Anime
The term anime in English refers to Japanese animation. The word appears in written form in three katakana characters a, ni, me (アニメ). Japanese prounciation 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 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.
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.
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 unwholly familiar 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....
Exceptions to this rule are big budget films usually from Studio Ghibli. Produced by Hayao Miyazaki, these movies rise above the already immensely varied and technically skilled roster of anime films, and are inevitably box office smashes, as well as a hit outside of Japanese theaters.
Spirited Away was the best selling Japanese movie ever and also the first anime feature film to ever win an Academy Award (2001).
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, shoujo anime has had 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, which won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, may spur further mainstream acceptance of the form.
In Europe, public reaction to anime is actively growing. Televisions all around Europe are embracing anime, providing mostly old series. Dragon Ball, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon are popular series. Anime and manga related conventions are celebrated all around Europe, with an increasing rate of attendance.
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.
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.
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.
The majority of these anime fans often speak of the "superiority" of Japan and bash American culture.
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 fanss 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 characteristics
Outside Japan
Growth in Europe
Growth in North America
Notable names in Anime
Types of Anime
By target audience
Genres
Several Well-Known Japanese Animation Studios
List of non-Japanese Anime Distributors
See also
External links
General sites
Specific pages/articles
Specific anime companies