Anime: Encyclopedia II - Anime - Characteristics

Anime - Characteristics

Anime features a wide variety of artistic styles which vary from artist to artist. Anime also features a large number of genres as well--at least as many as traditional cinema. This is an important contrast to most western-produced animation. While most western animated titles are made expressly for younger children, anime has a significantly broader range of appeal. While some anime is made expressly for young children, most titles are targeted towards a young adult or older audience.

Anime - Target audience

Anime is often an explicitly commercial art form; producers and marketers often aim for very specific audiences, with focused categories for shōnen (boys) and shōjo (girls) genres, as well as for teenagers and adults. Other target audiences are described below.

Anime - Genres

Anime has as many genres as live action cinema, including adventure, science fiction, children's stories, romance, medieval fantasy, erotica (hentai), occult/horror, action, and drama.

Most anime includes content from several different genres, as well as a variety of thematic elements. This can make categorizing some titles very difficult. 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 a strongly action themed anime to also involve humor, romance, and even poignant social commentary. The same can be applied to a romance themed anime in that it may involve a strong action element.

Genres and designations that are specific to anime and manga:

• Bishōjo: Japanese for 'beautiful girl', blanket term that can be used to describe any anime that features pretty girl characters, for example Magic Knight Rayearth
• Bishōnen: Japanese for 'beautiful boy' blanket term that can be used to describe any anime that features "pretty" and elegant boys and men, for example Fushigi Yugi
• Ecchi: Japanese for 'indecent sexuality'. Contains mild sexual humor, for example Love Hina.
• Hentai: Japanese for 'abnormal' or 'perverted', and used by Western Audiences to refer to pornographic anime or erotica. However, in Japan the term used to refer to the same material is typically Poruno or Ero.
• Josei: Japanese for 'young woman', this is anime or manga that is aimed at young women, and is one of the rarest forms.
• Kodomo: Japanese for 'child', this is anime or manga that is aimed at young children, for example Doraemon.
• Mecha: Anime or manga featuring giant robots, example Neon Genesis Evangelion.
• Moé: Anime or manga featuring characters that are extremely perky or cute, for example Little Snow Fairy Sugar.
• Progressive: "Art films" or extremely stylized anime, for example Voices of a Distant Star.
• Seinen: Anime or manga similar to Shōjo, but targeted at teenage or young male adults, for example Oh My Goddess!.
• Sentai/Super Sentai: Literally "fighting team" in Japanese, refers to any show that involves a superhero team, for example Cyborg 009.
• Shōjo: Japanese for 'young lady' or 'little girl', refers to anime or manga targeted at girls, for example Cardcaptor Sakura.
  • Mahō Shōjo: Subgenre of Shoujo known for 'Magical Girl' stories, for example Sailor Moon.
• Shōjo-ai: Japanese for 'girl-love', refers to anime or manga that focus on love and romance between female characters, for example Revolutionary Girl Utena.
• Shōnen: Japanese for 'boys', refers to anime or manga targeted at boys, for example Dragon Ball Z.
• Shōnen-ai: Japanese for 'boy-love', refers to anime or manga that focus on love and romance between male characters. This term is being phased out in Japan due to references to pedophilia, and is being replaced by the term "Boys Love" (BL). An example of this style is Gravitation.

Some anime titles are written for a very specific audience, even narrower than those described above. For example, Initial D and éX-Driver concerns street racing and car tuning. Ashita No Joe is about boxing. Hanaukyo Maid Team is based on the French maid fantasy.

Anime - Music

Much like western live-action cinema, anime uses music as an important artistic tool. Anime soundtracks are big business in Japan, and are often times met with similar demand as chart topping pop albums. It is for this reason that anime music is often composed and performed by 'A-list' musicians, stars, and composers. Skilled BGM composers are highly respected in the anime fan community. Anime series with opening credits use the opening theme song as a quick introduction to the show.

The most frequent use of music in Anime is background music or BGM. BGM is used to set the tone of a given scene, for example Neon Genesis Evangelion 's "Decisive Battle" is played when the characters are making battle preparations and it features heavy drum beats and a militaristic style which highlights the tension of the scene and hints at the action to follow.

The theme song (also referred to as the Opening song) usually serves as a marketing tool for the show, and gets the viewer excited about the upcoming program and buying all the soundtracks that go along with it. Insert songs and ending songs often make commentary about the plot or the program as a whole, and are often times used to sell more soundtrack cds. Opening and ending themes, as well as insert songs, are frequently performed by popular musicians or Japanese idols, so in this way, songs become a very important component of an anime program.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Characteristics", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki