Japanese Animation
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This page was created on 5 June, 2007.
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¤ History of Anime |
Japanese animation is an internationally recognized part of Japanese pop culture. Find out more about Japanese cartoons, or anime, on this page.
The first Japanese cartoons were created in 1917 by individual hobbyists who created short reels of animated Japanese traditional folk tales. Many of these animators worked from home studios.
Toei Animation Co. (1956) was the first American-style animation studio. In 1958, the studio released its first theatrical feature film, Panda and the Magic Serpant. Most of Toei's productions were based on traditional folk tales and were distributed in the United States, but were met with little success.
Television animation became very popular in Japan in the 1970s. Many major TV studios, such as Tatsunoko Production Co., Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS), and Nippon Animation, cropped up during this time. At thie time, much of TV anime consisted of giant-robot adventure series, mystery dramas, Western literary classics, and space-adventure stories.
In the mid 1980s, Japanese animation returned to theatres when Studio Ghibli was founded by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. This studio released the popular anime films, My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), among others.
Many different genres of anime exist. Several of these genres are listed below:
- action/adventure - martial arts, fighting
- comedy - humorous characters, funny and simple plots
- romance - usually targeted at young women and called "Shoujo"
- horror/science fiction- science-fiction characters and/or frightening plots
Popular Anime
This section provides a brief overview of some old and new popular anime.
Ghost in the Shell (2002)
Ghost in the Shell is a series of three science fiction thriller films about cyborgs who fight technology-related crime.
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Princess Mononoke is a film by Hayao Miyazaki about a war between the supernatural forces of a forest and the humans who are trying to use the forest's resources.
Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball Z is an action-packed anime series about the science fiction adventures of a superhuman named Goku and his family.
Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop is an anime series and a film about the adventures of a bounty hunter named Spike and the rest of his crew. The series was highly influenced by American music and has a very diverse soundtrack.
Ranma 1/2
Ranma 1/2 is an action-packed anime series about a young martial artist who turns into a girl when splashed with water. Hilarity and mayhem ensue.
Vampire Hunter D
This series is a combination of horror, science fiction, and fantasy and follows the adventures of a half-vampire vampire hunter, D who rides a cybernetic horse.
Voices Behind the Anime
Anime voices are performed by special actors and actresses called seiyuu. They work in radio, television, and movies. Many seiyuu are also singers or musicians in addition to voice actors.
Tokoro created and updated by Eunice Lee
