Category: Anime

What is the Purpose of Anime Openings and Endings?

Published October 12, 2020

Anyone who has sat down to watch an anime TV series has probably taken note of the opening and ending credits which are quite long by modern standards and often feature higher-quality animation than in the TV show itself. To many people, these credit sequences are bothersome with many of my friends informing me that they tend to skip anime intros and outros once they have seen them a few times. However, the purpose behind these openings and endings are fascinating and I think it’s worth discussing why anime studios continue to create these sequences.

When an anime is being developed, a group called a production committee is typically established where various companies invest in the show and are awarded certain rights such as merchandising, domestic broadcast rights, overseas distribution etc. Quite often, one of the companies involved will be a music company that wishes to distribute the soundtrack of the show and, as part of the agreement, the company usually decides to promote some of their talent’s songs through the openings and endings of the anime in question.

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Voice Actor Spotlight: Kiyoshi Kobayashi

Published October 1, 2020

I don’t often choose to shine the spotlight on a voice actor but I have decided to make an exception and discuss the legendary Kiyoshi Kobayashi. I feel that his long career covering a wide range of media such as anime, live-action dubbing, video games etc. is well worth highlighting.

Easily his most famous role is Daisuke Jigen from the Lupin the Third franchise. An expert gunslinger and best friend to Lupin the Third, Jigen might possibly be my favourite character in the series with many of the episodes focusing on him among my favourites (I often joke that Jigen might be one of the few anime characters I could cosplay). This is helped with an outstanding performance from Kiyoshi Kobayashi who portrays Jigen with a very layered performance, managing to balance stoicism, humour and emotion all at once.

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How Important is 4K Resolution for Anime?

Published September 17, 2020

I was perusing my email lately when I noticed Anime Ltd (All the Anime) advertising a 4K UHD (Ultra-High-Definition) release of Weathering With You, the latest (as of this article) Makoto Shinkai film. This got me thinking about whether a 4K resolution release for anime is truly important or not.

To discuss this topic, I should first explain how animating anime digitally affected resolution. It has been traditionally much easier to create HD masters for media produced on film and media produced digitally in HD. However, the late 1990s/early 2000s saw anime created digitally in standard definition and the problem with digital is that, once you have created the master, you cannot create a native resolution higher than the original. A good example of this is Cowboy Bebop which saw the 2D elements animated on film and the 3D elements animated digitally. When the blu-ray was released, it became quite clear that, while the 2D art and animation looked very sharp and clean, the 3D elements had a less graceful appearance.

The 4K UHD release of Weathering With You by Anime Ltd.

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How Crowdfunding is Used to Produce Anime

Published September 7, 2020

Crowdfunding has become quite popular in recent years and the anime industry has certainly taken note of this. While I have covered this topic before with regards to manga, I think it might be interesting to see how crowdfunding can be used to produce anime that might not be otherwise created.

Before we begin examining the use of modern crowdfunding for the production of anime, I think it’s noteworthy that the core concept of crowdfunding is not foreign to the production of anime. When I discussed the economics of anime, I pointed out how anime is typically sold for $60 for 4 episodes in Japan (variants of this exist of course but this is the most common). In a sense, with only a few thousand people buying each release, this process is similar to crowdfunding except that the money comes in at the end rather than at the beginning.

The cast of Psycho-Pass 3. — Psycho-Pass 3 was sold for around $100 for a Blu-Ray with only two episodes!

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The Use of Animation for Propaganda

Published September 3, 2020

I recently decided to review the first feature length anime film “Momotaro: Sacred Sailors” which was originally released in 1945 and was funded by the Japanese Naval Ministry. The content of the film sought to portray Japanese imperialism as necessary in the face of Western nations and a good thing for the local populations under occupation (something which is easily disproven). Reviewing this film made me think of the use of other animation for propaganda purposes.

I should start off by defining what propaganda is. Propaganda is defined as “ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause” and, while commonly associated with government, can refer to any group who wish to spread their own ideology or discredit their opponents. Designating certain films as “propaganda” can be controversial and I will be trying to stick with examples that are universally recognized as propaganda.

