Anime history

The history of anime, the animation genre of Japanese origin, begins in the second decade of the century XX.

Some time after the Second World War, large companies dedicated to both television series and feature films began to emerge, among which Toei stands out.

Although many remained active in the last decades of the XX century, and continue at the beginning of the XXI, a series of directors and story creators have achieved their own renown in this genre, either for works of great fame, such as Katsuhiro Ōtomo with ("Akira"), Akira Toriyama with Dragon Ball, or Masashi Kishimoto with Naruto, as well as for their long and award-winning careers such as Hayao Miyazaki with My Neighbor Totoro, or like Rumiko Takahashi with Inuyasha or Ranma 1/2, among others.

First works

Pioneers

On an international level, in 1907, the first animated film appeared, Humorous Phases of funny face, by American producer James Stuart Blackton. In 1908, Fantasmagorie, by the cartoonist Emile Cohl and produced by Gaumont, appeared in France. This type of animated films reached Japanese cinemas around 1910. Between 1914 and 1917, some 93 foreign animated films were shown, with American ones being the most popular. Faced with this phenomenon, Japanese producers began to consider making national animated films.

The first manifestation of animation in the Japanese country of animation, Katsudō Shashin, is dated 1907. It is a small fragment of 4 seconds long discovered in 2005. However However, it was the Tennenshoku Katsudō Shashin (Tenkatsu) company that produced the first significant manifestation, commissioning manga artist Ōten Shimokawa to make a film of the genre in 1916. At that time there was no documentation in Japan on animation techniques, so Shimokawa's task was not easy. However, he managed to make what is considered the first Japanese animated film, Imokawa Mukuzō Genkanban no Maki —literally "Mukuzo Imokawa and the Guardian of the Gate"—, released in January 1917. For his part, the Western-style painter Seitaro Kitayama, interested in the foreign animated films he watched, presented a project of his own to the Nippon Katsudo Shashin (Nikkatsu) company, which agreed to commission him. Kitayama was not an expert in animation either, but through trial and error, he managed to finish Saru Kani Gassen —literally "The Battle of the Monkey and the Crab"—, based on the Japanese folk tale Saru Kani Gassen, which was released in May 1917. Shimokawa and Kitayama began making their films in 1916, coinciding with the launch of the political manga artist Sumikazu Kouchi, which, now commissioned by the Kobayashi Shokai company, would premiere in June 1917 Hanawa Hekonai, Meitō no maki —literally "Hekonai Hanawa and his new sword"—, with a samurai as the protagonist.

The history of Japanese animated cinema effectively begins in 1917 thanks to the works of these three pioneers, but no copy of any of these films survives, so other information is unknown. Kouchi's was the most praised of them by critics at the time, and was also the first to be filmed, although it will be released after the other two.

Shimokawa made five animated films, but due to overexposure and the light reflection that the process entailed, his eyes became very tired, so he decided to abandon this work and return to drawing manga. Kouchi also moved away from animated films after making four films, but would later temporarily return to this field because personalities in the political sphere commissioned him to make propaganda shorts. On the contrary, Kitayama dedicated himself fully to making animated films. He began employing young aspiring painters as assistants, to whom he taught cartoon drawing techniques. Kitayama, who in 1917 made up to ten films, presented that same year a film based on the children's character Momotarō, which he managed to export to France, becoming the first Japanese animation product to reach the West. Kitayama created his own film studios in 1921 but the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 destroyed his facilities in Tokyo, so he decided to move to Osaka. There he left cartoons to dedicate himself to filming informative documentaries for a local news company. However, the great importance of Kitayama's work will lie in having taught animation techniques to a series of young people who will continue the work he started.

One of these was Sanae Yamamoto, whose original name was Zenjiro Yamamoto. He was an aspiring painter who went to work at Kitayama's studios, where he became fascinated by the world of cartoons. When his teacher left Tokyo, Yamamoto decided to become independent and form his own animation studios. In 1925 he made Ubasute yama —literally 'The mountain where the old are abandoned'—, which has as its theme respect and care for the elderly. He obtained sponsorship from the Ministry of Education for a series of educational animated films, and among his most representative works are Usagi to Kame —literally "The Rabbit and the Turtle", 1924— and Nippon-ichi Momotarō —literally "Momotarō, Japan's number 1", 1928—.

