History of anime

The history of anime begins at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques that were being explored in the West. During the 1970s, anime developed further, separating itself from its Western roots, and developing unique genres such as the mecha genre and its Super Robot subgenre. Notable shows in this period include "Lupin III" and "Mazinger Z". During this period several filmmakers became famous, especially Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii.

Unlike America, where live-action shows and movies have generous budgets, the live-action industry in Japan is a small market and suffered from budgeting and location restrictions. The varied use of animation allowed artists to create settings that did not look like anything at all. [] and is estimated to have redrawn parts of 80,000 of them. [cite web|url=http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/studioghibli/princessnews.html |title=Mononoke DVD Website |publisher=Disney]

The late 1990s also saw anime crossing the borders into live action, starting with "Great Teacher Onizuka" (1999). It continued well into the 2000s, with "Hana Yori Dango" (2005), "Jigoku Shoujo" (2006) and "Nodame Cantabile" among them.

2000s

An art movement started by Takashi Murakami that combined Japanese pop-culture with postmodern art called Superflat began around this time. Murakami asserts that the movement is an analysis of post-war Japanese culture through the eyes of the otaku 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 are very popular and have an influence on some anime creators particularly those from Studio 4°C.

The "Evangelion-era" trend continued into the 2000s with Evangelion-inspired mecha anime such as "RahXephon" (2002) and "Zegapain" (2006) - "RahXephon" was also intended to help revive 1970s-style mecha designs. The experimental late night anime trend popularized by "Serial Experiments Lain" also continued into the 2000s with experimental anime such as "Boogiepop Phantom" (2000), "Texhnolyze" (2003), "Paranoia Agent" (2004) and "Gantz" (2004).

The Real Robot genre (including the Gundam and Macross franchises), which had declined during the 1990s, was revived in 2002 with the success of shows such as "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" (2002), "Eureka Seven" (2005), ' (2006), "Mobile Suit Gundam 00" (2007), "Macross Frontier" (2008) and ' (2008). The resurgence of Real Robot anime can be seen in a top 20 anime poll published in the April 2008 issue of "Newtype" magazine, where Japanese readers voted for "Gundam 00" as the #1 top anime, alongside "Code Geass" at #2 and "Gundam SEED" at #9. [ [http://reira.zuiken.net/?p=220 Newtype April 2008 Issue Poll] ]

The 1970s-style Super Robot genre also experienced a revival with "Gurren Lagann" (2007), combined with elements from the 1980s-style Real Robot shows and 1990s-style "post-Evangelion" shows. "Gurren Lagann" received both the "best television production" and "best character design" awards from the Tokyo International Anime Fair in 2008. [citeweb|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-02-26/eva-1.0-wins-tokyo-anime-fair-animation-of-the-year| title="Eva 1.0" Wins Tokyo Anime Fair's Animation of the Year|publisher=Anime News Network|date=February 26 2008|accessdate= 2008-02-26]

In addition to these experimental trends, the 2000s has also been characterized by the increase of the moe-style art and the bishoujo and bishonen character design. The presence and popularity of genres such as romance, harem and slice of life story has risen.

Many shows are often based on eroge and visual novels. Examples of works in this genre include "Green Green" (2003), "Mahoromatic" (2001), "Hand Maid May" (2000), "SHUFFLE!" (2006), "Kanon" (2002 and 2006), "Fate/Stay Night" (2006), "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" (2006), "" (2007), "True Tears" (2008) and "Chaos;Head" (2008).

Many show are being adapted from manga and light novels as well including popular titles such as "Fullmetal Alchemist" (2005), "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) and "Lucky Star" (2007).Nevertheless, original anime titles are still been created and reach success.

The 2000s also mark a trend of emphasis of the otaku subculture. A notable critique of this otaku subculture is found in the 2006 anime "Welcome to the N.H.K.", which features a hikikomori protagonist and explores the effects and consequences of various Japanese sub-cultures, such as otaku, lolicon, internet suicide, massively multiplayer online role-playing games and multi-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 from Fuji TV's Noitamina 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 production 'Honey 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 scince April of 2005 and has yielded many successful productions unique in the modern anime market.

The 2000s also saw the revival of high-budget feature-length anime films, such as "Millennium Actress" (2001), "Appleseed" (2001), "Paprika" (2006), and the most expensive of all being "Steamboy" (2004) which cost $26 million to produce.

In 2008, the Japanese government created the position of Anime Ambassador and appointed Doraemon as the first Anime Ambassador to promote anime worldwide in diplomacy. [ [http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20080321TDY02306.htm Doraemon sworn in as anime ambassador] , Daily Yomiuri, March 21 2008.]

Anime influence in Western animation

As anime expands to non-Japanese markets such as the United States and Europe, the cycle of cultural influence inevitably extends into these markets. Thus, some Western animation companies have produced works of some anime resemblance. "The Animatrix" and the Nickelodeon series "" were influenced by anime. Other animated series such as "Powerpuff Girls" and "Teen Titans" have at least a few anime characteristics. While these animated series are not considered to be anime, they do show some characteristics found in typical anime. In addition, Cartoon Network co-produced anime, such as IGPX with Japanese directors. France and Canada have also started to produce anime-inspired shows such as "Martin Mystery" (Canada/France), "Code Lyoko" (France) and "Team Galaxy" (France). Powerpuff Girls made the transition into a true anime ("Powerpuff Girls Z").

In recent years, some producers of Western animation have turned to Japanese animation companies for collaborative productions. The second season of "The Boondocks" is produced in cooperation with Studio Madhouse, and Walt Disney Animation Studios has contracted Madhouse to produce the Stitch! TV series (a reimagined version of the well-known American film)."Disney seals Japan anime and "Lilo and Stich" deal", International business times, 2008-03-06] [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hnULEhW5mU8ZBork014LPKxW8VvQ Disney says to produce Anime 'made in Japan'] (2008-03-08)]

References

ee also

* History of animation
* List of animated feature films

External links

* [http://www.animeinfo.org/animeu/hist101.html Online course in history of anime]
* [http://www.animemetro.com/control.cfm?ID=232 A Brief HISTORY of ANIME Primer]
* [http://www.tapanime.com/General-Info/historyanime.php HISTORY OF ANIME: Osamu Tezuka]
* [http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.5/articles/patten1.5.html A Capsule History of Anime]
* [http://www.cjas.org/~leng/revolution.htm A look at "The Four Revolutions of Anime"]
* [http://www.rightstuf.com/resource/resource.shtml Right Stuf's Anime history resources]
* [http://ifc.com/static/sections/samurai7/ IFC's Samurai 7 Page]
* Database focused on [http://www.animemorial.net/ 1960-'70s anime]