The Art of Anime — Charger Press

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Maya Bell

Now imagine, a nine-year-old black girl from the suburbs turns on the tv. It’s mostly the same stuff: Adventure-time, Spongebob, Fairly Odd Parents, nothing special. Then something catches her eye, something on Nicktoons she had never seen before; a show called Dragon Ball Z Kai. When she turns the channel something incredible happens. On the show, a man and a green alien are fighting for their lives against another alien. There’s screaming, fighting, and flying in nearly every frame. And she loves every moment of it. Now that nine-year-old is seventeen and is still enthralled with the anime genre. Anime is something that has impacted me and millions of other people; the unique animation style and the characters are something that has drawn people. Whether you know it or not, anime has influenced things you would never guess, like Inception and The Matrix, just to name a few.

Dragon Ball Z Kai

written by toriyama & koyama

Anime origins:

Anime is hand drawn animation originating from Japan. The word anime translates to “all animated works”. The anime industry has been around since the 1800’s with the first anime being a short film called Namakura Gatana. In Japan, anime is a billion dollar industry, but anime wasn’t introduced to the United States until the 1960’s. The first anime introduced to America was Astro Boy on June 22, 1963. Anime wouldn’t start taking off until the mid-90’s with the creation of Toonami on Cartoon Network. Toonami was a three hour segment aired during the later hours of the day. It aired the iconic animes, Dragon Ball Z Kai and Sailor Moon. The ratings of the show exceeded any expectations that the Cartoon Network had. Then came the creation of the anime website Crunchyroll. Because of its 30,000 episodes and availability across many platforms, Crunchyroll has made anime that much more popular with about 45 million users on Crunchyroll.

Why I like it:

For all intents and purposes, when you break down most anime, it's kind of nonsensical. It’s hard to say why I like anime so much compared to comics or books. I like to think that it's a way for me to escape reality. I am a girl living in the suburbs and it's not like my life is anything special. If you ask other people why they like anime, some say the stories, or the friends they found in the community.

Animation:

First, the animation of anime is like eye candy. In anime, every frame is painstakingly animated, down to the smallest detail. In anime, the animation is one of the more important aspects of it (obviously). While American animation has made some pretty fight scenes, it really doesn’t compare to anime. With anime, fight scenes are more than just about someone punching each other. In anime, the colors surrounding the fight, even the blood dripping down the character’s face, is animated as stylishly as possible. The scenes can be so fluid and colorful it's like watching a painting take form in the moment. The beauty of animation is shown at its best in the Studio Ghibli movies like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo. In the movies, you can tell all of the scenes are meticulously crafted with every frame.

The massive genre:

In anime there are four main genres: Shounen (Young Boys), Shojo (Young teenage girls), Seinen (Young adult men), and Josei (Young adult women). The stereotypes of Shounen are self explanatory, for Shounen the main character is usually a young boy (shocker) and there is typically a lot of fighting or action and screaming. Usually the main character is trying to save someone or become the strongest character. While this is a simple summary of the genre, it doesn’t encapsulate the full stories explored within this genre. The best anime plays into the stereotypes of the genre while giving it a new twist. One of the best examples of this is One Punch Man. One Punch Man plays into most of the Shounen tropes except for one thing, the main character Saitama is already the strongest (thus the show’s title, One Punch Man). With this as the main premise, the anime uses this to play on the tropes in a masterful way. The show mixes comedy and action through the use of a colorful cast of characters. Instead of Saitama being the main focus, the show masterfully uses this to show the realities of becoming the strongest entails, and the feeling of dissatisfaction that comes with not being able to be challenged in something you love. One Punch Man is just one example of many that bend the genre to the absolute limits. There is anime for almost everything. There is a dramatic anime about the meaning of justice and society (Death Note) and a dumb action show about giant robots and the power of friendship (Gurren Lagan). While the most popular anime is action, the fact is that anime has a huge collection of stories, this means that even if you don’t like one genre, there could be something else that peaks interests. This broadness makes everyone’s experience with anime their own unique experience.

O N E P U N C H M A N

written by tomohiro suzuki

Community:

The anime community is one of the largest communities out there. The anime community certainly has its share of problems and isn’t perfect. It doesn’t have the most dignified stereotypes in the world. It’s easy to say that people that watch anime are sweaty white nerds infatuated with Japanese culture. That is simply not the case; the anime community is extremely varied and large. The Black community has taken a lot of inspiration from anime, mainly rap artists such as Logic, Denzel Curry, and Soulja Boy. Anime has also paid homage to rap in some series, like the series Samurai Champloo, an anime show about samurai in the Edo period. In a New York Times article, the creator of Samurai Champloo says: “I believe samurai in the Edo period and modern hip-hop artists have something in common. Rappers open the way to their future with one microphone; samurai decided their fate with one sword." The anime community is a place where people can come together and share their passion for the genre with each other. It makes sense why the anime community does so well in the Black community. Many of the shows are about the underdog that has to fight his way up against the strongest. This resonates with the Black community because we have been the underdog throughout history. This is the reason a lot of people identify with anime, regardless of skin color, religion, or nationality.

Big stars have also been influenced by anime. In a GQ interview, Micheal B. Jordan states, “My favorite anime is Naruto Shippuden. Been a fan of it for years, since I was maybe 12, 13 years old. I’ve literally seen Sasuke and Naruto grow up. At the end of it, it was pretty sad, I dropped a couple of tears.” More famous fans of anime include Elon Musk, Ariana Grande, Zac Efron, and even Keanu Reeves has seen an anime or two.

Conclusion:

While I am writing this, I am reminded of a time when I asked my Uncle Ricky about an anime I had watched. When he actually said that he watched it, I remember feeling a sense of comfort. I knew that he understood my sense of passion for anime. That joy and passion has been one of the reasons why I still love anime to this day. All in all, anime has been a way for me to escape life just for a moment; instead of the monotony of life, anime offers a gateway to a world of heroes, and bright colorful worlds. Chu Xiong explained this best when she says “Anime is like, you step out of reality whenever you watch it or when you're in the community.” Whether it be the colorful worlds of Spirited Away or the action packed world of My Hero Academia, anime is a place where even the “nerdiest” and “shyest” of us can be special. And that’s why I love anime. So, if you're reading this and a friend has recommended some anime, or if you're just curious about it, maybe give it a try and see for yourself.