The very first anime appeared in 1917. At that time it was called “New Sketchbook”. The director of the very first anime in the world was Shimokawa Dekoten. Soon he became the creator of Momotaro. This anime was released in 1918. Another founder of this genre is considered to be Kitayama Seitaro, who directed the film “The Battle of the Monkey and the Crab.”
The very first anime in the world lasted only five minutes. At that time, there were no large companies that could create anime films. They were painted by single artists. But at the same time, the artists were based on the experience of animators from the USA and Europe. As a result, a completely new genre emerged that is still popular today.
In the 20s, the very first anime in Japan became a little longer and lasted 15 minutes. At that time, anime copied the plot of cartoons from foreign countries. What was the very first anime in the world that was a repetition of foreign cartoons? This is the series “Felix the Cat”. The anime also used various themes from Japanese and Chinese fairy tales. The film, which copied folk tales, was called “Japan's Greatest Hero Momotaro.” The very first animators in the world were Shimokawa Dekoten, Murata Yasuji, Yamamoto Sanae and several others.
The very first anime in Japan was created in very modest conditions. This was done in small home studios and all the costs of creating anime were borne by the film companies. In return, the companies received the rights to rent the animators' creations. At that time, two Japanese companies were popular and began to develop the anime genre in the country. These are the companies “Takamasa Eiga” and “Asahi Kinema”. But in 1932, a studio was created that dealt exclusively with anime films. This appearance was influenced by Masaoke Kenzo. A year later, the very first full-length anime film appeared in this studio. It was called “Strength and Women of the World.”
Those who have studied the history of Japan know very well what the mood was in the country in the 30s of the last century. At that time, Japan was under strong military influence. And this also affected the cultural level. As a result, folk tales began to be replaced by army-themed stories. For example, in 1934 the film “Corporal Norakuro” was released. The film was animated by Murata Yasuji. The anime was 11 minutes long. The plot was about a dog who went to serve in the army. In addition, political themes appeared in the anime.
The very first full-length anime appeared in 1943. This appearance was influenced by the Japanese government. The film was created by Seo Mitsue, and it was called “Momotaro - The Sea Eagle”. Then the film had a sequel. The main characters of the film were caricatured marines. Then the very first love in anime began to appear. But that's a little later.
First anime
It is officially accepted that the very first anime in the world dates back to 1917. The animation was directed by Shimokawa Dekoten and was titled Suketchi no nyūarubamu (New Sketchbook). A year later, in 1918, his animation “Momotaro” was released. Somewhat later, the animated film “Battles of the Monkey and the Crab” (Sarutokani notatakai) by Kitayama Seitaro appears. These two directors are considered to be the founders of the Japanese animation genre. The first animated cartoons lasted no more than 5-6 minutes. They showed simple scenes from Japanese life, fairy tales or mythology. The films were created by single animators who worked in their homes. The artists took into account the experience of animators from Europe and the States and over time received the genre that can be seen today. By now, the very first anime of the early twentieth century has been irretrievably lost. There is only some information left that these works were shown in public and in cinemas, while collecting money. The very first animators worked at home, their work was simple and straightforward. Perhaps that is why they quickly won the favor of the public.
Formation of the genre
In 1958, animated films were an independent branch of Japanese animation. And at the end of the twentieth century they were officially recognized as an art form. At this time, such films as “The Legend of White Winter”, authored by Taiji Yabushita, were shown to a wide audience. The film was released in 1958 with the support of the Toei animation studio; the total length of the film was 1 hour 19 minutes. Otogi Studio Calendar is considered to be the first anime documentary series. Its production lasted from 1961 to 1962. The director of the film is the founder of the Otogi studio, Ryuichi Yokoyama.
The very first love
Anime began to develop at an unprecedented speed in the 70s of the last century. Everything changed - from the drawing to the genre. In the features of the images, more attention began to be paid to the eyes of the characters - they were made more and more expressive. If in the 60s they tried to make images natural, similar to a living person, then a decade later animators improved the drawing of eyes. This made it possible to more easily reveal the range of feelings and experiences of the main characters. The genre shuffle did not go unnoticed either. The works were intended not only for children, but also for adults. The first anime series dealt with the daily lives of studio workers. The animation was not particularly interesting for children, but it found its admirers among teenagers and part of the adult population. Even among older people, anime has become a second first love. Over time, some studios began to form groups of authors who worked in a certain genre. For example, after the release of “Pure Romance” by Dean Studio, most of its creators were noticed in the development of the anime “The Best First Love in the World.” After the release of two seasons of this series, a full-length film and an ovashka, some creators began to work only with projects of the “shounen-ai” genre. Whether this is explained by long-term work on the anime “The Best First Love” or personal preferences is unknown.
