JAPANESE MANGA AND ANIMATION
A Brief History of Animation



Part One: Early Days

Early in the 20th century, Western newspaper comics and films impacted Japanese graphic artists. With word balloons and linear storylines, comics provided entertainment for the masses. Japanese experimented with animated films in 1914. Japan's first international success was Kitayama Seitaro's short film Peach Boy in 1918. Animation grew slowly; the last prewar milestone in 1932 was the first animated Japanese 'talkie'. Animation prospered under indisputable industry leaders Walt Disney and the Fleisher Brothers. In 1937, Snow White proved animation was as expressive and viable as live-action film. Before World War II, Europeans and Asians flocked to Disney movies.

Osamu Tezuka, the 'God of Manga' was only 20 years old when his first work New Treasure Island debuted in 1947. Due to Tezuka, direct and stage-like manga erupted with action and emotion, adopting techniques from French and German cinema. To lend poignancy to a single emotional moment, a scene unfolded slowly over many pages. He taught an entire generation of artists to draw kinetically. His greatest impact was his characters. Based on pre-war Disney cartoons like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Tezuka drew animals and humans with huge, expressive eyes, and round heads. Although the features seemed simple and cartoonish, they allowed diverse emotions from love to seething hatred. Later manga and anime artists adapted Tezuka's flexible characters, leading to simplified facial features and frisbee-sized eyes. Sailor Moon, Speed Racer, and even Ash Ketchum owe their looks to Tezuka. Tezuka's great success in manga directly impacted post-war anime.

In the mid-1950s, the Toei movie company president dreamed of animated films like Walt Disney's. In 1958, Toei released its first full-length film The Tale of the White Serpent based on a Chinese legend, it was much darker in tone than typical Disney features. The Mischievous Prince Slays the Giant Serpent (1963), The Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun (1966), and Puss in Boots (1967) featuring the earliest work of the two anime giants Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, paved the way for more serious adult animation.

In 1958, Tezuka created the storyboard, screenplay, and characters for Toei's first animated film based on the Chinese Monkey King legend, the inspiration for Dragon Ball. In 1961, he founded Mushi Productions for animated films and TV episodic series. His first, Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) missed being the first animated TV show in Japan by only a few months. That honor fell to Otagi Manga Calendar, short historical cartoons. But, black-and-white Atom was the first animated program with a recurring cast in a fictionalized series. Based on Tezuka's manga Tetsuwan Atom, it featured the robot boy's amazing escapades fighting crime and protecting friends. Tetsuwan Atom was distributed worldwide. After Tetsuwan Atom, Tezuka adapted the popular manga Jungle Taitei (Kimba the Lion) into Japan's first TV color anime. Co-producer NBC-TV helped finance and distribute Kimba in the US but also exercised creative control. In the original, Kimba grew to adulthood, but on U.S. TV he stayed an adolescent. This was later rectified in the sequel Jungle Taitei Susume Leo! (Leo the Lion). Mushi persisted in creating programs and animated films, but finally went bankrupt. Tezuka did not just 'go back to drawing comics'; he had never left. He continued to feed reader demand with new exciting manga. He left the animating of his manga like Black Jack and Ambassador Manga to others.

As exciting as Japanese TV animation was in the 1960's, most series were for children. Jungle Taitei at times ventured into complex, multipart storylines. 8-Man's main character was murdered by criminals and resurrected as a robot. Mach Go GoGo (Speed Racer) with his goofy monkey sidekick was moody at times. Animated TV programs still adhered to the standard good vs. bad guy formula.


Everything changed in the '70's, as a new, more sophisticated approach hit TV anime. Lupin Sansei by Monkey Punch featured a master thief 'hero' inspired by the 1920s satirical mysteries of French writer Maurice Leblanc. Part comedy and part jet-set adventure, Lupin was full of adult humor and slapstick violence for older audiences. Lupin's infectious insanity spawned sequel TV series and films.

TV science fiction animation premiered in Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets/G-Force), Great Mazinger and Uchu no Kishi Tekkaman. They thrilled audiences with stylish robots and spaceships. Uchu Senkan Yamato (Star Blazers) mesmerized TV viewers as Space Battleship Yamato fought alien invaders to save humanity from destruction. So many were glued to the often violent and gritty Yamato exploits it spawned several films. TezukaŐs contemporary Leiji Matsumoto created Yamato's dynamic characters and mecha (mechanical) designs, with storylines full of complex emotions. Matsumoto later lent his talents to other influential science fiction TV series and the 1979 film Galaxy Express 999. Giant robots have been a mainstay of Japanese anime since 1966's Tetsujin 28. Mobile Suit Gundam, an intelligent, exciting space opera, significantly reinterpreted science fiction in 1979 by combining Yamato epic elements with oversized, humanoid Tetsujin mecha. In the MS Gundam space war, human pilots wore giant robots as protective shells. Gundam was a nationwide obsession with a slew of plastic Gundam mecha models. New space operas like gritty Sokokihei Votoms (Armored Trooper Votoms) and intense Chojiju Yasai Macross (Robotech on the right) evolved in various animated permutations.

As the 1980's began, TV and film producers scrambled to keep up with increasing demand for sophisticated and exciting animated programs. When home videos exploded a few years later, Japanese could buy their favorite animated TV shows and movies. Producers bypassed usual entertainment media, releasing original animated features direct to video.


To keep up with expanding markets, anime producers turned increasingly to manga for material. One of the first artists to benefit was Akira Toriyama. His quirky comedy series Dr. Slump became an instant hit. In 1986, his fantasy series Dragon Ball became JapanŐs most popular animated TV show. With as deft a hand at light comedy and fantasy as Toriyama,


Rumiko Takahashi enchanted audiences of all ages in the '80's and '90's with the insane alien comedy Urusei Yatsura and gender-bending Ranma 1/2. Her other important series, Maison Ikkoku, playfully toyed with romantic comedy conventions. On the other end of the spectrum from Takahashi was Go Nagai, an artist with a reputation for creating 'naughty' manga. His anime adaptations began in 1972 with the Devilman TV series; however, with the direct-to-video market, adult anime bypassed usual TV restrictions and film censors.