Hayao Miyazaki - The legend

One of the first anime’s I have watched was Spirited Away; Hayao Miyazaki was the man behind this incredible movie. I had never seen anything like it and from the day I had watched it I was completely hooked on it. So who is this amazing genius you ask? Well let me tell you. Hayao Miyazaki is a prominent director of many popular animated feature films. He is also the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, an animation studio and production company. He remained largely unknown to the West, outside of animation communities, until Miramax released his 1997 Princess Mononoke. By that time, his films had already enjoyed both commercial and critical success in Japan and Central Asia. For instance, Princess Mononoke was the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan. His later film, Spirited Away, had that distinction as well, and was the first anime film to win an Academy Award. Howl's Moving Castle was also nominated but did not receive the award.

Miyazaki's films often incorporate common themes, such as humanity's relationship to nature and technology, and the difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic. The protagonists of his films are often strong, independent girls or young women; the villains, when present, are often morally ambiguous characters with redeeming qualities.

Miyazaki's films have generally been financially successful, and this success has invited comparisons with American animator Walt Disney. In 2006, Time Magazine voted Miyazaki one of the most influential Asians of the past 60 years. 

What I found so captivating about Miyazaki’s animations were the amazing environments. Usually set in the country with sunny blue sky’s and lush meadows. What is unusual about the character development in his animes is that it is extremely gradual; it’s eased in with out you realizing it.

For those of you who have only just beginner fans of anime, check out Miyazaki’s movies, they are perfect for getting started. 

Happy and Gay

One of the great things about anime is the limts it continuosly breaks. animes since the 80s have had many gay characters but it was sailor moon and utena revolutionary girl that broke boundaries. Sailor moon introduced the lesbian couple of amara and michiru aswell as the the 3 transvestite senshi, whilst utena was a an epic love story about 2 young girls. what was so great about the character social enviromnents was that other supporting charachters regarded these couples as normal hetrosexual relationships.

More Than 1 kind of Anime?

Though Manga and Anime both fall into more classic categories such as action, adventure, drama, horror, and science-fiction, they're also divided up into categories determined by the group that they're being aimed at and other things. Knowing these classifications can make selecting a new Anime or Manga for you all the more easy. 

Shônen is a genre that is aimed particularly at younger male audiences, usually around early adolescence or younger. Due to this most of the manga or anime within this category usually revolve around heavy action-oriented stories, most notably Dragon Ball (Z) and the popular Ninja-based anime Naruto. 

Shôjo is the exact opposite of Shônen, meaning it's aimed at girls rather than boys. While there is still action, there's also romance interweaved into the plot along with usually strong female leads. The most notable anime or manga of this genre would undoubtedly be Sailor Moon (which also fits into several other categories) and its numerous lead females. 

Mecha mainly speaks for itself. Based off the Japanese word for mechanical, mecha anime and manga revolves around pilots and their machines. These machines can be bipedal and massive or can be on the small side and have the form of jets. The best example of Mecha in anime would be the numerous Gundam Wing series and the numerous popular Macross (Robotech in the United States) series. 

Sentai is a genre devoted to a group of heroes that work together to defeat the bad guy or evil. The team is usually super hero oriented in some way as seen in Cyborg 009, Ronin Warriors, or the immensely popular Sailor Moon. 

Seinen is the older brother to the Shônen genre of anime and manga in the sense that it is aimed at older male audiences (up to young adults). The most popular seinen anime is undoubtedly Cowboy Bebop, though it has produced classics in the genre such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Lupin the III.

Anime - A brief History

Anime dates from about 1917. Anime is widely viewed in Japan and is now widely viewed throughout the world. Anime itself is considered a form of limited animation. Anime can be broadcasted either through television or released directly to video, which are often called OVAs or OAV (Original Animation Video.The history of anime begins at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques that were being explored in France, Germany, the United States, and Russia.The oldest known anime in existence was screened in 1917; it was a two minute clip of a samurai trying to test a new sword on his target, only to suffer defeat.

By the 1930s, animation became an alternative format of storytelling compared to the underdeveloped live-action industry in Japan. Unlike America, the live-action industry in Japan remained a small market and suffered from budgeting, location, and casting restrictions. The lack of Western-looking actors, for example, made it next to impossible to shoot films set in Europe, America, or fantasy worlds that do not naturally involve Japan. Animation allowed artists to create any characters and settings.

The success of Disney's 1937 feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs influenced Japanese animators.Osamu Tezuka adapted and simplified many Disney animation techniques to reduce the costs and number of frames in the production. This was intended to be a temporary measure to allow him to produce material on a tight schedule with an inexperienced animation staff.

During the 1970s, there was a surge of growth in the popularity of manga—which were often later animated—especially those of Osamu Tezuka, who has been called a "legend" and the "god of manga". His work and that of other pioneers in the field, inspired characteristics and genres that are fundamental elements of anime today. The giant robot genre (known as "Mecha" outside Japan), for instance, took shape under Tezuka, developed into the Super Robot genre under Go Nagai and others, and was revolutionized at the end of the decade by Yoshiyuki Tomino who developed the Real Robot genre. Robot anime like the Gundam and Macross series became instant classics in the 1980s, and the robot genre of anime is still one of the most common in Japan and worldwide today. In the 1980s, anime became more accepted in the mainstream in Japan (although less than manga), and experienced a boom in production. Following a few successful adaptations of anime in overseas markets in the 1980s, anime gained increased acceptance in those markets in the 1990s and even more in the 2000s.

welcome

hi everyone. welcome to anime insider. everyone is free to post and add comments, in fact it would be highly appreciated if you guys would spread the word about my blogg. The purpose of this blogg is educate and S.A about anime. The different types of anime, example, shouju, mecha etc. it would also be fun to have some anime disscusions.

i will start posting some pix very soon, but for now, watch this space!!!