When the very first anime in history was created remains a mystery. Some believe that it was 1907, others are sure that it happened in 1917. But no one excludes that the very first anime in the world could have appeared several years or decades earlier. Today, anime is spreading confidently around the world. You can find films of any genre, length and age limit. Over the more than 100-year existence of anime, the art has changed noticeably, but in general it has remained the same as before - simple and understandable to everyone.
The years have become a time of widespread recognition for anime outside of Japan. "Akira" and "Ghost in the Shell", released in 1995, which for the first time combined traditional animation and computer graphics, gained fame around the world. In 1997, the full-length anime film Princess Mononoke grossed US$160 million in Japan.
The number of both anime fans and viewers watching it from time to time has increased manifold. At the same time, in Japan, technologies for creating and drawing anime continued to improve: studios switched to computer graphics, actively using three-dimensional animation. From children's animated films of the early 20th century, Japanese animation has developed into a culture that creates diverse, serious and funny, emotional and naive works intended for teenagers, children and adults.
Origins
Works of the first quarter of the 20th century were mainly created by enthusiasts who were inspired by the creations of their foreign colleagues. The films were short - from one to five minutes - animated films without sound. Sometimes the plots and characters of such anime were borrowed from Western culture, but more often they were film adaptations of ancient Japanese fairy tales. By the end of this period, the duration of individual cartoons could reach 15 minutes.
For various reasons, most of the works of these years have now been lost. It is known, however, that some of them were shown in public, and even collected money in cinemas. The silent era featured animators such as Oten Shimokawa, Junichi Kochi, Sayotaro Kitayama, Sanae Yamamoto (whose cartoon The Mountain Where Old Men Are Abandoned may be the oldest known named anime), Yasuji Murata, and the master of shadow animation, Noboru Ofuji. Most of them worked from home, although they were supported by movie theater owners who bought the rights to show their creations.
The second generation of Japanese animators appeared in the pre-war period. By this time, Japanese folklore in anime had given way to new, often humorous, Western-style plots. The animation has won the attention of the general public and the interest of the state. During these years, the first laws were passed limiting the audience of works - some anime were considered suitable for demonstration only to persons over 15 years of age. On the other hand, films containing educational elements were strongly supported and approved by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Hundreds of thousands of yen were spent to sponsor such works.
The anime also reflected the general political and social situation in Japan. One of the first signs of advancing militarism was Mituyo Seo’s 11-minute cartoon “Private Second Class Norakuro,” released in 2010, an adaptation of a short newspaper comic strip about an unlucky dog who ends up as a private in the army of animals. After Japan invaded China in 2010, the first censorship laws were passed, which significantly simplified control over manufactured products. A large number of propaganda anime have appeared, filmed at the request of the military. On the eve of the outbreak of World War II, the style in anime also began to change. Anime was not supposed to resemble Western cartoons. In the year 2010, the Japanese government decided to finance the creation of the first Japanese full-length cartoon, and contracted the same Mituyo Seo to assemble a team of animators for this purpose. The 74-minute film they produced, The Holy Sea Warriors Momotaro, was a youth film about a team of strong, fearless beasts (probably representing Japanese soldiers) liberating Indonesia and Malaysia from devilish horned aliens, possibly representing the Allied forces, released in April.
Toei Animation and Mushi Production
After the end of the war, Japan's economy was in decline. Despite the fact that censorship and government participation in the creation of animation were practically reduced to zero, no notable works appeared for almost ten years. A significant obstacle to the development of animation was also the fact that as the duration and complexity of works increased, it became impossible to work on them alone or with a small number of assistants. “Home-grown” studios could no longer serve the needs of the public, and large companies did not emerge due to the riskiness of the enterprise and the difficult economic situation in the country.
The situation changed with the advent of Toei Animation in 1956, which soon released its first full-length color anime film, Hakujaden. The emergence of Toei marked the beginning of a new period in the development of anime - the period of professional creativity. The studio's first full-length films followed very closely the canons of Disney's works, using musical and song inserts, and also using animals along with people. This stylization somewhat continued in Toei Animation's productions until the 1970s. The company still exists today, remaining the oldest known Japanese animation studio.
Toei's policy from the very moment of its inception allowed animators to experiment quite freely with their works. A good example of this is Isao Takahata’s film “Hols: Prince of the Sun” (), an experimental, in some way even provocative film. “Hols” is often called the progenitor of auteur or experimental anime, to which many famous directors were subsequently attributed at different periods of development, even Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii. At the time of its appearance, the film was also unusual because it was one of the first to move away from the Disney canons towards its own innovations. Despite some edits and about 30 minutes of cut scenes, Holes: Prince of the Sun was released by Toei and did average box office at the box office.
