So You Think You're An Anime Fan: The Ultimate Anime Top Three List

Many people consider themselves to be fans of the anime genre, but with so many films and anime series out there, it’s hard to know where to start if you’re interested in the genre as a whole. This top three guide to movies may help you decide where to begin your anime experience.

1. Princess Mononoke

Most fans consider this film to be a masterpiece. Created by Hayao Miyazaki, one of the giants in the anime world, the film is an allegory with a strong plot. Set in times past, the men and the gods are battling over the resources the earth has to offer. Ashitka, a village prince, kills a boar god, and in return for this deed, he is cursed. If he doesn’t locate a cure, the curse will take his life. He leaves home in search of the cure, and there he finds humans fighting not only the gods, but also themselves. As Ashtika struggles to find the answer to his problem and those of the society around him, he finds himself in a much larger fight.

2. AKIRA

At the time it was made, AKIRA had the highest budget of any other anime film in history, and as a result of this amazing effort, most anime fans consider it to be the definitive classic in the anime world. This film is based on a manga series that was created by Katsuhiro Otomo, and while the plot can be a little confusing to some (it was, after all, based on a six volume manga set), the amazing visual style captures many fans the instant they see it. The plot deals with New Tokyo, as it’s been rebuilt after World War 3. The city itself is a mess with violence, political problems, and a brewing revolution in the distance. One young man (Tetsuo) runs into a military experiment in the form of a boy. The project is known as AKIRA. Because of the encounter, Tetsuo finds powers of his own which leads the government to target him.

3. Vampire Hunter D

Because this was one of the first anime films shown in the U.S., this is the introduction many get to the anime genre. It typifies anime horror films, and the level of gore makes most viewers who love that sort of thing “ooh” and “ahh” at the sheer sight. The film is set ten thousand years to the future, and the world isn’t quite like we know it today. There are lots of monsters simply wandering around, and the people seem to have gone backward in time, living the life our ancestors might have (if you don’t count their weapons and robotic horses). One town is ruled by Count Magnus Lee (a vampire), and when a small girl is bitten, she seeks out the help of the tall, dark stranger named D. D undertakes the great mission of ending Count Magnus Lee forever.

Every anime fan will tell you a different film to start with, but with thousands to choose from, these are as good of a place as any to get your feet wet in this genre.

Anime -- The Popular Animated Japanese Art And Artists

Starting in the early 1960s, anime has blossomed into one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the world. Originating in Japan as comic books and magazines, and going on to animated forms, the series of incredible stories developed with various characters, their life and growth have attracted fans around the entire planet, both young and old.

Anime is, of course, an abbreviation of the word “animation.” There are a wide variety of artistic styles in anime because it depends on the specific style of the artist or studio and what they create in their own imagination. In many series, the characters have large, round eyes and big hair but this isn’t always the case.

All animation must first be hand-drawn by the artist, and these artists have mostly also done comic renditions for comic books and started out with that as their goal. This then expanded into the animation sector, and was often assisted by other animators in studios, sometime using computer techniques. The procedure of turning drawn cartoons into animation is a long and complicated one but fulfilling for both the artist and eventual viewer.

Early on, the Japanese film industry solved the problem of low budgets and other restrictions by making their movies from the characters in the early comic books. The artist could have free reign to create whatever kind of characters they wanted. Since Japanese anime usually emphasizes backgrounds for atmosphere, any scene whatsoever was possible, from the big city, nature, to different countries around the globe and even outer space settings. Thus any story line could be complimented by the illustration coming from the artist’s free creativity. Any sort of action and activity was feasible, from wild fights, to whole cities blowing up. The possibilities were endless.

The artists of these characters and story lines often took part in the animation process, sometimes devoting literally years to creating the series. The anime went on to become television broadcasts and occasionally full-length movies.

One of the most popular anime series is called Inuyasha, a feudal fairy tale. Rumko Takahashi, a Japanese manga (comic book) artist, developed the tale originally. Her incredible talents led her to become the best selling female comic artist in history. Studios adapted her comic illustrations to the screen, and now there are currently about 167 episodes of Inuyasha on DVD for all to enjoy. It is still an on-going plot and thus fans can continue to enjoy Inuyasha far into the future.

DragonBall, another extremely popular series, was created by Akira Toriyama who spent over 11 years producing hundreds of episodes. Over 160,000 people a month search for DragonBall Z on the main search engines, and it is likely growing by the day.

Credit must be given to the Japanese culture for producing such original and thoroughly enjoyable entertainment for all ages. It has competed with the American cartoon industry that has mostly concentrated on the children of our culture, but now competes with the animated movies becoming more and more popular in present day.

Anime: An Art Style Like No Other

The large round eyes. The characteristic “V” shaped chin. Anime art is hard to miss when you see it. In fact, unlike any other style of animation, you’ll know instantly that you’re watching anime as soon as you turn it on. Let’s take a moment to look at some of the typical features you’ll find with this animation style.

The Eyes

One of the first things most people notice about anime is the characters’ eyes. They tend to be large and very round. While not all anime has this standard eye style, much of it does, even the newer films. This style can be credited to the father of anime, Tezuka Osamu, who initially created Astro Boy (or Tetsuwan Atomu as most true anime fans know him). As he was drawing the character, it has been said that Osamu was attempting to emulate Betty Boop who had become quite popular throughout Japan.

In fact, many early animation characters all over the world had larger eyes than you might have considered. The early sketches of Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, for instance, have larger eyes than most current sketches of the characters do.

Because Tezuka Osamu’s Astro Boy became so incredibly famous, both in Japan and outside of the country, the style was used by other Japanese artists in the years to come. While many things about the anime style as a whole have changed over the years, those eyes give anime away every single time.

The Facial Expressions

Almost every anime character you encounter has exaggerated facial expressions. For example, if a character gets angry, you might notice pulsing veins on their faces. Characters who are embarrassed usually end up sweating in the scene, with massive drops forming on the foreheads. Characters who experience surprise will offer an expression that lasts several seconds, far longer than one might expect. It is through these facial expressions that anime creators hope to provide some of the emotional depth that is considered classic to anime.

The Archetypes

Another thing many people notice about the anime style is that most character types have a certain appearance. If a character is supposed to be cute, they have the typical eyes accented by rounded cheeks and facial features that tend to be a little crowded. If a character is supposed to be an idiot, everything about them is round. They have a rounded body shape, a really round head, and tiny little round eyes. If, on the other hand, a character is wicked, you’ll see almost all of the characteristic roundness disappear. The lines will become very sharp, and the eyes, again, will be much smaller.

Anime art has fascinated many over the years, and while the methods behind anime art have changed in recent years, with I suspect many creations now computer assisted, the characteristic art style remains the same.