Anime is ... Top Anime

Animated films have been made for over a century throughout the world. Some countries during this time have become real leaders and literally legislators in this sector of the entertainment industry, while others modestly and imperceptibly create their own paintings and show the products of foreign manufacturers. But there is a special case in this bright painted universe - anime. This word, in general, means "animated film", but all over the world it is understood exclusively as Japanese works of this genre. What cartoons from the Land of the Rising Sun conquered the world? Let's figure it out!

Short help

Anime is essentially the Japanese derivative of animated films made in the West and in the USA. The beginning of the history of this genre is associated with the first experiments of the directors of the Land of the Rising Sun at the beginning of the last century. Having borrowed some technologies from the discoverers and adding some of their traditions and features, the manga authors created real masterpieces that could conquer the whole world in less than half a century.

Boys and girls, as well as their parents

Anime - these are drawn films for any age category. In this striking variety, children (such films are usually called kodo) and teenagers will find interesting stories for themselves. Moreover, for anime youth are divided into several categories: senen for children and shojo for girls. They differ significantly. Kodomo tells simple, simple stories about the adventures of small and funny characters. Teenage girls anime - about love and hate, tenderness and rudeness, beauty and fashion, mysticism and magic, in general, about what is interesting to young women. Syonen tells the story of the life and exploits of various superheroes, warriors and real machos. In the anime for the guys, there are also relationships and mysticism, but nevertheless, stories about battles and battles between positive and negative heroes prevail , both by people and representatives of other civilizations or simply fictional characters.

Recently, more and more popular "adult" anime. These are painted stories, which are often in no way inferior in their plot to full-length feature films or series. Serious questions and topics are revealed in them, they make you think. There are also amateur pictures - about same-sex relationships or with “strawberry” elements.

The best animes successfully go to cinemas around the world and in box office are not inferior to works of other genres. So, for example, “Spirited Away” by director Hayao Miyazaki, among other awards, received the Berlin Film Festival award in 2002 as “Best Film” and “Oscar” in 2003 as “Best Animated Film”, and its box office exceeded $ 250 million .

Bright appearance

In addition, anime is also a complex system of graphic representation of people, their characters and emotions. It has its own characteristics and strict rules. Firstly, the appearance of the heroes is always pronounced - the European cut of huge eyes, borrowed from Disney animation. And this is no accident! With the help of large eyes, anime artists convey the emotions and character of the hero. It is noteworthy that the facial expressions of the characters are the same in all the paintings, which allows the viewer to easily determine what the hero thinks and what he feels, whether he is positive or negative, when watching any movie of this genre. The remaining facial features, as a rule, are drawn weakly and do not carry a semantic load.

When asked what an anime is, many will answer that these are cartoons in which the characters have big eyes and colored hair. And that will be true! The second distinguishing feature of these works is the outlandish hairstyles of the characters. They, as a rule, consist of strands, but the variety of their length and colors is simply amazing. And this also has its own meaning. Hairstyle and clothes allow literally at a glance to determine the character and characteristics of the character. This is primarily due to the fact that the vast majority of the Japanese themselves have dark hair from birth, and their coloring or lightening by a conservative nation is perceived as a protest and a challenge to society.

Variety of formats

So what is an anime movie or cartoon? In fact, to answer this question definitely will not work. The thing is that anime are shot in different formats.

• The television series is the most common. Multi-part stories about the life and adventures of the heroes last from several issues to several hundred and are broadcast on television.
• The film is a full-length film intended for screenings, primarily in cinemas.
• OVA - works created specifically for sale on media, and, as a rule, are not broadcast anywhere.
• ONA - anime filmed for distribution on the web. This is the newest format that has not yet gained much popularity, but it has high hopes.

The plot is fascinating

The plots of paintings and TV shows of this genre are very diverse. Everyone will be able to choose something for themselves. There is an anime about love, friendship and betrayal, unusual phenomena, about aliens and technologies of the future, about battles and exploits of soldiers or entire armies. In general, historical, romantic, dramatic, thrillers, mysticism, science fiction - everything, as in the familiar world of full-length feature films and television series.

Revived pictures (manga)

What is anime and manga? How do they differ and what do they have in common? These two concepts are, in principle, inseparable. Manga are hand-drawn Japanese comics, which, as a rule, form the basis of anime. In rare cases, the opposite happens - the cartoon script is transferred to paper in the form of pictures. Manga gained particular popularity in Japan after the Second World War. Drawn books were read by people of all ages, regardless of their position in society. Today, there are entire publishers and chain stores that deal exclusively with this area of ​​culture. Many young artists undergo lengthy training and dream of leaving their mark on bookshelves as manga authors.

Watch not review

It is believed that the best animes are created by Osamu Tezuka and Hayao Miyazaki. These people laid the foundations and for fans of the genre became legends and gods. However, today the list of anime and their famous authors is simply huge. There are works that are popular all over the world, and there are also those that are known among certain layers of connoisseurs. Here is just a short list of animes worth seeing:

The Tomb of Fireflies (dir. Isao Takahata); “Whisper of the Heart” (dir. Esifumi Kondo), “Elven Song” (dir. Mamoru Kanbe, Sumio Watanabe, Akira Ivanaga); “The King of Shamans” (dir. Mamoru Hosoda); “Princess Mononoke” (directed by Hayao Miyazaki); “Nausicaa from the Valley of the Winds” (dir. Hayao Miyazaki); “The Wind Gains Strength” (dir. Hayao Miyazaki; “Tales of the Seaside” (dir. Goro Miyazaki); “Cowboy Bebop” (dir. Sinichiro Watanabe, Hiroyuki Okura); “Spirited Away” (dir. Kirk Wise, Hayao Miyazaki); Arietti from the Land of the Lilliputians ”(dir. Hiromase Yonebayashi);“ The Kenshin Tramp ”(dir. Kazuhiro Furuhashi) and many, many others.

In life, like in a movie ...

There are people in the world who not only know everything about anime, but literally live in this painted world. Young people in many countries, and especially, of course, in Japan, have created a whole cultural layer based on the plots of their favorite films. Boys and girls put on contact lenses to convey the color of their eyes, cut their hair and dye them in the craziest colors, apply complex makeup, sew to order or buy in specialized stores an exact copy of clothes, and some even do plastic surgery to be as similar as possible on your heroes. They have fun, make friends and quarrel, fall in love and build relationships, create families and give birth to children. In general, they do everything the same as ordinary young people around the world, only in their unusual style. What is anime for them? These are not just cartoons, this is the whole universe, their life and world. They know absolutely nothing about reality and, in general, do not seek to know.