A significant contribution of early Toei to modern anime was the use of "key scenes". A widely used method today to reduce animation costs is to render individual, visually significant frames in much greater detail than the overall video stream. Yasuo Ohtsuka, an animator at Toei, was the first to use this technique, creating it while experimenting with making animation easier to work with.
1970s
Over the next decade, television slowly but surely replaced cinemas as the most popular entertainment. Toei Animation gradually abandoned creating Disney-style musicals and switched to producing television series. The animators who worked for Mushi Production went to newly created studios like Madhouse or Sunrise after Mushi suddenly went bankrupt. This redistribution of talent generally had a positive effect on the anime industry, as it allowed young animators to take key positions in the studios and subsequently experiment quite freely with the films they produced.
An example of this is the 19th-year television series “Heidi” by Isao Takahata. Being a fairly realistic drama aimed at children, the series was initially rejected by many television networks - the producers believed that children would be interested in something more fantastic, with elements of a fairy tale. "Heidi", however, turned out to be incredibly popular not only in Japan, but also beyond its borders - in many European countries. The unexpected success of the series gave Miyazaki and Takahata the opportunity to create a literary anime called World Masterpiece Theatre. The series ran successfully until the mid-1990s, although Takahata and Miyazaki left the project a few years later.
During these same years, another genre specific to anime emerged, mecha. Early works attributed to him include Mazinger Z (-), Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (-), Space Battleship Yamato (-), and Mobile Suit Gundam (-). The maturation of science fiction in anime led to a shift in the emphasis of the series from the adventures of superheroes to more realistic and elaborate space operas, where the concepts of good and evil were no longer so straightforward. The characters' personalities were developed more deeply, which made it possible to consider the same problems from different points of view.
Golden Age of Anime
The increase in interest in space sagas became even more noticeable with the release of the first film in the Star Wars series in the late 1970s. The success and popularity of this film prompted Japanese producers to finance a full-length film based on the previously released series “Space Battleship Yamato”. Its appearance on screens is often associated with the beginning of a period of super-popularization, the so-called “golden age of anime” - although in fact, instead of a century, it lasted only less than fifteen years.
By the time “Space Battleship Yamato” appeared on the screens, another incredibly important event for the subsequent development of Japanese animation had already taken place - the emergence of the otaku subculture. At first, not numerous, fans of rare space series of those times and science fiction united, finding each other through common hobbies and through the first anime-related magazines, such as “Animage” or the later “Newtype”. The very emergence of such magazines was a response to the growing popularity of anime in all segments of the population.
The first anime fans also appeared in other countries. Some popular anime have been imported to the US and shown on television. A common practice of that time was to rework the series before showing it: for example, “Gatchaman” after the first processing turned into “Battle of the Planets” (), while the second turned it into “G-Force” (). The iconic "Space Battleship Yamato" was released in America as "Star Blazers". The most famous victim of the director's knife is the series "Robotech", created from three different anime - "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross", "Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross" and "Genesis Climber Mospeada". On these corrected and expanded versions of Japanese series and the first generation of American otaku grew up.
An important event was also the appearance in the film adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi’s manga “Urusei Yatsura,” directed by Mamoru Oshii. Starting out with simple doujinshi, Takahashi became famous and incredibly popular among anime fans thanks to Urusei Yatsura. Her subsequent works, especially Ranma 1/2, only established her as one of the key figures in the world of manga and Japanese animation. As for Oshii, for some time now he has moved away from creating long popular series, and preferred to create in a personal style, not paying attention to the opinions of fans. This allowed him to create quite original experimental works in the future.
Over time, the otaku subculture began to have a noticeable influence on the creation of anime. Some of the first otaku became directors and animators themselves, which inevitably affected the products they produced. The most striking example of such influence is the company Daicon Films, which later became the famous Gainax studio. The founders of Gainax began their creative career by creating short anime films to participate in the Daicon Scifi competition. The extreme popularity of these short films gave the newly created studio the opportunity to find funds to create the most expensive anime film of those years, Wings of Honneamise ().
During these same years, one of the most famous, classic anime films was shot - “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” (). In the wake of its success and the ever-increasing popularity of anime, many other non-standard and ambitious films were also released, some of which still remain important today. Nausicaä director Hayao Miyazaki and his partner Isao Takahata were given the opportunity to found their own studio under the patronage of former Animage editor Toshio Suzuki, calling it Studio Ghibli. The first film in the future of the famous company was “Castle in the Sky” () by the same Miyazaki.
