What is anime, exactly? If you have have just started watching anime and need a guide to explain the appeal of anime to a beginner; this one is for you! Anime is short for “Japanese animation”. It is a worldwide industry with a huge fan-base and estimated annual profits of about 24.1 billion dollars. A wide array of anime series are produced each year in many different sub-genres such as Shonen, Mecha, slice of life, and so on.
If you’ve never watched anime before, the wide spectrum of content and storytelling methods available can be intimidating. Just consider an eye-opening scene from Akira, one of the most epic anime films of all time: A young boy is followed by a sentimental toy truck that ends up exploding into drops of milk in unexplained fever dream fashion.
Needless to say, there’s a learning curve to anime. And as daunting as it may seem, if you look into it, you are guaranteed to discover a story that speaks to you.
Despite anime’s accelerated rise to fame, even the avid fans don’t know the content inside out. Anime has so much to offer, and watching a few episodes from some one-hit-wonder shows will only get you started on your anime journey.
You need to understand the bigger picture – what is anime, exactly? And what’s the upside to watching giant sparkly eyes, narrow lips and crazy hair in suspense-packed scenes with overt the top story lines that never cease amaze us? Keep reading and we will unravel the basics of anime, including its origin and why it’s such a big deal today.
What is Anime: How Did Anime Begin
By now you should be able to answer the question “what is anime” quite confidently, but we want to take it a step further. We want you to understand the appeal of anime and possibly enjoy the medium yourself. But before we can better explain the appeal of anime, let’s take a few steps back and talk about how anime got started in the first place.
When Did Anime Begin
Anime dates back to the beginning of Japan’s film industry in the 1900’s, and by now, it has grown into one of Japan’s most astounding cultural forces. Most of the productions during the 90’s did not use the hand drawn anime or CGI techniques used today. A host of other production techniques were employed, however, including film paintings, drawings, paper cut-outs, and others.
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Anime vs Cartoons
In the beginning stages, western styled cartoons had a head start in terms of professional production. Over time, however Japanese animation, i.e “anime”, improved their production quality massively.
Anime studios took up techniques like the multi-plane camera system and cel animation. Sound and color were added as well. Whereas both mediums have their unique style and cultural background, as a whole, Japanese animation has surpassed the artistic ambitions and quality of western cartoons.
One of the key differences between Western animation and Japanese animation is that anime is targeted towards adults and kids both. Western animation does not get much attention, and often, the content is made for children, which gives it a status of being childish and unrefined.
In Japan, animation is way more popular medium. In fact, Japanese anime directors have an outstanding reputation in society. They are not overshadowed by the production company (like Western directors). As artists who are well known and appreciated by anime fans, they enjoy a special place in society.
Who Made the Very First Anime?
The history of anime goes back to the embryonic stage of animation throughout the globe. Seitaro Kitayama was the person to originate anime in 1917. As you can already tell, there wasn’t much to work with back then, and animation was mostly used in anti-American advertising. After 1945, Seitaro became the second biggest animation producer in the United States, and so, the joy began!
Another famous name in Anime history is Osamu Tezuka, the father of modern manga, who became famous for his blockbuster film: Astro Boy. Furthermore, the ’60s have also witnessed multiple series, such as Sally the Witch, in 1966, GeGeGe no Kitaro, in 1967, and Sazae-san, in 1969.
The latter became such a hit that the series holds a Guinness world record for the lengthiest broadcast (for 45 years!). These figures are usually accredited for creating the distinctive anime style.
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Is Anime Japanese or Chinese
This question gets asked a lot, so we will address it before we explain the popularity of anime. Anime originates from Japan and and that is where the biggest and the best series come from. In this sense, anime is in most cases a Japanese product. There are exceptions however, like the One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes series that has a Chinese author. Recently, South Korea has also shined with some great titles like Solo Leveling. In these cases, however, we don’t necessarily refer to them as anime.
Subbed vs Dubbed Anime
When you are just getting into anime a natural dilemma will be the choice of subbed vs dubbed anime. Regardless of the pros and cons of each, most anime fans prefer subbed anime. At the end of the day, the series we enjoy are produced in Japanese and the most authentic way of consuming them is listening to the original version with subtitles.
What is Anime: Why Is Anime So Popular
Is anime popular? – of course! There are more than 430 anime production studios in Japan. Some groundbreaking names of the industry include Gainax, Toei Animation, and Studio Ghibli. Though Anime covers a small portion of the country’s local market; it offers a massive contribution to Japanese Blu-ray and DVD sales.
As of 2016, anime owned 60% of the animated television industry. Today, Anime the most popular video streaming platforms like like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu all stream anime. Its hard to say what is anime’s true influence in the world. But we can attest that it has made an enormous difference in our lives.
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Anime divides into many genres, for all types of audiences. Besides themes for teens and children, such as fantasy, action, comedy, and sci-fi, you may realize that suffering, pain, death, sexuality, and violence can also pop up in Anime. From romance to horror and everything in-between, Anime shows can match any taste.
