You may have been watching an anime series and noticed that, before and after the commercial break, a brief illustration or simple animation will play with the name of the series over it. This is what we call an eyecatch and it’s one of those things that I just gradually accepted about anime without ever thinking about it. However, I think it’s worth having a discussion about these eyecatches in order to understand what they are and their purpose.
As explained above, an eyecatch appears before and after the commercial break as an illustration or a short animation with the show’s name attached. One of the first questions that I had when I learned what an eyecatch is was “Why are they made? Surely it would make more sense to use the time for more advertising.” Unfortunately, I haven’t found any definitive answers as to their purpose but I have found a theory that is worthwhile enough to discuss.
An interesting theory put forward by John of animenation.net is that eyecatches were used historically in anime to act as a way for the TV audience to identify what show was currently running, hence the name of the show being present. While this is certainly a logical reason for the existence of eyecatches historically, I haven’t been able to confirm this fact from any other sources so I would take that logic with a grain of salt.
The various forms that eyecatches can take is what’s particularly interesting to me. In the example above, you can see that the Slayers Next eyecatches were used to tease fans about the characters of the show and shipping, an interesting form of fan service. Another interesting form of eyecatches are those that encourage the audience to participate. A very famous example of this comes from Pokémon which had most of its eyecatches removed in Western releases but kept the “Who’s That Pokémon?” segment which would show the silhouette of a Pokémon before the commercial break and then reveal the name and image just after. Besides that, I also appreciate the eyecatches, usually animated, that provide a bit of light humour with the characters, regardless of what’s happening in the show at that point.
It’s fascinating to me how eyecatches in anime have developed, their many styles and the way they can interact with their fanbase. Let me know your thoughts on eyecatches in anime, whether you knew what an eyecatch was, examples of your favourite eyecatches in anime and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!