The way anime is distributed has also evolved. In addition to the traditional broadcast of series on television, a separate sales direction has emerged, called OVA. Original Video Animation, "animation directly for sale on video"). As the name suggests, OVA works were not shown on television, but were immediately sold on video cassettes. The first known such creation is considered to be “Moon Base Dallos” (-) created under the leadership of Mamoru Oshii. Probably illustrating the phrase “the first pancake is lumpy,” “Dallos” turned out to be unpopular, but the soon-released “Megazone 23” () became very, very famous, collecting a sufficient amount in sales to interest sponsors in this new product market. Subsequently, OVA works began to be actively used for preliminary evaluation of a work before creating its full-length or television version. Many famous series, "Patlabor", for example, began as OVAs, but later received television or film sequels. The emergence of the first holistic pornographic anime, hentai, such as “Cream Lemon” () is also associated with the advent of OVA - before this, their authors were restrained by the censorship of television and cinemas.
Most of these films, however, did not pay off at the box office. Both Akira and Wings of Honneamise were box office failures during their initial theatrical releases. The investment crisis that arose as a result of such dismal results caused the closure of many anime studios, while others had to abandon experiments and return to time-tested solutions and stories. One of the few to survive the downturn in Studio Ghibli's funding painlessly, releasing successful films with enviable consistency. Their next film, “Kiki's Delivery Service,” released in , took first place at the box office that year, collecting more than $40 million during its showing in theaters.
Despite the failure of the film "Akira" at the Japanese box office, it was a success outside the country. Having been shown in many countries in Europe and America, the film became very popular, and even to some extent represented Japanese animation of those years in the West. With the death of Osamu Tezuka, the financial crisis and the increase in international interest in anime, the period called the “golden age” is considered to be over.
1990s
After a surge in popularity in previous years, by the early 1990s anime was experiencing a funding crisis. Budgets were lowered and promising projects were canceled due to lack of funds. Critics also noted a decline in the quality of anime series and films associated with a return to time-tested plots and designs. Producers did not want to risk supporting expensive experimental films.
The situation changed with the release in the year of perhaps the most controversial television series in the history of anime, “Neon Genesis Evangelion”. The director, Hideaki Anno from the Gainax studio, himself an otaku, turned a rather banal example of the fur genre into something extremely confusing, psychological and implying a huge number of hidden meanings. It is said that Anno sought to make an anime “from otakus for otakus”, and at the same time express his point of view on the problems of this community. One way or another, at the end of the series, the director finally ceases to restrain himself within the framework of the meaningfulness of what is happening, and turns to any solutions available to him, even very outlandish ones, in order to express his thoughts on the screen. The two subsequent anime films, “Evangelion: Death and Rebirth” and “The End of Evangelion” (both -), only developed this style of storytelling.
Having been initially placed in a children's timeslot, "Evangelion" was extremely unpopular, despite its initial affiliation with fur that was quite cute for children. A few episodes later, the timeslot was changed, and in its new capacity, Evangelion unexpectedly won the attention of the public. In a short time, the series became incredibly famous in Japan, and soon among anime fans around the world. Told in a chaotic, crumpled manner, using a variety of arthouse techniques, the story of a boy running from reality was received so well that ten years later, sales of accompanying goods - action figures, collectibles - are still quite large.
The influence of Evangelion on the anime industry was so great that it even spawned a number of so-called “post-Evangelion” series. Most of them also belong to the fur genre and have some kind of religious, philosophical or psychological overtones. Examples of such series include "RahXephon", "Brain Powered" and "Gasaraki". Another stylization of series generated by Evangelion - or at least given a second wind thanks to this series - is “psychedelic”, strange or extremely unusual, controversial series. After the release of Experiments Lane (), midnight television became a springboard for the testing of many experimental series. Among the latest are “Boogiepop Phantom” (), “Texhnolyze” () and “Paranoia Agent” ().
2000s
In recent years, anime has seen another period of rapid growth. Anime has become universally popular outside of Japan, sparking the development of corresponding subcultures in many countries. Both the number of anime distributors and the number of companies producing it have increased. The volume of their output is increasing, and often without compromising its quality. The overall level of animation quality is increasing, and computer technology is being actively used to create anime and manga.
Despite the fact that the first companies licensing and distributing anime in the United States appeared long before this, the late 1990s and early 2000s were marked by a strengthening of the positions of these companies and an increase in their number. In the American market, the anime licensing situation has become such that most anime products are licensed and published within a year of their release in Japan. This interest in anime affects its financing in Japan: many distributors, such as Geneon, sponsor the creation of individual anime series and films. The situation with anime licensing in Russia has also changed for the better: in recent years, several large Russian companies have emerged virtually from scratch, purchasing licenses and distributing anime.
The growing popularity, on the other hand, has given rise to the phenomenon of anime aimed exclusively at the otaku audience. After the incredible success of Evangelion in the 90s, many studios tried their hand at creating series that could become “classics” for fans of Japanese animation. Another direction of development that has been actively used lately is fan service. Frames of erotic content are embedded in the video sequence of such anime, or even the entire series is dedicated to erotica, while maintaining a certain plot. Examples of anime with pronounced fan service of this kind are “Hot Summer” () and “Hand Maid May” (). Sometimes anime is based on popular Japanese erotic video games in the “dating simulator” genre, but such adaptations can also be quite serious works, such as “Kanon” ().
