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Thehistory of anime can be traced back to the start of the 20th century, with the earliest verifiable films dating from 1917. The history ofanime dates back to the early 20th century, with Japan producing its first animated films in the 1910s, influenced by Western animation techniques. However, it was not until the 1960s, with the work ofOsamu Tezuka, often called the "God of Manga," that anime began to take shape as a distinct cultural phenomenon. Tezuka'sAstro Boy (1963) is considered one of the first major anime TV series, setting the foundation for the animation industry. Over the following decades, anime grew in popularity both domestically and internationally, with diverse genres and styles emerging. By the 1980s and 1990s, anime had become a global phenomenon, with influential works such asAkira,Dragon Ball, andSailor Moon reaching international audiences. Today, anime is a major part of global pop culture, known for its unique art styles, storytelling depth, and expansive influence across media.[1] Before the advent of film, Japan already had a rich tradition of entertainment with colourful painted figures moving across the projection screen inutsushi-e (写し絵), a particular Japanese type ofmagic lantern show popular in the 19th century. Possibly inspired by Europeanphantasmagoria shows, utsushi-e showmen used mechanical slides and developed lightweight wooden projectors (furo) that were handheld so that several performers could each control the motions of different projected figures.[2][3]
The second generation of animators in the late 1910s includedŌten Shimokawa,Jun'ichi Kōuchi andSeitarō Kitayama, commonly referred to as the "fathers" of anime.[4]Propaganda films, such asMomotarō no Umiwashi (1943) andMomotarō: Umi no Shinpei (1945), the latter being the first anime feature film, were made duringWorld War II.
During the 1970s, anime developed further, with the inspiration of Disney animators, separating itself from its Western roots, and developing distinct genres such asmecha and itssuper robot subgenre. Typical shows from this period includeAstro Boy,Lupin III andMazinger Z. During this period several filmmakers became famous, especiallyHayao Miyazaki andMamoru Oshii.Doraemon, which started airing in 1979, has become the longest-running anime of all time.
In the 1980s, anime became mainstream in Japan, experiencing a boom in production with the rise in popularity of anime likeGundam,Macross,Dragon Ball, and genres such asreal robot,space opera andcyberpunk.Space Battleship Yamato andSuper Dimension Fortress Macross also achieved worldwide success after being adapted respectively asStar Blazers andRobotech.
The 1988 filmAkira went on to become an international success. Later, in 2004, the same creators producedSteamboy, which became the most expensive anime film.Spirited Away shared the first prize at the 2002Berlin Film Festival and won the 2003Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, whileInnocence: Ghost in the Shell was featured at the 2004Cannes Film Festival.
Before film, Japan had already several forms of entertainment based in storytelling and images.Emakimono andkagee are considered precursors of Japanese animation.Emakimono was common in the eleventh century.[5] Traveling storytellers narrated legends and anecdotes while theemakimono was unrolled from the right to left with chronological order, as a movingpanorama.[5]Kagee was popular during theEdo period and originated from the shadows play of China.[5]Magic lanterns from the Netherlands were also popular in the eighteenth century.[5] The paper play calledKamishibai surged in the twelfth century and remained popular in the street theater until the 1930s.[5] Puppets of thebunraku theater andukiyo-e prints are considered ancestors of characters of most Japanese animations.[5] Finally,manga were a heavy inspiration for Japanese animation. CartoonistsKitazawa Rakuten andOkamoto Ippei used film elements in their strips in the early 20th century.[5]
According to Natsuki Matsumoto, the first animated film produced in Japan may have stemmed from as early as 1907. Known asKatsudō Shashin (活動写真, "Activity Photo"), from its depiction of a boy in a sailor suit drawing the characters forkatsudō shashin, the film was first found in 2005. It consists of fifty frames stencilled directly onto a strip ofcelluloid.[6][7] This claim has not been verified though and predates the first known showing of animated films in Japan. The date and first film publicly displayed is another source of contention: while no Japanese-produced animation is definitively known to date before 1916, the possibility exists that other films entered Japan and that no known records have surfaced to prove a showing prior to 1912.[1] Film titles have surfaced over the years, but none have been proven to predate this year. The first foreign animation is known to have been found in Japan in 1910, but it is not clear if the film was ever shown in a cinema or publicly displayed at all. Yasushi Watanabe found a film known asFushigi no Bōrudo (不思議のボールド, "Miracle Board") in the records of theYoshizawa Shōten (吉沢商店) company. The description matchesJames Blackton'sHumorous Phases of Funny Faces, though academic consensus on whether or not this is a true animated film is disputed.[1] According to Kyokko Yoshiyama, the first animated film calledNippāru no Henkei (ニッパールの変形, "Nippāru's Transformation") was shown in Japan at theAsakusa Teikokukan (浅草帝国館) in Tokyo sometime in 1912. However, Yoshiyama did not refer to the film as "animation". The first confirmed animated film shown in Japan wasLes Exploits de Feu Follet byÉmile Cohl on May 15, 1912. While speculation and other "trick films" have been found in Japan, it is the first recorded account of a public showing of a two-dimensional animated film in Japanese cinema. During this time, German animations marketed for home release were distributed in Japan.[1] In 1914, U.S. and European cartoons were introduced to Japan,[8] inspiring Japanese creators likeJunichi Kouchi andSeitaro Kitayama,[9] both of whom were considered the "fathers of anime".