Also from this era is Shiobara Tasuke, directed by Hakuzan Kimura. He worked painting advertising murals for movie theaters, but he changed his profession to dedicate himself to cartoons, and soon stood out for his samurai stories. In 1932 he filmed the first erotic film of Japanese animation, Suzumi-Bune - literally "The Night Boat Ride" -, which cost him to be arrested by the police and the police. confiscation of the film. Kimura, an individual about whom many things are unknown, including his birth and death dates, retired after this incident. There are rumors that a copy was illegally sold abroad, but in any case Suzumi-Bune became a ghost film, unwatchable. Apparently it was a transfer to the screen of the erotic world created by the Ukiyo-e artists of the Edo period.

Another disciple of the pioneers—in this case Sumikazu Kouchi—was Noburō Ōfuji, who began producing cartoons thanks to the financial help of his older sister, Yae. His first film was Bagudajo no tozoku —literally 'The Thief of Baguda Castle', 1926—. As work material he used the traditional chiyo paper, popular since the Edo period, but its colors could not be captured by the black and white photography of the time. Ōfuji also made several animated films with silhouettes, such as Kujira —literally "The Whale", 1927—, whose images he accompanied with the music of the opera William Tell by Rossini. Ōfuji spent a lot of time studying the possibility of sound and color cinema, and thanks to the help of his sister, he managed to make almost all of his films practically alone.

In 1923, the year of the great Kantō earthquake, Yasuji Murata joined the newly formed Yokohama Cinema Shokai, initially dedicated to the import of foreign films. Murata began working there sporadically painting movie murals for theaters, but the president of the company hired him as a permanent employee when he saw his talent for drawing. Murata also wrote the labels for the company's foreign films, but, impressed by the John Randolph Bray animated films that he imported, he proposed to his president that he produce his own similar films. Self-taught in the subject, Murata chose a popular children's story for his first film, Saru Kani Gassen. From then until he left the company in 1937, Murata made about 30 animated films, most of them educational.

First technical advances

Normally the animation work was very laborious. The Yokohama Cinema Shokai company was ahead of its competitors by purchasing a new automatic motor camera that did not require moving a crank, allowing work to be speeded up. The first film shot with this camera was Kaeru wa kaeru —literally 'A frog is a frog', 1929—, commissioned again from Yasuji Murata.

For animated films, celluloid is an essential material, but it was not manufactured in Japan. Celluloid began to be widely distributed in the United States at the end of 1914 with the work of Earl Hurd, who also patented it. As an imported product, celluloid was very expensive in Japan, so instead a type of cardboard was used on which the characters were drawn, which were then cut out and photographed—animation with cutouts. Murata was a master of this technique and had nothing to envy of his competitors who used celluloid. As the most representative title of cutout animation, his Tsuki no miya no Oujo-sama—literally "The Queen of the Moon Castle", 1934—stands out.

The first to use the highly prized celluloid for animated films in Japan was Kenzō Masaoka, born into a wealthy family in Osaka. After studying drawing at an art school, he initially entered the world of cinema as an actor, leaving shortly after in favor of making cartoons. His first film was Nansensu monogatari dai ippen Sarugashima —literally "The Absurd Story of Monkey Island", 1930—, about a boy raised by a monkey. Masaoka also made the first sound animation film, Chikara to onna no yo no naka—literally "Women and strength move the world", 1932—, where he partially used the still expensive celluloid. Masaoka spared no expense to increase the quality of his films, and so starting with Chagama ondo —literally "The Rhythm of the Teapot", 1934—he used celluloid for the entire Of his works. Another of his titles, Mori no yosei —literally "The Forest Fairy", 1935—received praise from his colleagues in the world of animation and was compared to the shorts Silly Symphonies by Walt Disney.

While most contemporary filmmakers dedicated themselves to making war propaganda films for the national army, Masaoka made during the war a work of great poetry that will make us forget the hardships of the time and that will remain for the posterity of the genre., Kumo to Chūrippu —literally "The Tulip and the Spider", 1944—. Of his post-war films, the most representative was Suteneko tora-chan —literally "Tora, the abandoned cat", 1947—, about a cat who decides to raise a kitten that has been abandoned. Masaoka, for having been the first to introduce celluloid in cartoons and the first to make a sound film of this type, has been called "the father of Japanese animation" and is respected as such. It took three times as long to make an episode

World War II

In 1933, Mitsuyo Seo was hired by Kenzō Masaoka's studios. Seo was a cartoonist who soon stood out for the great speed with which he carried out his work, which was decisive in the aforementioned Chikara to onna no yo no naka . Seo, who learned the sound technique from Masaoka, soon became independent. His first film was Osaru no Sankichi bokusen—literally Sankichi the monkey. Anti-aircraft defense, 1933—, which received very good reviews.

