Anime (pronounced “ani-may”) stands for Japanese animation – the art that creates the illusion of motion by means of picture sequence. Animation – also know as cartoon production, has become very popular since early 1900s. In fact, from its very dawn, Japanese image specialists got interested in animation and began experimentations with images in motion. There was a phase when Chinese and Japanese animation had been under mutual influence. But it did not last long. Already in the second part of the 20s century, namely circa the 1970s, the Japanese animation defined itself as an independent original stream of visual art. Since then it starts to be called “anime”, whereas the outside-Japan production is referred to as “animation (series)” or cartoons. Anime acquired its own style and now encompasses many genres and sub-genres. In the 1980s anime became the Japanese mainstream and it is when its boom years begin.
Anime is very diverse in genres that are targeted at every demographic audience: Kodomo – for children, Shōjo – for young ladies and girls, Shōnen – for boys, Seinen – for young men, and Josei – for women. Besides, there are about twenty thematic genres, among them: Bishōjo – featuring beautiful girls and their characters, Bishōnen – the same about good and elegant boys, Sentai – superhero team fights, Mecha / Robot – robot strories. There are also romance, love and sexual genres: Harem – where the main character is surrounded by several women, Reverse Harem – on the contrary, a woman is in the centre of attention of a group of men, Magical girlfriend / Exotic Girlfriend – showing relationships with romantic content, and so on. The characteristic features of anime are big gleaming eyes on expressive faces (both in male and female heroes), female characters have gorgeous hair, splendid bodies, whereas males – are powerful and have big muscles. The fact that anime is equally admired by children and adults makes it differ from American cartoons that are mostly addressing kids. Also the anime voice-over personnel are truly respected by the whole nation. Another passion of the Japanese are their comics – commonly called “manga”.
The famous directors in anime history are Hayao Miyazaki, Mamoru Oshi, Isao Takahata, Katsuhiro Otomo, Satoshi Kon with his Magnetic Rose, Perfect Blue, and Millenium Actress, and other young and talented filmmakers. The following examples might be familiar to the U.S. and Western audience; here belong Sailor Moon, Lupin III, Dragonball Z, Voltron, Gundam Wing, Mazinger Z, Digimon, Speed Racer, and of course Pokemon. Spirited Away received the prize at Berlinale in 202, whereas Ghost in the Shell – at Cannes in 2004. The film Akira became an international success back in the late 1980s.Most anime are produced in series.
Nowadays, anime continues to win the world market. The popularity of anime and particularly fansub (fan-subtitled content) is still on the rise. Anime begins to be produced outside Japan, i.e. in U.S., Europe, and Russia influencing to some extent animation traditions in these countries. There are also several Japan-Europe co-productions and collaborative initiatives underway. New Avatar series of The Animatrix and Nickelodeonappear are under definite anime influence. So are also other series: Teen Titans and Powerpuff Girls. European films that bare anime resemblance are: Code Lyoko, Martin Mystery, Totally Spies!, and Team Galaxy.