What is Anime?

Anime is a term used to describe a style of animation originating in Japan. The word anime is derived from the English word animation. Outside of Japan, the word anime is used to refer specifically to animation from Japan or as a Japanese-disseminated animation style often characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastical themes. The culturally complex and historically rich Japanese archipelago has given rise to a wide variety of art forms, including manga, anime, games and toys which have been exported worldwide. Anime has become commercially successful in many parts of the world. In 2010, the global anime market was worth approximately US$18.1 billion. Anime is distributed theatrically, by television broadcasts, directly to home media, and over the Internet. It is classified into numerous genres targeting diverse broad and niche audiences. The distinctive anime art style emerged in the 1960s with the works of Osamu Tezuka and spread internationally in the late twentieth century, developing a large domestic and international audience. Anime is a diverse art form with distinctive production methods and techniques that have been adapted over time in response to emergent technologies. It consists of an ideal story-telling mechanism, combining graphic art, characterization, cinematography, and other forms of imaginative and individualistic techniques. The production of anime focuses less on the animation of movement and more on the realism of settings as well as the use of camera effects, including panning, zooming and angle shots. Diverse art styles are used and character proportions and features can be quite varied, including characteristically large emotive or realistically sized eyes. The anime industry consists of over 430 production studios, including major names like Studio Ghibli, Gainax, and Toei Animation. Despite comprising only a fraction of Japan's domestic film market, anime makes up a majority of Japanese DVD sales. It has also seen international success after the rise of English-dubbed programming. This rise in international popularity has resulted in non-Japanese productions using the anime art style. Whether these works are considered anime-influenced animation or proper anime is a subject for debate among fans.