Anime World

Anime – derived from the English word “animation”, which is pronounced animēshon in Japanese. It means animated film, except that in Japan the term is used to refer to all animated films and series, regardless of their country of origin. Outside Japan, however, the word anime is used to describe Japanese animated films and the style of Japanese animation. The first anime short films were made by three leading figures in the industry.

Ten Shimokawa was a political cartoonist and illustrator who worked for Tokyo Puck magazine. He was hired by Tenkatsu to do animation for them. He ended his career very quickly due to health reasons and has only 5 films to his credit, including Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki (1917).

Another prominent animator of this period was Jun’ichi Kōuchi. He was a caricaturist and painter who also studied watercolor painting. He is considered the most technically advanced Japanese animator of the 1910s, and his oeuvre includes some 15 films. Including Namakura Gatana (“Blunt Sword,” 1917) :

The third was Seitaro Kitayama, an early animator who created animation himself and was not employed by larger corporations. He eventually set up his own animation studio, Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo, which, due to its lack of commercial success, ceased operation fairly quickly. He used the blackboard technique and later paper animation, with and without printed backgrounds. Among other things, he created the 1918 film “Urashima Tarō.”

Kenzo Masaoka and Mitsuyo Seo

The 1930s in animation saw a huge technological leap in many cinematographers. However, pre-war animators faced several difficulties.

The first is foreign competition primarily with Disney films.

Sales prices for foreign films were lower than what domestic producers needed to come out ahead on production. Japanese animators therefore had to work cheaply, in small companies with only a handful of employees, making it difficult at the time to compete in quality with foreign product in color, sound and promoted by much larger companies.

This resulted in animation that could appear derivative, flat (because forward and backward movement was difficult) and lacking in detail. But just as post-war Japanese animators were able to turn limited animation into a plus, masters such as Yasuji Murata and Noburō Ōfuji were able to perform the wonders they created with cutout animation.

Animators such as Kenzo Masaoka and Mitsuyo Seo, however, attempted to take Japanese animation to the level of foreign work by introducing animation on celluloid, sound and technology such as the multiplane camera. Masaoka created the first such anime, “Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka,” released in 1933.

Japanese World War II animation.

Such innovations were difficult to support purely commercially, however, so pre-war animation depended heavily on sponsorship, as animators often focused on making PR films for companies, educational films for the government, and ultimately focused on propaganda for the military. At the time, censorship and school regulations discouraged children from watching films, so anime that could have educational value were supported and encouraged by the Monbusho (Ministry of Education). This proved important to producers, who faced obstacles in making their works available in regular movie theaters. Animation found a place in school, political and industrial applications.

Unfortunately, the onset of World War II blocked the development of original animated film for many years in favor of propaganda films. In their expression, they are quite radical, racist and full of aggression.

The 1960s

However, it was the 1960s that saw the popularization of animation in Japanese life. It was then that anime took hold on television.

Tetsuwan Atomu English Astro Boy from 1963, was the first popular anime series. This anime entered the American market under the title Astro Boy.

In the series, the main role is played by a robot-boy who lives with humans and regularly fights crime, aliens and other robots. Importantly, “Tetsuwan Atomu” was a landmark production in the history of Japanese television, as such long formats had never been produced before due to the time and cost of production.

Tetsuwan Atomu was initially very popular, being the first Japanese animated series to reach American viewers, with the highest ratings of any show at the time. However, its popularity eventually declined to the point that only 104 of the 193 original episodes were released in the United States, mainly because it was still in black and white when most TV sets switched to color.

The 1970s

The year 1974 marks the release of “Space Battleship Yamato” from the Group TAC studio. It is one of the most influential anime series in Japan because of its theme and story, which marks a shift toward more complex, serious works and influential works. However, the most important anime of the 1970s decade was 1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam. Interestingly, this series also had a lot of problems in the beginning. Due to its lack of popularity, it was simply taken off the air. However, after the release of a series of models depicting the characters, it became popular again, reruns appeared on television, and a theatrical release also took place.

The 1980s

The 1980s are considered the “golden age” of anime and brought a huge explosion of genres and interest. Many factors contributed to this, including the introduction of VHS and nostalgia for the days of childhood accompanied by “Astro Boy.”

The big hit of the 1980s was undoubtedly Dragon Ball. The series tells the adventures of the main character, Son Goku, from childhood to adulthood as he trains in martial arts. He spends his childhood away from civilization until he meets a teenage girl named Bulma, who encourages him to join her on an expedition to find seven orbs known as Dragon Balls, which, when collected, summon a wish-fulfilling dragon.

Since its release, Dragon Ball has become one of the most successful manga and anime series of all time, with the manga sold in more than 40 countries and the anime broadcast in more than 80 countries. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential manga series ever created, and many manga artists cite Dragon Ball as a source of inspiration for their own now-popular works.

The 1990s

The early 1990s was a time of financial crisis for Japan, which also affected the condition of anime. Many studios ceased their operations. The real breakthrough in the difficult situation of the early 90s was the appearance on screens of “Ghost in the shell” directed by Mamoru Oshii in 1995.

Ghost in the Shell has been an inspiration for many filmmakers. For example, the anime film was an inspiration for the Wachowski siblings in creating The Matrix; elements such as the characters “plugging in” using a plug in the back of their heads and the green rain of numbers representing the Matrix code were incorporated into the film.

James Cameron also cited Ghost in the Shell as a source of inspiration for Avatar, and Steven Spielberg for A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

In 1997, the Pokemon series hit Japanese screens. The anime was adapted from a computer game and became a huge success. Merchandise from the series still sells well today.

Current anime

The 2000s opened with “Spirited Away,” directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Gibli studio. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards ceremony, making it the first and only hand-drawn and non-English language animated film to win the award. It is Japanese animation’s biggest success story, popular around the world, and has earned millions of dollars.

Anime is recognized around the world as a reliable source of entertainment and art. Where early Japanese animators were inspired by the works of Disney, Western programs now draw inspiration from Japan.