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US base at Pearl Harbor, beginning its participation in World War II. Then, the Imperial Navy commissioned Seo to make a propaganda film that would highlight Japan's military successes to young people. Thus, with a team of five people, Seo made the animated film Momotarō no Umiwashi —literally The Sea Eagles of Momotarō, 1942—, lasting 37 minutes, which despite its shameless propaganda nature, was a great success among children. The film stars the character from children's stories Momotarō, captain of an aircraft carrier, and dogs, monkeys and partridges who were the aviation pilots. The enemy fleet is led by a character very similar to Bluto, Popeye's antagonist, who runs from one place to another fleeing Japanese attacks.

Seo joined the Shochiku Doga Kenkyusho, where Kenzō Masaoka also worked, and there he once again received a commission from the Navy. In January 1942, the Navy Parachute Corps had descended on the island of Sulawesi - Indonesia -, conquering the American base, so it was decided to also air this first success of the corps before Japanese children with another cartoon film. In this way, the production of Momotarō - Umi no Shinpei —Momotarō, god of the waves, 1943— was conceived, with a team of 70 people, the largest until then in the history of animation, and a total production time of 14 months. Finally, an entire 74-minute blockbuster was achieved, although the team had been reduced to 25 people due to some of the male personnel having been called up and the female personnel to the arms factories. After the war, Seo made Ōsama no shippo —literally The King's Tail— in 1947, loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's famous story The King's New Clothes. Emperor, but the film was never released. After this, Seo left the cinema and dedicated himself to drawing for children's magazines, or designing characters to adorn children's clothing.

In 1933 Ugoku-e Kori no tatehiki —literally The duel of the fox and the badger in cartoons— was released, which told a story starring some badgers who They live in a Buddhist temple. A fox that has adopted the form of a samurai arrives at the temple, and a transformation duel ensues between the badgers and the fox that ends with the latter's defeat. Among the gags that appear in the film is that of the fox-samurai firing a machine gun. The director was Ikuo Oishi, who after filming a cartoon advertisement for a chocolate factory, decided to dedicate himself to making animated films. His most representative work was Futatsu no taiyô —literally The Two Suns , 1929—, but with the outbreak of war he dedicated himself to making instructional films for the Navy. During one of these jobs, the ship in which he was returning from filming abroad is sunk by an American submarine, and Ikuo Oishi died.

In 1940, a cartoon adaptation of Puccini's famous opera Madame Butterfly, Ocho-fujin no genso—literally Fantasy about Lady Butterfly—was released. —, made by the silhouette animation system and signed by Kazugoro Arai and his friend Tobiishi Nakaya. Arai, who like Tobiishi actually worked as a dentist, decided to dedicate himself to shadow animation after being strongly impressed by the vision of the German Prinzen Achmed —1926— by Lotte Reiniger. In the free time that their profession left them, both dedicated themselves to studying the world of animation, becoming professionals. In 1942 Tobiishi died as a result of the war, but Arai continued his solo work. Among his most representative works are Ogon no tsuribari —literally The Golden Hook, 1939—, Jack to Mame no Ki —literally Jack and the Bean Bush, 1941—and Kagee eiga: Kaguya hime —literally The shining princess, 1942—.

Postwar

With the defeat of Japan in August 1945, World War II ended, and in October of the same year the Shin Nihon Dogasha was established, dedicated to the production of animated films, with Sanae Yamamoto and Kenzō Masaoka as main figures. Centered in Tokyo, it brought together up to 100 people to dedicate themselves to the world of animation, but the lack of work forced the newborn company to dissolve. In 1947, with the collaboration of Yasuji Murata, the Nihon Manga Eigasha was formed in his place, where Masaoka concluded Sakura —literally The Cherry Tree—, a work that describes the beauties of Kyoto throughout the four seasons but which, however, was never released. After that, in 1948 Yamamoto and Masaoka decided to become independent from Nihon Manga Eigasha to form the Nihon Doga Company.

