Introduction
Anime is perhaps the most popular form of animation in the world. The number of cartoons produced annually that can be classified as anime is comparable to the total number of films released worldwide. This success is not accidental - unlike most animated products, anime is aimed not so much at a children's audience, but at teenagers and adults. The history of anime dates back to the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers began their first experiments with animation techniques invented in the West. The founder of the traditions of modern anime was Osamu Tezuka, often called the “God of Manga.” Tezuka borrowed from Disney and developed the style of using characters' large eyes to convey emotion; In 1963, Osamu founded the studio “Mushi Productions” and it was under his leadership that the first works that can be classified as early anime arose.
During the 1970s, anime changed rapidly, breaking ties with its foreign ancestors and giving birth to new genres such as mecha. Such works appeared, for example, “Lupin III” or “Mazinger Zed” . Many famous directors, in particular Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii, began their careers during these years. Over its almost century-long history, anime has come a long way from the first experiments in animation to its current enormous popularity around the world. Over the years, anime plots have become more and more complex, and the problems discussed have become more serious. As a result, 1990 and 2000 became a time of widespread acceptance of anime outside of Japan. "Akira" and 1995's "Spirit of Steel ," which was the first to combine traditional animation and computer graphics, gained fame around the world. In 1997, the full-length anime film Princess Mononoke grossed $160 million in Japan.
The number of both anime fans and viewers watching it from time to time has increased manifold. At the same time, in Japan, the technology for creating and rendering anime continued to improve: studios switched to computer graphics, actively using three-dimensional animation. From children's animated films of the early 20th century, Japanese animation has developed into a culture that creates diverse, serious and funny, emotional and naive works intended for teenagers, children and adults.
Classification of participants
Depending on the degree of passion, basic knowledge and time of introduction to the culture, anime fans divide their followers into groups.
Newbie. A person who has just joined the ranks and practically does not know the peculiar slang. However, it may have several examples of anime drawn.
Interested. I haven’t joined any group yet, but I am actively interested in the intricacies of culture and have a large collection of created anime. Already knows several “professional” words. Actively attends various specialized events. He actively expands his knowledge about Japan and the history of animation.
Japaneseist. A special group of people who view anime coupled with an interest in all things Japanese. They study it just like everything related to the country.
Otaku. A person who is completely absorbed in the subculture knows all the subtleties. He has an extensive collection of his own sketches. However, it is in Russia that otaku are associated only with anime fans. In Japan they are associated with the worship of anything at all.
Toei Animation and Mushi Production
After the end of the war, Japan's economy was in decline. Despite the fact that censorship and government participation in the creation of animation were practically reduced to zero, no notable works appeared for almost ten years. A significant obstacle to the development of animation was also the fact that as the duration and complexity of works increased, it became impossible to work on them alone or with a small number of assistants. “Home-grown” studios could no longer serve the needs of the public, and large companies did not emerge due to the riskiness of the enterprise and the difficult economic situation in the country.
Toei Animation in 1956 , which soon released its first full-length color anime film, The Legend of the White Snake, in 1958. The emergence of Toei marked the beginning of a new period in the development of anime - the period of professional creativity. The studio's first full-length films followed the canons of Disney's works very closely, using musical and song inserts, and also involved animals along with people. This stylization was somewhat retained in Toei Animation's until the 1970s. The company still exists today, remaining the oldest known Japanese animation studio.
Toei's policy from the very moment of its inception allowed animators to experiment quite freely with their works. A good example of this is Isao Takahata's 1968 Prince of the North An experimental, in some way even provocative film, which is often called the progenitor of auteur or experimental anime, to which many famous directors were subsequently attributed at different periods of development, even Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii. At the time of its appearance, the film was also unusual because it was one of the first to move away from the Disney canons towards its own innovations. Despite some edits and about 30 minutes of cut scenes, Prince of the North was released by Toei and did average box office at the box office.
A significant contribution of early Toei to modern anime was the use of "key scenes". A widely used method today to reduce animation costs is to render individual, visually significant frames in much greater detail than the overall video stream. Yasuo Otsuka, an animator at Toei , was the first to use this technique, creating it while experimenting with making animation easier to work with.
In 1963, another extremely important event for the development of Japanese animation took place. Osamu Tezuka, the famous Japanese artist, author of a number of popular manga, began producing his first animated television series, Astro Boy, Mushi Productions .
