Evolving Trends - Anime | Trends in Japan

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EXPLORING THE HISTORY OF MANGA
(January 22, 2007)
Japan's first museum dedicated to the full range of manga culture has opened in Kyoto. The museum was a success right from the beginning, attracting over 10,000 visitors in its first two weeks.

CODE GEASS
(November 22, 2006)
The production company Sunrise, which is known for creating the legendary Mobile Suit Gundam and other robot-themed anime, has released a new animated TV series titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

ONLINE ANIME
(October 27, 2006)
Japan is currently witnessing a boom in short anime created by individuals on a computer and uploaded to the Internet. The Internet is providing opportunities for new anime artists to display their talents and achieve renown.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
(October 10, 2006)
An animated film based on Ursula K. Le Guin's fantasy epic Tales from Earthsea has been released by Studio Ghibli, the acclaimed animated film production company whose previous releases include My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.

THIRTY YEARS OF GAGS
(September 4, 2006)
The long-running boys' comical manga Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen Mae Hashutsujo (From the Police Box at Kameari Park, Katsushika Ward), better known as Kochikame, turns 30 this year.

COSPLAY CONVENTION
(August 18, 2006)
From Japan, the birthplace of manga, anime, and video games, comes cosplay, another form of Japanese pop culture that is beginning to sweep the world.

MANGA-INSPIRED MOVIES
(July 26, 2006)
Over the past few years Japanese movies have won new popularity, and both box office sales and the number of releases are now on the rise. Live-action movies adapted from manga comics are a major force shaping this trend.

MANGA MIRACLE
(May 19, 2006)
For a major Hollywood project, Afro Samurai's roots are about as obscure as can be. The soon-to-be-released movie originated as a manga created in Japan by Okazaki Takashi, who originally funded the comic out of his own pocket.

EUREKA MOMENT FOR DIGITAL CONTENT
(February 15, 2006)
Kokyo Shihen Eureka Seven is a new anime series currently on the airwaves in Japan. With TV broadcasts as the main plank in the success of the series, a mix of related projects has been launched in a range of media, including the Internet, publishing, and toys.

MANGA FOR GROWN-UPS
(December 5, 2005)
Hachimitsu to Kuroba (Honey and Clover) is a serialized manga (comic) that follows the lives of five young people attending an art college as they deal with unrequited love and other life issues. It has recently been turned into a TV anime series, and a big-screen version is now planned.

CARTOON TOURISM
(July 8, 2005)
Manga and anime are leading a global boom in popular Japanese culture. Now some enterprising travel agents are cashing in on this trend by organizing trips to Japan specifically for manga and anime fans.

MANGA FOR GIRLS
(June 7, 2005)
Nana is the title of the latest hit manga to take Japan by storm, and unlike in most comic success stories, a large proportion of Nana fans are female.

FULL METAL FANTASY
(May 26, 2005)
Recently the comic and anime titled Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist), popularly known as "Hagaren," has gained a huge following among children and adults alike.

THE WORLD OF JAPANESE ANIME
(April 5, 2004)
As Japanese anime sweeps the world (think of Pokemon and Spirited Away), the latest movie by one of the country's most talented creators, Oshii Mamoru, was released in Japan on March 6. The anime, Innocence, is Oshii's first movie in nine years.

MANGA GOES INTERNATIONAL
(January 7, 2003)
A steady stream of English translations of Japanese manga (comics) and magazines on anime (animated films) have made their way across the Pacific to the United States.

MANGA GURU'S CREATIONS GO LIVE
(July 16, 2002)
The trend for drawing on popular comic books for movie plots can be seen both in Japan and the United States.

MAJORING IN MANGA
(August 14, 2002)
Kyoto Seika University offers courses on creating manga (comics), and it has recently been garnering attention for some of its unique undertakings in the area of manga education.

DAFT ANIME?
(September 5, 2001)
The French techno duo Daft Punk has been enthralling fans - particularly those in Japan - with their collaboration with manga (comic) and anime (animation) legend Leiji Matsumoto in the production of their music video clips.

ANIME AS FINE ART
(February 13, 2001)
A young artist from Japan named Takashi Murakami has been creating quite a stir recently in the United States and Europe. Murakami is playing a leading role in an art movement that has drawn inspiration from Japan's best-known subculture, namely, anime (animation) and manga (comic) characters. Since the mid-1990s, Murakami has been splitting his time between America and Japan, but 2001 could turn out to be his best year yet.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DORAEMON!
(March 13, 2000)
One morning, just a few days before the deadline for the first installment of his new comic series, manga (comic) artist Fujiko·F·Fujio (whose real name is Hiroshi Fujimoto) was in a dilemma: he had still not come up with the story's main character. The previous month's issue of the magazine carrying the series had shown a preview of the new strip that offered no title or picture hinting at the story's feature character, only a drawing of its young boy partner, Nobita. Then, by chance, he happened to see his eldest daughter playing with a doll shaped like a tumbler, and had a flash of inspiration: "How about drawing that doll's shape into the likeness of a cat?" And so was created Doraemon the robot, who has captured the hearts and inspired the dreams of children around the world ever since the start of the comic series bearing his name 30 years ago in December 1969. Events in celebration of Doraemon's thirtieth birthday have been going on since 1999 and will continue throughout 2000.

WELCOME TO MANGA TOWN
(July 2, 1999)
Municipal governments across Japan are trying hard to come up with ways of stimulating their local economies by enticing visitors to their towns. Their finances are tight due to the prolonged economic slump, however, and they cannot afford to spend a long time studying viable options in detail. The splendid buildings that went up during the bubble period in the late 1980s and early 1990s now stand empty and are the targets of much criticism. Clearly what is important is the creation not of new infrastructure but of entertaining content that will attract tourists. In the last few years a dozen or so towns and villages have turned to manga (cartoons) as the medium for their revitalization campaigns.

HOMEMADE ANIME
(March 16, 1999)
The advancement of digital technologies and falling software prices are revolutionizing the anime (animation) industry. Once dependent upon hand drawings by professional artists, the major animation studios are now starting to fully integrate digital technologies into the anime production process. On the other end of the spectrum, the ability to create homemade anime on an inexpensive personal computer has made it possible for amateurs and semiprofessionals to get in on the act, swelling the ranks of the industry's anime creators.

A MAN'S WORLD?
(November 25, 1998)
Japanese anime, popularly known as "Japanimation," boasts a tradition spanning several decades. Among the many cultural arts Japan provides to the world, its animated films have attracted a particularly large following. The themes and popular characters of anime are many, but the rendering of female characters is stereotypical, regardless of the film's maker or story line. A book that points this out, Koitten Ron (The Token Female), was published in July 1998 and has become the subject of much debate.

CREATING A MONSTER
(February 27, 1998)
In December 1997, children across the nation suffered seizures and other severe reactions thought to have been triggered by bright flashes in an episode of the animated television series "Pokemon" (Pocket Monsters). The ensuing rumpus, which saw the show temporarily discontinued, served to highlight the popularity of this cartoon; among those affected in the fallout were makers of video games, food products, and toys. The total Pocket Monster market, based on character goods, is said to be worth 400 billion yen (3.2 billion U.S. dollars at 125 yen to the dollar). It has become standard practice for advertising agencies and production companies to "scout" characters likely to become a hit and develop them through several different media. With holders of copyrights on hit products expanding their activities overseas, Japanese cartoons, or anime, appear to have entered their golden age.

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