In September 1950, with great delay, the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - 1937 - was released in Japan, which animation director Osamu Tezuka is said to have seen about 50 times. In 1952 Noburō Ōfuji made a remake of his 1927 film Kujira. To the primitive idea of shadow animation, Ōfuji added inspiration from Western stained glass to use colored cellophane. At the 1953 Cannes Festival he competed in the shorts section, but finally the prize went to Crin Blanc —Albert Lamourisse, 1953—, with his work coming in second place. It is said that Pablo Picasso then saw this work by Ōfuji, by which he was strongly impressed. Shortly after, the silhouette-animated film Nazo no yurei-sen —literally The Ghost Ship, 1956—won a special award in Venice, bringing the name of Ōfuji becomes recognized abroad.

In January 1950, the cartoonist Ryūichi Yokoyama, known for the manga Fuku-chan, decided to dedicate himself to the world of animation after having seen the Disney short The Skeleton Dance i> —1929—, which had been released in Japan in 1930. To do so, he bought a 16 mm camera and converted his house into a film studio, which he called Otogi Productions, beginning work in March of the same year with a team of six people. His first film was the medium-length film Onbu o-bake —literally The elf on shoulders —, which he screened in a private room in December 1955, with attendance of several personalities from the cultural sphere, including Yukio Mishima. His second film was Fukusuke, which was released commercially in October 1957. The following year he used the large garden plot of his house to build larger studios, increasing the equipment. from him to 23 people. After that he made his third film, Hyotan suzume —1959—, which tells of the fight against some evil frogs that have broken the peace of a village of peaceful fellow humans. He then released Otogi no sekai ryoko —literally Journey around the world, 1962—, composed of five parts, the third of which, Tatsumaki ni sukareta akai shatsu —literally The red shirt that took away the cyclone—, has the additional interest of referring to the style of ukiyo-e.

Otogi Productions needed considerable loans of money to be able to make feature films, but was unable to recover the investment made, which is why it ended up bankrupt in 1972. Yokoyama thus ended his work but contributed to the training of new technicians in the genre. One of them, Shinichi Suzuki, made a science fiction short film on his own titled Purasu 50,000 nen —50,000 years later, 1961—, which received good reviews. in France on the occasion of its screening at the International Short Film Festival.

Bunraku

In Japan there is a traditional doll theater called bunraku, which is still performed from time to time. In animated cinema there is also the variant of puppet films, whose best-known exponent is in Czech cinematography. Tadahito Mochinaga (1919-1999) was the first to produce animation based on bunraku, and taught this technique for animated films to Chinese filmmakers. Mochinaga, a disciple of Mitsuyo Seo, had been commissioned to make films in China during the war, and remained there until 1955. Upon returning to Japan he formed the Ningyo Eiga Seisakusha, dedicated to puppet films and which offered nine titles, of which stand out Uriko-hime to amanojaku —literally Princess Uriko and the Raging Devil, 1956— and Chibikuro Sambo no tora taiji —The Little Black One Sambo defeats the tiger, 1956. The latter won the award for best children's film at the Vancouver Film Festival.

As the most outstanding disciples of Tadahito Mochinaga in puppet cinema, Kihachirō Kawamoto (1924) and Tadanari Okamoto (1932-1990) stood out. Kawamoto, after a period working with Mochinaga, traveled to Czechoslovakia in 1963 to meet his admired Jiří Trnka (1912-1969), thanks to whom he perfected the technique of puppet animation. Back in Japan he made titles of this type with his own production such as Hanaori —literally The plucked flower, 1968—, Oni —literally The Demon, 1972—, Dōjōji —literally The Dojo Temple, 1976— and Kataku —1979—, in full part based on traditional pieces from the Nō or Kyōgen theater. Kawamoto won several awards at international festivals, making his name known abroad. Tadanari Okamoto, who also learned the Mochinaga technique, became independent to form Eko sha, dedicated to children. His most representative works were Fushigi na Kusuri —literally A strange medicine, 1965—, Home my home —1970—, Chiko tan —1971— and Okon joruri —1982—.

The animation industry

Toei Doga

In August 1948, the largest animation film production company in Japan, Toei, was born. Hiroshi Okawa, president of the production company, noticed American animated films during his trips abroad, and decided to provide the necessary means for the growth in quality of the genre in Japan until it made it exportable and competitive. Until then, Japanese animated film producers had very poor facilities and small teams, so it was not possible to make feature films as notable as Western ones, nor to reach them in length or volume. Okawa, after studying the situation of the genre in Japan, decided to buy the Nichido Eiga company from Sanae Yamamoto, and he and his 23 employees became part of Toei, which created the Toei Doga subdivision.