This series was the first to use a cross-cutting plot and permanent characters. Tezuka's works on television instantly gained the same popularity as their manga prototypes, and inspired other artists to create television series. Advances in technology made it possible to begin producing color films.
Anime Dictionary
A particularly favorite word for anime fans is the almighty “NYA,” which, depending on the emotion, can mean anything from joy to anger. In order to understand their speech, it is enough to learn the favorite words of anime fans.
- “Kawaii” is something incomprehensible and “cute”. This is the unspoken pinnacle of knowledge that must be achieved.
- Sayonara - bye, goodbye.
- Kenji is a Japanese character that is simply impossible to comprehend. Writing for advanced students.
- "Oyasume" - good night.
- "Ohayo" - good morning.
True adherents of the subculture often seem a little crazy. But with the right approach, a teenager can benefit from the hobby and learn many useful things.
1970s
Over the next decade, television slowly but surely replaced cinemas as the most popular entertainment. Toei Animation gradually abandoned creating Disney-style musicals and switched to producing television series. The animators who worked at Mushi Production were scattered to newly created studios like Madhouse or Sunrise after Mushi suddenly went bankrupt. This redistribution of talent generally had a positive effect on the anime industry, as it allowed young animators to take key positions in the studios and subsequently experiment quite freely with the films they produced. An example of this is the 1974 television series Heidi by Isao Takahata. Being a fairly realistic drama aimed at children, the series was initially rejected by many television networks - the producers believed that children would be interested in something more fantastic, with elements of a fairy tale. "Heidi" , however, turned out to be incredibly popular not only in Japan, but also beyond its borders - in many European countries. The unexpected success of the series gave Miyazaki and Takahata the opportunity to create a literary anime, Theater of World Classics .
During these same years, another genre specific to anime emerged, mecha. Early works attributed to him include Muzinger Zed , Gatchaman Ninja Scientist Team , Battlestar Yamato, and Mobile Suit Gundam . The maturation of science fiction in anime led to a shift in the emphasis of the series from the adventures of superheroes to more realistic and elaborate space operas, where the concepts of good and evil were no longer so graphically straightforward. The characters' personalities were developed more deeply, which made it possible to consider the same problems from different points of view.
Anime people in everyday life
Parents who notice signs of their children's attraction to weird Japanese cartoons needn't worry. The subculture is quite peaceful, their oddities lie only in fantastic plots, naive heroes and a passion for Japanese mythology.
Participants can organize festivals, stage processions, and belong to clubs. But the worst thing that can happen is a teenager’s too frequent and inappropriate imitation of bright characters.
Young people can dye their hair green if the hero has the same color, and wear too bright clothes to school. Although this occurs more among teenagers. Older young people prefer to highlight their passions with keychains, printed T-shirts and an interesting hairstyle.
When anime characters are depicted, photos of the characters help to understand their essence. They can often be seen with their favorite toys and unique bags.
However, there is also a negative point. Like any subculture, anime takes up a lot of time. Teenagers become addicted to watching new movies. Often, fictional characters replace real-life communication for children. People with weak character become too dependent and sometimes go too far in their hobby. But this applies more to teenagers who have no friends, and anime becomes their only outlet.
There is also a rather positive point. This is the desire to realize oneself in creativity, a kind and cheerful attitude towards life. Teenagers who take things seriously draw real masterpieces and learn a lot of useful things about the history of Japan.
1980s - “The Golden Age of Anime”
The increase in interest in space sagas became even more noticeable with the release of the first film in the Star Wars . The success and popularity of this film prompted Japanese producers to finance a full-length film based on the previously released series Space Cruiser Yamato . Its appearance on screens is often associated with the beginning of a period of super-popularization, the so-called “golden age of anime” - although in fact, instead of a century, it lasted only less than fifteen years. Space Cruiser Yamato appeared on the screens, another incredibly important event for the subsequent development of Japanese animation had already taken place - the emergence of the otaku . At first, a small number of fans of rare space series of those times and science fiction united, finding each other through common hobbies and through the first anime-related magazines, such as Animage or the later Newtype . The very emergence of such magazines was a response to the growing popularity of anime in all segments of the population.