Few complete animations made during the beginnings of Japanese animation have survived. The reasons vary, but many are of commercial nature. After the clips had been run,reels (being property of the cinemas) were sold to smaller cinemas in the country and then disassembled and sold as strips or single frames. The earliest anime that was produced in Japan to have survived into the modern day,The Dull Sword, was released on June 30, 1917, but there it is disputed which title was the first to get that honour. It has been confirmed thatDekobō Shingachō: Meian no Shippai (凸坊新画帳・名案の失敗, "Bumpy New Picture Book: Failure of a Great Plan") was made sometime during February 1917. A title by the name of New Art Book of Tokobo: Imosuke's Boar Hunt ( 凸坊新畫帖 芋助猪狩の巻) is the first anime domestic film.[1]
The first anime short-films were made by three leading figures in the industry.Ōten Shimokawa was a political caricaturist and cartoonist who worked for the magazineTokyo Puck. He was hired byTenkatsu to do an animation for them. Due to medical reasons, he was only able to do five movies, includingImokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki (1917), before he returned to his previous work as a cartoonist. Another prominent animator in this period wasJun'ichi Kōuchi. He was a caricaturist and painter, who also had studied watercolour painting. In 1912, he also entered the cartoonist sector and was hired for an animation by Kobayashi Shokai later in 1916. He is viewed as the most technically advanced Japanese animator of the 1910s. His works include around 15 movies. The third wasSeitaro Kitayama, an early animator who made animations on his own and was not hired by larger corporations. He eventually founded his own animation studio, theKitayama Eiga Seisakujo, which was later closed due to lack of commercial success. He used the chalkboard technique, and later paper animation, with and without pre-printed backgrounds. However, the works of these pioneers were destroyed after theGreat Kanto Earthquake of 1923.[5] The works of these two latter pioneers includeNamakura Gatana ("An Obtuse Sword", 1917) and a 1918 filmUrashima Tarō, which were believed to have been discovered together at anantique market in 2007.[10] However, it was later established that thisUrashima Tarō was most likely an entirely different film with a story similar to the missing 1918 film by Kitayama, and therefore is no longer credited to him. As of October 2017, Kitayama'sUrashima Tarō remains undiscovered.[11]
Yasuji Murata, Hakuzan Kimura, Sanae Yamamoto andNoburō Ōfuji were students of Kitayama Seitaro and worked at his film studio.Kenzō Masaoka, another important animator, worked at a smaller animation studio. Many early animated Japanese films were lost after the1923 Tokyo earthquake, including destroying most of the Kitayama studio, with artists trying to incorporate traditional motifs and stories into a new form.[12]
Prewar animators faced several difficulties. First, they had to compete with foreign producers such asDisney, which were influential on both audiences and producers.[13] Foreign films had already made a profit abroad, and could be undersold in the Japanese market, priced lower than what domestic producers needed to break even.[14][15] Japanese animators thus had to work cheaply, in small companies with only a handful of employees, which then made it difficult to compete in terms of quality with foreign product that was in color, with sound, and promoted by much bigger companies. Until the mid-1930s, Japanese animation generally usedcutout animation instead ofcel animation because the celluloid was too expensive.[16] This resulted in animation that could seem derivative, flat (since motion forward and backward was difficult) and without detail.[17] But just as postwar Japanese animators were able to turnlimited animation into a plus, so masters such as Yasuji Murata and Noburō Ōfuji were able to perform wonders that they made with cutout animation.
Animators such asKenzo Masaoka andMitsuyo Seo, however, did attempt to bring Japanese animation up to the level of foreign work by introducing cel animation, sound, and technology such as themultiplane camera. Masaoka created the firsttalkie anime,Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka, released in 1933,[18][19] and the first anime made entirely using cel animation,The Dance of the Chagamas (1934).[20] Seo was the first to use the multiplane camera inAri-chan in 1941.
Such innovations, however, were difficult to support purely commercially, so prewar animation depended considerably on sponsorship, as animators often concentrated on making PR films for companies,educational films for the government, and eventually works of propaganda for the military.[21] During this time, censorship and school regulations discouraged film-viewing by children, so anime that could possess educational value was supported and encouraged by theMonbusho (the Ministry of Education). This proved important for producers that had experienced obstacles releasing their work in regular theatres. Animation had found a place in scholastic, political, and industrial use.
In the 1930s, the Japanese government began enforcing culturalnationalism. This also lead to strict censorship and control of published media. Many animators were urged to produce animations that enforced the Japanese spirit and national affiliation. Some movies were shown in newsreel theatres, especially after the Film Law of 1939 promoted documentary and other educational films.[22] Such support helped boost the industry, as bigger companies formed through mergers and prompted major live-action studios such asShochiku to begin producing animation.[23] It was at Shochiku that such masterworks asKenzō Masaoka'sKumo to Chūrippu were produced. Wartime reorganization of the industry, however, merged the feature film studios into three big companies.
