And what, pray tell, are anime and manga?
Anime is the term for Japanese animation and Manga is (loosely speaking) comics.
Although still largely aimed at a younger audience, the Japanese have
taken animation far beyond the children's shows the United States
uses it for. Dramas, soap operas, comedies, romances, science fiction, XXX - Anime
runs the spectrum.
In the US, comics are not a medium - they are a set of genres.
IOW you can group comics fromthe US into a *VERY* small number of boxes:
Superhero (e.g. Superman and the like), Children's (e.g.
Richie Rich and so on), Humor (Dilbert and company), and lastly the
misnamed Alternative which
encompasses anything not covered by Superhero or Children's
comics and is an extremely small part of the
overall comic market in the US.
By contrast, Manga is a medium easily equivalent in
scope to the books of Western Literature. Anything
that you might find a book on in English is probably found
in Manga. Manga aimed at new brides, office workers, sports
fans, gamblers, photographers...you name it it exists.
Anime has a distinctive style all its own - you may have seen
small amounts of it in the few children's programs that have made
it to American television in corrupted form: G-Force,
RoboTech, StarBlazers and the like. Do not be fooled by these lowest
common denominator versions that have been dubbed and editted for American TV.
They were chosen by American TV execs for their similarity to American children's
shows - indeed several were editted heavily to make them more like American
children's TV.
During 1995 and 1996, anime has seriously taken off in the US as reported by CNN.
Original anime can be remarkable indeed and is very much worth spending
time on. The story quality is much greater than the vast majority
of American TV.
Well - you've got me mildly interested - where can I learn more?.
A good source of information is the rec.arts.anime.misc newsgroup.
I'm already a fan of anime and manga, have any suggestions?
Well, here are my current favorites:
Why yes - I do like romantic comedies. Ummm...Why do you ask?
Do you know of any other net resources for anime?
I know of a few. ^_^
The Anime Turnpike is the heaviest duty
source I know of for anime and information about anime on the Web. Try it - you'll like it.
Close behind it though is Anime.Net
Also, if (like your's truely) you love collecting anime artwork - try:
- The Anime Picture Archive
- Well organized, beautifully presented.
Lastly, don't skip the sounds at Serpent's Anime Page. More
music than you can shake a microphone at.
You're still here?
Wow. I'm flattered. Since you got this far, I will evily impose on
you and show you my first 'fanfic'. A fanfic is a story written in the
style or universe, or using the characters of another author who's
work you like. In this case,
the Ranma 1/2 universe of Takahashi Rumiko. It will take a few moments to
load, but I hope you like it.
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