Exploring and defining terms
Anime- Japanese movie and television animation, often having a science fiction theme and sometimes including violent or explicitly sexual material. Anime is characterized by stark colorful graphics depicting vibrant characters in action-filled plots often with fantastic or futuristic theme.
Anime are Japanese animated productions featuring hand-drawn or computer
animation. The word is the abbreviated pronunciation of "animation" in
Japanese, where this term references all animation, but in English, the
term is defined as a Japanese-disseminated animation style often
characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastic themes. Arguably, the
stylization approach to the meaning may open up the possibility of anime
produced in countries other than Japan. For
simplicity, many Westerners strictly view anime as an animation product from
Japan.
The earliest
commercial Japanese animation dates to 1917, and production of anime works in
Japan has since continued to increase steadily. The characteristic anime art
style emerged in the 1960s with the works of Osamu Tezuka and spread internationally in the late
twentieth century, developing a large domestic and international audience.
Anime is distributed theatrically, by television broadcasts, directly to home
media, and over the internet and is classified into numerous genres targeting
diverse broad and niche audiences.
Anime is a diverse art
form with distinctive production methods and techniques that have been adapted
over time in response to emergent technologies. The production of anime differs
from Disney animation by focusing less on the
animation of movement and more on the realism of settings as well as the use of
camera effects, including panning, zooming and angle shots. No single art style
exists and character proportions and features can be quite varied, including
characteristically large emotive or realistically sized eyes.
The anime industry
consists of over 430 production studios including major names like Studio Ghibli, Gainax and Toei
Animation. Despite having a fraction of the domestic film market,
anime achieves a majority of DVD sales and has been an international success
after the rise of televised English dubs. This rise in international popularly
has resulted in non-Japanese productions using the anime art style, but these
works have been defined as anime-influenced animation by both fans and the industry.
Anime follows the typical production of animation, including storyboarding, voice acting, character design, and cel
production. Since the 1990s, animators have increasingly used computer animation to improve the efficiency of the
production process. Artists like Noburō Ōfujipioneered
the earliest anime works, which were experimental and consisted of images drawn
on blackboards, stop motion animation of paper cutouts, and silhouette animation. Cell animation grew in popularity until it
came to dominate the medium. In the 21st century, the use of other animation
techniques is mostly limited to independent short films, including
the stop motion puppet animation work produced by Tadahito Mochinaga, Kihachirō Kawamoto and Tomoyasu Murata. Computers were integrated into the
animation process in the 1990s, with works such as Ghost in the Shell and Princess
Mononoke mixing
cel animation with computer-generated images. Fuji Film,
a major cel production company, announced it would stop cel production,
producing an industry panic to procure cel imports and hastening the switch to
digital processes.
Prior to the digital
era, anime was produced with traditional animation methods using a pose to pose approach. The majority of
mainstream anime uses fewer expressive key frames and more in-between animation.
Japanese animation
studios were pioneers of many limited
animation techniques.
animators in Japan, like everywhere else, study the techniques of Disney in
school, but anime has a distinct set of conventions that Japanese animators
must learn and apply. Unlike Disney animation, where the emphasis is on the
movement, anime emphasizes the art quality as limited animation techniques
could make up for the lack of time spent on movement. Such techniques were
often used not only to meet deadlines but also as artistic devices. Anime scenes place
emphasis on achieving three-dimensional views, and backgrounds are instrumental
in creating the atmosphere of the work. The
backgrounds are not always invented and are occasionally based on real
locations, as exemplified in Howl's Moving Castleand The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Oppliger stated that anime is one of the rare
mediums where putting together an all-star cast usually comes out looking
"tremendously impressive."
The cinematic effects
of anime differentiates itself from the stage plays found in American animation.
Anime is cinematically shot as if by camera, including panning, zooming,
distance and angle shots to more complex dynamic shots that would be difficult
to produce in reality. In anime,
the animation is produced before the voice acting, contrary to American
animation which does the voice acting first; this can cause lip sync errors in the Japanese version.
Manga - A Japanese genre of cartoons, comic books, and animated films, typically having a science-fiction or fantasy theme and sometimes. It is also define as a Japanese graphic novel, typically intended for adults, characterized by highly stylized art.
Manga are comics created in Japan, or by Japanese creators in the Japanese
language, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th
century. They have a long and
complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art.
In Japan, people of all ages read manga. The medium
includes works in a broad range of genres: action-adventure, romance, sports
and games, historical drama, comedy, science fiction and fantasy, mystery,
suspense, detective, horror, sexuality, and business/commerce, among others. Since
the 1950s, manga has steadily become a major part of the Japanese publishing
industry, representing a ¥406
billion market in Japan in 2007 approximately $3.6 billion in 2009.
Manga have also gained a significant
worldwide audience. In Europe and the Middle East the market is worth $250
million. In 2008, in the U.S.
and Canada, the manga market was valued at $175 million. The markets in France
and the United States are about the same size. Manga stories are typically
printed in black-and-white,
although some full-color manga exist. In Japan, manga
are usually serialized in large manga magazines, often containing many stories,
each presented in a single episode to be continued in the next issue. If the
series is successful, collected chapters may be republished in paperback books called tankōbon. A manga artist, mangaka in Japanese typically works with a few
assistants in a small studio and is associated with a creative editor from a
commercial publishing company. If a manga series is popular enough, it may be animated after or even during its run. Sometimes manga are drawn centering on
previously existing live-action or animated films.
The term manga is a Japanese word referring both to
comics and cartooning.
"Manga" as a term used outside Japan refers specifically to comics
originally published in Japan.
