation. He is also known for his highly acclaimed work in independent animation. Many anime fans claim that one of his works, Kimba the White Lion was plagarized by Disney's Lion King. Although no one knows for certain, the two resemble each other uncannily. [1] [2]

• Tomino Yoshiyuki, the principle creator of the various Mobile Suit Gundam series which re-defined the mecha genre in the 70's and 80's.

• Shinichiro Watanabe, a well-known young director who has overseen such projects as Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, and most recently Samurai Champloo.

• Shinichi Watanabe, also known as "Nabeshin," who directed and appeared in the popular parody anime Excel Saga, well-known for both his gonzo animation style and his large afro hairdo.

• Yoshitoshi ABe was involved in (but not director for or often not writer) for a number of recent hits that have made it to the west commercially, notably Serial Experiments Lain, Haibane Renmei and Texhnolyze . Most of these shows also have producer Yasayuki Ueda involved in them.

The two sections below are not so much about the people who were directly involved in anime but about other people whose work had a big impact on the development of anime. Artists such as Hayao Miyazaki and Katsuhiro Otomo have worked in manga, but didn't primarly create influence because of their manga work.

Manga Artists Who Influenced Anime

• Akira Toriyama, author of the Dragon Ball manga, which was later adapted into the incredibly popular Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime. Toriyama is also known among gamers for his character design in Chrono Trigger. Toriyama's work is influential to the point of inspiring other manga artists in their creations, such as Eiichiro Oda's One Piece, and Kishimoto Masashi's Naruto, both of which are currently the top series in Japan.

• Go Nagai's contributions to anime/manga compare with Jack Kirby's work in comic books. Nagai pioneered several genres of anime/manga, and for years many producers imitated his style. His action-packed science fiction series featured among the first anime widely broadcast in the United States (under the American titles Force Five and Tranzor Z ). Most of these works Nagai originally wrote as manga prior to their later adaptation into anime.

• Rumiko Takahashi, one of the wealthiest women of Japan, is the mind behind the popular Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura and InuYasha manga. These titles were brought into anime to enjoy even more success. Nearly all of her series are long-running, spanning many volumes and episodes upon television adaption.

• CLAMP is a four-woman team who have created famous manga that have become anime series, OVAs, and movies. The team consists of Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Mick Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi. They have a large influence on current shoujo (and some shounen) anime.

Other People who Influenced Anime

• Satoshi Tajiri's game series, Pokémon, inspired the famous anime series of the same name, lasting over six seasons, with seven movies. In addition this has spawned an entire genre of imitators to cash in on the success of the series.

Types of Anime

Production Types

Most anime can be categorized as one of three types:

• Movies, which are generally released in theaters, represent the highest budget and generally the highest video quality of the genre. Popular anime movies include "Akira", "Spirited Away", etc. Some anime films are also only released at film or animation festivals and are shorter and sometimes lower in production values. Some examples of these are "Winter Days", "Noiseman Sound Insect" and Osamu Tezuka's "Legend of the Forest".

• OVA (Original Video Animation), anime is often similar to a mini-series. OVAs have at least two episodes but might have as many as twenty. Some called one-shots are short (usually less than movie length) anime OVAs. Most OVAs are sometimes broadcast on television, satellite TV, or Cable, but are most commonly released directly to video. OVAs episodes are of varying length. OVA means "Original Video Animation". It is sometimes written OAV, or "Original Animated Video". As a general rule OVA anime tends to be of very high quality, approaching that of movies. OVA titles tend often have a very regular, contiguous plot which is best enjoyed if all episodes are viewed in sequence. However, Some OVAs are episodic, in that each episode is "stand-alone". Popular OVA titles include "Bubblegum Crisis" and "Tenchi Muyo".

• TV Series anime is syndicated and is broadcast on television on some regular schedule. Anime TV series are generally low quality compared to OVA and Movie titles. This is because the production budget is spread out over many episodes rather than a single film or a short series. Most TV episodes are about 23 minuites in length. This length fills a typical 30-min. TV timeslot when commercials are added. Some TV episodes are shorter, approximatley 12 minuites, so that two different episodes (often two completely different titles) may be shown in the same time segment. TV series anime runs in seasons. One full season is 26 episodes, though many titles run half seasons, or 13 episodes. Therefore, most TV anime titles have a total number of episodes that is some multiple of 13. It is common for subsequent TV episodes to be completely unrelated to each other, so viewers can enjoy the show even if an episode is missed. All TV series anime epsiodes will have opening credits (generally called "opening" for short), closing credits, and often an "eyecatch". An "eyecatch" is a very short scene, about 2–3 seconds long and often humourous or silly, that is used to signal the start or end of the commercial break. The vast majority of TV anime episodes follow this pattern:

1. Opening Credits
2. "Part A" of the episode
3. Eyecatch
4. --Commercials--
5. Eyecatch
6. "Part B" of the episode
7. Closing Credits
8. Preview for the next episode.

