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Animation, Japanese-style. Best known for its distinctive early "big eyes, small mouth" style of character design, theFanservice and the wide range of subjects and genres it covers. Animation is considered just another medium inJapan, lending itself to any story for any age level. Anime, encompassing work with adult themes such asPsychological Horror anderotica, is the primary reason for the complete destruction of theAnimation Age Ghetto. Its style is also very useful in certain genres likeScience Fiction which would otherwise be very expensive to produce, allowing focus on special effects and keeping character animation simple.
As a result, a large number of Japanese television shows and movies are animated; there is also a very large market for direct-to-video animation (known asOVAs). Most of these productions are not restricted to topics suitable for the under-12 set.
It is a commonly held misconception that the termanime is derived from French. It's actually a loanword of the short form (アニメ) for the Japanese wordanimeshon (アニメーション), itself a loanword from English.note The Japanese use the term to refer to any and all forms of animation, so don't be fooled by some fans saying that anime are not cartoons; they are, just done in a very specific style. Older sources will often refer to anime by the more descriptive term "Japanimation", an obvious portmanteau ofJapan andanimation. This terminology fell out of style in the West inThe '90s with the rise of the first generation ofOccidental Otaku. Anime's trademark visual style is shared withManga (Japanese comic books and graphic novels) along withLight Novel (a Japanese literature novel); in both cases, it is inherited from the work of earlier authors/artists such asOsamu Tezuka, who is the father of modern Japanese manga and anime, andJunichi Nakahara
, a godfather of manga art.
A debate surrounds the origins of the "large eyes" popularly used in anime. Some sources say it originated from Osamu Tezuka, who was heavily influenced by American animators such asWalt Disney's work orBetty Boop (one of Tezuka's favorite characters). On the other hand, one of the earliest artists to use the "large eyes" look was the above mentioned manga artistJunichi Nakahara, who was drawing illustrations for popular femaleShoujo magazines that look very similar to modern manga/anime art, including the "large eyes". A similar style also appeared in popularKamishibai (paper theater) shows by the early 1930's, with popular characters such asJungle Boy. The distinctive art style which began in 1920's Shoujo magazines evolved over the decades into the familiar art style that has characterized manga and anime for many decades. Expressionist culture of Japan, where the eyes are the main focus on reading peoples' thoughts, also probably had a large effect on the large eyes style.
In response to contemporary criticism of the typical anime/manga/light novel art style, the artist/authorShirow Masamune has said: "I've heard that some people complain about the large eyes and small noses and mouths in Japanese manga. But I don't see a whole lot of difference when I look at Disney characters."
Osamu Tezuka's work was essential in laying the foundations for modern manga and anime as they are known today. His seminal creation — and the one most Americans are likely to be familiar with — wasTetsuwan Atom (Mighty Atom). It is perhaps better known in the English-speaking world asAstro Boy.
See alsoAnime & Manga.