Manga-influenced comics, among original works, exist in
other parts of the world, particularly in Taiwan ("manhua"), South Korea
("manhwa"), and China, notably Hong Kong ("manhua"). In France, "la nouvelle
manga" has developed as a form of bande dessinée comics drawn in styles influenced by
manga.
Otaku- Young people who are highly skilled in or obsessed with computer technology to the detriment of their social skills. It is a negative word.
Otaku a Japanese term that refers to people with obsessive
interests, commonly the anime and
manga fandom. Its contemporary usage originated with Akio Nakamori's 1983 essay in Manga
Burikko. Otaku can be used as a pejorative; its
negativity stems from the stereotypical view of otaku and the media's reporting
on Tsutomu Miyazaki's "The
Otaku Murder" in 1989. According to studies published in 2013, the term
has become less negative, and many people now self-identify as otaku.
Otaku subculture is a central theme of various anime
and manga works, documentaries and academic research. The subculture began in
the 1980s as changing social mentalities and the nurturing of otaku traits by
Japanese schools combined with the resignation of such individuals to become
social outcasts. The subculture's birth coincided with the anime boom, after
the release of works like Mobile
Suit Gundam before branched into comic mar. Tkethe
definition of otaku subsequently became more complex, and numerous
classifications of otaku emerged. In 2005, the Nomura Research Institute
divided otaku into twelve groups and estimated the size and market impact of
each of these groups. Other institutions have split it further or focus on a
single otaku interest. These publications classify distinct groups including
anime, manga, camera, automobile, idol and electronics otaku. The economic
impact of otaku has been estimated to be as high as ¥2 trillion almost $18
billion.
In modern Japanese slang, the term otaku is mostly equivalent to "geek"
or "nerd". However, it can relate to any fan of any particular theme, topic, hobby
or form of entertainment. "When
these people are referred to as otaku, they are judged for their behaviors -
and people suddenly see an “otaku” as a person unable to relate to
reality". The word entered English as a loanword from the Japanese language. It is
typically used to refer to a fan of anime
or manga but can also refer to
Japanese video games or Japanese culture in general. The American magazine Otaku USA popularizes and covers these aspects. The usage of the word is a source of
contention among some fans, owing to its negative connotations and stereotyping
of the fandom. Widespread English exposure to the term came in 1988 with the
release of Gunbuster,
which referred to anime fans as otaku. Gunbuster was released officially in
English in March 1990. The term's usage spread throughout rec.arts.anime with
discussions about Otaku no
Video's portrayal of otaku before its 1994 English release. Positive and
negative aspects, including the pejorative usage, were intermixed. The term was also popularized by William Gibson's 1996 novel Idoru. which references otaku.Kawaii- Cute, especially in the context of Japanese culture. this one is my favourite by far.
Kawaii is
the quality of cuteness in the context of Japanese culture. It has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms. The noun iskawaisa is literally, lovability, cuteness or adorableness.The
root word is "kawai", formed from the kanji ka, meaning acceptable,
and ai, meaning love". The term kawaii has taken on the secondary meanings
of cool, groovy, acceptable, desirable, charming, non-threatening and innocence.
Japanese
women who feign kawaii behaviours for example high-pitched voice, squealing
giggles that could be viewed as forced or inauthentic are called burikko and this is considered a gender performance. The term burikko is formed with buri , literally amberjack a fish, a pun on furi which is to pretend or pose as, and ko which
is child. It was a neologism developed in the 1980s by singer
Kuniko Yamada.
In
Japan, cuteness is expected of men and women. There
is a trend of men shaving their legs to mimic the neotenic look. Japanese women often try to act cute
to attract men. A study by Kanebo, a cosmetic company, found that
Japanese women in their 20s and 30s favored the "cute look" with a
"childish round face". Women
also employ a look of innocence in order to further play out this idea of
cuteness. Having large eyes is one aspect that exemplifies innocence; therefore
many Japanese women attempt to alter the size of their eyes. To create this
illusion, women may wear large contacts, false eyelashes, drastic eye makeup,
and even have an East Asian
blepharoplasty, commonly known as double eyelid surgery.
Idols are
media personalities in their teens and twenties who are considered particularly
attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a
few years, regularly appear in the mass media, as singers for pop groups,
bit-part actors, TV personalities, models in photo spreads published in
magazines, advertisements, and so forth but not every young celebrity is
considered an idol. Young celebrities who wish to cultivate a rebellious image,
such as many rock musicians, reject the idol label. Speed, Morning Musume, AKB48, Momoiro Clover Zare examples of
popular idol groups in Japan during the 2000s & 2010s.The influence of anime
On Western animation can be seen as far back as the 1980s,
when animations such as Transformers were inspired by mecha anime although the original Transformers animated series was Japanese-animated,
and its accompanying toy-line was a re-issue of Japanese toys. The influence of
mecha anime on the Transformers franchise continues today, with the
creators ofTransformers Animated
citing relatively recent Gainax productions, specifically Diebuster
and Gurren Lagann, as major influences.
The advent of anime stylizations appearing in Western
animation questioned the established meaning of "anime." There are several Western animators
who collaborated with anime creators while producing Western animations. For
example, production on The Animatrix began when theWachowskis visited some of the creators of the
anime films that had been a strong influence on their work, and decided to
collaborate with them.The
collaboration between Western and Japanese animators dates back to the early
1980s, such as the Dungeons & Dragons animated series being a co-production
between Marvel Animation and Toei
Animation. A number of other
American animations of the 1980s and 1990s were outsourced to Japanese anime
studios, most notably TMS Entertainment, which
animated popular television productions such as DuckTales,, Batman:
The Animated Series, Animaniacs, and Spider-Man.
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