So are there any popular anime series you can binge-watch? Lucky for you, Anime can be watched online via Hulu, Netflix, and Crunchyroll. Here’s a list of some of our top 3 best anime series (for beginners)
3. Popular anime Log Horizon
This novel series includes players trapped in another dimension while playing an online game. The players are alive but have to fight monsters to survive continually. They have no idea why this happened, so Shiroe decides to form a guild, known as the Log Horizon along with his companion Naotsugu and others to get to the bottom of everything. Cool, right?
2. Classic Shonen anime Naruto
Ah, how can anyone ever skip this series? It’s all about Naruto Uzumaki, a teenage ninja who seeks gratitude from his nobles and carries the dream of becoming the Hokage – the leader of his village. The story of Naruto divides into two parts – the first sets in his younger years, and the second in his teen years.
1. Best Popular Anime Attack On Titan
Behold, the king of all Anime series: Attack on Titan! This series is set in a place where humanity lives in a city surrounded by giant walls protecting humans for titans. Eren Yeager, the main character enlists himself in the military and vows to get rid of the titans to avenge his mother. There are a lot of twists in the series, and the titans have a story as well. So feel free to give it a go!
What is Anime: Why are There so Many Hardcore Fans of Anime
Now that you you have a clearer picture on the “what is anime” question, it is time to ponder the extreme abundance of anime fans out there. What’s the appeal? We will run you through the top five reasons why Anime has a huge number of fans.
Anime Fans are Always on the Learning Mode
While there are Korean and Chinese Anime-like shows, the classic Anime is Japanese. Anime fans gather from all over the globe, so Anime can actually be quite educational for anyone. You learn a lot about Japanese tradition and culture, regardless of what show you are watching. Also, if you watch subbed versions, you can learn some words and phrase in Japanese – its education in the form of entertainment!
They explore meaningful metaphors and stories regularly
Despite the somewhat unrealistic nature of some Anime, plenty of shows teach spectators a lesson or discover at least one significant thematic issue to human existence. For instance, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood revolves around the themes of death, corruption, and kingship. Sword Art Online defines how we construct our intuitions of reality and imagination.
They Know that Anything is Possible
One of the best reasons why Anime has so many fans is how often a series can surprise you. Usually for the better; sometimes for inferior. But if Anime enthusiasts know one thing, it’s that anything can happen!
Cosplay is Fun!
Another epic reason to why Anime has hardcore fans is that there is cosplay! We all know what cosplay is, right?
It’s when you have to dress up like a specific character from a comic book, TV show, an Anime, or even a movie. It’s kind of like preparing for Halloween, except for the fact that you can cosplay anytime!
Its Easy to Find Anime Friends and Communities
In a room full of 10 teenagers, 8 of them would be lost in the world of Anime. Therefore, there’s a high chance for Anime Otaku‘s to make new friends, and the community of Anime lovers is massive.
All over there are people who share your anime interest and thanks to the magic of the internet organizing into communities is easier than ever before!
Anime Fans are Content Creators Themselves
Anime encourages creativity and a big part of the fun is how active the community itself is in creating various content like anime AMVs, fan-fiction stories, fan art and much much more.
The site you are on right now, Mangahub, for example, is produced by anime fans for anime fans. We can attest that passion drives a big part of similar projects in the community.
What Makes Anime Special?
Now that almost everything under to “why Anime is so appealing” out of the way, let’s come to the point where we shed some light on what makes Anime so special!
Many people think anime is strange, and something only weebs are into. But nevermind, when you and we think of Anime, we see it for what it is: a fascinating world.
Regular entertainment like TV and films are great, but anime takes enjoyment to aa whole new level! Want to know Anime is so special? Here’s a few reasons:
- You can’t compete with anime when it comes to visuals. It is the first thing you witness. The backgrounds grab your attention; there are beautiful characters, fascinating facial expressions, and realistic scenes. It is the best middle-ground between cartoons and live action.
- The comedy is outstanding. There are some ridiculous effects and many funny faces that pull it all together.
- No matter what you like, there is something for everyone. Anime has a huge variety of themes, including arms dealers, space exploration, a society where dirty jokes are forbidden, ghosts, and even Satan who gets a part-time job. Unbeatable!
- Amazing music! Anime music stands out because it contains a dash of Japanese culture.
- Many life lessons that hit deep.
- Anime portrays friendship in a unique way. The express
Final Thoughts On The Appeal of Anime
There you have it – now you know what anime is, and cans see why it is now becoming the backbone of entertainment! There’s no telling what’ll happen in the next coming years, who knows, anime might spread into something more unique.
Still, society hasn’t entirely accepted anime yet, since many individuals still find it childish – which is just an assumption; watch it, and you will know! But if you, reading this blog, want to start anime,m and the details mentioned here piqued your interest, give it a try. You will thank us.