Anime has a very distinctive stylistic conventions. From just a glance at an Anime on a television the viewer would quickly know it was indeed an Anime. Because Anime is an art form 'Japanese animators began to create their own work by 1915, animation as a commercial art form really got started' (Napier, 2005: 16). Unlike Disney animations which vary from a animation to animation, but hey this blog is not about Disney as a genre ay!
We will start with the the obvious things that grab your attention into thinking an Anime is in fact an Anime. Usually the characters eyes are the most distinctive as they are large and round (See image of Ash Ketcham at the top of the page), this was thought to show more emotion. Another distinction is large hair extravagant hair (See bellow).
There is often thick brush-stroked outlines and this is in reference to when the animation was in comic book form (Manga). Facial Expressions are a big part of Anime as this really shows what mood the character is currently feeling much different to western animation. This is again a reference to when it was in comic book form where the artist had to portray the characters feelings in one still frame with no audio. The facial expressions are usually exaggerated:
Usually an angry character may have a bulging vein or an angry female may materialise mallet (or any other weapon) out of nowhere and smash the person that has irritated them on the head. This is known as hammerspace.
Usually in exciting or tense moments this is emphasised with a flashing background:
In this case Pokemon is mostly about battling Pokemon and so when the battle starts the flashing background suggests the tempo rising.
Reference
Napier, S. (2005) ANIME from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle, New York: Palgrave Macmillion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime accessed on 21/03/2010
I would recommend trying to find/download somewhere the "Manga Mania" episode of the "The South Bank Show", which aired in 2006. It may be really useful to you. I have it on rickety-old VHS somewhere but no idea where I put the tape... I think it might be online though if you search hard enough on Google. It went into the origins of manga, anime and its influences on the West (and vice versa) and manga as a part of daily life in Japan.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1250638/
Although manga has developed as lot into its own style as perceived by Japanese artists, don't forget that it was shows like "Betty Boop" and "Felix the Cat" that gave manga/anime its big-eyed style that we all know and love now.
Perhaps thinking about how the West is interpreting manga now would be a good idea? "Ben 10" is a good example - an American show that has clearly been influenced by anime/manga. Also the "3" mobile ads with the little animals from a few years ago are another example of the West using manga as an influence.
This way, you can think about how Japan has been influenced by the West and how the West has been influenced by Japan. It's been this tennis-game of ideas for decades now, and it's continuing to develop.