The first anime fans also appeared in other countries. Some popular anime have been imported to the US and shown on television. A common practice of that time was to rework the series before showing it: for example, “Gatchaman Ninja Scientist Team” after the first processing turned into “Battle of the Planets” , but the second turned it into “G-Force” . The iconic Space Cruiser Yamato was released in America in 1979 as Star Blazers . The most famous victim of the director's knife is the series "Robotech" , created from three different anime - "Hyperdimensional Fortress Macross" , "Hyperdimensional Cavalry of the Southern Cross" and "Mospida - a weapon of survival" . otaku grew up on these revised and expanded versions of Japanese series .
An important event was also the appearance in 1982 of a film adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi’s manga “Horrible Aliens,” directed by Mamoru Oshii. Starting out with simple doujinshi, Takahashi became famous and incredibly popular among anime fans Horrible Aliens Her subsequent works, especially Ranma 1/2 , only established her as one of the key figures in the world of manga and Japanese animation. As for Oshii, for some time now he has moved away from creating long-running popular series, and has preferred to create in a personal style, not paying attention to the opinions of fans. This allowed him to create quite original experimental works in the future.
Over time, the otaku began to have a noticeable influence on the creation of anime. Some of the first otaku became directors and animators themselves, which inevitably affected the products they produced. The most striking example of such influence is the company Daicon Films , which later became the famous Gainax . The founders of Gainax began their creative career by creating short anime films to participate in the Daicon Scifi . During these same years, one of the most famous, classic anime films, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, . In the wake of its success and the ever-increasing popularity of anime, many other non-standard and ambitious films were also released, some of which still remain important today. Nausicaä director Hayao Miyazaki and his partner Isao Takahata were given the opportunity to found their own studio under the patronage of former Animage Toshio Suzuki, calling it Studio Ghibli . The first film in the future by the famous same Miyazaki.
The way anime is distributed has also evolved. In addition to the traditional broadcast of series on television, a separate sales direction has emerged, called OVA (English: Original Video Animation, “animation directly for sale on video”). As the name suggests, OVA works were not shown on television, but were immediately sold on video cassettes. The first known such creation is considered to be “Moon Base Dallas” , created under the leadership of Mamoru Oshii. Probably illustrating the phrase “the first pancake is lumpy,” “Dallas” turned out to be unpopular, but the soon-released “Megazone 23” became very, very famous, collecting a sufficient amount in sales to interest sponsors in this new product sales market. Subsequently, OVA works began to be actively used for preliminary evaluation of a work before creating its full-length or television version. Many famous series began as OVAs , but later received television or film sequels. The advent of OVAs is also associated with the emergence of the first complete pornographic anime - Hentai , before which their authors were constrained by the censorship of television and cinemas. The late 1980s became a time of big-budget and experimental productions for anime. In 1985, with the support of Toshio Suzuki, Mamoru Oshii's new film, Angel's Egg, . OVA format also allowed many short, custom titles to be published, such as Take the X Train , Neo-Tokyo, and The Robot Carnival .
Films became more and more ambitious, trying to surpass each other over and over again, and reach the heights of popularity and significance of Nausicaä . Some of the most notable films of those years included Night on the Galaxy Railroad , The Tale of Genji, and Grave of the Fireflies , all based on famous works of Japanese literature. The success of individual films led to increased funding for other projects, and the emergence of such high-budget creations as Mobile Suit Gundam: Chara Strike Back and Arion . The culmination of the costs of creating anime films were the two most expensive anime films at that time: Royal Space Corps: Wings of Honneamiz and Akira . Most of these films, however, did not pay off at the box office. Both Akira and Royal Space Corps were box office failures during their initial theatrical releases. The investment crisis that arose as a result of such dismal results caused the closure of many anime studios, while others had to abandon experiments and return to time-tested solutions and stories. One of the few to survive the downturn in Studio Ghibli's , releasing successful films with enviable consistency. Their next film, The Witch's Delivery Service , released in 1989, took first place at the box office that year, collecting more than $40 million during its theatrical run. Despite the failure of the film Akira , it was a success outside the country. Having been shown in many countries in Europe and America, the film became very popular, and even to some extent represented Japanese animation of those years in the West. With the death of Osamu Tezuka in 1989, the financial crisis and increasing international interest in anime, the period called the “golden age” is considered to be over.