During theSecond World War, more animated films were commissioned by theImperial Japanese Army,[24][25] showing the sly, quick Japanese people winning against enemy forces. This included films such as Maysuyo Seo'sMomotarō: Umi no Shinpei (Momotaro: Sacred Sailors) (1943) which focused on theJapanese occupation of Asia.[26]
In the post-war years, Japanese media was often influenced by the United States,[9] leading some to define anime as any animation emanating from Japan after 1945.[27]: 5 In fact, the term itself became more and more common around this time period.[28]
Anime and manga began to flourish in the 1940s and 1950s, with foreign films (and layouts by American cartoonists),[29] influencing people such asOsamu Tezuka.[30]
In the 1950s, anime studios began appearing across Japan. Hiroshi Takahata bought a studio named Japan Animated Films in 1948, renaming itTōei Dōga,[15] with an ambition to become "the Disney of the East." While there, Takahata met other animators[31] such asYasuji Mori, who directedDoodling Kitty, in May 1957. However, for the Japanese public, it wasn't until the release ofPanda and the Magic Serpent in October 1958 that Japan fully entered into world of professional animation.[13] While animators began to experiment with their own styles, using Western techniques,[25]Tezuka Osamu began drawingshonen manga[32] likeRob no Kishi (Knight of the Ribbon), which later becamePrincess Knight, trying to appeal to female readers, while also pioneeringshoujo manga.
Toei Animation was founded and produced the first color anime feature film in 1958,Hakujaden (The Tale of the White Serpent, 1958).It was released in the US in 1961 as well asPanda and the Magic Serpent.[33] After the success of the project, Toei released a new feature-length animation annually.[34]: 101
Osamu Tezuka establishedMushi Production in 1961, after Tezuka's contract with Toei Animation expired. The studio pioneered TV animation in Japan, and was responsible for such successful TV series asAstro Boy,Kimba the White Lion,Gokū no Daibōken andPrincess Knight.
Mushi Production also produced the first anime to be broadcast in the United States (on NBC in 1963), although Osamu Tezuka would complain about the restrictions on US television, and the alterations necessary for broadcast.[35] The first anime shown in the United States is Animal Baseball Match (動物大野球戦) which was made in 1949 but shown in 1957.
In the 1960s, the unique style of Japanese anime began forming, with large eyed, big mouthed, and large headed characters.[25] The first anime film to be broadcast wasMoving pictures in 1960. 1961 saw the premiere of Japan's first animated television series,Instant History, although it did not consist entirely of animation.[34]: 90 Magic Boy, known in Japan asShōnen Sarutobi Sasuke (少年猿飛佐助, "The BoySarutobi Sasuke"), is a 1959Japanese animated feature film released on December 25, 1959. Released asToei Animation's second theatrical anime, the film was released in theaters in United States byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer on June 22, 1961,[36] making it the first anime film to be released in the country, followed byPanda and the Magic Serpent on July 8, 1961. These films were popular enough they paved the way for other anime to follow.Astro Boy, created by Osamu Tezuka, premiered onFuji TV on January 1, 1963.[15][37] It became the first anime series shown widely to Western audiences, especially to those in the United States,[38][39]: 31 becoming relatively popular[13] and influencing U.S. popular culture, with American companies acquiring various titles from Japanese producers.[40]: 95 Astro Boy was highly influential to other anime in the 1960s,[41] and was followed by a large number of anime about robots or space. While Tezuka released many other animated shows, likeKimba the White Lion (based on his own manga),[9] anime took off, studios saw it as a commercial success.[39]: 33 The 1960s also brought anime to television and in America. These early agreements made between producers in the U.S. and Japan promised the spread of animation to other places around the globe.[42]
1963 introducedSennin Buraku as the first "late night" anime[41] and Toei Doga's first anime television seriesWolf Boy Ken. Mushi Pro continued to produce more anime television and met success with titles such asKimba the White Lion in 1965. What is noted as the firstmagical girl anime,Sally the Witch, began broadcasting in 1966. The originalSpeed Racer anime television began in 1967 and was brought to the West with great success. At the same time, an anime adaptation of Tezuka'sPrincess Knight aired, making it one of very fewshoujo anime of the decade. The first anime adaptation ofShotaro Ishinomori'smangaCyborg 009 was created in 1968, following the film adaptation two years prior. 1969's "Attack no.1", the firstshoujo sports anime was one of the first to have success in Japanese primetime and was also popular throughout Europe, particularly in Germany under the name "Mila Superstar."
The long-runningSazae-san anime also began in 1969 and continues today with excess of 6,500 episodes broadcast as of 2014. With an audience share of 25% the series is still the most-popular anime broadcast.[33]: 725
During the 1970s, the Japanese film market shrank due to competition from television.[43] This reduced Toei animation's staff and many animators went to studios such as A Pro and Telecom animation. Mushi Production went bankrupt (though the studio was revived 4 years later), its former employees founding studios such asMadhouse andSunrise. Many young animators were thrust into the position of director, and the injection of young talent allowed for a wide variety of experimentation. One of the earliest successful television productions in the early 1970s wasTomorrow's Joe (1970), aboxing anime which has become iconic in Japan. 1971 saw the first installment of theLupin III anime. Contrary to the franchise's current popularity, the first series ran for 23 episodes before being cancelled. The second series (starting in 1977) saw considerably more success, spanning 155 episodes over three years.
Another example of this experimentation isIsao Takahata's 1974 television seriesHeidi, Girl of the Alps. This show was originally a hard sell because it was a simple realistic drama aimed at children, and most TV networks thought children needed something more fantastic to draw them in.Heidi was an international success, popular in many European countries, and so successful in Japan that it allowed forHayao Miyazaki andTakahata to start a series of literary-based anime (World Masterpiece Theater). Miyazaki and Takahata leftNippon Animation in the late 1970s. Two of Miyazaki's critically acclaimed productions during the 1970s wereFuture Boy Conan (1978) andLupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).Doraemon, which was broadcast onTV Asahi in 1979, has become the most watched and popular anime series of all time.
