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The start of animated films in Japan
The first animated film in Japan was most likely released around early 1917, was less than 5 minutes long and was drawn entirely with chalk. It is not known what the very first animated film in Japan was, as early films in the country were dismantled after the reels were finished, and materials that films were printed on was flimsy and flammable. On top of this, many film studios at the time were destroyed in events like the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and the bombings in World War 2. -
The first anime
The first known and still existing animated film in Japan was Namakura Gatana, translated as 'Blunt Sword' in English, and was only 4 minutes long. -
The fathers of anime
While not well preserved, there were many short animated films made in and around 1917-1921. Many of these were created by two manga artists Oten Shimokawa and Junichi Kouchi, as well as painter Seitaro Kitayama. These three men have been nicknamed "the fathers of anime". -
The first voiced anime
The first anime to use pre-recorded voices was titled Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka, in English that would be 'Within the World of Power and Women'. It was realeased in 1993 by Kenzo Masaoka, and had took a year to finish. -
The first anime made with cels
A year after his first animation, Masaoka released Chagama Ondo, 'The Dance of the Chagamas' in English, which was the first anime to be made using entirely cels. Cel is short for Celluloid, is a transparent sheet where animation is hand drawn on. They are used to give the illusion of continued motion. -
Animated propaganda, and the first full-length anime film
Animation studios were finding at difficult to fund their projects, often having to do educational videos for children of other kinds of short animation for the government in order to receive funding. Once world war two hit, the government recruited many animation studios to make propaganda films. The first full-length anime film was Momotaro:Umi no Shinpei (Momotaro:Sacred Sailors) and was released in 1945. It was a propaganda film commissioned by the Japanese navy. -
First feature-length colored anime film
The movie Hakujaden, in English 'The Tale of the White Serpent', was released in 1958. The company that produced this was Japan Animated Films (founded 1948), however they were bought out in 1956, and are now known as Toei. The film had a runtime of 78 minutes and was the first colored animated film in Japan. The title was released in America 3 years later. -
Television's change to the anime world
If you wanted to watch anime, you would have to go to the theatre or if you were wealthy, had a projector. Television however, changed this. Mogura no Aventure (Mole's Adventure) was the first animation to air on television, in 1958. -
The god of manga and the first woman animator in Japan
Osamu Tezuka was a popular manga artist, who had gained such a large audience, that by the late 50's he was referred to as the 'god of manga'. He worked with Toei to animate his series Boku no Son Goku (Son-Goku the Monkey King) in 1958. Later, once his contract with Toei expired, he went on to create his own animation studio, Mushi Production, and took many of Toei's best animators with him. Among those animators was the first known woman animator in Japan, Kazuko Nakamura. -
The first anime to air on American television
Two years after Mogura no Aventure, an animated anthology called Mittsu no Hanashi (Three Tales) was aired. It was comprised of three ten minute segments, and would air in the United States the next year, being the first anime to air on American Television. -
First animated series
The first animated series was Otogi Manga Calendar, and it aired on tv regularly. Each episode was 3 minutes and was focussed on what happened 'this day' in History, and had a total of 312 episodes. Animated series today have episodes around 25 minutes of air time, so while this isn't what a modern anime television show would be, it was a close first step. -
Astro Boy
Astro boy was the first anime, having many of the styles that anime today still use. Big eyes, robot battles, and stylized hair that would be impossible for someone irl to achieve. Astro boy was also a massive success in Japan, America, and many other countries, leading to a lot of merch. However this popularity confused and upset more 'serious' Japanese animators who used more fluid methods to animate, leading to the argument of 'is limited anime art?' which is still a persistent argument today -
The first full anime tv series
Tezuka's studio, Mushi Productions, created the very first anime series that follows the same format as anime today. In 1963, a show known as Tetsuwan Atom, or 'Astro Boy' in English was aired, based off of his most popular manga. It was the first anime to be tried in a half-hour timeslot, the same way anime and most cartoons do it today. It was not thought that such a time consuming process could be completed to air a show once a week, however Tezuka used what is now called "limited animation". -
