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Anime refers to Japanese animated video. The word is written in three
katakana characters a, ni, me. It should be pronounced "ah-nee-meh"
(the "me" sound is not long, it is like a truncated pronunciation of "men"),
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 "terebishiyon"). 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 is known for its variety of genres and unique artistic style.
Just as with live-action cinema, it spans various genres: science fiction,
children's stories, romance, medieval fantasy, erotica (hentai), and so
forth. 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.
Outside of Japan, most of the audience for anime is among 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. On
the other hand, shoujo anime has more recently made some showing in the West
in the form of Sailor Moon, Card Captor Sakura, and Revolutionary Girl
Utena. Unlike U.S. animation, there is a sizable faction of anime especially
tailored to adult audiences, and numerous titles are classified in the
United States as not suitable for minors.
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 risquι 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 has become an extremely strong seller on home video, with many major
retailers now carrying and displaying anime as a distinct genre.
Furthermore, 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.
The strong North American sales of the title 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 the US. Local networks, 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. 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.
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