During this period, Japanese animation reached continental Europe with productions aimed at European and Japanese children, with the most-pronounced examples being the aforementionedHeidi but alsoBarbapapa andVicky the Viking. Specifically, anime and manga found receptive audiences in Italy, Germany, and France; East and Southeast Asia; and throughout Latin America.[44] Each country's interest increased in Japan's output, which was offered for a low price.[45][46] In the 1970s, censored Japanese animation were shown on U.S. television. For example, transgender characters were censored inBattle of the Planets, an American adaptation ofScience Ninja Team Gatchaman.[47]
Another genre known asmecha came into being at this time. Some early works includeMazinger Z (1972–1974),Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972–1974),Space Battleship Yamato (1974–75) andMobile Suit Gundam (1979–80).
As a contrast to the action-oriented shows, shows for a female audience such asCandy Candy andThe Rose of Versailles earned high popularity on Japanese television and later in other parts of the world.[45]
By 1978, over fifty shows were aired on television.[48]
In the 1980s, anime started to go through a "visual quality renewal" thanks to new directors likeHayao Miyazaki andIsao Takahata, who founded Studio Ghibli in 1985, andKatsuhiro Ōtomo.[9] Anime began to deal with more nuanced and complex stories, while Boy's Love continued to impact cultural norms, taking root across East Asia, as countries such as South Korea, Thailand, and China ingested these Japanese pop culture exports.[49][50]: 3 The shift towardsspace operas became more pronounced with the commercial success ofStar Wars (1977). The science fiction genre, as a whole, had a strong influence on Japanese animation, shaping its creative direction.[28]
This allowed for the space operaSpace Battleship Yamato (1974) to be revived as a theatrical film.Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) was also successful and revived as a theatrical film in 1982. The success of the theatrical versions ofYamato andGundam is seen as the beginning of the anime boom of the 1980s, and of "Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age".[51]
A subculture in Japan, whose members later called themselvesotaku, began to develop around animation magazines such asAnimage andNewtype. These magazines formed in response to the overwhelming fandom that developed around shows such asYamato andGundam in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In the United States, the popularity ofStar Wars had a similar, though much smaller, effect on the development of anime.[citation needed]Gatchaman was reworked and edited intoBattle of the Planets in 1978 and again asG-Force in 1986.Space Battleship Yamato was reworked and edited intoStar Blazers in 1979. TheMacross series began withThe Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982), which was adapted into English as the first arc ofRobotech (1985), which was created from three separate anime titles:The Super Dimension Fortress Macross,Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross andGenesis Climber Mospeada. The sequel toMobile Suit Gundam,Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985), became the most successfulreal robot space opera in Japan, where it managed an averagetelevision rating of 6.6% and a peak of 11.7%.[52]
Theotaku subculture became more pronounced withMamoru Oshii's adaptation ofRumiko Takahashi's popular mangaUrusei Yatsura (1981).Yatsura made Takahashi a household name and Oshii would break away from fan culture and take a more auteuristic approach with his 1984 filmUrusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer. This break with theotaku subculture would allow Oshii to experiment further.
Theotaku subculture had some effect on people who were entering the industry around this time. The most famous of these people were the amateur production group Daicon Films which would becomeGainax. Gainax began by making films for the Daicon science fiction conventions and were so popular in theotaku community that they were given a chance to helm the most expensive anime film at the time,Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (1987).
One of the greatest and most influential anime films of all time,Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), was made during this period. The film gave extra prestige to anime allowing for many experimental and ambitious projects to be funded shortly after its release. It also allowed the film's directorHayao Miyazaki and his longtime colleague Isao Takahata to create their own studio under the supervision of formerAnimage editorToshio Suzuki. This studio would become known asStudio Ghibli and its first film wasCastle in the Sky (1986), one of Miyazaki's most-ambitious films.
The success ofDragon Ball (1986) introduced the martial arts genre and became incredibly influential in the Japanese Animation industry. It influenced many more martial arts anime and manga series' includingHajime no Ippo (1989),Baki the Grappler (1991),Naruto (2002), andThe God of Highschool (2020).
The 1980s brought anime to thehome video market in the form oforiginal video animation (OVA), as shows were shifting from a focus on superheroes to robots and space operas,[25] withoriginal video animation (OVA or OAV) coming onto the market in 1984, with a range in length.[13] Home videos opened up the floodgates, introducing viewers, especially those in the West, to anime films.[38] Although anime was widely distributed through international piracy in the 1980s and 1990s,[40] before the days ofonline piracy, it continued to survive. Anime recovered in the U.S., becoming more of Japan's television exports as the country became the "world's leading authority" in entertainment.[27]: 19–20 The first OVA wasMamoru Oshii'sDallos (1983–1984). Shows such asPatlabor had their beginnings in this market and it proved to be a way to test less-marketable animation against audiences. The OVA allowed for the release of pornographic anime such asCream Lemon (1984); the firsthentai OVA was actually the little-known Wonder Kids studio'sLolita Anime, also released in 1984.
The 1980s also saw the amalgamation of anime with video games. The airing ofRed Photon Zillion (1987) and subsequent release of itscompanion game, is considered to have been a marketing ploy bySega to promote sales of their newly releasedMaster System in Japan.
Golgo 13: The Professional became the first anime medium, to utilizeCGI.
