So, what in the world is anime?
Anime refers to Japanese animation. Japanese animation is a distinctive
form of animation that usually is noticed by its style or quality.
Unlike American animation, this is not only targeted to children.
Subjects in anime range from extremely wierd to the insanely cute
because Japanese censorship laws are different than in many other
countries. Manga is sort of like anime's "twin" because it is the same,
but only in comic book form. Sometimes, certain episodes of different
animes are sold in stores, such as Best Buy and Suncoast.
Anime is for Adults Too?
Many people assume that since anime is a type of cartoon, does this
only revolve around younger kids? Nope, of course not! Some anime was
made to appeal towards older teens and adults; however, some does
appeal to only children. The younger viewers may like it for the
action, humor and the general "look" of that particular anime. At the
same time older viewers will enjoy it for these reasons and the certain
events that kids wouldn't be able to understand or appreciate.
Format of Anime
As in America, Anime comes in many different formats that are
based on how it's distributed in Japan. There are TV episodes, OAVs (original anime videos),
and Films.
Why do fans tend to love anime and manga?
This purely depends upon the taste of each viewer. These are some of the reasons that people are so interested in anime:
There are very detailed plots and storylines. Most anime and
manga consist of great storylines, and their great amount of detail in
which you have to hunt for. The Japanese don't really focus on violence
and nudity, but this doesn't necessarily mean that anime and manga have
less of a plot.
There are many topics and styles to choose from. There is
anime and manga to fit all genres. Also, anime and manga isn't targeted
towards a specific age group, which could be more appealing to people
who are first introduced to anime/manga.
At times, anime can be pretty emotional. They can spark some laughs or maybe even some tears.
The artwork in each series is amazing! The animation and
artwork in anime and manga, by far, surpasses other animation and
comics in detail and style. Anime and manga characters are drawn to fit
into a certain environment, and appear to be three-dimensional. The
artists focus more on detail more than the movement of the characters.
Being different than American cartoons, there is a pretty
distinctive difference between the two. Just try looking at their
bodies. If the animation is anime, the characters can sometimes have
odd hair (e.g. spiked like Goku's or colored wierdly, like pink for
example). Also, the eyes of the characters look much different. The
eyes tend to be bigger and have lots more detail in them than just the
average human eye. In American cartoons, the animations are less
complex and everything looks more basic. For example, if you watched a
Bugs Bunny cartoon, you wouldn't see the characters shooting energy
beams out of some part of their body. Also, if you compare Bugs Bunny
to Ryo-Ohki in Tenchi Muyo, Ryo-Ohki's ears look bigger and more
detailed. American cartoons are more realistic and anime is more
fantasy-like with a lot more action. I would have to hand over the
award for better animations to Japan because I like drawings that are
more complex rather than just being simple.
Anime in Earlier Decades
Anime has been Americanized and made to fit into a TV. For example, if
you were alive in the 1960's, you may have seen the earlier animes,
like Astro Boy. This was put on Kids WB and retro was brought back to
life (even though I don't really like Astro Boy). Here are some
examples of what you could have seen in the later decades:
From the 1970's to the early 1980's, you could have seen things, like Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers.
In the mid-1980's, you could have watched Robotech, Captain
Harlock, and the Queen of a Thousand Years. You could have possibly
played Cliffhanger and Cobra Command in the arcades.
In the 1990's, you could have seen The Ronin Warriors or a
bunch of other anime (this is when the majority of the anime was
released) either on TV or in theaters.
Now, there are a bunch of TV channels where anime is aired, like Anime Network, Adult Swim/Toonami, 4kids TV, Kids WB, and more.
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