Okawa, to the tune of his favorite motto, "we have to become the Disney of the East," built three-story studios with all the modern facilities, and put Yamamoto in charge of them as the head of the studio. His first and spectacular work was Hakujaden —The Legend of the White Snake, 1958—, a 78-minute blockbuster in which 109 people worked and which became the first feature film in color from Japanese animated cinema.

Thanks to the success of this first production, Okawa set the goal of releasing one animated feature film per year. One of those that received the greatest acceptance from critics and the public was Wanpaku Ōji no Orochi Taiji —literally The brave prince defeats the giant snake, 1963—, directed by Yugo Serikawa (1931-2000), who came from live-action cinema, where he was assistant director to Nobuo Nakagawa and Kyōtarō Namiki at Shintoho. Among Serikawa's assistants on this film was the still unknown Isao Takahata, as well as Yasuo Ōtsuka (1931), who was an anti-drug official who left his job to dedicate himself to animation.

Takahata made another of the masterpieces of Toei Doga animated cinema, Taiyou no ouji Horusu no daibouken —literally The Adventures of Horus, Prince of the Sun, released in Spain as The Enchanted Princess, 1968—, based on a mixture of the Yukara saga with Scandinavian legends and which told of the fight of the brave prince Horus against the country of ice and snow, dominated by a being evil and his younger sister Hilda, reluctantly forced to obey him. Hilda, who has a beautiful voice, is unable to resist her brother's orders and will try to destroy the village where Horus lives. This type of psychological torment due to the fight between good and evil of a character, also female, had never been seen in animated films, which is why it was widely commented on. The main person responsible for this psychological portrait was Yasuji Mori (1925-1992), while the unknown young man who was in charge of designing the village landscapes was Hayao Miyazaki (1941), who gained prestige among the profession thanks to it. The Enchanted Princess had as its central theme the need to unite to face difficulties, an attitude that ironically surrounded its filming, because while the team showed a desire to work in front of the production company, it did not stop objecting to the continued escalation of the budget and the prolongation of work. In fact, the production of the film was on the verge of being paralyzed, but thanks to the insistence with which Takahata and his team defended their cause before their bosses, it was able to be completed. Despite the good reviews it received, the film, which had cost a fortune, suffered a severe commercial failure, for which Takahata was forced to take responsibility with a more than notable drop in rank and salary. Given this, Takahata and Miyazaki decided to leave Toei shortly after and look for a way to continue freely making animated films. Other representative Toei Doga titles were Wan wan chushingura —literally Rock the brave, 1963, Daisaku Shirakawa—, Nagagutsu o haita neko —Puss in Boots, 1969, Kimio Yabuki—, Dōbutsu takarajima —Treasure Island, 1971, Hiroshi Ikeda and Yasuji Mori— and Tatsu no ko Tarô —Taro, the son of the dragon, 1979, Kirio Urayama—.

Toei Doga, which in 1998 changed its name to Toei Animation, was ahead of its competitors by beginning in 1993 the digitalization of the animation process, which replaced the long traditional processes and which today is used in almost entire genre produced in Japan. Therefore, Okawa deserves not only the credit for having opted for Japanese animation, managing to take it to a level that would allow it to be exported throughout the world, but also for having produced its digitalization, creating with both decisions the foundations for its growth. and diffusion.

Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) was also a key figure. He was a medical student who was forced to work in factories during the war. In April 1945, one day while he was taking a break from the factory, he saw Mitsuyo Seo's film Momotarō, mi no shinpei —Momotarō, God of Waves, 1943—which, According to what he noted in his diary, it impressed him to the point of promising to one day make his own cartoon film. In order to realize this dream, in 1961 he would form his own company, Mushi Production.

His first work, of an experimental nature, is Aru machikado no monogatari —literally Story of a corner of the street, 1962—. With an anti-militarist background, the protagonists are the walls of a city, witnesses of a passionate love story between the poster of a violinist and the poster of a pianist, a romance that will be continually interrupted by the posters of a dictator. With a duration of 39 minutes and a poetic tone, Tezuka coordinated the editing and direction, with the help of Eiichi Yamamoto (1936), from Otogi Productions, and Yusaku Sakamoto, who came from Toei Doga, in the latter section.

Television series

Mushi Production's next production was a series for the small screen. Television began broadcasting in Japan in 1953, and the first animation samples that were televised came from the United States, with great popularity among children. Toei Doga also considered the possibility of creating cartoon series for television, but one installment per week was too much work to be profitable, so it abandoned the idea. Instead, Tezuka, at the head of Mushi Production, decided to face the challenge that this entailed, thus giving birth to the first Japanese animation series, with weekly 30-minute installments.

