Sunday, July 1, 2007

Anime


anime is an abbreviation of the word "animation". Outside Japan, the term most popularly refers to animation originating in Japan. To the West, not all animation is considered anime; and anime is considered a subset of animation.

Anime has many genres typically found in any mass media form. Such genres include action, adventure, children's stories, comedy, drama, erotica (hentai), medieval fantasy, occult/horror, romance, and science fiction.
Most anime includes content from several different genres, as well as a variety of thematic elements. Thus, some series may be categorized under multiple genres. For example, Neon Genesis Evangelion might be considered to fall into the genres of post-apocalyptic, mecha, drama, and shonen-ai. A show may have a seemingly simple surface plot, but at the same time may feature a far more complex, deeper storyline and character development. It is not uncommon for an action themed anime to also involve humor, romance, and even social commentary. The same can be applied to a romance themed anime in that it may involve an action element, or in some cases brutal violence.

Anime is available outside of Japan in localized form. Licensed anime is modified by distributors through dubbing into the language of the country. The anime may also be edited to alter cultural references that may not be understood by a non-Japanese person and certain companies may remove what may be perceived as objectionable content. This process was far more common in the past (e.g. One Piece), when anime was largely unheard of in the west, but its use has declined in recent years because of the demand for anime in its original form. This "light touch" approach to localization has proved popular with fans as well as viewers formerly unfamiliar with anime. The popularity of such methods is evident by the success of Naruto and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block, both of which employ minor edits. The "light touch" approach also applies to DVD releases as they often include both the dubbed audio and the original Japanese audio with subtitles, are typically unedited. Anime edited for television is usually released on DVD "uncut," with all scenes intact.


Anime has also been a commercial success in Asia, Europe and Latin America, where anime has become even more mainstream than in the United States. For example, the Saint Seiya video game was released in Europe due to the popularity of the show even years after the series has been off-air.

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1 comment:

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