Anime

"Anime in America"

Anime, or Japanese animation, is a style of animation most recognizable by characters with large eyes and beautifully detailed backgrounds. Once people watch anime, they will find besides spectacular animation, anime has complex characters and deep stories, many of which teach morals and values. Anime is very popular in Japan; it has also gained a following in America and is beginning to hit the mainstream.

Anime is gaining popularity in the United States as it is shown more on television, most Noticeably on the Sci-Fi Channel with shows such as Saturday Anime and during Anime week and on Cartoon Network with shows such as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z being shown every weekday during the Tonnage block. Anime is a highly used medium in Japan. It appears in the movies and on TV. In fact, Nearly one-half of all tickets sold in Japan are for anime. Some famous anime directors are Hayao Miyazaki, Reiji Matsumoto, Mamoru Oshii, Osamu Tezuka, Tatsuo Yoshita, and Katsuhiro Otomo. Hayao Miyazaki directs "lavishly illustrated, sincere, family-oriented, deeply resonate stories for children" Such as Kiki's Delivery Service and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. He also directed Mononoke Hime, A "creative and technical tour-de-force" which is the most popular film In Japanese history. Reiji Matsumoto created Space Cruiser Yamato or Star Blazers as it was known here, a show about a WWII battleship turned spaceship used to defend Earth. Mamoru Oshii directed Ghost in the Shell, "the current standard for high-tech anime filmmaking" Osamu Tezuka created Tetsuwan Atom, known in America as Astro BoyTezuka is also "responsible for the 'large eye' look" found in anime. Tatsuo Yoshita created Mach Go Go Go, otherwise known as Speed Racer. Katsuhiro Otomo directed Akira, the first blockbuster anime film in America, Ebert reviewed it, it was cutting edge in both countries and it began the "adult anime revolution"--"violent imagery, complex stories, and controversial subjects." Ever since Akira was released, there has

been a small, yet loyal following of otaku, or anime fans in America. There are three mediums for anime: TV series, movies, and OVA, which stand for Original Video Anime. TV series are shown on TV, movies in the theaters, and OVAs go directly to video. Some popular television and OVA series in Japan as well as America are Tenchi Muyo! Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, The Slayers, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Urusei Yatsura, Mach Go Go Go, Space Battleship Yamato, Ranma 1/2, Ah! My Goddess, Pokйmon, Gatchaman,

Transformers, Yu Yu Hakusho, Voltron, and Birdy the Mighty. Some popular movies are Tenchi the Movie 1 and 2, Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Urusei Yatsura 2, Project A-ko, Mononoke Hime, Galaxy Express 999, Be Forever Yamato, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Grave of the Fireflies. When anime is translated into English, it can be found in two forms, dubbed, where voice actors put the words spoken into English, or subtitled, where the original dialogue is kept and the English equivalent is shown across the bottom of the screen. Subtitled seems to keep more to

what is actually being said, but some of the puns can be hard to understand while dubbed canmake the dialogue make sense and sound funnier. In the end, it's really just a matter of preference.

What makes anime so cool? It's really hard to describe, but yet thousands of people all

across the United States, who can't describe it they, attend cons and are members of clubs.

No one can really say what it could be--the amazing detail, fantastic stories, the complex plots, or

the unforgettable characters...It can be any of these. The growing popularity of anime in America has resulted in a large number of anime clubs being founded on college campuses and increasingly at high schools. Many clubs watch and discuss anime, produce newsletters or fanzines, have tape libraries for members, and organize special events. "Anime has changed not in the past five years, but the past one year." "Anime used to be cultish, you had to know someone, study Japanese, belong to a fan club." Now that otaku are being found all over the nation, more and more anime cons are taking place in America. "What better way to spend a beautiful summer weekend than by spending it indoors with a few thousand fellow freaks?" "Otherwise normal people transform into robots, heroes, and strange creatures; people get you're inside jokes, and most importantly, being a geek finally pays off." Cons are great places to go to to meet and talk to distributors, dealers, production companies, voice actors, animators, translators, and other anime fans. "Cons are all about parties, obscure anime in the late nite video rooms,finding a favorite anime, the cosplay, cool music videos, meeting the guests of honor, and singing karaoke." Cons are fun, and one can easily lose track