Sports anime, as it is now known, made its debut in 1983 with an anime adaptation ofYoichi Takahashi's soccer mangaCaptain Tsubasa, which became the first worldwide successful sports anime. Its themes and stories were a formula that would be used in many sports series that followed, such asSlam Dunk,Prince of Tennis andEyeshield 21.
The late 1980s saw an increasing number of high-budget and experimental films. In 1985, Toshio Suzuki helped put together funding for Oshii's experimental filmAngel's Egg (1985). Theatrical releases became more ambitious, each film trying to outclass or outspend its predecessors, taking cues fromNausicaä's popular and critical success.Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985),Tale of Genji (1986), andGrave of the Fireflies (1988) were all ambitious films based on important literary works in Japan. Films such asChar's Counterattack (1988) andArion (1986) were lavishly budgeted spectacles. This period of lavish budgeting and experimentation would reach its zenith with one of the most-expensive anime film productions ever:Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise (1987). Studio Ghibli'sKiki's Delivery Service (1989) was the top-grossing film for 1989, earning over $40 million at the box office.
Despite the commercial failure ofAkira (1988) in Japan, it brought with it a much larger international fan base for anime. When shown overseas, the film became a cult hit and, eventually, a symbol of the medium for the West. The domestic failure and international success ofAkira, combined with the bursting of the bubble economy and Osamu Tezuka's death in 1989, marked the end of the 1980s era of anime.
In 1995,Hideaki Anno wrote and directed the controversialanimeNeon Genesis Evangelion. This show became popular in Japan among anime fans and became known to the general public through mainstream media attention. It is believed that Anno originally wanted the show to be the ultimateotaku anime, designed to revive the declininganime industry, but midway through production he also made it into a heavy critique of the subculture. It culminated in the successful but controversial filmThe End of Evangelion which grossed over $10 million in 1997. The many violent and sexual scenes inEvangelion causedTV Tokyo to increase censorship of anime content. As a result, whenCowboy Bebop was first broadcast in 1998, it was shown heavily edited and only half the episodes were aired; it too gained heavy popularity both in and outside of Japan.
Evangelion started a series of so-called "post-Evangelion" or "organic" mecha shows. Most of these were giant robot shows with some kind of religious or complex plot. These includeRahXephon,Brain Powerd, andGasaraki. It also led tolate-night experimental anime shows which became a forum for experimental anime such asBoogiepop Phantom (2000),Texhnolyze (2003) andParanoia Agent (2004). Experimental anime films were also released in the 1990s, most notably thecyberpunk thrillerGhost in the Shell (1995),[53] which had a strong influence onThe Matrix.[54][55][56]Ghost in the Shell, alongsideEvangelion and theneo-noirspace WesternCowboy Bebop, helped further increase the awareness of anime in international markets.[57]
In 1997,Hayao Miyazaki'sPrincess Mononoke became the most-expensive anime film up until that time, costing $20 million to produce. Miyazaki personally checked each of the 144,000cels in the film,[58] and is estimated to have redrawn parts of 80,000 of them.[59] 1997 was also the year ofSatoshi Kon's debut,Perfect Blue, which won "Best Film" and "Best Animation" awards at Montreal's 1997 Fantasia Festival, It also won awards in Portugal's Fantasporto Film Festival.
The late 1990s also saw a brief revival of thesuper robot genre that had decreased in popularity due to the rise ofreal robot and psychologicalmecha shows likeGundam,Macross, andEvangelion. The revival of the super robot genre began withBrave Exkaiser in 1990, and led to remakes and sequels of 1970s super robot shows likeGetter Robo Go andTetsujin-28 go FX. There were very few popular super robot shows produced after this, untilTengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in 2007.
Alongside its super robot counterpart, the real robot genre was also declining during the 1990s. Though severalGundam shows were produced during this decade, very few of them were successful. The onlyGundam shows in the 1990s which managed an averagetelevision rating over 4% in Japan wereMobile Fighter G Gundam (1994) andNew Mobile Report Gundam Wing (1995). It wasn't untilMobile Suit Gundam SEED in 2002 that the real robot genre regained its popularity.[52]
By 1998, over one hundred anime shows were aired on television in Japan,[48] including a popular series based on thePokémon video game franchise. Other 1990s anime series which gained international success wereDragon Ball Z,Sailor Moon, andDigimon; the success of these shows brought international recognition to the martial artssuperhero genre, themagical girl genre, and the action-adventure genre, respectively. In particular,Dragon Ball Z andSailor Moon were dubbed into more than a dozen languages worldwide. Another large success was the animeOne Piece, based on the best-selling manga of all time, which is still ongoing.
The "Evangelion-era" trend continued into the 2000s withEvangelion-inspired mecha anime such asRahXephon (2002) andZegapain (2006) –RahXephon was also intended to help revive 1970s-style mecha designs. The number of anime productions began to decline after peaking in 2006 due to alternative forms of entertainment, less ad revenue, and other reasons, withTV Tokyo remaining one of the only channels airing anime shows.[15] Even so, anime began entering U.S. homes like never before, with fans able to get their hands on Japanese-language originals of anime they watched, thanks to the internet.[60]
Thereal robot genre (including theGundam andMacross franchises), which had declined during the 1990s, was revived in the early 2000s with the success of shows such asMobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002),Eureka Seven (2005),Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (2006),Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007), andMacross Frontier (2008).[61]
The 1970s-stylesuper robot genre revival began withGaoGaiGar in 1997 and continued into the 2000s, with several remakes of classic series such asGetter Robo andDancougar, as well as original titles created in the super robot mold likeGodannar andGurren Lagann.Gurren Lagann in particular combined the super robot genre with elements from 1980s real robot shows, as well as 1990s "post-Evangelion" shows.Gurren Lagann received both the "best television production" and "best character design" awards from theTokyo International Anime Fair in 2008.[62] This eventually culminated in the release ofShin Mazinger in 2009, a full-length revival of the first super robot series,Mazinger Z.
