By David on March 17, 2008
Rachel has recently created a new section of TheAnimeBlog.com – it’s called “What Is Anime and Why Should I Care?”
What is anime and why should you care? Probably because anime is a cultural phenomena which has spawned an international fandom. This medium has garnered a loyal following from every demographic – it’s even inspired massive conventions to celebrate it!
Visit our “What Is Anime†page to read all about it.
After checking it out, let us know if our definition of anime is in line with your own in the comments section!
Posted in Anime News | Tagged anime glossary, anime terms
I love anime. Specifically, series involving any of the following things: weird fantasy elements, super-powers, robots, aliens, wicked humor, crazy villains, horror, ninjas and samurai. I guess that means I like a lot of anime. I am pretty particular about the quality of animation and voice acting. If the character designs and animation quality aren't of über-quality, I quickly loose interest.The first anime-related series I ever watched was Battle of the Planets - otherwise known as Gatachman. The first true theatrical anime feature film I saw was Akira. My first exposure to manga was later in life when I read Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy.There are so many incredible elements of Japanese culture. Some of the most exciting to me are the style of design and storytelling. I'm a web designer & illustrator, and I find myself looking to Japanese design for inspiration all the time.Anime blogging has taught me even more about Japanese culture and anime than I ever expected, and I continue to learn more every week. In fact, I'd love to travel to Japan. Rachel and I hope to visit sometime within the next few years.
Great intro! I like the sectional breakdown – the Wikipedia page is too long for people just looking for an intro, IMO. I mostly agree except for 2 things:
1) 8-58 age range: I’d actually go lower to about 5-6. This would then include children’s anime, like Hamtaro or Pretty Cure (which makes me want to rip my eyes out but all the young girls are hooked on it so I ought to know something about it, right?).
2) I would have to disagree with a 15 year old protagonist being shocking to America. Kids WB has the animated shows “The Spectacular Spider-Man” with Peter Parker at 16, “Johnny Test” whose protagonist is 11, and is syndicating Teen Titans (which, I’m assuming by the namae means they’re teens). If not counting animated shows, the Disney channel features tons of shows about teen and preteen kids. There is also the CW channel, which has a lot of teen shows (not animated). I don’t think mainstream America would be “shocked” to hear of a show centering around teens…the barrier would still mostly be cartoons for adults.