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An anime is a Japanese animated video. The word is written in three
katakana characters a, ni, me (アニメ). It should be pronounced "ah-nee-meh"
(the "me" sound is not long, it is like a truncated pronunciation of "met"),
but in America is typically pronounced "an-ee-may" ("an" pronounced as in
"hand"). Ironically, the word is an English transliteration of a Japanese
term, which in turn is generally supposed to be an abbreviation of the
Japanese transliteration of the English word animation (shortened, as many
foreign words are; for example terebi is the Japanese word for "television",
or in Japanese pronunciation "terebijon"). However, some anime fans state
that the Japanese word comes from the French animι, meaning "animated"
although no Japanese believes it. The voice actors for anime are usually
called by the Japanese equivalent term seiyuu.
Anime characteristics
Anime is known for its variety of genres, unique artistic style, and
deep, emotional stories. Just as with live-action cinema, it spans various
genres: adventure, science fiction, children's stories, romance, medieval
fantasy, erotica (hentai), and various others. Anime is an expressly
commercial art form, and most anime are produced and marketed for very
specific audiences, with well-defined categories for shonen (boys) and
shoujo (girls) genres, as well as teenagers and adults.
Critics contend that the name "anime" is very appropriate, for the
cartoons are "almost animated". Anime is known for its almost miserly
animation compared to cartoons made specifically for America such as Disney.
Anime studios have perfected techniques to draw as little new frames of
animation as possible, such as scrolling/repeating backgrounds, still shots
of characters sliding across the screen, and dialogue which involves only
animating the mouths while the rest of the screen is absolutely still. Anime
is also known for its very developed "lighting" and "laser" effects, and its
ahead-of-the-curve embracing of new computer animation technologies.
Outside Japan
Outside of Japan, most of the audience for anime has traditionally been
boys and young men, so most anime which is translated tends to belong to the
shonen style, including titles like Bubblegum Crisis, Tenchi Muyo and Gundam.
However, shoujo anime has made some recent success in the West in the form
of Sailor Moon, Card Captor Sakura, and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Anime fans
hope that the positive publicity surrounding Hayao Miyazaki's acclaimed
film, Spirited Away winning the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
might spur further mainstream acceptance of the form.
Growth in North America
In North America, the public reaction to anime is still unsure with
lingering stereotypes of classic television series like Speed Racer combined
with sensationalized reports of the more risque adult entertainment
productions. However, anime series have become a staple of cable television
like the Cartoon Network for both their children's and adult programming
block, and now on the dedicated Anime Network. 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 been
encouraging enough for Disney to announce the video release of two more
Hayao Miyazaki features in late 2003 after years of the Company seemingly
ignoring them which can be a positive sign.
Anime is now widely available in North America. Local networks in the US,
such as Fox and the WB, have imports from the east in their Saturday morning
children's television blocks. You can find an even greater selection of
anime on the Cartoon Network. The Action Channel also shows anime movies
frequently. YTV and Teletoon in Canada also have a few anime programs on
their schedules. Last but not least, the Anime Network, the first channel in
North America wholly dedicated to anime, was launched in late 2002. Print
publications focused on the world of anime are also increasingly popular in
the U.S., 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 straight to video
productions called "OVA", are made with an American anime fan audience in
mind. In Japan these more serious animes are not as popular as the more
children focused productions (although in Japan these seemingly children
oriented animes are also much appreciated by adults).
For an extensive list of Japanese anime, see List of anime.
Notable names in anime
Shinichiro Watanabe the well known "Guru of Sunrise" has overseen such
projects as "Macross Plus" and most recently "Cowboy Bebop".
Hayao Miyazaki is a well respected director/producer of the
quintessential anime work Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke) and the early
series Lupin III. His later works are characterized by elaborate and
beautiful background drawings. If one were to take a snapshot of the frame
of his anime, one can see that each frame looks like an artistic painting.
Go Nagai's contributions to anime can be compared with Jack Kirby's work
in comic books. Nagai pioneered several genres of anime, and his style was
widely imitated by many producers for years. His action-packed science
fiction series were among the first anime to be widely broadcast in the
United States (under the American titles Force Five and Tranzor Z).
Masamune Shirow has created a number of popular projects, particularly
Ghost in the Shell.
Leiji Matsumoto created the Captain Harlock universe, in which numerous
anime series have been set.
Genres
- shoujo
- magical girl (mahou shoujo)
- shounen-ai
- shoujo-ai
- shonen
- seinen
- mecha
- hentai
- animals (kemono)
- futanari
- loli
- shota
- yaoi
- yuri
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