An art movement started byTakashi Murakami that combined Japanese pop-culture withpostmodern art calledSuperflat began around this time. Murakami asserts that the movement is an analysis of post-war Japanese culture through the eyes of theotaku subculture. His desire is also to get rid of the categories of 'high' and 'low' art making a flat continuum, hence the term 'superflat'. His art exhibitions have gained popularity overseas and have influenced a handful of anime creators, particularly those from Studio 4 °C.[63]
The experimentallate night anime trend popularized bySerial Experiments Lain also continued into the 2000s with experimental anime such asBoogiepop Phantom (2000),Texhnolyze (2003),Elfen Lied (2004),Paranoia Agent (2004),Gantz (2004), andErgo Proxy (2006). Elfen Lied in particular being aired on subsidiary premium networkAT-X, allowing director Mamoru Kanbe to push the boundaries of violence, nudity, and story themes, as well as employ unique artistic elements such as artwork inspired by Austrian painterGustav Klimt.[64]
Before the massive boom from companies like Funimation and Adult Swim, view or even obtaining anime in the United States was quite difficult since the market value and the interest in the states as quite low many broadcasting companies would not bother with airing the shows. This was due to a number of factors one of which was getting the show translated. In the modern we have anime that is dubbed over with English voices making it easier for western audiences. However in the early 90's when anime was first stating to become big that was not available. Many fans of the genre would translate the show themselves and would post them online for others to view.[65] This trend would continue until September 2, 2001. This is when the showCowboy Bebop first aired on the broadcasting network Adult Swim and was the first anime to be broadcast on live television.[66] The show was an instant success, the only problem being the air time was late and at night, meaning that the audience was subject to a small number of people.[67]
In addition to these experimental trends, the 2000s were also characterized by an increase ofmoe-style art andbishōjo andbishōnen character design. There was a rising presence and popularity of genres such as romance,harem andslice of life.
Anime based oneroge andvisual novels increased in popularity in the 2000s, building on a trend started in the late 1990s by such works asSentimental Journey (1998) andTo Heart (1999). Examples of such works includeGreen Green (2003),SHUFFLE! (2006),Kanon (2002 and 2006),Fate/Stay Night (2006),Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (2006),Ef: A Tale of Memories (2007),True Tears (2008), andClannad (2008 and 2009).
Many shows have been adapted frommanga andlight novels, including popular titles such asYu-Gi-Oh! (2000),Inuyasha (2000),Naruto and its sequel seriesNaruto Shippuden (2002 and 2007),Fullmetal Alchemist and its manga faithful adaptationFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2003 and 2009),Monster (2004),Bleach (2004),Rozen Maiden (2005),Aria the Animation (2005),Shakugan no Shana (2005),Pani Poni Dash! (2005),Death Note (2006),Mushishi (2006),Sola (2007),The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006),Lucky Star (2007),Toradora! (2008),K-On! (2009),Bakemonogatari (2009), andFairy Tail (2009); these shows typically last several years and achieve large fanbases. Nevertheless, original anime titles continue to be produced with the same success.
The 2000s marked a trend of emphasis of theotaku subculture. A notable critique of thisotaku subculture is found in the 2006 animeWelcome to the N.H.K., which features ahikikomori (socially withdrawn) protagonist and explores the effects and consequences of variousJapanese sub-cultures, such asotaku,lolicon,internet suicide,massively multiplayer online games andmulti-level marketing.
In contrast to the above-mentioned phenomenon, there have been more productions of late-night anime for a non-otaku audience as well. The first concentrated effort came fromFuji TV'sNoitamina block. The 30-minute late-Thursday timeframe was created to showcase productions for young women of college age, a demographic that watches very little anime. The first productionHoney and Clover was a particular success, peaking at a 5% TV rating in Kantou, very strong for late-night anime. The block has been running uninterrupted since April 2005 and has yielded many successful productions unique in the modern anime market.
There have been revivals of American cartoons such asTransformers which spawned four new series,Transformers: Car Robots in 2000,Transformers: Micron Legend in 2003,Transformers: Superlink in 2004, andTransformers: Galaxy Force in 2005. In addition, an anime adaptation of the G.I Joe series was produced titledG.I. Joe: Sigma 6.
The revival of earlier anime series was seen in the forms ofFist of the North Star: The Legends of the True Savior (2006) andDragon Ball Z Kai (2009). Later series also started receiving revivals in the late 2000s and early 2010s, such as withStudio Khara'sRebuild of Evangeliontetralogy (2007–2021), and new adaptations ofMasamune Shirow's mangaAppleseed XIII (2011) andGhost in the Shell: Arise (2013–2016).
The decade also dawned a revival of high-budget feature-length anime films, such asMillennium Actress (2001),Metropolis (2001),Appleseed (2001),Paprika (2006), and the most expensive of all beingSteamboy (2004) which cost $26 million to produce.Satoshi Kon established himself alongsideOtomo andOshii as one of the premier directors of anime film, before his premature death at the age of 46. Other younger film directors, such asMamoru Hosoda, director ofThe Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) andSummer Wars (2009), also began to reach prominence.