Another version of fan service is the mention of otaku culture in the series, in some cases - a demonstration of their “unusuality” and “detachment from the rest of the world.” Originating back in the 1980s with “Otaku no Video” by the Gainax studio, the direction in recent years has been replenished with several worthy works, sometimes exploring otaku on a very serious level. For example, “Genshiken” () is entirely dedicated to the subculture of fans of Japanese entertainment products.
Another unusual phenomenon of recent years has been the Japanese animator Makoto Shinkai, who created his first short anime films “She and Her Cat” (, 5 min.) and “Voice of a Distant Star” (, 30 min.) alone or with the help of his friend . Having thus received public attention and funding, in 2004 he released the full-length one and a half hour film “Beyond the Clouds, the Promised Place”.
see also
- History of animation
- History of cinema
Notes
Links
- Anime and manga in Russia - a mini-encyclopedia of anime and manga, containing a large number of articles on the history of anime.
- “Introduction to Japanese Animation” - book by B. Ivanov on his official website.
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Anime is one of the trends in world culture. These are not ordinary cartoons, but a whole layer of Japanese modern culture, unlike their Western counterparts, aimed no longer at children, but at teenage and adult audiences. The world of Japanese animation is vast. And, in order to better understand it, we should study the history of the emergence of our beloved “world”.
Anime, as a trend in world culture, arose in the 50s of the 20th century, but the origins of Japanese animation occurred earlier, when the Japanese were interested in imported equipment for creating animation. Thus, keeping up with the West. The oldest known anime dates back to 1907, it was a short silent cartoon consisting of successive frames. By the way, anime is shortened from English. Animation - animation.
The first period is the actual birth of Japanese animated films. The origins of Japanese animation date back to the beginning of the 20th century. Anime was created by individual enthusiasts who imitated their Western counterparts. The films were short (up to six minutes) animated films without sound. The plots and characters were taken from Japanese fairy tales.
The second period refers to the time between the world wars. Anime began to conquer large masses of the population and attract the attention of the state. In the plot, Japanese folklore gave way to European-style humorous plots. The first laws were passed that limited the viewing age, and anime with a 15+ restriction appeared. But anime aimed at instilling patriotism was supported in every possible way by the state. Huge amounts of money were spent on such works. Let me remind you that Japan at that time was a militarized state and propaganda among the population was an important factor. Japan invaded China and censorship began in 1937. Thus, the state began to regulate the production of anime. On the eve of World War II, anime began to be filmed for the military and studios were created for this, the style of anime began to change. Anime was not supposed to resemble Western cartoons, since Japan began to fight with Western countries. The stories also did not go unnoticed; they began to film about the brave Japanese military, about the invincible army of the Emperor. One of these was the first full-length animated film called “Holy Sea Warriors Momotaro”, the film was released in April 1945. The plot tells the story of the heroic operations of the Japanese military to liberate Indonesia and Malaysia from the United States. After the end of the war, the country was in ruins, censorship and state participation were removed, but no significant works were published. A ten-year stagnation ensued.
The third period was the post-war period, the country began to come to its senses, the United States poured huge capital into the country's economy. The Japanese “political miracle” occurred. In 1956, the Toei Animation studio began its existence, which would later release the first full-length color anime film, Hakujaden. The creation of this studio meant the beginning of a new period in the history of the development of Japanese animation - a period of professional creativity. The first Toel films imitated Disney. The company exists to this day and is the oldest Japanese animation studio. The studio's vector of experimentation and freedom in the plot of the works gave a good impetus to other studios and the growing generation, which later became such famous animators as Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii. Anime became a work of authorship and raised pressing social and political issues. In 1960, Tezuka, a proponent of adult animation, created several films for this audience: One Thousand and One Nights, Cleopatra and Lamentable Belladonna.
In the 1970s, television began to replace cinemas, and the creation of anime series began. Several major studios went bankrupt, but this had a positive impact as it opened the door for new animators. Animators began to experiment more and more with genres, exemplified by the 1974 television series Heidi by Isao Takahata. Being a realistic drama aimed at children, it was initially rejected as the producers were afraid that it would not pay off. It seemed to them that children were more interested in science fiction and stories with less meaning, but the series took off. It became very popular in Japan and in European countries, thereby the world audience became addicted to anime. The resulting success and finances allowed Miyazaki and Takahata to develop the anime World Masterpiece Theatre. All sorts of genres began to appear, and anime gained enormous popularity.
The 1980s are the "Golden Age" for the anime industry. Manga and anime have become recognized throughout Japan.
