maandag 9 april 2012

What is anime?


So what is anime, exactly?

The word anime -- pronounced "ah-knee-may" -- is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word's used to refer to allanimation. Outside of Japan, it's become the catch-all term for animation from Japan.
For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan -- a local product, with a distinct look-and-feel to not just the artwork but the storytelling, the themes, and the concepts. Over the last forty years, though, it's become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans and being translated into many languages. A whole generation of viewers in the West have grown up with it and are now passing it on to their own children.

What is it that makes anime so special?

Most anime fans can sum this up in two words: "It's different." Anime is as unlike most American cartoons as, say, Batman and Spider-Man are different from the comics that run in daily papers. The differences show up in many ways.

This anime blog publishes daily anime content.