1990s
After a surge in popularity in previous years, by the beginning of 1990 anime was experiencing a funding crisis. Budgets were lowered and promising projects were canceled due to lack of funds. Critics also noted a decline in the quality of anime series and films associated with a return to time-tested plots and designs. Producers did not want to risk supporting expensive experimental films. The situation changed with the release in 1995 of perhaps the most controversial television series in the history of anime - Evangelion . The director, Hideaki Anno from the Gainax , himself an otaku , turned a rather banal example of the mecha genre into something extremely confusing, psychological and implying a huge number of hidden meanings. It is said that Anno sought to make an anime “from otaku for otaku” , and at the same time express his point of view on the problems of this community. One way or another, at the end of the series, the director finally ceases to restrain himself within the framework of the meaningfulness of what is happening, and turns to any solutions available to him, even very outlandish ones, in order to express his thoughts on the screen. Two subsequent anime films, Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion , only further developed this style of storytelling.
Having been initially placed in the children's timeslot, "Evangelion" was extremely unpopular, despite its initial affiliation with fur that was quite cute for children. A few episodes later, the timeslot was changed, and in its new capacity, Evangelion unexpectedly won the attention of the public. In a short time, the series became incredibly famous in Japan, and soon among anime fans around the world. Told in a chaotic, crumpled manner, using many art-house techniques, the story of a boy running from reality was received so well that ten years later, sales volumes of accompanying goods - action figures, collectibles - are still quite large, and the series itself was restarted, turning into 4 full-fledged films, the release of the last of which is still awaited with bated breath by millions of otaku around the world. The influence of Evangelion on the anime industry was so great that it even spawned a number of so-called “post-Evangelion” series. Most of them also belong to the mecha or cyberpunk genres and have some kind of religious, philosophical or psychological overtones. Examples of such series are “Ra-Zephon” , “The Power of the Mind” and “Gasaraki” . Another stylization of series generated by Evangelion - or at least given a second wind thanks to this series - is psychedelic, strange or extremely unusual, controversial series. After the release of Experiment Lane, midnight television became a springboard for the testing of many experimental series.
Production:
After preparation, production itself begins. And the very first step at this stage is writing a script. Following the project synopsis, the complete script is written either by one person or by a group of writers following the direction of a supervisor. After the script is completed, it is sent to the director for approval. The episode director, under the supervision of the supervising director, takes this backbone of the series and puts together a plan for how it will look on screen. After this, the main director makes the final decision at a production meeting and, if he gives the green light to the project, the actual process of creating the anime begins. Hooray!
2000s
At this time, another period of active growth was observed. Anime has become universally popular outside of Japan, giving rise to the development of corresponding subcultures in many countries. Both the number of anime distributors and the number of companies producing it have increased. The volume of their products increased, and often without compromising its quality. The overall level of animation quality has increased, and computer technology has been actively used to create anime and manga. Despite the fact that the first companies licensing and distributing anime in the United States appeared long before this, the end of 1990 and the beginning of 2000 were marked by a strengthening of the positions of these companies and an increase in their number. In the American market, the anime licensing situation has become such that most anime products are licensed and published within a year of their release in Japan. This interest in anime affects its financing in Japan: many distributors, such as Geneon , sponsor the creation of individual anime series and films. The situation with anime licensing in Russia has also changed for the better: several large Russian companies have emerged from scratch, purchasing licenses and distributing anime.
With the development of technology, computer graphics are increasingly used in anime. Recently, 3D animation inserts have appeared even in not very large-scale projects. There is an anime entirely created using these techniques. For example, "Gantz" combines two-dimensional foreground characters with fully three-dimensional environments, taking cues from the manga of the same name created in the same way. Less noticeable at first glance, but much more important, was the complete transition to computer graphics processing. Today, the graphics of almost any anime are translated after rendering into a computer format, or drawn directly using graphics tablets. All work on combining images, creating animation, adding sound and music is carried out in digital form. Transferring video to film can only be done at the last stage; however, with the development of television, this is sometimes not required.
