But how did anime come into existence? The Japanese started experimenting with animation techniques, until it eventually became an alternative way of telling stories. And influenced by Disney's cartoons, more anime were soon released.
Nowadays, people young and old favor Japanese animation, more often referred to as anime. Anime are most often video representations of famous mangas (japanese comics). Both hand-drawn and computer animated, these cartoons give life to the riveting stories in mangas.
Some anime are shown as television series. These would later have movie versions, or OVA's. But anime is not only favored as things to watch. depending on the anime's popularity, people would also collect anime toys, the anime comics (mangas), or even just anime posters.
There are also an event called the Anime Convention, where people don anime costumes to participate in the cosplay (costume play). They would come as their favorite characters, usually from the most popular anime. Most often seen anime costumes are Naruto, Samurai X, and of course, Sailor Moon.
But anime isn't just for fun. Some anime are based on historical facts. Some also bring lessons to the viewers.
Japanese animation, or 'anime' as it is commonly referred to, is becoming increasing popular worldwide. Anime comics and television shows such as Pokemon, and Dragon Ball Z, have become mass exports of the anime market, and are widely watched in America and the UK. Pokemon was probably the most successful anime creation so far, and the Pokemon franchise is now a multi-million dollar success. Distributed mainly through television, anime started to appear in the Western world during the 1960s, but did not gain popularity until the 1980s and 1990s.
Nowadays, due to its popularity, anime is widely distributed through other means such as DVDs, action figures, posters, and comics. The Nintendo franchise Pokémon, is even being distributed as popular anime computer games for their consoles such as the Nintendo DS Lite. It seems Japanese anime is really gaining cultural popularity worldwide. With the technological development of the DVD, it has now become even easier for Japanese anime to be re-dubbed and formatted to suit international audiences.
However, as popularity of anime grows, it is not just the franchised anime which is being watched worldwide. As the word about anime grows, more and more fans are taking it upon themselves to popularise the more obscure anime collections through fansub websites. The aim of fansubbers is to help distribute and subtitle Japanese anime collections to a wider audience. While this essentially breaks many of the copyright laws, some anime collections, like Bandai, have found this activity to be quite helpful in boosting the popularity of their anime shows in other countries.
The cultural influences that Japanese anime is having on America are already starting to appear. American animation which use Japanese anime art as a source of inspiration for their own television shows have increased in circulation. Anime-influenced animation shows, such as South Park, use anime style art while incorporating American satirical humour. Indeed, anime art contained within these shows has greatly increased cultural interest in Japanese folklore. As anime often incorporates subtle hints about Japanese culture, and ancient Japanese legends, anime collections have exposed new perceptions about Japan and its culture.
According to some sources, the increased casual viewing of anime shows has actually created an upsurge in the number of people trying to learn to speak Japanese. Also, there is now a greater awareness of Japanese myths that were once unheard of. Although the term ?otaku? was once used as quite a critical label for obsessive fans of Japanese anime collections, it is now used to celebrate those who have a fondness for this medium of televised art. For many fans of anime collections, to be called ?otaku? is quite an honour.
Thus, anime has a lot to offer viewers, both for the purposes of entertainment and cultural enlightenment. As an art form, anime certainly has encroached on cultural perceptions, and has even inspired many anime-influenced animation shows worldwide. While many anime collections have yet to be discovered, the work of fansubbers and the Internet is greatly increasing anime exposure across the world. Therefore, it appears as though Japanese anime will become increasingly popular in the future too.
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