Rise of Japanese Animation and its Popularity in America
Japanese animation is a style of art recognizable by characters with large eyes, oddly shaped hair and detailed backgrounds. Much like American animation, Japanese animation has morals and values; however the Japanese art form has more complex characters and story lines. It is the most popular form of film in Japan, and is becoming very popular in America. Japanese animation is greatly influencing America and is taking over the animation industry. There are some terms that have become part of the Japanese animation fans vocabulary; the most important of these words being the word anime (AH-nee-may). This is a word that the Japanese took from the French to describe all animated films. Then, the Americans took it from the Japanese to describe the unique type of animation that comes from Japan (Levi 1). ... A person can be a computer otaku, a fashion otaku, or an anime otaku; but in America, it refers exclusively to those who are obsessively interested in anime. ... Lastly there is manga (Mon-ga); manga is the Japanese equivalent to a comic book. ... The first Japanese animated images were seen early in the 19th century. ... Many Japanese anime begin life as manga. ... The modern Japanese comic is a fusion of two things, western comic form, which is basically the style for modern comics, and manga, an outgrowth or modern expression of the Japanese wood block printmakers of the 18th and 19th centuries (Animatrix). There would be no animation in Japan or anywhere else had both comics and animation not been developed in the U. ... Before computer animation, Japanese cellular animation limited itself to eight new frames a second. ... This meant that the Japanese anime presented each frame three times, while the western films offered a new image every 2 frames. The result is American animation appeared slightly more lifelike. Jerky animation of this period was called “limited animation”. This standard adopted by the Japanese saved time as well as money, and made weekly television series possible. ... Sato Kenji, an animation specialist quotes that “Japanese animation offers a means of producing slick, Noyes 3 stylish films without spending much money”(Richie 248). The technique of drawing directly on celluloid, which was the accepted method of early animation in the west, was seen in Japan only after 1929 but it was not widely used until much later(Richie 247).