The fourth stage is the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. Anime gained worldwide recognition; they began to combine computer graphics, that is, 3D and 2D animation. In 1997, the full-length anime film “Princess Mononoke” was released, which collected huge box office receipts.
To summarize from the above, we can confidently say that from children's cartoons and propaganda films, Japanese animation has transformed into world culture and the heritage of mankind. Today, anime is a unique cultural phenomenon that unites a huge number of people from all over the world. Anime has gone through a difficult path of development, I hope that it will continue to develop in the right direction and will not “die” for the sake of ratings and views, but will produce original and interesting works. The article was prepared for you by Nikita Kutuzov.
The emergence of anime
The very first anime series was released by the Otogi studio, representing black and white historical cartoons. In 1963, Osamu Tezuka, nicknamed the “God of Manga,” founded Mushi Productions and released his first anime series, Tetsuwan Atom. This was the beginning of the anime boom.
The first experiments with animation in Japan began in 1913, and the first animated films appeared in 1917. These were small films ranging from one to five minutes in length, and they were made by single artists trying to reproduce the early experiments of American and European animators.
The oldest known anime, found in 2005, was created about a century ago - in 1907. The short cartoon consisted of fifty frames drawn on celluloid tape. The boy depicted in them draws hieroglyphs, then turns to the viewer, takes off his hat and bows.
Anime, as an independent direction in animation, emerged in 1958 and was officially recognized as an art at the end of the 20th century. The history of anime dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Japanese began to show some interest in the animation of Western countries.
In the second half of the 1980s, sex came to anime. This was done in a very significant way - in 1987, the first OAV of the series “The Legend of Superman - Tramp Guy” by Hideki Takayama was released. It combined an intricate and unusual plot with colorfully drawn scenes of human sexual relations. In fact, this series began the tradition of “hentai” as an independent genre and once again opened up a debate about the possible artistic value of pornography.
In 1987, the first yaoi-OAV was released - “Song of the Wind and Trees” based on the manga by Takemiya Keiko. It became clear that sex came to anime well and for a long time. Just as in the case of regular anime, most anime in the hentai genre are based on manga (in this case, hentai manga). Pornographic scenes played out in hentai can be of different content and nature. The variations of directions are quite extensive, from standard sex to various kinds of perversions, such as yaoi, yuri, shotakon, lolicon. A separate group includes particularly cruel types, for example guro or tentacles - these are peculiar horrors and horror stories of hentai. But it would be a mistake to classify hentai only by the content of erotic scenes, since just like in any other anime, hentai can be divided into comedies, mysticism, science fiction, fantasy, and romance
Otaku subculture
Subcultures of anime fans began to emerge: the so-called “Otaku.” Over time, the otaku subculture began to have a noticeable influence on the creation of anime. Some of the first otaku became directors and animators themselves, which inevitably affected the products they produced.
During these same years, one of the most famous, classic anime films, “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” (1984), was shot. In the wake of its success and the ever-increasing popularity of anime, many other non-standard and ambitious films were also released, some of which still remain important today.
Development of anime genres
In the early 90s, the world of anime was dominated by cyberpunk. Its canons were established by the series Bubblegum Crisis, released in 1987-1991, directed by Akiyama Katsuhito and character designer Sonoda Kenichi. A remake of the cult film appeared in the late 90s under the name “Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040” - an even more graphically and plot-wise anime, a real masterpiece. But the years were not the reign of one genre, and the number of stunning films of the late twentieth century is simply amazing. The anime treasury includes films from a wide variety of genres and studios, from “girl-for-girl” series to fantasy “Lodoss Wars” and “Bastard.”
After a surge in popularity in previous years, by the early 1990s anime was experiencing a funding crisis. Budgets were lowered and promising projects were canceled due to lack of funds.
Distribution routes
The way anime is distributed has also evolved. In addition to the traditional broadcast of series on television, a separate sales direction has emerged, called OVA (Original Video Animation, “animation for sale on video”). As the name suggests, OVA works were not shown on television, but were immediately sold on video cassettes. The first known such creation is considered to be “Moon Base Dallos” (1983-1984), created under the leadership of Mamoru Oshii. Many famous series, "Patlabor", for example, began as OVAs, but later received television or film sequels. The advent of OVAs is also associated with the emergence of the first complete pornographic anime, hentai, such as “Cream Lemon” (1984) - before that, their authors were restrained by the censorship of television and cinemas.
Computerization of anime
With the development of computer technology, computer graphics are increasingly used in anime. Recently, 3D animation inserts have appeared even in not very large-scale projects. There is an anime entirely created using these techniques. For example, Gantz (2004) combines two-dimensional foreground characters with fully three-dimensional environments, taking cues from the manga of the same name created in the same way.
After the incredible success of Evangelion in the 90s, many studios tried their hand at creating series that could become “classics” for fans of Japanese animation.