"Eyecatch" scenes are only found in TV series anime. Opening credits may be found in OVA releases, but that is not a certainty. These features are not found in movies.

It is very common for one title to spawn several different releases. A title that starts as a popular TV series might then have a movie produced at a later date. A good example is Tenchi Muyo — originally an OVA, Tenchi Muyo spawned three movies, two TV series, as well as several spinoff titles and specials.

By target audience

• shoujo (girls)
• shounen (boys)
• seinen (men)
• josei (women)

It should be noted that the only one of these terms in common use is "shoujo". Most anime is assumed to be "shounen", so it usually goes without saying that a given title is "shounen". While seinen and josei anime do exist, anime that fall specifically and exclusively into those genres is rare.

Genres

• Shounen (Boys. For, not about)
• Shoujo (Girls. For, not about)
• Mahou Shoujo (Magical Girl)
• Moe (Cute girls, romance)
• Mecha (Giant robots)
• Progressive (artsy/intellectual works / "art films")
• Shounen-ai (gay romance)
• Shoujo-ai (lesbian romance)
• Hentai/Ecchi (erotica / erotic-themed)
  • yaoi (gay)
  • yuri (lesbian)
  • Shota (young boys)
  • lolicon ("lolita complex" / young girls)

Several Well-Known Japanese Animation Studios

• AIC
• Bandai Visual (Emotion)
• Bee Train
• Broccoli
• CLAMP
• Cloverleaf
• GAINAX
• GONZO Digimation
• J.C.STAFF
• Madhouse Production
• Nippon Animation
• OLM / Oriental Light and Magic
• Pioneer LDC
• Production I.G
• Studio 4˚C
• Studio BONES
• Studio Ghibli
• Studio Pierrot
• Sunrise
• Tatsunoko Productions
• Toei Animation

List of non-Japanese Anime Distributors

• ADV Films (U.S., U.K.)
• AN Entertainment (U.S.)
• AnimEigo (U.S.)
• Bandai Entertainment (U.S., owned by Bandai of Japan)
• Central Park Media (U.S.)
• Dark Horse Comics (U.S.)
• Disney (U.S.)
• FUNimation (U.S.)
• 4Kids Entertainment (U. S.)
• Geneon (U.S.)
• Madman Entertainment (Australia)
• Manga Entertainment (U.S.)
• Media Blasters (U.S.)
• The Right Stuf International (U.S.)
• Tokyopop (U.S.)
• US Manga Corps (U.S., part of Central Park Media )
• Viz (U.S., owned jointly by Shogakukan and Shueisha, of Japan, but it is run independently)

See also

• List of anime
• List of anime in widescreen
• List of H anime
• List of H dōjinshi (anime)
• List of dōjinshi (anime)
• List of Animanga Games
• Animation History: Japan
• Anime in the United States
• Bishōnen and Bishōjo
• Catgirls
• Cosplay
• Fansubs
• J-Pop
• List of anime conventions
• Manga
• Otaku
• Bishōjo game
• Animanga Game
• Animanga Audio Dorama
• Pocky
• Chibi
• Glomp
• Gashapon

External links

General sites

• Just Manga Anime Plenty of manga previews to check out.
• AnimeSuki.com Download non licensed anime via Bittorrent
• DownloadAnime.com Download non licensed anime via Bittorrent and a large section of wallpapers
• AniDB
• Anime Check-list: searchable database of anime titles
• Anime Info
• Crystal Acids: English Voice Actor & Production Staff Database: database logging the English production staffs who work on anime titles
• Anime on DVD.com: reviews of anime DVD discs, web forums, online chat, articles.
• Anime News Network: articles, encyclopedia/lexcion, forums and chat
• Anime Academy: anime reviews and articles
• AnimeNfo: anime and manga information and reviews
• Animerica Magazine
• Animetric.com: reviews of anime, manga and bishoujo games; shopping guide and forum.
• Anime Web Turnpike: comprehensive link collection, articles, forums and chat.
• Newtype USA
• EX: The Online World of Anime and Manga: news, reviews, columns, and shopping guide.
• Anime Tropes: comprehensive list of anime tropes and conventions at the TV Tropes and Idioms Wiki.

Specific pages/articles

• What are Manga and Anime? by Eri Izawa : some of whose essays appeared on EX
• Grand High Licensing List: list of anime that's recently been licensed by U.S. commercial anime companies.
• Anipages Daily A comprehensive blog/site that focuses on the production aspects of anime over the fannish aspects.