The History of Anime

Anime is a Japanese export and represents a distinctive style of animation. In fact, the early masters of anime developed recognizable characters and an entire language of shots that make it easy to recognize.

One of the earliest examples of anime was Astro Boy, created by Osamu Tezuka in 1963. For many years, anime was popular in Japan as a key form of entertainment, but it had little impact in the West. Some of the early anime successes included Lupin III and Mazinger Z. Mazinger Z presented a common anime theme of mecha, based on mechanized robots and machines. Another early popular mecha-based anime feature was Mobile Suit Gundam.

In 1988, Akira was released, and it captured the attention of many viewers in the West who embraced this cutting-edge animation style that catered to adults. Another milestone feature was Ghost in the Shell, which included cyberpunk themes of futuristic technology.

One of the key anime directors today is Hayao Miyazaki, whose films Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away have set box-office records in Japan and have earned favorable reviews and an Academy Award in 2003. Other notable anime works include Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Ranma 1/2, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Cowboy Bebop.

Today most anime feature films are released in Japan along with the West, and many of the older anime features have been translated to English and many other languages.