Fanservice
Another direction of development that has been actively used lately is fan service. Frames of erotic content are embedded in the video sequence of such anime, or even the entire series is dedicated to erotica, while maintaining a certain plot. This is done to attract different target audiences, i.e. to support the popularity of the series. Perhaps the director wants to show the anime characters from a different perspective and somehow defuse or simply diversify the situation. Quite often, fan service episodes are made in the form of specials and released separately on DVD.
Sometimes anime is based on popular Japanese erotic video games in the dating simulator genre, but such adaptations can also be quite serious works, such as Kanon 
Division of "anime people"
All “anime people” can be divided into several categories. Typically, the intervals between development from one stage to another take from a year to several years. But usually ardent “anime fans” somehow reach the last stage. So try to evaluate yourself and decide for yourself what stage of development you are at:
1. When cartoons ask “like this...”, “like that...”, i.e. They saw something, liked it and are now looking for something similar. They don’t even know that anime exists without Russian dubbing. Anime is usually stored on CDs or on a hard drive.
2. They begin to name themselves what they should write down. They start reading reviews and really listen to the advice of strangers. If they recommend the wrong thing (they said it was a complete blast but in the end it wasn’t worth watching), they may be disappointed in the anime. The vast majority of “attackers” are in this category. they start watching anime with Russian subtitles and realize that there are very bad voice acting, which is better to prefer subs. The anime doesn't fit on the screw anymore.
3. Few people listen (advice like “Samurai rules” is ignored), read reviews, but not everyone takes it on faith. They distinguish between the concepts of genre and target audience, and follow new products. They can clearly express their own preferences. They start writing reviews or in one way or another try to contribute to the activities of the anime community (mostly only a few people decide to do this). They shudder at the Russian dubbing, and many begin to learn Japanese (at least a couple of hundred words). Anime doesn't fit on the disc for a long time, and neither does it on the shelf with discs.
4. Reviews are practically not read, because... understand who writes them. They only listen to the opinions of a few people whose tastes are close to their own or whose tastes they at least understand. They treat “attackers” leniently; they don’t force anime on anyone. They can talk about directors, directions, successful seasons and not so much, and so on. They are learning (already know) Japanese. They despise not only Russian voice acting, but also the majority of Russian subs. The list of anime watched exceeds all reasonable limits.
5. Complete psychos.
(This division is only approximate and does not attempt to infringe on anyone's rights)
Anime genres 
Like any creative work, anime has different facets and shades, which we will now consider.
Shonen anime.
By 1964, a canon of so-called “anime for boys” - “shounen anime” - had emerged. The anime is aimed at young people aged 12 to 16-18 years. If we briefly describe the plot, it will look like this: “another boy on another big robot, saving another world.” To put it in more detail, such series show the story of growing up, and not of an ordinary teenager (as the authors of the works like to emphasize in the annotations), but of a very UNUSUAL one - as a rule, a young man/boy has obvious or hidden (but, of course, manifested) ) superpowers, which he uses...for their intended purpose - to fight an alien invader, to protect his girlfriend/friends from vampire hooligans in a dark alley, etc. Moreover, as a rule, he mostly saves friends or the world as a whole - relationships with girls in shonen anime are shown very superficially, girls are present in the series only as a friend. If we look ahead (regarding chronology), then the most prominent representative of this category of anime can be called the epic about Gundams - large humanoid combat robots. Which, naturally, is controlled by the same boy who saves the next world. Irony aside, since 1979 (that is, almost 30 years), the Sunrise studio has been telling the same story with new colors, and interest in this universe has not waned. Personally, I liked MS Gundam SEED, probably because it was released relatively recently, the depiction of the series is at a decent level, and the characters, of course, didn’t let us down either. By the way, it is Gundams that belong to the subspecies of shonen anime, even subspecies. The first subtype is the “mecha” genre (from the English mechanism), in which the action takes place around those very “large humanoid robots”, the second subtype is “sentai” (literally, team/group), in which, as a rule, we are talking about a small , but a permanent team of characters fighting someone/something.
Shoujo anime.
