Anime Evolution and Influence in America free essay sample

Chareunsack David Lon English 3 June 6th, 2012 Anime Evolving amp; its Influence in America As a child or young adult growing up in the 1990’s you remember watching shows like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, or Inuyasha. Then you watch these shows later on in your life you notice that the movement of their mouths doesn’t fall into sync with the English language. If you ever noticed this then you later learn that it is because America adopted them from Japan, where it was first originated. Many cartoons or animations we see on television aren’t all made in America. It makes you wonder how did anime not only influence American culture, but how has it evolved since it was first introduced? What is Manga? What do newspapers, comic books, and graphic novels have in common? They all portray a type of entertainment that people from certain age groups look at. In Japan this type of entertainment is common for people of all ages. The comic strip provided Japanese story-lines with a structure that was readily accessible to the masses. These would eventually contribute to the development of a modern Japanese comic book or â€Å"manga† (). Manga is used in the English-speaking world as a generic term for all comic books and graphic novels that were originally published in Japan (). Many people in America tend to not read a comic or graphic novel once they hit a certain age, in fear of their peers deeming them â€Å"un-cool†. In Japan, comics are highly popular with males and females of all ages, no matter what his or her interests (). When people in the United States think of comics, they think of superheroes and comic strips in newspapers. They don’t think of comics as art or literature (). What is Anime? Have you ever watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? If you have then you know that in 1937 () it became so successful that it influenced that art of Japanese animation, or anime. What is anime, you may ask. Anime is used as a term to refer to all animation forms all over the world (). Japanese anime and American cartoons are completely different from their art forms, to the genre of its story line, or plot, to their type of audience. The audiences for these two types of animations are extremely different. While cartoons are mostly generated toward children, anime has a larger range of their audience. An anime audience ranges from children, to young adults to even businessmen. Cartoons usually have a simple and defined plot and theyre usually about the good guys fighting the bad guys (). Most Anime series, on the other hand, are also about the same good vs. evil but the plots are rarely simple and rarely predictable (). In a handful of anime series there are incidences where the writer makes the line between good and evil so unclear; you’ll be left in wonder as to who is right or and who is wrong. Look at the Wave Country arc of  Naruto  which is now at  Naruto Shippuden. Zabuza, evil as he was, had evoked more sympathetic tears than any of the typical Disney antagonists (). History The History of Manga originates from scrolls dating back to the 12th century, however whether these scrolls are actually manga is still dispute. Anime began at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques that were being explored in the west; the United States, France, Germany, and Russia. Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka, born in 1928-1989, was often known as the â€Å"godfather† of anime and the â€Å"God of Manga†. Osama Tezuka made cartooning and animation into serious art forms in Japan, where he is often compared with  Walt Disney (). Although bullied as a child he had many hobbies, one of which he will be remembered for, for the rest of his life. While he used to read comics he often drew them as well. Even as he attended medical school, he continued his love for drawing manga. Tezuka was still a medical student when he began drawing a serial newspaper strip called  Machan no Nikkicho, Diary of Ma-chan (). From the age of 18, he worked at a furious pace and had dozens of different stories published in newspapers, magazines and books. His work gradually became successful enough to get him noticed by the big publishers in Tokyo and his career was soon off to a real start (). Originally an aspiring animator, Tezuka became a cartoonist after World War II. He was only 20 years old when his first significant work, the novel length, Shintakarajima or â€Å"New Treasure Island†, appered in 1947. In just a few years, he became Japan’s most popular manga artist, eventually earning the tittle â€Å"God of Manga† (). Anime Influencing America Many integrations goes through the process, having to work its way from the ground up and then become a phenomenon in pop culture and anime is one of the best example of this integration. Anime becoming a cultural boom in 1990’s didn’t just happen overnight. At first recognized by the most avid and ravenous of fans -those that had the proper resources- things like anime, Japanese pop and samurai culture were definite underground sensations (). Producing Anime Video game consoles picked up steam and began to infiltrate millions of American households. These consoles, all Japanese made until Microsoft entered the fray in 2001, carried numerous Japanese franchises and storytelling methods that would enthrall children and teenagers across America (). When cable television began airing anime in small chunks here and there, vast amounts of those children who had grown up on Japanese video games immediately attached themselves. By the end of the 1990s, anime was a fringe pop culture niche. Thanks in part to the growth of DVD formatting and internet downloads, it was a full-blown mega-industry only 3 or 4 years later. Today, major anime releases find their way into the American marketplace on one of a dozen different television channels, hundreds of weekly DVD releases and major theatrical releases. Miyazaki won an Oscar in 2002 and Jon Lasseter the head of Pixar and Americas current iteration of Walt Disney has cited the Japanese master as a major influence on Pixars work and named him one of the greatest animators in the world ().