Curt's Comments on Anime:

 

Ok, so you want to learn more about anime? I found a great discussion on the web and thought the description was so good I put it here. The authors name is with the article too.

 

New to anime?     How do you pick a good series you ask?

 

Thanks for asking.

Check out my list of favorites and then read the article below to get an idea of what its about.

Then go to my anime links page and start exploring. Go to the anime review sites and read some reviews of titles that are of the genre that you like.

Read several reviews on the same title, the good and the bad. Negative reviews can be very informative too.

To learn more about anime genres I suggest you pick up the funny and informative book Anime Essentials and a companion DVD/Video Okaku no Video The book talks about anime styles and genres. The video/dvd itself is a mock-umentary of the anime world with interviews with Otaku (people who are obsessed with their hobby) The book and video have similar covers. Book ISPN number=1-880656-53-1

         Many review sites also have a parents link so you can see if the title is appropriate for the age group you want to watch it with.

 

I look for an interesting story premise, beautiful artwork/animation and music that fits the series and enhances the voice acting. I watch them in both Japanese with subtitles and in English.

 

Here list my favorite anime titles and a few comments about them.

Title -                                  Genre -                              Comments

1. Ah! My Goddess-              Romantic Comedy -            My favorite. Beautiful all around

2. Cowboy Bebop -                Action adventure -             story, music and art it has it all

3. Chobits -                          Romantic Comedy/drama - A deep story with comic relief

4. Last Exile -                       Action adventure  -            engaging story beautiful to watch

5. Wolfs Rain  -                    Action Adventure  -           There are more to wolves and humans

6. Spirited Away -                Fantasy adventure -           Hayao Miyazaki's work is amazing!

7. FLCL fooly coolly -            Bizarre comedy -               So odd it hilarious, awesome music

8. Fushigi Yuugi the mysterious play.- Saga/romance -   great premise worth the watch.

9. Gundam Wing endless waltz- Action Adventure  -       all around great story/music

10. Tenchi Muyo series  -     Romantic Comedy  -           fun space/earth adventure

11. Ranma ½  -                       gender bending comedy-    just plain fun to watch

12. Inuyasha -Romantic Comedy/adventure- Demons and a modern school girl in Feudal

Japan! Lots of great characters/music too.

 

What are Manga and Anime?,  Good question. There is no short answer.

---Text Copyright 1995, 2001, 2002 Eri Izawa (rei@mit.edu)

 

So here's a long one. (Pardon me for its length and its wandering; I was doing

chain-of-thought writing :)

Many people might say "Manga are Japanese comics, and Anime is the Japanese

version of animation. Anime is usually, but not always, the animated version of

popular manga." That's partially true, but it can be misleading.

First of all, though an outsider might think Japan "stole" comics from the West,

this is not true. Japan has been making cartoonish art for a very long time

(there are humorous ink drawings of animals and caricatured people from hundreds

of years ago, bearing striking resemblances to modern manga). True, some aspects

of manga are taken from the West (Osamu Tezuka, the "father" of modern manga,

was influenced by Disney and Max Fleisher), but its main features, such as

simple lines and stylized features, are distinctly Japanese. It may be that

Chinese art had more influence than Western.

(Also, speaking of China, I should note that Anime is now a general Asian

phenomenon, not just Japanese. I understand there are many fine works of manga

and anime being produced in many places around the world. However, as far as I

understand, the roots are in Japan, and Japan is still considered, at least here

in the US, the center of the anime world. This may well change in the future.)

Secondly, Japanese manga and anime come in all types, for all sorts of people.

Unlike the U.S., which generally seems to believe that "comics are for kids,"

Japanese manga-ka (manga writers) write for everyone from innocent young

children to perverted sex-starved men (there is even a category for ex-juvenile

delinquent mothers!). But even the kiddie stuff tends not to be as simple-minded

as the American versions (not including intelligent American comics, but more

thinking of TV shows). Children's manga and TV anime shows in Japan will

sometimes depict death --- while the U.S. (on children's TV) seems determined to

run away from such realities of life (note how the U.S. version of "GoLion"

("Voltron") deleted all references to one of the protagonist's death). And, not

surprisingly, much of Japanese manga and anime includes scenes of students in

class or doing homework, or of people working in their offices. The work ethic

seems omnipresent in the background. Manga and anime also tend to protray

technology sympathetically, while some U.S. comics seem almost to avoid it, or

revile it, or simplify it as much as possible.

A third major difference is the unique Japanese manga and anime style, which is

distinctive and fairly easy to recognize. This is not to say the style is

limiting. Within this broad common stylistic ground, each manga artist's

technique is distinct and unique. The stereotype is of characters with huge hair

and large eyes, but there are many, many variations, from L. Matsumoto's

seemingly unevenly drawn squash-shaped "ugly" protagonists, to the soft-edged

figures in Miyazaki's work. And, of course, there is less emphasis on the

"superhero" world of the U.S..

 In most manga, the men and women aren't

necessarily exaggerated extremes of their gender stereotypes, and they wear

things other than skin-tight costumes. In fact, manga and anime characters tend

to have unique and aesthetic tastes in fashion. (It's also true that many modern

U.S. comics have thankfully broken this stereotype.)

