Anime
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anime is short for the word "animation". Outside of Japan, anime does mean animation made in Japan most of the time. But in Japan anime is used for any kind of animation.
While some anime is hand drawn, the use of computer graphics became common in the last years. Anime represent most major genres of fiction -- like action, love stories, detective stories, sports. Anime is shown on television, distributed on DVD and VHS, and is used in computer and video games. Also, some are produced as full length movie. Anime is often based on Japanese comics and novels. Some anime storylines have been made into films and television series, that use real actors.
The history of anime begins around 1900, when Japanese filmmakers tried out ways of animation that came from France, Germany, United States and Russia.
The filmmakers in Japan suffer from low budget, few production sites, and casting restrictions. The lack of Western-looking actors, for example, made it very hard to make films set in Europe or America. The freedom of animation allowed artists to create characters and settings that did not look Japanese at all. This advantage made anime a popular alternative for filmmakers.
During the 1970s, the popularity of manga comics grow very much — which were often later animated. At that time Osamu Tezuka also became very popular. Now he is called a "legend" and the "god of manga". Anime developed its typical characteristics and genres through his work and that of other pioneers. The giant robot genre (known as "mecha" outside Japan) took shape under Tezuka. Robot anime like Gundam and Macross became classics in the 80s. Today the robot genre of anime is still one of the most popular in Japan and worldwide. In the 1980s, anime was accepted in the mainstream in Japan, and saw a boom in production (Manga is far more popular than anime in Japan).
Many anime are identifiable by the use of the Moe style of drawing, which features large, saucer-like eyes and slender frames.
Outside of Japan anime became popular from the late 1980s on. In the USA giant robot anime became popular. In Europe anime for children became popular. Today many different types of anime are popular all through the world.
