"What You Need To Know"....

Hey, I'm back..with some anime stuff...weeeee! I've been loaded with different ideas on what to post about anime but I cant seem to choose what's the best thing so, I'll just go with the basic. I'll start off with some fancy trivia that I was able to get from different sources. Dunno if they're updated or outdated, but nevertheless, these information can really be fun and informative in some ways especially for those anime lovers like me but dont really seem to care some details regarding it. :D


Do you know that...

1. The First person to use the term "manga" in 1815, was the Japanese artist Hokusai (1760-1849), when he referred to some of his comic sketches as "careless" (man) "drawings" (ga).


2. The history of anime begins at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques that were being explored in the West.


3. During the 1970s, anime developed further, separating itself from its Western roots, and developing unique genres such as mecha. Notable shows in this period include Lupin III and Mazinger Z. During this period several filmmakers became famous, especially Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii.


4. The oldest Japanese animation we know of comes from about 1907. Only three seconds long it shows a young boy in a sailor suit writing out the words in Japanese for "Moving Pictures," turns to the audience, takes off his hat and salutes.


5. Mecha, also known as meka or mechs, are walking vehicles controlled by a pilot. In most science fiction stories in which they appear, mecha are war machines: essentially armored fighting vehicles with legs instead of treads or wheels. Some stories, such as the Japanese manga Patlabor, also encompass mecha used for civilian purposes such as heavy construction work, police functions, or firefighting.


6. In Japan, "robot anime" (known as "mecha anime" outside Japan) is a genre that features the vehicles and their pilots as the central plot points. The Gundam franchise is a prominent example: Gundam toys and model kits (produced by the Japanese toymaker Bandai) are ubiquitous in Japan.


7. Rarely, mecha has been used in a fantasy convention, most notably in the anime series Aura Battler Dunbine, The Vision of Escaflowne and Maze. In those cases, the mecha designs are usually based on some alternative or 'lost' science-fiction technology from ancient times.


8. In the 1980s, anime was accepted in the mainstream in Japan, and experienced a boom in production. The start of the Gundam franchise and the beginnings of Rumiko Takahashi's career began in this decade. Akira set records in 1988 for the production costs of an anime.


9. The series Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z became worldwide successes. Other series like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop were popular in Japan and attracted attention from the West.


10. Spirited Away shared the first prize at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003, and Innocence: Ghost in the Shell was featured at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.


11. In 1948, Toei Animation was founded and produced the first color anime feature film in 1958, Hakujaden (The Tale of the White Serpent, 1958).

This film was more Disney in tone than modern anime with musical numbers and animal sidekicks. However, it is widely considered to be the first "anime" ever, in the modern sense. It was released in the US in 1961 as Panda and the Magic Serpent. Throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s Toei continued to release these Disney-like films and eventually also produced two of the most well known anime series, Dragon Ball in 1986 and Sailor Moon in 1992.


12. One of the most influential anime of all time was the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).


13. Some Western animation companies have produced works of some anime resemblance. The Animatrix and the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender were influenced by anime. Other animated series such as Teen Titans have at least a few anime characteristics. Even France and Canada have also started to produce anime-inspired shows such as Martin Mystery (Canada/France) Totally Spies! (France) and Team Galaxy (France).


14. Anime has become commercially profitable in western countries as early commercially successful western adaptations of anime, such as Astro Boy, have revealed. The phenomenal success of Nintendo's multi-billion dollar Pokémon franchise was helped greatly by the spin-off anime series that, first broadcast in the late 1990s, is still running worldwide to this day. In doing so, anime has made significant impacts upon Western culture.


15. The first occurrence of mecha in fiction is thought to be the novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells where the Martians use tripod walkers very similar to mecha.


Well, that's all for now, folks! More about anime coming up...haha..just watch out, okay?..toinks..lol

Anime/Manga 101

To understand the history of anime or what it is really about, one must know what manga or Japanese comics is. One of the most difficult things for western audiences to understand is that anime and manga are not designed strictly for children in Japan. In the western world, comics have only been around for a comparatively short period of time and have been almost exclusively marketed toward young people. In Japan, however, artists have been telling stories through the use of drawings for several centuries, so its appeal is much more widespread as the average Japanese person views comics and animation as just another way to tell a story without an age stigma attached to it.

Historians and knowledgeable fans alike agree that Osamu Tezuka was the precursor to both manga and anime, and there's definitely good reasoning and evidence behind it. He was heavily influenced by the early animation of Disney and the Flesicher Brothers in the West. It was his early love for animation that brought about the introduction and growth of both anime and manga.

He was the first to come out with a novel-length drawn story (titled "Shintakarajima", or "New Treasure Island") in 1947, the very first well-known "tankoubon" or "graphic novel" as the West calls them. In 1963, he was the first to produce an internationally successful animation series in "Testuwan Atom", or, as we know it, "Astro Boy". Along with Toei Animation (which Tezuka had worked with as a character designer), Tezuka's Mushi Productions was among the first in Japanese animation studios.

Anime (アニメ, Anim) is an abbreviation of the English word "animation" originating in Japan through the roots of manga. Although the term is used in Japan to refer to animation in general, in English usage the term most popularly refers to material originating from Japan, a subset of animation.

Anime is traditionally hand drawn, but computer-assisted techniques have become quite common in recent years. It is used in television series, films, video, video games and Internet-based releases, and represents all genres of fiction.

While available throughout the beginning of the 20th century, manga (japanese for "Comics" or "Whimsical images") was not a very popular medium until after World War II. Beginning in the 50's, manga, followed by anime, became very popular ways for artists and writers to deal with the devastation of the war in a new way. From this point on, manga and anime became an important part of Japanese society.

Manga is generally read by adult commuters on their way to and from work. It is a cheap and relaxing entertainment for most people who read it. Most of the manga is published weekly as large collections, usually in black and white. The high volume of published manga generally means that the artists have to work exceptionally hard to produce enough material each week, sometimes as much as sixteen or more pages each day.

Manga and anime is read and enjoyed by men, women, boys and girls across Japan. And nowadays, the unstoppable growth of anime and manga is already widespread and one who doesnt know anything about it or neverheard of it must have been buried in a deep pit for a very long time (c'mon?!..even aliens are aware of it dude!..wake up!..lol) There are a wide variety of storylines to appeal to a huge variety of readers. Everything from complex social issues, the future, humanity, and fun topics are found in the pages of manga and on the screens with anime.

Today, Japanese Animation (anime) is a recognized media and viewed by many as the top alternative to traditional "cartoons" of the West. As anime expands to non-Japanese markets such as the United States and Europe, the cycle of cultural influence inevitably extends into these markets. Thus, some Western animation companies have produced works of some anime resemblance.

The Animatrix, series from the Nickelodeon "Avatar: The Last Airbender and other animated series such as the Teen Titans and Powerpuff Girls were influenced by anime. These animated series were not considered anime but thy do show some characteristics found in a typical anime series.

Now that I've come to introduce you the basics of what anime is, maybe you have come to realize why is it making such a big bang in the world of so many fanatics. It is because animation itself is the living of what truly is inside our hearts. It is giving life to our fantasies and "impossible dreams". The perfection of the physical appearances of the characters and the strong nature that they always portray are those that's motivating us to do exactly what we ought to do. Believe it or not, but anime do inspires. The childish nature in each of us is what's keeping all these stuff kicking alive. whether you like it or not, you have to feed that childish appetite of yours be it with anime or just plain cartoons and the like.