Forum - View topicDoes anime have a style?
|
Goto page 1, 2, 3 Next |
| Author | Message | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
bluepita
 Posts: 465 |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
In the anime 'world,' I often hear about the style of anime (or manga). I hear it when people discuss anime, when they discuss their artwork, when they discuss any type of animation.
So, I was wondering, do you think anime has a definitive style? I am specifically referring to the artwork, but other elements like plot are interesting too. For the sake of keeping a halfway on-topic discussion, let's go with anime to mean animation from Japan, since that is what my question is specifically about. I personally do not think there is a particular style to anime. I know many contain similarities, but I think the differences outweigh them. For instance, a lot of what I watch has the large eyed characters. However, I tend to watch a lot of shoujo. When I switch to a different genre, the large eyes tend to disappear or at least become moderately sized as opposed to gigantic. Colorful hair is another stereotype of anime, which I found to be untrue as my viewing expanded. (I just picked those two examples since I hear and see them most often.) To be honest, I haven't really found one thing that I can say for certain is a particular style for anime. However, I can almost always tell whether a show is anime or not, which leads me to belive I am over looking something. What do you think? Does anime have a specific style? ----------------------------------------------------- One more question that is not worthy of its own topic: What is the plural form of anime? |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12099 Location: Frisco, TX |
|
|||||||||||||||
Anime, not "animes." Animaze is an anime dubbing group. There was actually a thread about this, but I don't feel like looking right now. |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
KyuuA4
 Posts: 1371 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
|
|||||||||||||||
Then I'll do ya the favor. Google: "Anime Style"
http://www.animeworld.com/glossary/index.html Are there any fallacies to that one? |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Wolverine Princess
 Posts: 1100 |
|
|||||||||||||||
There are, actually.
I've never heard anyone other than the uninformed refer to still art and comic books as "anime." And I wouldn't take any website that has a guide to making those dreadful "anime fansites" seriously. 
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
KyuuA4
Posts: 1371 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
|
|||||||||||||||
Well, they're not comics. Instead, we refer to them as "FanArt". When we think FanArt, we think of people trying to draw the manga art. Yes, this also applies to amateur artists in Japan too.
It's better than the dictionary definitions I've found. Here's the Wiki entry:
While I've been accused of being vague - the part I bolded isn't very clear either. Nevertheless, that separation is there. To anyone who claimed "no style", the existence of a distinction shows there is a "style". Although, I do wonder. Can anyone take 10 anime series and see what makes them all the "same"? As in, what traits do they share? Simple questions, complex answers. That's the Humanities for you. |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Wolverine Princess
Posts: 1100 |
|
|||||||||||||||
Fan art was never mentioned in AnimeWorld's description. When they say, "comics," I'm assuming they're referring to manga, web comics, and "anime style" comic books that did not originate in Japan. Regardless, still images of fan art will never be "anime," since anime is animated and that requires that the pictures actually be, you know, animated. It doesn't matter if the particular piece of still fan art came from Japan or Hades, it will never be anime because the image doesn't move. Stuff like this is open for interpretation, though. If this flash video was made by a Japanese artist, could this be considered anime? What about animated .gif images created by Japanese artists; would those be anime? NOTE: I'm not directing those questions towards you, Kyuu. I know exactly what you'll say, so there's no point in answering. But for everyone else who's somewhat more level-headed, I'd really like to hear your thoughts on this. |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
KyuuA4
Posts: 1371 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
|
|||||||||||||||
Even so, it is the most comprehensive description I've seen so far. If anyone can do better, I would love to see it. For the record, I can merely draw nothing more than stick figures or geometric diagrams.
Of course. However, draw a bunch of 'em and stick it in -- say a flip book, then you have yourself an animation. By the way, I've seen a couple of these over in YouTube. It's quite neat. I'll see if I can dig a few up. If they choose to make a career out of creating anime styled art, those same FanArtists can move on and make animated stuff. When it comes to a career in anything, someone has to start from somewhere. All it takes is improving the arts and learning the as much about animation as possible. This brings about one important point: "Experience". Throw an American in a Japanese anime studio. He/She will learn the process. By the way, how many of you want to live (at least visit) Japan? I know I do. 
