Anime Is…

An animated style of storytelling which originated in Japan. Although the word anime is derived from the word “animation”, this modern day medium relies heavily on traditional and modern literary devices to tell a story, and not exclusively on its visuals, contrary to its name.

In anime, the visual manner in which the story is told is as important as the story itself. Most anime feature exaggerated emotions, themes, facial expressions, movements and pauses. This was originally due to the low budget nature of anime when it was first created. It was expensive to animate every detail as was done in America, so pauses, large movements, and lack of details were commonplace.

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Japanese Culture

Most anime have underlying themes and motifs that are common to Japanese culture but may be difficult for a new, non-Japanese viewer to appreciate or understand at first. For example, anime has different archetypes than American films, the magical girl and the bishounen hero being two. A popular theme which may also “shock” mainstream Americans is the concept of the fifteen-year old protagonist. Another possible culture shock is the seemingly less than tidy endings anime is known for. Positive motifs which are prominent in anime are the concepts of team work, putting others before self and perseverance. Fan service is a less prominent feature of anime which may or may not be noticeable to new fans and is not essential to anime. Fan service includes such things as “panty shots“, “catgirls“, gratuitous violence or moe. As a new fan gets deeper into the medium, these themes may. start to seem less “odd”.

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Anime Is…

An animated style of storytelling which originated in Japan. Although the word anime is derived from the word “animation”, this modern day medium relies heavily on traditional and modern literary devices to tell a story, and not exclusively on its visuals, contrary to its name.

In anime, the visual manner in which the story is told is as important as the story itself. Most anime feature exaggerated emotions, themes, facial expressions, movements and pauses. This was originally due to the low budget nature of anime when it was first created. It was expensive to animate every detail as was done in America, so pauses, large movements, and lack of details were commonplace. Although anime has become a billion dollar business, the exaggerations and large cell shading have become an integral part of anime storytelling and are hallmarks of the medium. This is an aspect of anime which may jar some American viewers, especially as even the emotions and themes tend to be drawn out.

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