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Anime genres emerging
A few popular anime genres were first used during this time. Sennin Buraku (Hermit Village), based on a popular manga with a risque romantic comedy genre. Tetsujin 28-Go (Iron Man No.28), known by it's American name, Gigantor, the first children's anime as well as a giant-robot anime. Big X, a science fiction anime. Magical girl, the first magical girl anime, as well as the first "shojo" anime (anime targeted at girls 6-15). -
First colored anima tv series
Astro boy's first year of airing was done on a low budget, however if was soon picked up by American NBC which gave the show a much larger budget for better animation. They then asked Tezuka to create a new anime that had to be in color, paying to convert his whole studio into color. He created Jungle Emperor (Kimba the White Lion) which debuted in 1965, being the very first tv series anime in color. -
Two recognizable studios
Two Japanese animation studies that are well known today were both founded in the fall of 1972. These studios were Madhouse and Sunrise. -
Animage
By the end of the 1970's, anime was getting increasingly popular around the world, and especially in Japan. It was officially a part of Japanese popular culture. Animage was a magazine about anime and manga, created in 1978, talking about all the latest news in Manga and anime. Soon afterwards, the term "otaku" was coined in order to describe those who were VERY into anime and manga. -
Gundam
One of the most popular genres of anime is 'Gundam' or "Mecha" anime, being revolved around large robots, officially known as Gundams, that usually double as suits for humans to control. Sunrise created the first gundam anime, "Mobile Suit Gundam" in 1979. The series wasn't popular until a company known as Bandai bought the merch rights and released Gundam model kits, something still very popular today. Gundam and Mecha are very popular in Japan, the country even has life sized Gundam statues. -
The Golden Age
The 80's are known as the golden age of anime, with a multitude of new genres emerging. This is mainly do to two factors. First, the introduction of VHS, and secondly, the children who were inspired by anime's like Astro Boy 20 years prior. -
Anime openings and endings
Anime openings and endings (usually pop songs), are essentially required for any anime today, and this was the first anime to have a proper opening and ending sequence: Urusei Yatsura, created in 1981 -
Sports anime
The first sports anime, the one that created the formula that most sports anime's still follow today, was created in 1983 and was called Captain Tsubasa. The anime was about soccer, teamwork, and friendship, and inspired both manga writers and future soccer players. -
VHS and CGI
VHS came to markets in 1983, sparking the creation of anime OVA's (original video animation), which is the Japanese version of a straight-to-DVD movie. In that same year, an anime called Golgo 13 was the first anime to significantly use CGI. Not only was it the first anime to use CGI in Japan, but it was also the first animation to use it anywhere in the world. -
Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli is perhaps one of the most popular animation studios today, and in 1984, an animated movie entitled Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind) was produced, directed and written by Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. This i the first film from what would later become todays Studio Ghibli. -
Dragon Ball and Shonen
Toei animated a manga known as 'Dragon Ball', in 1986, and it proved to be incredibly popular. The show was the first "shonen" anime (targeted at boys age 6-15), and the majority of shonen animes have since been inspired by Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z. What the Shonen genre introduced and what is still true to shonen anime today, is drawn out battles and a multitude of power ups for the hero's. -
Akira
Akira was incredibly popular at the time of its creation, and continued to stay popular for many years later, being the main choice of anime to show first time anime viewers. The budget was incredibly high thanks to the new technology of the 80's as well as the increasing popularity of Anime overseas, so the animation was incredibly fluid, having 24 frames per second. Because of the budget, they were also able to use pre-recorded dialogue (they were also the first to do this). -
The Crash
Japan's economy crashed in the 1991 so budgets for anime were heavily cut back leading to the closing of many film and OVA studios. Studio Ghibli was able to stay upright due to their latest hit Kiki's Delivery Service. Tv still proved to bring in money with popular shows like Sailor Moon, released by Toei in 1992, becoming a great commercial success. -
Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tsundere, and Moe