And one minor difference between Japanese manga and general superhero comics

like D.C. Comics or Marvel Comics (aside from the black and white nature of

manga), is that manga are usually the vision of a single writer (though editors

have a large say, and sometimes direct the story). Unlike the general superhero

type, where many writers tend to do different plots and stories, manga are more

like novels, complete and detailed worlds that are the vision of a single

author. The characters remain consistent, and they are allowed to grow and

develop. On a related topic, manga also tend to be drawn for a weekly or

biweekly publication containing numerous other comics by other authors --- and

the editors expect cliffhangers/you-really-want-to-read-the-next-issue endings

each time. So the plot HAS to develop and HAS to be interesting at a fairly

rapid clip. (There are, after all, crowds of hopeful would-be manga-ka waiting

in the wings).

(One last difference is the onomatopoetic characteristic of the Japanese

language; sound effects fit in much better, and look less stupid, than in

English comics. This is just a facet of the language; translated manga sound

effects also don't work as well.)

Perhaps it is the mix of harsh reality with the tantalizing world of fantasy

that makes Japanese manga and anime so appealing. Many popular series, such as

Doraemon, Ranma 1/2 and Kimagure Orange Road, follow the lives of seemingly

ordinary people --- they go to school, do homework, get reprimanded by parents

--- who have a shadow life that makes them somehow special, whether by psionic

talent or friends who are rather different (robots from the future, or aliens

from other worlds). I suppose all this serves to allow the reader to sympathize

with the characters, and yet escape from bland, normal daily life to a fantasy

world that is far different.

Even in worlds that exist in the far future, or long ago, the reader is drawn

into a 3-dimensional character, one who is far from perfect, one who has stupid

little habits or major character flaws --- and who has hopes and dreams that the

reader can sympathize with. Unlike some American super heroes, who often seem to

just go around defeating Evil (as wonderfully spoofed in American comic "The

Tick"), Japanese characters usually have other goals in life that play large

themes within their lives. I heard recently the characterization that manga and

anime are "character oriented." The more I think about, the more I think this is

the right description. Characters aren't forced into plots, like a foot into a

too-tight shoe; instead, stories grow out of the characters. The heart of manga

and anime is in the hearts of the characters.

 

That brings us to three other aspects of manga and anime that I really like: the

reality of the world, the spirituality, and the fact that things end.

With comics, the merging of art and words creates a unique medium. The art pulls

in the mind, and the words make the reality. A picture may be worth a thousand

words, while words may convey what art cannot, but the two types together are

truly powerful. As for Anime, animation can do inexpensively what special

effects crews couldn't even touch until the recent rise of computer graphics.

Art is a limited form of virtual reality. Art, however, requires plot to make a

story come to life.

As I've said, even children's Japanese comics and animation deal with things

like death. They also show that one's enemies aren't Just Evil. In series like

Gundam, you can see that the enemies have hopes and dreams of their own, and do,

in fact, have reasons for what they do. They aren't just crazy, or just plain

evil. They're real.

Actions have consequences. If the protagonist screws up, he or she has to deal

with those results ... and, if the person is smart, he or she will remember not

to make that mistake again! The characters grow and change, learn new skills,

get better at old skills, mature and gain wisdom (unless, of course, it's a

comical series like Doraemon :)

Another trait of manga and anime that I have always liked (though perhaps I

hadn't realized it until recently) is their tendency to contain a sense of

spiritual optimism ... and not just simplistic good-over-evil stuff. Bad people

can improve and find redemption. Unhappy heroes can find themselves, through

personal crisis, and in doing so find happiness. Life does have meaning and

purpose, though it must be fought for. Hard work will pay off ... but maybe only

in the long run. Difficulties occur, but they can be overcome. Strength is found

from helping others, even to the point of self-sacrifice.... Not all stories

have these spiritual or philosophical messages, but many do. And when these

simple but universal themes are woven more or less convincingly into the fabric

of good plots and characters, magic happens.

And finally, like all good stories and all real stories, manga and anime have a

tendency to end. Heroes and heroines die, or get married, or disappear. The

anime series are especially good about this. They tend to have one of three

endings: the hero wins (the throne, the person of the opposite sex, whatever),

the hero dies (usually after winning), the hero sort of wins (but at a great

loss). Of course, the anime or manga is often carefully crafted to either jerk

tears out of your eyes, or make you stare in wide-eyed absorption to the very

very last line of the credits. I can't describe it here, but think of the ending

to any truly good movie, and you probably have it.

 

I guess I've wandered quite a bit over this topic. I also probably displayed a

bias for semi-serious manga/anime (which I prefer), and I also probably didn't

quite describe the nature of certain genres (such as pure business manga, or sex

manga, or the purely political humor comics). And, of course, I'm sort of

glossing over the fact that there is LOTS of trash out there. Like any field,

manga and anime have their lemons, the ones with no plot, 2-D characters, truly

tasteless jokes, and artwork from hell. However, the best manga and anime are

true gems that should not be missed --- little portals into other worlds that

will entertain, educate, and delight.

---Text Copyright 1995, 2001, 2002 Eri Izawa (rei@mit.edu)

(For more information on manga and anime, please see my Anime and Manga Page.)