Just What is Anime?

Anime's Origin

Anime is generally defined as any form of animation produced in Japan. It could be in the form of an animated TV show, an animated movie, a video game, or a comic series (called "manga"). Unlike America's attitude towards cartoons (that they're only for children), in Japan, animation is considered a general and accepted form of entertainment and storytelling for all kinds of people, young and old. Therefore, anime is aimed at a variety of audiences, and is enjoyed by Japanese, as well as American fans, of all ages. Anime got its start in the early 1900s. Japanese artist Osamu Tezuka is considered the father of anime. In the 1960s, he adopted Walt Disney's style of animation; drawing his characters with large, round, shiny eyes. Tezuka added his own touches (the giant sweat drops, the angry pop-out veins, the stiff falling, etc.) and anime was born. Many artists copied Tezuka's style, making large, shiny eyes, as well as the many other clever little anime techniques, distinct and unique to Japanese animation.

Anime's Impact

Anime has become popular in America because of the many ways in which it is so different from American cartoons. First off, all American cartoons, both in comic books and TV animation, usually fall into one of four categories: either silly, slapstick comedies such as Looney Toons and Tom and Jerry, mild and slow-paced diversions for children such as Winnie the Pooh and Rug Rats, mature comedy and satires for adults such as The Simpsons and South Park, or action/super hero adventures such as Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However, anime extends to much greater boundaries than these by having so many distinct styles of animation, and genres ranging from not only comedy and action, but science-fiction, romance, sports, drama, fantasy, psychological thrillers, space adventures, robot epics, sitcoms, and much more.

Not only does anime cover a much more variety of topics than typical cartoons, but it always keeps a steady devotion to reality. Even the most fantastic and out-of-this world anime adventures place a strong emphasis on keeping their characters and situations believable. Typical American cartoons don't try to stimulate a sense of realism in their audience, or make their audience believe that what they're seeing could possibly be real, while anime does. Even serious and dramatic American cartoons such as Disney movies like Mulan and The Lion King still present their characters mainly as fictional beings. And also, the seriousness of these movies is often interrupted by exaggerated "cartoonish" verbal cracks, songs, and gags, solely there to remind the audiences that what they're watching is a fictional cartoon. That's not to say that anime isn't filled with characters who exhibit hyperbolic and sometimes "cartoonish" gags, but these gags are often initiated as an exhibition of the character's personality. Anime characters never seem out of place when they exhibit such cartoony slapsticks because the gags are there purely to point out a humorous aspect of a character's personality and not just as a distraction to appeal to children viewers. Also, many of the more "darker" aspects of life such as blood, violence, drinking, sex, nudity, and murder are all present in anime, while they remain pretty much nonexistent or not directly shown in American cartoons. This distinction between the two mediums stems directly from the differences between their cultures - the Japanese culture places a heavy emphasis on realism, and it believes in exposing its children to all facets of life that they'll eventually have to deal with, no matter how negative these facets may be. On the other hand, American culture tries to hide the darker aspects of life from their children, out of fear that they might possibly be corrupted or traumatized as a result.

While anime strives to keep its stories believable, probably the main distinction that separates it from American cartoons is its deep involvement in its characters and its strong emphasis on their characterization. American cartoons will place characters in a situation. Anime places situations around characters. Many anime shows have a continuing story, while very nearly all American cartoons are episodic, created specifically to be a series of individual, stand-alone stories rather than small pieces of a whole. Even in the case of anime series' that are episodic, the characters develop and change from episode to episode. Anime, therefore, engenders more personal involvement between the show and the viewer than typical American cartoons do. Even characters who seem stereotypical or one-sided in their personalities often exhibit feelings of love, hate, fear, yearning, and other such human emotions. It is because of this deep emphasis on character development that viewers are made to sympathize with anime characters, and not merely be entertained by them.

Not only do cartoons such as Looney Toons, Tom and Jerry, Rug Rats, and Scooby Doo have short, individual episodes that have no connection to one another, but the characters remain basically the same throughout all the episodes, never developing or changing as a result of the situations that they're placed in. On the other hand, anime has practically all of its characters change as a result of their situations and their relationships with other characters, and even the most detestable character can show an endearing side as the anime progresses. The best animes make their characters real, with real human emotions that never seem out of place for the character. Anime creators take great pains in making their characters fully developed and defined individuals, with their own conflicts and flaws. The characters may even do a lot of unexpected and outrageous things at times because their actions are wrought directly from their personalities and developments, not just as a means to move the story's plot forward. Of course, there are many American live-action movies and shows that feature a continuing story and developing characters, so why do a lot of people still prefer anime over live-action? The answer to that is simply that anime can provide more involvement and interaction between itself and its viewer because its look and feel are so much more fantastical than live-action that it allows for a greater suspension of belief than the all-too-familiar live-action. And some people prefer watching animation, which brings direct form from imagination, rather than just actors and actresses pretending to be someone that they're not.