Neon Genesis Evangelion was released in 1995 by Gainax and was a massive success. It completely recreated the mecha genre, introducing complex characters, dark themes and complex yet intriguing images. It also introduced two popular anime stereotypes, tsundere and moe represented by the two main characters. Asuka was a tsundere (acts cold and distant but is actually caring), and Rei was a moe (a character that makes you want to protect them, they are innocent and cute). -
Anime based of of videogames
Technically, the first anime to be based of of a video game was Super Mario Brothers:Peach-hime Kyuushutsu Daisakusen (Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach) made in 1986, however the genre only became popular in the 90's when the incredibly, internationally successful 'Pokemon' was made into an anime in 1997. The anime is still making episodes today (though it's technically a new anime, but with the same main character and in the same world/timeline). -
Stylized, late night anime
This genre of anime was characterized by serious philosophical themes and sophisticated animation. One of these was Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira (knockin' on Heavens Door). -
Computers and CGI
Even though CGI was around for a while, it wasn't until the 90's that it was more significantly used. The first completely CGI anime was ALICE, though since the technology was still being developed, the style didn't resemble 'anime' as people recognized anime to be. Most studios chose to use CGI styles that blended well with hand drawn cels, however it was soon that studios replayed cels altogether, instead using 'digital ink' (the frame is drawn then scanned and a computer is used to color it). -
The early 2000's
At this time, budgets for animation in Japan were picking back up, and anime was gaining more popularity once more. Quite a few very popular and long running series appeared at this time, like; One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach. Animated movies, like those by Studio Ghibli, were also increasingly popular, with Spirited Away taking the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2002. -
The internet
The internet was a way for fans of any series to find others who shared their interests and talk about their favorite characters and series. At this point, it was easy to share and watch anime for free online causing worries about revenue. However thee were also ways to use the internet to their advantage. ONA (original net anime) and short internet series became popular at this time. Many ended up becoming fully fledged out anime's due to their popularity online. -
Americas market crash
Anime heavily relied on the sale of merchandise and DVD's, and a lot of these sales at the time would come from countries other than Japan, especially America. This caused another crash in the anime market, though to a bit of a lesser degree from the first time. This caused producers to focus their titles on more niche groups and completely relied on the purchase of merch and DVD's, making the prices of these higher than usual. -
Japanese animators union
Japanese animators often worked laboriously, with long hours and in poor conditions, and got paid poorly. It wasn't until 2007 that the first Japanese animators union was created, called the Japan Animation Creators Association. This helped establish better communication between animators and brought attention to the poor conditions and low salaries. It also brought about group healthcare for animators. -
Anime Streaming
Japanese studio GONZO partnered with Japanese digital entertainment company BOST and American streaming website Crunchyroll in 2008. Together they created a platform to "simulcast" anime. This meant that they could stream episodes of anime to any country the licensors agreed to. The only problem was that it could not be watched in Japan and did not have English dubs, only subs. However the response from Western fans after lunch was very positive. -
Remakes
At this time after the American market crash, many animators didn't have any new titles to produce so many remakes of older, popular titles were made in this time such as Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood, Hunter X Hunter, and Dragon Ball Z. -
Anime Today.
Anime is watched all around the world and is widely considered mainstream. Where original anime was once influenced by the early works of Disney, now Western shows like Avatar:The Last Airbender are looking to anime for inspiration. It is less focused on Japan and more focused on the storytelling of fictional universes, however Japanese references are still present in many 'slice of life' show's. -
Anime Today Part 2
The artistic style of anime has also changed along with the way of making it. It is now much more refined and clean then ever before. Older show's like Naruto and Dragon Ball are still popular today, however the amount of anime to pick from is larger than ever before. Like, for example, some of my personal, more modern favorites, JoJo's Bizarre adventure, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, and Haikyuu.
