Japanese graphic artists began to feel the influence of two very powerful Western inventions: the newspaper comic strip and the motion picture. Soon, popular cartoonists like Rakiten Kitazawa and Ippei Okamoto were producing their own serialized newspaper prints. These would eventually contribute to the development of the modern Japanese comic book or "manga". In 1914, cartoonists were among the first Japanese artists to experiment with animated motion pictures. Although the Japanese animation industry continued to grow slowly, elsewhere in the world, the animation industry was not only thriving but breaking new ground.
As unbelievable as it may seem, the success of both the anime and manga industries in Japan rests firmly on the shoulders of one man: Osamu Tezuka. Originally an aspiring animator, Tezuka became a cartoonist after World War II. Tezuka's approach was completely different from anything that had come before. Tezuka's illustrations exploded with action and emotion. Borrowing techniques from French and German cinema, he stretched his stories out for hundreds of pages. For manga and anime fans, Tezuka's most obvious contribution came in the design of his characters. The artist needed a vast emotional template to tell his often complex stories. Tezuka's characters sported round heads with huge, expressive eyes. Although these features appeared simple and cartoonish, they actually allowed a character to express a wide range of emotions, from adulation to seething hatred. Successive generations of manga and anime artists discovered the flexibility of Tezuka's character designs and adapted them into their own diverse works. Sailor Moon, Speed Racer, and even Ash Ketchum can all thank Tezuka for their dashing good looks.
As the 1980's began, television and film producers scrambled to keep up with the increasing demand for more sophisticated and exciting animated programming. To keep up with the ever-expanding market-place, anime producers turned more and more to the burgeoning manga field for mateiral to adapt. One of the first artists to benefit was Akira Toriyama whose quirky comedy series Dr. Slump became an instant hit. In 1986, an adaptation of his fantasy series Dragon Ball went on to become Japan's most popular animated TV show.
As the '90's wind down, optimism comes easily to the anime fan. In Japan, Gundam celebrates its 20th anniversary with a whole new TV show, meanwhile, older audiences have been treated to the imaginative X: The Motion Picture and Katsuhiro Otomo's anthology film Memories. International audiences are also enjoying a growing influx of popular anime. Pokemon, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball has delighted children wherever they've been shown.Most significant is the deal that Disney Studios and Studio Ghibli inked to bring all of Miyazaki's filmed masterpieces to American audiences. Entertainment Weekly picked the first release under this agreement, Kiki's Delivery Service, as its 1998 Video of the Year. Later this year, look for Mononoke Hime to appear in theaters across the country. Anime's success can be credited to the unswerving dedication of many Japanese artists to fully exploit the possibilities of animation as a creative medium.These gifted artists understood that they could do more with moving pictures than just entertain children. They could explore the boundaries of space and examine the complexities of the human condition. It's this willingness to experiment that has made anime so dynamic and appealing. This same quality promises to keep anime a vital artistic option for filmmakers in the 21st Century.
-The more you know~
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