With the increase in the number of series produced, the number of non-standard, experimental films also increases. The director's usual freedom of creativity in anime makes it possible to bring the most unexpected ideas to life. However, the number of traditional series made according to all the canons of genres does not decrease. Often such works even degenerate into stereotyped creativity, which, in the opinion of many, does not represent anything worthwhile. However, some series that look completely stereotypical turn out to be quite unusual and gain considerable popularity. Such are, for example, “Love and Hina” and “School Trouble” . The growing popularity, on the other hand, has given rise to the phenomenon of anime aimed exclusively at the otaku . After the incredible success of Evangelion, many studios have tried their hand at creating series that can become "classics" for fans of Japanese animation. Another direction of development is fan service . Frames of erotic content are embedded in the video sequence of such anime, or even the entire series is dedicated to erotica, while maintaining a certain plot. Examples of anime with pronounced fanservice of this kind are Hot Summer and Maid Mei . Sometimes anime is based on popular Japanese erotic video games in the “Date Sim” , but such adaptations can also be quite serious works, such as “Canon” . Another version of fan service otaku culture in the series , in some cases - a demonstration of their “unusuality” and “detachment from the rest of the world.” , which originated back in 1980 with the “Film about Otaku” Gainax studio , was replenished with several worthy works, sometimes exploring otaku on a very serious level. For example, “Genshiken” is entirely dedicated to the subculture of fans of Japanese entertainment products.
Preparation for production:
It all starts with an idea and those who support it. Most often, this is an idea for an anime adaptation of manga or light novels, in which case the costs are borne by the publisher. The production company (for example, Aniplex) gathers staff, sponsors, and takes on the marketing part. It may seem that such studios are quite poor. However, only half of the entire budget goes directly to the studio; the rest goes to pay for broadcasting projects and advertising. Broadcasting costs are high, about 50 million yen per show on channels 5-7 for a series of 52 episodes. Making anime is an expensive business. Take, for example, the TV series Fullmetal Alchemist. »
, which had a total budget of 500 million yen!
Once the staff meeting is complete, they gather and make a plan for the future of the anime. At such meetings, the composition of the series is discussed and staff is allocated: the appointment of designers for characters or fur.
The most significant figure in production is the director. To understand his role, imagine a film director who works not with actors, but with animators. They usually attend meetings and make decisions regarding the budget, schedule, and the required quality of the anime.
After the shift from the starting point, the development of design (characters, clothes, fur, etc.) begins. Obviously, designers are an important factor in the anime creation industry. They are usually tasked with the job of simplifying the manga/illustrations so that they are suitable for animation. In the case of an original anime, they are tasked with creating a cast of characters as directed by the director/producers. Character designers often give advice to animators on how to keep characters original.
Epilogue
Now the industry has become a complete film reference to everything that has been filmed over the past few decades. The “golden age of anime” has long passed; “school kids and everyday life” are in fashion - a real paradise for otaku . The most striking examples are the universally adored “Kayon!” and its earlier version, from the same studio - Kyoto Animation - “Lucky Star”. “How to create a heroine out of an ordinary girl” hints at everyday life even with its title, but inside it consists of classic fan service. Against the backdrop of all kinds of school harems with five girls, the main character at the second desk from the end in the right row by the window and his friend a loser, the series “Sakura’s Quest” stands apart, in which there is neither the hero nor his friend, there is not even a school - only kawaii chans and their life in one of the Japanese provinces, which is very reminiscent of the style of Kyoto Animation.
Nevertheless, there are quite interesting experiments with the genre in a modern way. For example: “Beyond” , “The eccentricity of love is not a hindrance!” and “Future Diary” - well combine the trends of recent years and classic trends, bringing something new to animation. Also, there are directors who are adherents of the old school, like Hiroyuki Seshita, who takes on film adaptations of such manga classics as “Blam!” , Knights of Sidonia and even a Godzilla reboot. In the world of anime, it has long ceased to be exclusively Japanese entertainment; now projects created in the USA and other countries are increasingly appearing. It is worth noting the film “The First Squad”, which was shot by a collaboration of directors from Russia and Japan. Full-length cartoons and TV series, after their premieres in cinemas and on cable television, quite quickly leak onto the Internet, where they acquire subtitles and voiceovers in different languages, which makes them even more accessible to the masses of completely different viewers of all ages and religions. As domestic otakus : “The world will be nice!” Sayonara.
2.6.1 Effects.
Effects! Effects may seem like a minor role in anime at first if everything is already drawn on paper and translated into animation, but it is a vital detail to the visual style. Effects include: highlights , backlighting , diffuse lighting , blur , glitter on swords and much more. This is often a necessary detail, giving depth and atmosphere to 2D drawings. Yes, all the eye-catching things, like explosions or the Fabric of the Universe, Tearing SuperUltraFinal Attacks, are depicted on paper, but these effects allow you to decorate them by adding glow, radiance and other stuff. The use of such technology is the most noticeable difference between the works of a decade ago and the series of today.
In short, the advent of the digital age for anime marks the following things: the BPI CG effects into anime has been created
