East Asian Cinema by David Carter

Author:David Carter [Carter, David]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781842433805
Publisher: Oldcastle Books
Published: 2010-11-04T04:00:00+00:00

Anime

The term ‘anime’, sometimes written ‘animay’, as it is pronounced, is essentially the Japanese abbreviation for ‘animation’. It has come to be considered a concept or genre simply because Japanese animation has certain distinctive qualities which have hitherto distinguished it from most western animation. It has, however, acquired many imitators in recent years, and fans claim that if you watch a large amount of anime, as Japanese of all ages are known to, it is possible to identify overall trends and a number of sub-genres.

Anime have become so successful, because its artists have learned how to overcome the limitations of animation in creative ways. Modern computer graphics of course seem to be on the way to making it possible to realise convincingly the wildest of our dreamworlds. With all other animation techniques it has proved possible to create certain effects well, such as spaceships flying across a background of stars, but it is more difficult and much more expensive to achieve the realistic depiction of human emotion on a face. Anime utilises conventions which viewers have learned to identify as ‘signs’ of specific emotional states and character.

The genre developed from the popularity of comic books (‘manga’ in Japanese). The Japanese, of all ages, have a mania for comic books on all manner of subjects, ranging from phantasy to history, science to sex (a sub-genre of anime pornography exists called ‘hentai’). Over the years certain visual conventions have developed which readers now understand intuitively. A certain kind of cuteness of the human face is exaggerated to draw out the maximum emotional response from the reader. Characteristic in this respect are a large flowing hairstyle, enormous eyes, with a tiny mouth and nose. It is clearly based on psychological research into why humans are attracted to babies and small animals. Emotions are signalled in readily comprehensible ways: a drop of sweat on the forehead is regularly used to indicate embarrassment, for example. In the field of anime made for the teenage market a rough division can be made between that designed to suit boys (‘shonen anime’) and that for girls (‘shojo anime’). ‘Shonen anime’ emphasises action and conflict more, while ‘shojo anime’ focuses on romance. One extremely popular storyline for girls is that of the girl who is transformed into a heroine with magical powers. She is usually accompanied by a cute little animal assistant and fights against evil enemies. Classic examples are the characters of Saint Tail, Cardaptor Sakura and, most famously, Sailor Moon. The distinctions made between stories for boys and girls are much more noticeable in comic books than in the films, which presumably are intended for both genders. Many of the films blend various trends of anime, combining, for example, love intrigues with a plot involving giant robots. There is in fact a whole sub-genre known as ‘mecha’ (pronounced like the ‘mecha-’ in ‘mechanical’), originating in the stories by Tezuka Osamuof of a sentient robot called Astro Boy.

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