During this decade, anime feature films were nominated for and won major international film awards for the first time in the industry's history. In 2002,Spirited Away, aStudio Ghibli production directed byHayao Miyazaki, won theGolden Bear at theBerlin International Film Festival and in 2003 at the75th Academy Awards it won theAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was the first non-American film to win the award and is one of only two to do so. It has also becomethe highest grossing anime film, with a worldwide box office ofUS$274 million.
Following the launch of theToonami programming block onCartoon Network in the United States in March 1997, anime saw a giant rise in the North American market. Kid-friendly anime such asPokémon,Yu-Gi-Oh!,Digimon,Doraemon,Bakugan,Beyblade,Sonic X, and the4Kids Entertainment adaptation ofOne Piece have all received varying levels of success. This era also saw the rise ofAnime-influenced animation, most notablyAvatar: the Last Airbender and its sequelThe Legend of Korra,Megas XLR,Code Lyoko,Ben 10,Chaotic,Samurai Jack,The Boondocks,RWBY andTeen Titans.As such, anime further became entrenched in U.S. households with the launch of Adult Swim by Cartoon Network in 2001, aimed at those in the "older OVA & tape trading crowd," with a new fandom forming.[68] This fandom was, however, exclusive and elitist with newcomers expected to know how to useIRC, some basic Japanese, and so on.
At the2004 Cannes Film Festival,Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, directed byMamoru Oshii, was in competition for thePalme d'Or and in 2006, at the78th Academy Awards,Howl's Moving Castle, another Studio Ghibli-produced film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, was nominated for Best Animated Feature.5 Centimeters per Second, directed byMakoto Shinkai, won the inauguralAsia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2007, and so far, anime films have been nominated for the award every year.
By 2004, over two hundred shows were aired on television.[48]
In 2006, graduates of theUniversity of California, Berkeley launchedCrunchyroll in 2006,[69] becoming the first "anime streaming service", a model later used byNetflix,Funimation, andAmazon.com in the later 2010s.
In May 2012, theToonami programming block in the United States was relaunched as a late night adult-oriented action block onAdult Swim, bringing more uncut popular anime back to a wider audience on cable television. In addition to broadcasting or re-broadcasting previously released dubbed anime, the block (as well as Adult Swim itself) has overseen the worldwide premiere of English dubbed releases for various anime, including but not limited to:Durarara!! (2010),Deadman Wonderland (2011),Hunter x Hunter[broken anchor] (2011),Sword Art Online (2012),JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (2012),Attack on Titan (2013),Kill la Kill (2013),Space Dandy (2014),Akame ga Kill! (2014),Parasyte -the maxim- (2014),One-Punch Man (2015),Dragon Ball Super (2015),My Hero Academia (2016),Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (2017), andDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019).[70]
On September 1, 2013,Hayao Miyazaki announced thatThe Wind Rises (2013) would be his last film,[71] and on August 3, 2014, it was announced thatStudio Ghibli was "temporarily halting production" following the release ofWhen Marnie Was There (2014), further substantiating the finality of Miyazaki'sretirement. The disappointing sales ofIsao Takahata's comeback filmThe Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) has also been cited as a factor.[72] Several prominent staffers, including producerYoshiaki Nishimura and directorHiromasa Yonebayashi, left to form their ownStudio Ponoc, premièring withMary and the Witch's Flower (2017).[73][74][75] Both Ghibli and Miyazaki subsequently went back into production for the 2023 filmThe Boy and the Heron,[76] while Takahata died on April 5, 2018, of lung cancer.[77]
Various international anime distribution companies, such asADV Films,Bandai Entertainment, andGeneon Entertainment, were shut down due to poor revenue, with their assets spun into new companies likeSentai Filmworks or given to other companies.[78]
In 2011,Puella Magi Madoka Magica was aired in Japan. The anime was a change from normal magical girl anime, as this anime contained more darker, complex and gorier themes than magical anime usually would. The anime got great reception from critics, asUnited Kingdom's Anime Network's Andy Hanley rated it a 10 out of 10 for its emotional content and evocative soundtrack.
BothAttack on Titan andThe Wind Rises reflect a national debate surrounding the reinterpretation ofArticle 9 of the Constitution of Japan, with Miyazaki'spacifism in the film coming under fire from thepolitical right,[79] whileAttack on Titan has been accused of promotingmilitarism by people in neighboring Asian countries, despite being intended to show the haunting, hopeless aspects of conflict.[80] Themecha anime genre (as well as Japanesekaiju films) received a Western homage with the 2013 filmPacific Rim directed byGuillermo del Toro.[81]
Western streaming services such asNetflix andAmazon Prime Video have become increasingly involved in the production and licensing of anime for the international markets.[82][83]
In 2015, an all-record-high of three hundred forty anime series aired on television.[48]
The global popularity and demand of anime continued to rise during the decade due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and the medium's wide availability on streaming services.[84][85][86][87]
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train became thehighest-grossing Japanese film and the world's highest-grossing film of 2020.[88] It also became the fastest grossing film in Japanese cinema, because in 10 days it made 10 billion yen ($95.3m; £72m).[88] It beat the previous record ofSpirited Away which took 25 days.[88]
In 2021, the anime adaptations ofJujutsu Kaisen,Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba andTokyo Revengers were among the top 10 most discussed TV shows worldwide onX (then known as Twitter).[89][90]
In 2022,Attack on Titan won the award of "Most In-Demand TV Series in the World 2021" in the Global TV Demand Awards. Attack on Titan became the first ever non-English language series to earn the title of World's Most In-Demand TV Show, previously held by onlyThe Walking Dead andGame of Thrones.[91]Also on 2022, Is the populair Kids Anime showNinjala who gained its new kodomo show after Youkai Watch who is still populair in the 2020 era.