Then what about Manga outside Japan? Surely, the manga outside Japan article describes Manga's spread into markets outside Japan. Regardless, someone dared come up with the term: Original English Language Manga. The funny part about OEL Manga is -- the Anglo-centric view of the term. By the way, I managed to find X-Men manga listed among the ANN Encyclopedia. manga#2537 The only Japanese referece seen here is the Publisher. === I've used Google fairly recently to scour a few FanArt sites. I've used the terms "Anime Fanart" and "Japanese FanArt". One major difference I've seen from the Google Image results - under the search term of "Japanese FanArt", I found the images to be better. If anything, we do prefer Japanese animation (Japanime) over American animation (Amerime). 
From what I can tell, the concept of - say, Americans producing anime is farfeched. That is the impression I find here. Nevertheless, this is your classic "Sub vs Dub" argument.
animenewsnetwork.com/columns/answerman.php?id=258 "Rant Rant Rant!", Paragraph 3, Line 7 To complain about a dub before the dub was ever released -- very very silly. If the news of a Bleach dub (BEFORE it was ever made) brings about complaints from Bleach fans, I can only imagine when some American animation studio finally calls one of their works "anime". Oh the backlash that will ensue. It is to be feared. After all, a dubbed version of an anime isn't like the real thing, or is it? While I do bring about the "Sub vs Dub" topic here, I really don't care what language. |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Wolverine Princess
Posts: 1100 |
|
|||||||||||||||
Manga = Comics Anime = Cartoons Are you having trouble comprehending that or something? Manga, in and of itself, cannot be anime and will never be anime because the pictures don't move. It doesn't matter I pick up a copy of Dramacon or Inuyasha; if I was to flip through the pages of these books really, really fast to make them "flip books," it's still not anime. If an OEL manga was adapted into a cartoon produced by a Japanese animation studio, whether or not it would be anime would be debatable. I think this might have been what you were trying to say. Am I just misinterpreting, or are you trying to tell me that comics books are cartoons? Never mind, I'm done talking to you. So far, you've managed to corrupt every thread you've participated in into an "anime can be made over the world!" discussion. It's very frustrating to talk to someone who pursues such a ludicrous idea with a burning, undying passion and has no room in his head to discuss anything else. |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
omar235
 Posts: 1572 Location: Florida, Jacksonvile |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Didn't read all of what you guys wrote but I can say for certain that Wolverine Princess is right its not anime if it dosen't move...
I would say no it wouldn't be considered anime; it would just be a screen cap of an anime, though this brings up the question what exactly would you call it? |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
ManOfRust
 Posts: 1935 Location: Seattle, WA |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Wow. Less than a page of replies and already this topic has been hijacked and diverted away from the original question. Too bad, since it was an interesting question that could lead to a good discussion.
I don't claim to be any kind of expert, but I don't really see a singular defining style in anime either. Artwork, plot, genre, and many other elements vary greatly between different works. For example, Crayon Shin-chan is nothing like Haibane Renmei, yet both are anime. Any one of us could no doubt come up with examples of series or movies from our own viewing experiences that have virtually nothing in common except that Japan is their country of origin. In fact, many of us who watched anime on TV as children never even realized they were Japanese shows. Yet, I too, get a certain "feel" from a lot of the anime I see. If the only thing they all have in common is that they are Japanese in origin, I wonder if it's not just the Japanese culture coming through. The environment in which something is created is bound to permeate the final product, so perhaps these cultural clues are what we are subconsciously picking up on. Even when a show has gone through the editing and dubbing that allows it to be shown on American TV, a process that certainly sanitizes at least some if not many of the uniquely Japanese cultural aspects from the show, it's nearly impossible to eliminate them completely. As anime fans, I also think we have a somewhat heightened awareness of these cultural clues, even if it's not on a conscious level, so that may be why we see similarities between titles that are completely different on the surface. |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
KyuuA4
Posts: 1371 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
|
|||||||||||||||
Of course - but the topic is related.
If you can describe what an animation is made out of - then we can get on the same page. 
Here's a hint: Animation is made out of hundreds (or thousands) of still images, with the exception of CG. Therefore, discussion on still images is relevant. === Anyways, the American manga argument translates over to the American anime argument. While 90% of anime is based off of a manga counterpart - the same phenomenon should occur in the US. It's more expensive to make animation; so why not test the waters using still images in the form of manga? I hope we all know that. Anyways, we're not discussing the distinction between an anime and manga. Mind you, I'm sure many of us have already seen around 60 - 80 anime series.
Why is the idea of non-Japanese anime so ludicrous? Is it as ludicrious as anime characters speaking in English? Y'speak as if anime's purest form is Japanese.
