anime

Japanese animation (or anime) has been part of the movie industry since its earliest years, but it wasn't until the 1960's that the art form found a worldwide audience. Osama Tezuka's 1963 sci-fi children's television series Astro Boy was the first international success. The first giant robot series, Gigantor (original title: Tetsujin 28-go) was released not long afterwards. In both can be seen the beginnings of the giant robot genre (often called "Mecha" by Western fans) as exemplified by the popular Gundam series and its spin-offs.

Though the earliest international anime successes were aimed at children, its audience has since expanded. Directors like Isao Takahata (Only Yesterday) and Satoshi Kon (Tokyo Godfathers) have demonstrated the form's capacity to deal with mature themes and storylines – even as children's television anime like Pokémon and Sailor Moon have found worldwide popularity. Anime aimed at a teen or young-adult audience (e.g., Cowboy Bebop, Death Note) is also plentiful, with many of these showing up on American television via basic cable networks like Cartoon Network or IFC.

Anime can be created as theatrical features, television series, and as Original Video Animation (OVA). In features, Hiyao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle) has seen the greatest international critical success. His 2001 Spirited Away was the first anime to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

by Bill Sherman Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “anime”

• LK Reads Your Fanfics – "Yami x Leax" by angelself

  
  Watch your favorite videos on the internet. — Authority: 170
  I READ YOUR FANFICTION! MWAHAHAHA! http://angelself.deviantart.com/art/Yami-x-Leax-142099837
  1 hour ago

• DVD and BD Releases for November 10th

  
  Shamoozal.com: Video Games, Animation, Geek Culture, and home of GFGames animated shorts. — Authority: 120
  Up – Carl Fredricksen is a lonely old man who is being forced out of his neighborhood by a big company. So he attaches thousands of helium balloons to his house and plans on floating to Paradise Falls which was one of his lifelong dreams. Carl doesn’t realize little Wilderness Explorer Russell is along for [...]
  5 hours ago

• Review: ‘Halo Legends: The Babysitter’

  
  We Are Movie Geeks — Authority: 592
  At E3 this past year Microsoft announced that they’d be making an anthology anime series much like ‘The Animatrix’ but based around the ever popular Halo franchise. The first part of the series is titled ‘The Babysitter’. It’s a cool look into the war on the Covenant from a different perspective than ...
  6 hours ago

• Barefoot Gen Review - 77,5/100

  
  Star Crossed Anime Blog — Authority: 431
  In case you’re wondering: I recently discovered that there were quite a few WWII-movies that I have yet to see, so I’m going to be watching and reviewing them in a sort-of mini marathon for the next couple of days. Today I’m taking a look at Barefoot Gen, as it portrays the citizens of Hiroshima before, during ...
  6 hours ago

• VideoGet 4.0.2.53

  
  Engineering Where Your EyE See — Authority: 152
  VideoGet is high performance online video download manager that lets you get most every video on the web!VideoGet allows you to download videos directly to your computer from most online video sites and automatically convert it to variety of video formats (avi, mpg, flv, mp4) in single or batch mode. It supports ...
  7 hours ago

• Shippu! Konoha Gakuen Den Naruto Episode, Anime, and Naruto Manga at Tailedfox

  
  Best Naruto — Authority: 134
  Duration : 0:8:25 [IMG: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rU2TL5XXtHU/2.jpg]
  7 hours ago

• Winter animu preview ‘08/’09

  
  Yoroshiku! — Authority: 98
  I take back what I said that winter season looks shitty so far..Because Dance in the Vampire Bund makes me so hyped on winter season! I really hate vampire animes but this shit catched my attention.Qwaser of Stigmata looks good too but I sense a ‘Canaan’ feel on this animu.Anyone else hyped up with Dance [...]
  8 hours ago

• Top 5 All-time Anime Comedies

  
  The null set — Authority: 412
  I’m always leery of writing top all-time posts because I realize that I don’t have the encyclopedic knowledge that a decade long anime fan might have so I always worry about missing obvious picks. And I’d probably skip them all-together if I didn’t realize that such lists give readers and potential readers a ...
  10 hours ago

• American Dad superior to Family Guy! discuss!