It is logical to reason that where there is anime for boys, there should also be anime for girls (age gradations are exactly the same as in boys’ anime). And in 1966, the Toei Animation studio released the first and incredibly successful anime series for girls (shoujo anime) - “Mahou Tsukai Sally” (“Mahou Tsukai Sally”, 1966-1968), based on the manga “The Witch Sani” by Yokoyama Mitsuteru , which, in turn, was based on the American TV series “Bewitched”. And the name of the main character was changed due to discrepancies with the copyrights of the Sony company for the Sunny trademark. Shoujo anime shows the same coming-of-age story, but with a girl in the lead role. As anime culture developed, complex romantic relationships between the main and (not so) characters became the norm in this subtype of anime. “Sally the Witch” is also a subtype of shojo anime - “maho-shojo”, from Japanese. mahou – magical, magical. The plot of such anime revolves around girls who have some kind of magical abilities. As a rule, the girl/girl is either a hereditary sorceress (as in the case of Sally), or circumstances are such that the girl/girl receives a magical artifact with which she can perform good deeds, especially “in the name of the Moon.” I think that many of our compatriots, at least briefly, saw an example of maho-shojo, which was originally broadcast on the now defunct TV channel 2*2 - “Sailor Moon - Moon in a Sailor Suit.” The original series was called “Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon” and was released on TV in 1992, had many sequels, among which there was even a so-called live-action movie (that is, a film in which live actors were filmed). Let's get back to shojo. However, despite the abundance of magical tricks, the girls in such series continue to go to school, help their parents with housework and do their best to defend ordinary life from the villains, they want to be “simple schoolgirls.” This is a very important educational moment, “educationalism” is manifested in the fact that adolescents learn to see the unusual in the ordinary, to appreciate the virtues of their everyday life. There is also the influence of traditional Japanese views on the role of women in the family and society; “from a young age” girls are instilled with the ideas of “a good wife, a caring mother.”
Calm down.
The stories of this anime tell about the adventures of young athletes, their friends and opponents. Actually, the name of the genre itself consists of two words: “sport” and “willpower” (konjo).
Kodomo anime.
Anime intended for children. For example, we know “Candy-Candy”, “Maya the Bee”, “Lulu – Angel of Flowers”, “Grandizer”, “Speedy Racer”. All these titles were transcribed by our translators, and in the original the series were called as follows: “Candy Candy”, “Mitsubachi Maaya no Boken”, “Lun-lun - Flower Girl”, “UFO Robo Grandizer”, “Mach Go Go Go”. As you can see, the names were very often customized to suit our consumers, this is especially noticeable in the translation of the same “Sailor Moon”, which already suffered from American censorship (namely, this version was shown at one time on our channels).
Dobutsu.
Translated from Japanese as “fluffy”. Anime of this genre tells about humanoid “furry” creatures. The sign of the genre is “mustache, paws and tail” :) I.e. heroes, in principle, who look like people, have the above-mentioned advantages.
Hentai.
It is precisely because of this genre that anime is not exclusively cartoons for children. The name of the genre is very telling and is translated from Japanese as “perverted/deviation.” If it’s on the fingers and so that everyone can understand it, then this is hand-drawn pornography. However, every rule has its exceptions, and in hentai they also exist. As a rule, this applies to anime that are at the crossroads between hentai and other genres. For example, the infamous “Kite the Killer Girl” is not only violent scenes in bed, but also a social drama. In some cases, the drama (I’m not just talking about Kite) is far-fetched and the main characters could choose a different way to solve their problems than by giving in to anyone, but on the other hand, the mentality of the Japanese and the twist of their thinking has not yet been canceled. In the case of pure hentai, the following points/extremes should be noted. The first extreme: just emerging schoolgirls, with whom various bad personalities do whatever they can. As you know, in Japan there is a kind of perversion as an addiction of adult men to very young girls (however, this, in principle, is observed everywhere, but in Japan it has gone to the other extreme), therefore more mature women try to “rejuvenate” through putting on his old school uniform. Brrrrr, I hope this “transformation” only happens alone with your partner. The other extreme is hypertrophied secondary female sexual characteristics. Hypertrophy is also present in men, but less so. A sane person, when seeing this “beauty,” has no other reaction other than nervous laughter. It should be noted that in this case the seiyuu “pulls out” the work, because the only “real thing” here is the voice of the actor/actress, which is the only one able to evoke certain emotions and reactions. In fact, isn’t it a two-dimensional picture that will ignite the imagination of teenagers and adults?;) Following hentai are the subtypes of shojo and shonen anime - yuri and yaoi. The first, yuri, talks about female homosexual relationships, and yaoi, respectively, about male ones. Moreover, as a rule, fans of yaoi are girls, and yuri are young people. Likewise, there are different “colors” here. I can’t give examples of terry yaoi and yuri, but something of an average level is very good. One example for both categories will be the same “Sailor Moon”. Yes Yes! Exactly she. For those who watched the epic, especially without American censorship (which also misled our translators), Zoisite’s relationship with Kunzite clearly goes beyond the boss-subordinate relationship, and Haruka and Michiru clearly mean more to each other than just classmates and girlfriends . Another well-known yuri anime is “Young Revolutionary Girl Utena” (“Shoujo Kakumei Utena”), and “Gravity” has a slight whiff of yaoi.
Of course, anime also touches on more familiar genres such as fantasy and space opera, cyberpunk (including steampunk) and mysticism. Their features are widely known from films and literary works of the same categories, so we will not dwell on them further. 