Once upon a time, everyone thought the world was flat. From the ground perspect, the world surely does look flat. But alas, that is not the case when someone finally managed to travel around the world -- and record that journey.
Indeed, I'm no expert myself. After scouring for an answer to that question, nobody can get a clear explanation - OTHER THAN - it is made in Japan. Yet, we find material outside Japan that is questionably looking like anime. By the time the "Japan definition" was made, no other animation (other than Disney) had a high quality enough to rival anime. Anime was so different from the traditional American animation such that the distinction exists. In terms of quality and quantity, I am willing to assert that anime is superior. About 80% of animation I do watch is anime. Only "non-anime" I do watch is - Futurama, Family Guy, and a few others. Just this morning, I was looking at the Saturday morning stuff on NBC; all I have to say is -- well -- they suck. Needless to say, anime did bring out the Japanophile in all of us. Yes, that includes me.
By the way, anyone tried this: Zen Buddhism?
True. As a five-year old growing up in the Republic of the Philippines, I remember watching Daimos, Voltes V, Voltron, He-Man, and Tom n' Jerry. I even caught the first episode of Macross (or maybe it was Robotech). As a five-year old, I thought they were all cartoons.
That's a possibility. Two days ago around here, I learned of Dragonball's Chinese influences. On an previous thread, I both asserted Totally Spies as an anime AND Totally Spies not as an anime. To some degree, I can watch an episode of Totally Spies AND Sailor Moon side-to-side; and at least, say they're on the same quality level. While I've mentioned "quality" a couple times on this post, it was also asserted that "quality" is non-relevant to anime. Just look at the Crayon Shin-chan example above. Crayon Shin-chan looks more like a "cartoon". |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
There si not set "anime style". There are a collection of vague stereotypes that many people would attribute to anime, but plenty of anime omit some, if not all of these stereotypes, so they canot be said to be universal about anime (for example, the colored hair thing, which is fairly common, is completely lacking in the more realistic anime such as Deathnote).
By borrowing one or more of the stereotypical elements one could say that his work possesses elements of "anime style", but it's a vague qualification at best. It's like saying that someone's face looks "kinda French". |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Samurai-with-glasses
 Posts: 628 |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
bluepita
Posts: 465 |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
WEll, last night I typed a nice long relpy that responded to each interesting point made on this thread. Lol, I think it got lost when everything went down. * Sigh* I think this time it's going to be short, so thanks for all the interesting info.
First of all, I know this is a public board, but I think it would be REALLY nice if we could not debate what anime is. I know I sound like a witch, but I was hoping specifying animation made in Japan would keep us on subject. Lol, foolish woman. I definitely agree with the idea that anime has no all encompassing style. I think the posts (which I can't seem to find now) that said perhaps each genre deserves its own subcategory based on the fact that each genre often has its own style. Also ManofRust I liked what you said about viewers perhaps recognized Japanese culture subconsciously. To be honest, I had never thought of that. To me, anime (animation from Japan) does a a certain unique feel, at least what I have seen. I think your reasoning is one of the more interesting of those I have read. So many of the things we associate with anime, such as the sweatdrop, I think, were techniques developed in anime, yet they are not a prerequisite of anime. However, with the uprise of "anime-style cartoons" here in America, it becomes a more prevalent idea that these symbols, among other thihngs, have become a litmus test for anime. What I find most curious is the fact that I hear anime style so often. I only talk about anime with other fans, and since my circle of such is so limited, that usually means here or at conventions. Therefore, I know I have picked that up strictly from other fans. That, in turn, makes me wonder if we are putting our anime into the same stereotyped boxes that nonfans do. *Sigh* I am sorry if I sound cranky, or if this post doesn't make sense. It was frustrating to find that the post I worked on was gone, that many of the posts I found interesting were gone, and that this went to the evil side even though I tried really hard to avoid that. Lol, or maybe it's just late here. PS Wolverine Princess The link you posted, I think deserves its very own category, just for the sheer cuteness. Maybe the ultimate anime short?? 
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
|||||||||||||||
As long as he/she is in Japan, I agree with you.
Said it many times and I'll say it again, as soon as I finish school, I'm going home. Kyuu, now I think I'm beginning to see why you have launched this very stirring campaign against the word "anime". As seeing that your location is in South Korea, you have not seen us Americans refer to Japananimation as anime over here. Every anime fan or person who knows anime have always talked about anime knowing that it is the cartoon stuff that is Japanese. |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group