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Anime Films I’d Like to See Released

Published August 24, 2020

The world of anime is truly vast, whether it be for TV or for film. While we have seen anime become very popular throughout the world, many of the releases we see are for relatively recent titles. This is unsurprising, the same principle holds true for most media, but I’d love to see more anime films from throughout anime history released over here (for clarification, I live in Ireland which uses the DVDs and Blu-Rays released by UK distributors).

The film that inspired the topic of this article, Panda and the Magic Serpent, also known as The Tale of the White Serpent, was originally released in Japan in 1958. This film was animated by Toei Animation and is based on the Chinese tale “Legend of the White Snake”. The story follows a character named Xu-Xian who falls in love with Bai-Niang. Believing Bai-Niang to be an evil spirit, a Buddhist priest called Fa-Hai separates them and Xu-Xian’s two pandas set out to find Bai-Niang.

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Anime Cutscenes in Video Games

Published August 20, 2020

I’ve recently been playing (and enjoying) the PC port of Persona 4 Golden. I had previously played the original Persona 4 and was eager to return and see the new additions to the game in the upgraded Golden version. Amongst the many new additions to the game, of which there are many, there are a few new anime cutscenes that have been added to bolster those found in the original game. This made me think about the usage of anime cutscenes in video games and how different they are to regular cutscenes.

Just in case some of you are unfamiliar with the concept of a cutscene, these are typically non-interactive sequences where a scene within the game plays out linearly with many pre-animated elements. An easy comparison to make is to compare these cutscenes to typical linear media such as movies or television and they have received criticism for taking away control from the player. Nonetheless, cutscenes remain a very important aspect of storytelling in video games.

A screenshot of an anime cutscene from Persona 4 Golden.

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Pseudonyms in the Anime and Manga Industry

Published August 13, 2020

I recently finished watching the entirety of Lupin the Third Part II, a 155 episode endeavor which secured the Lupin the Third franchise within my heart. When discussing this series, many people draw (too much in my opinion) attention to episode 145 and 155, both of which were directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli fame.

What might interest you though is that if you look at the credits for those episodes, you will see no mention of Hayao Miyazaki. Instead you will see the name “Teruki Tsutomu” listed as the director. This name later turned out to be a pseudonym that Hayao Miyazaki had used while making these episodes. This is not an isolated event with many people who work on anime and manga choosing to use pseudonyms rather than their real names.

Hayao Miyazaki…or should I say Teruki Tsutomu!

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The Curious World of Anime and Manga Stage Adaptations

Published August 3, 2020

I recently watched Gundam 00 and am looking forward to the upcoming Anime Ltd release of Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer. In my research of Gundam 00, I came across the info that a stage play covering the first season was performed last year with a new production this year covering the second season. This is not the first time that I have come across stage play adaptations of anime/manga and decided that I should tackle this topic.

The earliest example I could find of an anime/manga stage adaptation was the 1974 theatrical adaptation of The Rose of Versailles. This production was done by the Takarazuka Revue, an all female theatre troupe who have since done more than 25 different productions of Rose of Versailles. According to the book “A Guide to the Japanese Stage: From Traditional to Cutting Edge”, the 1974-1976 performances drew a total audience of 1.6 million people!

The DVD cover for one of the Takarazuka Revue performances of The Rose of Versailles.

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When Anime Is Made For The West

Published July 23, 2020

A question I have continually asked myself is “What is anime?” You might think me foolish for asking this question, “The answer is obvious!” I hear you say. We all know that animation created in Japan by a Japanese crew is anime, however, where does that term end? Is a piece of animation made for outside of Japan by a Japanese crew also an anime? When I’ve spoken to people about this, they tend to fall in two camps. If anime is about storytelling then these productions are not anime, if anime is about art and animation then they are anime. Nonetheless, I think a discussion of anime made for and funded by the West is worth having.

When anime’s popularity began to skyrocket worldwide from the 90s to mid 2000s, we began to see the rise of anime-influenced animation. However, in addition to this, we also saw some Western companies fund animated productions of their properties with anime studios. While rarer today, it is still not completely unheard of for this to still happen.

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