In 2023, the opening themeIdol byYOASOBI of the anime seriesOshi no Ko topped theBillboard Global 200 Excl. U.S. charts with 45.7 million streams and 24,000 copies sold outside the U.S. "Idol" has become the first Japanese song andanime song to top the Billboard Global chart as well as taking the first spot on theApple Music's Top 100: Global chart.[92][93]
In 2024,Studio Ghibli'sThe Boy and the Heron was given theAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature, making it the secondoscar award won byHayao Miyazaki.[94] It became the second non-English language film to win the award afterSpirited Away.[95]
| First... | Native language name | English name | Released | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anime (oldest known) | 活動写真 | Katsudō Shashin | Unknown; believed to be about 1911[a] | Short Film |
| Confirmed film release | 凸坊新画帳・名案の失敗 | Bumpy new picture book – Failure of a great plan | February 1917[1] | Short Film |
| Anime publicly shown in a theater | 芋川椋三玄関番の巻 or芋川椋三玄関番之巻 | The Story of the Concierge Mukuzo Imokawa | April 1917[1] | Short Film |
| Talkie | 力と女の世の中 | Within the World of Power and Women[b] | April 13, 1933[96] | Film |
| Entirely cel-animated anime | 茶釜音頭 | The Dance of the Chagamas | 1934[20] | Film |
| Feature film | 桃太郎 海の神兵 | Momotaro: Sacred Sailors[c] | April 12, 1945[97] | Film |
| Appearance on television (non-series) | もぐらのアバンチュール | Mole's Adventure | July 14, 1958[98] | Short Film |
| Color feature film | 白蛇伝 | The Tale of the White Serpent | October 22, 1958 | Film |
| Television series | インスタントヒストリー | Instant History | May 1, 1961 | Series |
| First popular television series worldwide | 鉄腕アトム | Astro Boy | January 1, 1963 | Series |
| Late night series | 仙人部落 | Hermit Village | September 4, 1963 | Series |
| Giant robot series | 鉄人28号 | Tetsujin 28-gō | October 20, 1963 | Series |
| Cyborg series | 8マン | 8 Man | November 7, 1963 | Series |
| Color television series | ジャングル大帝 | Kimba the White Lion | October 6, 1965 | Series |
| Magical girl series | 魔法使いサリー | Sally the Witch | December 5, 1966 | Series |
| Horror series | ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 | GeGeGe no Kitarō | January 3, 1968 | Series |
| Sports series | 巨人の星 | Star of the Giants | March 30, 1968 | Series |
| Adult-oriented (animated) film | 千夜一夜物語 | A Thousand and One Nights | June 14, 1969 | Film |
| Hentai with an "X rating"[d] | クレオパトラ | Cleopatra | September 15, 1970[99] | Film |
| Dark Fantasy series | デビルマン | Devilman | July 8, 1972 | Series |
| First Giant Robot series with inside cockpit | マジンガーZ | Mazinger Z | December 3, 1972 | Series |
| Space opera series | 宇宙戦艦ヤマト | Space Battleship Yamato | October 6, 1974 | Series |
| Use of stereo sound | ルパン三世 カリオストロの城 | Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro | December 15, 1979 | Film |
| Isekai series | 聖戦士ダンバイン | Aura Battler Dunbine | February 5, 1983 | Series |
| Firstanti-war anime | はだしのゲン | Barefoot Gen | July 21, 1983 | Film |
| OVA | ダロス | Dallos | December 12, 1983 | OVA |
| Cyberpunk series | ビデオ戦士レザリオン | Video Warrior Laserion | March 4, 1984 | Series |
| Post apocalyptic anime | 風の谷のナウシカ | Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind | March 11, 1984 | Film |
| First Popular Worldwide Movie | アキラ | Akira | July 16, 1988 | Film |
| First computer cel generated anime | 機動警察パトレイバー 2 the Movie | Patlabor 2 | August 7, 1993 | Film |
| Anime withcomputer-generated imagery | こうかくきどうたい | Ghost in the Shell | November 18, 1995 | Film |
| Fully computer-animated anime[100] | A.LI.CE | A.LI.CE | February 5, 2000 | Film |
| Original net animation | 無限のリヴァイアス イリュージョン | Infinite Ryvius | June 30, 2000 | ONA |
| First anime film to be nominated for and winBest Animated Feature | 千と千尋の神隠し | Spirited Away | July 20, 2001 | Film |
| First HD anime | 攻殻機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX | Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex | October 1, 2002 | Series |
| First 4K anime | SOL LEVANTE | Sol Levante | April 2, 2020 | ONA |
| Record... | Native language name | English name | Released | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest grossing anime film in Japan | 劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – the Movie: Mugen Train | October 16, 2020 | Film |
| Fastest grossing anime film[88] | 劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – the Movie: Mugen Train | October 16, 2020 | Film |
| Highest grossing anime film worldwide | 劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – the Movie: Mugen Train | October 16, 2020 | Film |
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