Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
     
     
   
     

 
Anime Web Turnpike Your #1 Guide to the Anime and Manga Internet World!


 
 

What is Anime?

 
 

 

Author : Nestor I. Nunez

Anime (pronounced "annie may," "ah-nee may") is a loanword taken from English that is used to describe the medium known to the world as Japanese animation or Japanimation. This art form is very distinctive and quite different from other animation forms. It is also superior in a few respects.

Drawn from a uniquely Japanese perspective, anime reflects the style and attitude of its homeland. Just as there are differences between computer animation and claymation, so are there differences between anime and other animation forms. The Japanese tend to be meticulous animators, and like a lot of stuff made in Japan, their animation is top of the line.

Obviously one of anime's most distinguishing features is its artwork. Very lose attention is paid to detail. Facial features are sharply drawn and clear cut, and there's also that light reflecting characteristic of eyes that is very unique to anime. Nor is detail ignored in other aspects. Bodies, backgrounds, mecha (aircraft, transforming robots, really any kind of machinery) and other interesting objects are drawn with a high degree of detail that is visually imaginative and stimulating.

Anime also deals with subjects seldom seen in Western animation on a regular basis and in such a way that nothing else comes close. The Japanese view certain things in a different light, and as a result, anime reflects cultural attitudes. Material that Western animators would think more twice about touching is present in anime (e.g. graphic violence, profanity, sex), but within a reasonable context, depending on what kind of anime it is.

Then there's also the fact that anime is exotic. It's an overseas import that speaks a different language, displays a different perspective, and is drawn in a different style. Nothing else animated comes close to being what it is, nor can duplicate it. Anime has yet to emerge into the mainstream of mass public consciousness, but it is out there, and inroads are being made. As more people become aware of and get into anime, the number of fans continues to increase.

Anime isn't "Japanese cartoons," which implies something immature and not to be taken seriously. Anime can be comical, but there is nothing cartoonish about it. Anime exists on such a higher level that it is only fitting and proper that it is referred to as animation. To be able to see anime for what it really is, one needs to ascend to a higher plane of thought and perception, and to recognize that anime is in a league all its own. Then can the term "Japanese animation" be fully realized.

 

This article is granted permission by the author Nestor I. Nunez himself to put it on my site. You can visit his cool sites with the links below :

Tha Nth Level

The Shrine of Sohryu Asuka Langley

The Evangelion Domain

 

 
     
     
 

Anime: Japanese for Animation (abbreviated from Anime-shon)
Anime-shon: Japanese for Animation
Anime-ta: Japanese for Animator
Konpyu-ta-anime: Japanese for Computer Animation (abbreviated from Konpyu-ta-anime-shon)
Konpyu-ta-anime-shon: Japanese for Computer Animation.

Manga: Japanese comics.

Otaku: An "otaku" is a fanatic, an enthusiast. Otaku is meaning of mania. Usually, it means "someone who loves anime and manga."

Otaku is a term used in Japan to refer to a dedicated fan of something, usually obsessed. Although in Japan there are negative connotations implying that these kinds of people have no lives, stalk the targets of their fandom, and are geeks, the community of anime and manga fans around the world have largely taken up the title with pride. 

 

Other resources:

The SCSU Otaku Society Home Page - Exactly What is Anime?