What is Anime?

	What is anime? Anime is Japanese animation. There are different types of media that all get clumped into the heading of anime, but the defining factor is that they all come from Japan. Movie length video tapes or DVDs (called OAV), television series, graphic novels (called manga) and CD-ROMs are some of the most common forms that anime takes. Most of my pages center on the OAV because that is the part of anime that I like the best, but I try to give equal share to the other forms too. There can be a huge difference in the story lines for a series in each media. For example, the timeline and events that may happen in an OAV may be totally different in the manga. Some manga follows the OAV exactly. Just keep this in mind so you don't become confused by the different stories if you run into them. Some of the manga have beautiful artwork that is worth looking at just from an appreciative standpoint. There are many examples of great artwork that people have scanned and posted on web pages.
	You may wonder if you have ever seen any anime. Chances are that you have. Over the years there have been many anime shows that have been shown on television in the United States and Canada. I became hooked on anime as a child by watching G-Force and Speed Racer on Saturday mornings. People who are younger than me may remember watching Voltron and later Sailor Moon. And of course, more recently "Pokéman", Dragonball Z, Monster Rancher and Digimon are all to be found on television. In fact, the anime style has become so popular that many new animated shows borrow heavily from anime design elements. One thing that is common with the older series like G-Force and Sailor Moon, the original Japanese stories were changed dramatically to appeal to western audiences.
	Anime is characterized by a very distinctive style of drawing that is similar in all the different series. Most people recall seeing anime people drawn with elfish features and very large eyes. While it is true that many characters in anime have large eyes, it is more correct to say that the eyes are used to define the character without using any other personality traits. Most characters who have large, roundish eyes are good, wholesome, naive people. While characters with smaller eyes are cold and calculating. Hair also plays an important role in anime. Hair colors range all across the spectrum depending on the type of anime. And styles range from the almost normal to the absolute impossible. Hair styles and colors in manga and anime usually help to define certain basic elements of a character's personality. I discuss this topic further on the Anime Hair page found here. Anime also usually has quite a bit of action in the story lines (they are cartoons after all), but that doesn't mean that there aren't any quiet moments or slow paced series. There are some fallacies about anime that I have heard in the past that I think make adults especially not want to watch it, they are something like, "It can't be for adults, its a cartoon" and "I thought anime was some type of cartoon pornography". Yes, anime is a cartoon. Just like The Simpsons is a cartoon, yet adults have no problem tuning in to see Homer's antics every week. Good anime handles some very progressive situations and ideas that really aren't suited to children's viewing. An excellent OAV entitled "Grave of the Fireflies", tells the story of a brother and sister in World War II Japan, trying to survive after their city is firebombed. The movie does a very good job of bringing the characters to life in the minds of the audience. The other complaint I hear about anime is about the amount of nudity and adult situations that are shown. Anime does show some nudity and there quite a few pornographic videos and manga that have been produced. There are also many pages on the internet devoted to hentai or nude images. My advice to you is, if you are offended by nudity, don't watch these kinds of anime, but don't let it deter you from enjoying the myriad other selections that are available to you.
	Almost everyone has either seen or heard about some anime series. Over the years there have been quite a few that have been shown on television here in America. Some of the most famous are: Pokemon, Speed Racer, G-Force, Star Blazers, Voltron and Sailor Moon. These series had great appeal when they were shown and still have a huge audience today. These shows were good and apparently adapted well to what the writers' had in mind for the American audiences. Many times the story is changed to suit western tastes, so watching the original versions subtitled in English can lead the viewer to a deeper understanding of the Japanese story. Lately, English dubbing has gotten much better. It seems to follow not only the story like of the series closer, but they usually mimic the translation of the subtitled version. The only complaint I still have is that they still have a tendency to make the characters have high, squeaky voices no matter whether they fit the context or not. The dubs are getting better, but it still isn't quite there. If you happen to watch both the Japanese and the English versions of Neon Genesis Evangelion, you will see what I mean. Gendo's voice in the original is fairly deep while in the English version his voice is a little too high.
	If you haven't seen any anime, I suggest that you go out and watch some. The easiest (and probably cheapest if you already have cable) is to watch Toonami on Cartoon Network. They have a rather limited selection of shows but it does get you into the realm of anime. Check out their website here for a listing of shows and times in your area. You could also rent a video and watch it. Blockbuster and Hollywood video both carry a selection of anime. They usually have the English dubbed version, but it is a place to start. If you have a video store that rents the subtitled version, I suggest that maybe you watch both English and Japanese and see how many differences there are. DVDs are the best value considering you usually get both the original Japanese with English subtitles and the English dubbed version. Maybe you can afford to go out and randomly buy a few manga from a series and see if it interests you. This is not as easy considering the costs you could run into doing this. I suggest going to different websites and reading whatever you can about a certain story before even watching it. Also you can look into Usenet newsgroups. There are literally hundreds that deal with anime. Check out rec.arts.anime for a lot of postings.
	Another great place to start is The Anime Web Turnpike. They have links to thousands of anime websites. You might also find out if there is an anime club in your area that you can join. They will be able to really help you find something you will like. The most important thing is have a great time enjoying anime!
	Comments, praise, omissions, complaints...