Anime

Anime is an animation orignating in Japan. The world outside Japan regards anime as "Japanese animation". It first existed in 1917. Anime, like manga (Japanese comics), has a large audience in Japan and high recognition throughout the world. Distributors can release anime via television broadcasts, directly to video, or theatrically, as well as online.

Both hand-drawn and computer-animated anime exist. It is used in television series, films, video, video games, commercials, and internet-based releases, and represents most, if not all, genres of fiction. Anime, popular in Asian countries such as Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesia has also become widespread in countries in the Western World such as United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Norway, Russia, and Sweden.

Anime began at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques also pioneered in France, Germany, the United States, and Russia.The oldest known anime in existence first screened in 1917 - a two minute clip of a samurai trying to test a new sword on his target, only to suffer defeat. The first talkie anime was Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka, released in 1933.

Body proportions emulated in anime come from proportions of the human body. The height of the head is considered as the base unit of proportion. Head heights can vary as long as the remainder of the body remains proportional. Most anime characters are about seven to eight heads tall, and extreme heights are set around nine heads tall.

A common approach is the large eyes style drawn on many anime and manga characters. Osamu Tezuka, who is believed to have been the first to use this technique, was inspired by the exaggerated features of American cartoon characters such as Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, and Disney's Bambi.Tezuka found that large eyes style allowed his characters to show emotions distinctly. When Tezuka began drawing Ribbon no Kishi, the first manga specifically targeted at young girls, Tezuka further exaggerated the size of the characters' eyes. Indeed, through Ribbon no Kishi, Tezuka set a stylistic template that later shōjo artists tended to follow.

While anime had entered markets beyond Japan in the 1960s, it grew as a major cultural export during its market expansion during the 1980s and 1990s. The anime market for the United States alone is "worth approximately $4.35 billion, according to the Japan External Trade Organization".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.

Anime to skrócone angielskie słowo animation oznaczające film animowany. W Japonii terminem tym określa się wszystkie filmy i seriale animowane, bez względu na kraj ich pochodzenia. Poza Japonią słowo anime służy wyłącznie do określenia japońskiej animacji. Istnieje także teoria, że termin anime pochodzi od francuskiego słowa animé (animowany) lub les dessins animés (animowane obrazy). Obie formy – pierwotna animēshon i skrócona anime – są rozpoznawane przez Japończyków.

Historia japońskiej animacji sięga początków XX wieku, kiedy to japońscy filmowcy eksperymentowali z technikami animacji znanymi we Francji, Niemczech, Stanach Zjednoczonych i Rosji. Za pierwszy światowy sukces uznana została animacja Kitayamy Seitarō: Momotarō z 1918 roku. W okresie militaryzmu - od połowy lat 30. XX wieku i podczas II wojny światowej - anime służyły japońskiemu rządowi do celów propagandowych umacniających nacjonalizm i kult cesarza w społeczeństwie. Kultową animacją okazały się opowieści o Momotarō autorstwa Mitsuyo Seo.