  
  SEO Forum - Web Design Help - Webmaster Forum - Web Hosting Talk | BzImage.org — Authority: 156
  Sorry Ive gotta say it I am a huge fan of family guy but frankly the weak flashbacks are getting silly (yes they are funny at times) but it gets very predictable. I truly think American Dad is the better adult cartoon. It very rarely uses flashbacks Each episode is a complete story which makes sense (unlike Family ...
  10 hours ago

• The Simpsons movie sequel ‘not yet’

  
  SEO Forum - Web Design Help - Webmaster Forum - Web Hosting Talk | BzImage.org — Authority: 156
  London, October 09: the simpsons creator Matt Groening has said that the sequel to the movie version is not planned as yet. “ I suppose someday there might be a sequel, but not yet,” BBC News quoted him as saying at a TV industry event in Cannes. However, to the joy of fans, executive producer Al Jean ...
  10 hours ago

• Dsiney, love it since I was a kid

  
  SEO Forum - Web Design Help - Webmaster Forum - Web Hosting Talk | BzImage.org — Authority: 156
  Ive loved disney since I was a kid. I love the plot, and the direction. Its a classic! Aladdin is a poor kid who lives in the streets of Agrabah who has to steal to eat His friend is a monkey named Abu. Princess Jasmine is being forced to marry, so she runs away. She meets Aladdin and they begin to fall in love. Jafar ...
  10 hours ago

• Student’s Self Animated Short Looks Incredible!

  
  NotCliche — Authority: 138
  Miku’s trying her best to make an animated short too! Animes nowadays are usually done with one whole team of people, each holding different specialization, and each working on different sections. However, one particular student who is currently studying in Kyoto’s Seikan University of Manga, has recently ...
  11 hours ago

• MS-06 Zaku II Papercraft Mask (Gundam)

  
  Paperkraft.net — Authority: 443
  Life-size MS-06 Zaku II mask (Mobile Suit Gundam), doesnt really look that big, would probably fit a kids head.MS-06 Zaku II Papercraft Mask [Download]SD Freedom Gundam Papercraft [Related Posts]SD Musha Gundam PapercraftSD Force Impulse Gundam PapercraftSD Hi-V Gundam PapercraftMini Aile Strike Gundam...
  14 hours ago

• Halo Legends: The Babysitter Impressions

  
  Damage Control — Authority: 126
  First off, I hope that anyone who wanted their first glimpse at next years release of Halo Legends saw the incredibly limited premier of The Babysitter , animated by Studio 4°C , on Xbox Live via Halo Waypoint Saturday. It was free for only that day! If you missed it, Im sure youll be able to see it somehow in ...
  14 hours ago

• LEGO link of the day

  
  Yellow Menace - Asian Pop Culture Upside Your Head — Authority: 131
  A model of Howl’s Moving Castle made of LEGO . ‘Nuff said. (via BoingBoing )
  15 hours ago

• Anime Overload Festival Pics Part 1

  
  PhilAnime.com — Authority: 121
  Once again, personal circumstances were beyond my control, and thus, the late posting of my pics. T__T But anyway, since you’re reading this… enjoy! ^_^ OMG! Skuld, Belldandy and Urd. Maid Cafe guarded by Butlers. Whoa! Free to read manga! Hmmmm… I wonder how many takes ...
  15 hours ago

• Guns of Kampfer

  
  ?????? — Authority: 520
  One of gentlemen who joined me to watch Kampfer , Hikago , asked: why didn’t Akane use a revolver, since it’s so popular in anime? He marked Trigun , Grenadier and Nanoha specifically, and could’ve added Sakura Taizen . I swear I’m switching to Hatsuyuki from ep.06 onward. The question ...
  15 hours ago

• Valkyria Chronicles Anime Vocalist Apparently Uber Fan From Canada!

  
  Original Sound Version — Authority: 132
  An interesting story, indeed. Sony Music Entertainment Japan recently signed singer HIMEKA, who is actually a Canadian-born singer who grew up watching Sailor Moon, and eventually made her way to Japan to enter an anime theme singing competition where she impressed the judges enough to get signed. She has since ...
  16 hours ago

• Anime/Manga Review: Sgt. Frog

  
  BayAnime.com - San Francisco Bay Area community for fans of anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture — Authority: 120
  You’ve seen his green face and fried-egg eyes staring at you from the manga shelves at the bookstore, and probably wondered what a manga called Sgt. Frog could possibly be about (other than, obviously, a frog who is in the military). It’s about frogs from outer space invading Earth – what else?  Sgt. ...
  16 hours ago

• Fix Broken Videos On Wordpress

  
  Pro Freelance Projects — Authority: 177
  Hi ,I have a video wordpress site anime (naruto and bleach) related. I need someone (an anime fan would make it better) to fix the broken episodes.I have a report broken post plugin and I will tell you the way to get the videos from other sites and embed them into my site.I need someone [...]
  17 hours ago

Comments about anime