And finally, like all good stories and all real stories, manga and anime have a tendency to end. Heroes and heroines die, or get married, or disappear. The anime series are especially good about this. They tend to have one of three endings: the hero wins (the throne, the person of the opposite sex, whatever), the hero dies (usually after winning), the hero sort of wins (but at a great loss). Of course, the anime or manga is often carefully crafted to either jerk tears out of your eyes, or make you stare in wide-eyed absorption to the very very last line of the credits.

Anime Effects: Allusions and Themes

From stories about romantic relationships, alien planets, magical worlds, giant robots, futuristic cities, gun-slinging outlaws, battling monsters, and much more, anime covers an extremely wide range of themes. However, the fact that anime characters have large round eyes and don't look Japanese, yet they have Japanese names has puzzled many Americans, but there's a reason for it. In the early 1960s and 1970s, Japan looked to the west in its innate yearning for success and saw that such a degree of freedom there would be impossible to attain in highly formal and polite Japanese society. Anime, being an escapist medium, highlighted this yearning by making its characters look "Western." This allowed its Japanese viewers to immerse themselves in worlds that were completely different, with different cultures and people who looked more universal. Even in animes that take place in modern-day Japan, the unique looks and designs of the characters still create a feel that's a bit more wild and adventurous than the Japan in reality. The fact that anime characters look Western but act Japanese and have Japanese names helped bring some connection between them and the Japanese audience. The Japanese audience could see the characters as Japanese people like themselves, but with a bit more worldliness, freedom, and diversity in them. Japan is a country that's very open to the influences of other cultures, and that openness is reflected in the style of anime.

Structure

Like American and other cartoons, anime is cel-animation put together by individual frames to depict movement. However, it's created with a much smaller budget than typical American cartoons, so the process of putting it together is different. For American cartoons, the audio and voices are recorded first and then the mouth movements are animated to fit the spoken dialogue. But for anime, the opposite is used. All of the animation is produced first, which saves a lot of time and money instead of taking the time to make every single mouth movement match the corresponding words. The voice actors time their dialogue to match the amount of time the character moves his or her mouth. While it's true that this process makes the dialogue not match the mouth movements exactly, the compromise is that when anime voices are being recorded, all the actors are in the same room together, seeing and reacting to one another while the animation footage that they're recording for is being shown before them. The result is that the voices are much more lively, emotional, and spontaneous than Western animation, in which each voice actor is recorded separately and often alone in a room without seeing the other actors.

Terminology
The Japanese term for animation is anim?shon. It is a direct transliteration and reborrowed loanword of the English term "animation." The Japanese term is abbreviated as anim?. Both the original and abbreviated forms are valid and interchangeable in Japanese, but as could be expected the abbreviated form is more commonly used. The term is a broad one, and does not specify an animation's nation of origin or style.

Genres
Anime has many genres, with as many as traditional, live action cinema. Such genres include adventure, science fiction, children's stories, romance, medieval fantasy, erotica (hentai), occult/horror, action, and drama.

Unknown words:
shiny - блестящий; яркий
sweat - пот
to pop out - вылезать из орбит, широко раскрываться ( о глазах )
stiff - жесткий, одеревенелый
slapstick (comedy) - грубый, дешевый фарс / дешевое представление
diversion - приятное времяпрепровождение, развлечение
mature - зрелый, разумный
boundaries - границы
to range - располагать в порядке; классифицировать
devotion - преданность; сильная привязанность
to exaggerate - гиперболизировать, преувеличивать
crack - удар, затрещина; (coll.) острота, шутка
gag - гэг, шутка, острота
to exhibit - показывать; проявлять
medium - способ, средство
to stem - происходить; являться результатом
to expose - подвергать действию
facet - аспект, грань, сторона
to strive - стараться; прилагать усилия
to engender - возбуждать, вызывать, рождать
yearning - сильное желание; острая тоска
detestable - отвратительный; мерзкий, плохой
endearing side / quality - подкупающая особенность / черта
to take pains - прилагать усилия; стараться
wrought - (устар. прош. вр. от work) совершенный, сделанный
plot - сюжет
ut - выдергивать
gunslinger - вооружённый бандит
outlaw - закоренелый преступник, рецидивист
innate - врожденный; присущий, свойственный
to highlight - отводить главное место; выдвигать на первый план
to immerse - погружаться, уходить с головой
worldliness - поглощенность земн. заботами; отсутствие духовных интересов; суетность
diversity - разнообразие; многообразие
to time - рассчитывать ( по времени ); регулировать
footage - отснятый материал фильма

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