Exploring anime Beginner’s guide to anime: Part two By Roman Chayka As founder of Griffith Anime Society, and a life-long anime fan, I’ve taken part in more than my fair share of discussions, debates, and outright arguments about anime, and what defines it. Anime isn’t new to most people - everyone grew up watching Pokemon, or Dragonball Z, or Sailor Moon on the morning cartoon shows. But not everyone has a clear definition of anime in their head, and sometimes people end up with the wrong idea altogether. So, I want to talk about the things that make Japanese anime unique and distinct from Western animation. There are, of course, many similarities between the two as well, and even a few examples that can credibly be argued to belong in both - but there are also some key differences, and aspects which are
1. The Matrix, a late 90s cultural milestone vs Ghost In the Shell, a mid-90s cyberpunk thriller.
expressed more strongly in one or the other. Probably the best way to think of the two is as two styles, or artistic directions, within the same medium - animation - and this is what makes the differences so fascinating to discuss.
Genre friction
Thanks to the Griffith Anime Society and Madman Entertainment we have three prize packs of three anime DVDs from the Madman distribution catalogue to give away. Simply tell us in 25 words or less ‘What is your favourite anime and why?’ ENTER AT: gugcstudentguild.com.au/ getamungstit. Competition closes 11.59pm (AEST) 23 October 2015.
You might have heard the distinction explained as “Western cartoons are for kids, but anime is targeted at teenagers and young adults”. It’s a very common and frequently-cited difference between the two, but in this day and age, and with the popularity of American shows like Simpsons, Family Guy, Metalocalypse, Futurama, South Park, and Rick and Morty, the old truism no longer holds much water. That said, a key point of distinction is that while animation has found traction among adult viewers in the West in the field of comedy, with the above examples and others, Japanese anime throughout its history has credible examples Exploring anime
of virtually every genre. Horror, inspirational teacher stories, mystery, comedy (ranging from light-hearted and cute, through to black gallows humour), romance, sports drama, martial arts, dystopian sci-fi, coming-of-age stories, and over-the-top action all have excellent examples in the anime medium. As well as dabbling in genres familiar to Western viewers, Japanese anime has, over the years, developed a few full-fledged genres of its own. Of note are Giant Robot sci-fi, making the transition to the West in the form of shows like Voltron, Robotech, and Evangelion, and Magical Girl Fantasy, with a familiar to us example of Sailor Moon. Additionally, the Sentai/Team Heroes genre, also has many examples in anime - but it didn’t originate there, but rather in liveaction Japanese Tokusatsu TV, and made the transition to American and Australian TV as Power Rangers.