Introduction
Anime (pronounced AH-nee-may) is basically another word for the latest underground craze: "Japanese animation," or what some people like to call "Japanese cartoons." Although we usually think of cartoons as catering specifically to children, anime is an incredibly diverse media, one that produces films and television shows that cater to not only children but people of all ages and both genders, with the same range (and sometimes more) of possible plots and themes as any Hollywood studio could provide--at half the cost of live production and twice the volume of films produced.
In America, the type of Japanese animation that we are most familiar with usually comes to us through children’s' television programming. Every day, American children are subjected to small quantities of Japanese animation through local television stations, completely unconscious of the fact that the films are Japanese, or for example, that their cartoon heroes Derek Wildstar, Nova, and Mark Venture's real names are Susumu Kodai, Yuki Mori, and Daisuke Shima (Yang 64). Rather than present the animation in its original, "raw," Japanese form, each film is tactfully edited, dubbed, and re-labeled to appeal to an American audience (and usually strictly to children) before it is transmitted to your television set. Chances are, you have seen more than one Japanese animated film or television show in your lifetime without even knowing that it was developed outside of the United States.
Chances are, you have seen more than one Japanese animated film or television show in your lifetime without even knowing that it was developed outside of the United States.
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Copyright © 1998 by Sheri Le