Japanese Anime

Japanese Animated Movies - Japanese Animation

Back to: Home

Japanese anime (the Japanese word for animation) really took off decades ago with Astro Boy. However, in the West, Japanese anime was viewed as something of a novelty. Anime such as Akira and Ghost in the Shell led to a rise in popularity amongst primarily a young, male audience in the West, but it wasn't really viewed as something for adults. That all changed about 10 years ago as anime movies such as Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away from director Hayao Miyazaki lifted Japanese anime to a level where it could hold its own against "serious" Western animation such as Disney. Now, Japanese anime is known as a style all of its own that is sometimes even imitated by Western animation creators.

NOTE: The pictures above are not related to the ads below and do not reflect individual advertisers' products or services.

Japanese Anime Articles

The Art of Miyazaki's Spirited Away - Book

The Art of Miyazaki's Spirited Away book

When Studio Ghibli released the animated movie Spirited Away in 2001, it was a big day for Japanese anime. It won the Oscar for "Best Animated Feature" and even knocked Titanic off the top of the Japanese box office charts. What really added to the charm of Spirited Away, and what probably did a lot to win over the Western audiences, was the beautiful look of the film, created by director Hayao Miyazaki. The characters were well drawn and the background art was just stunning. The whole movie was a joy to look at and it really helped to raise the stature of Japanese anime in the eyes of Westerners.

One of the unfortunate things about Spirited Away (if you can really call it unfortunate) is that the story itself is so great that you don't really get the chance to sit back and appreciate the artwork. I suppose it's testament to Hayao Miyazaki and his team at Studio Ghibli that the backgrounds blended so well that you almost took the scenery for granted rather than it shouting at you and distracting you from the story. However, Studio Ghibli have given us the chance to appreciate all that fabulous artwork at our own pace in the book The Art of Miyazaki's Spirited Away...