The topic chosen was the manga character that Tezuka himself had created to appear periodically in a shōnen magazine, the robot Tetsuwan Atomu, known in the West as Astroboy. The laborious work involved in making four monthly deliveries was carried out by the limited animation system, which used the least possible amount of celluloid. In January 1963, the series began to be broadcast, which immediately gained children's acceptance, reaching up to a third of the audience. After that, Toei Doga decided to take advantage of the phenomenon and in November of the same year produced Ōkami shōnen Ken —literally Ken, the wolf boy, Sadao Tsukioka—, according to an original story that in some ways it was close to that of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.

Another of Tezuka's best-known works is Janguru Taitei —literally The Jungle Empire, 1966—, and the first in the medium to use color. However, at that time color television was a luxury that few could afford, so most children had to watch it in black and white.

These works by Mushi Production for television were exported to the United States, where Tetsuwan Atomu was renamed Astroboy and Janguru Taitei as Kimba, The White Lion, names with which Later they would jump to Europe.

The Animerama Trilogy

At Mushi Production, Tezuka and Yamamoto are working on the trilogy called Animerama, three experimental films considered precursors of animation for adults: Senya Ichiya Monogatari (also known as < i>One Thousand and One Nights(1969), Kureopatora (also known as Cleopatra) (1970) and Kanashimi no Belladonna (also known as The Sadness of Belladonna i>) (1973). With a large component of eroticism, violence and psychedelia, they were despised in their time, over time they have come to be considered works of cult.

Giant robots

Thanks to the success of the television series from Mushi Production and Toei Doga, competition arose from other production companies. Any genre could be used: sports, fantasy, adventure, series for boys and girls... Like Astroboy, many of these series were broadcast abroad. In the 1960s, the topic of giant robots began with the black and white anime Tetsujin 28-gō—exported as Gigantor—from the production company Tele-Cartoon. Japan—Eiken today—, based on the manga of the same name by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. However, it was not until the early 70s when the rise of giant robot series began with Mazinger Z, based on the characters created by Gō Nagai, which would be followed by several imitations. Part of these series were exported, but some of them proved problematic in countries such as France or the Philippines.

There were also educational series based on Western literature, some world famous such as Heidi (1974), The Dog of Flanders (1975) or Marco, from the Apennines to the Andes(1976). Of these, Heidi was mainly directed by Isao Takahata, while the design and landscapes of the scenes were carried out by Hayao Miyazaki. They even traveled to Switzerland to look for real landscapes that they could later use. The series aired in Italy in 1976, but many thought it was an Italian series and not a Japanese one.

It was thanks to the series Uchū Senkan Yamato —exported as Space Battleship Yamato or Star Blazers, 1974—Japanese animation became recognized. In its first broadcast it did not achieve a notable impact, but it did in its second screening, and after a re-production was carried out for its exhibition in cinemas, which caused young people to queue in front of the cinemas from the night before the premiere, it was picked up by all the newspapers of the moment as a sociological phenomenon. The creator of the characters in this series was Leiji Matsumoto, and thanks to the success of Uchū Senkan Yamato, other of his works were adapted to the screen. Of these, the most popular was Galaxy Express 999, whose film adaptations, made by Rintaro, began to be released in 1979.

In 1979 the giant robot series Mobile Suit Gundam by Yoshiyuki Tomino (1941) was broadcast, but it did not gain a large audience. However, it reached it in its second broadcast, also managing to mount special editions for its release in cinemas (7 films between 1981 and 2002). Up to six different series were broadcast from the Gundam saga. All kinds of toys and reproductions of robots inspired by Gundam were sold perfectly.

The OVA format

The OVA format (Original Video Animation) had its peak at the beginning of the 1980s. These are productions launched directly into the home environment, without having previously been broadcast on television or released. in theaters. The higher quality of these productions, together with the economic situation in Japan, made this format compete with the television series that fans of the genre had the luxury of buying.

The first OVA was that of Dallos made in December 1983. It was a science fiction anime that was the result of the pioneering effort of the Pierrot studio, which ventured into this new and unknown market.

This format would be very important in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, for the dissemination of works other than those broadcast on television and cinema, among these we can mention the first Patlabor version, Top wo nerae! Gunbuster, Otaku no Video, Bubblegum Crisis, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, FLCL, Tenchi Muyō! and the first animated version of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, as well as special episodes of the most popular television series.

End of the 20th century

The decades of the 80s and 90s brought coincidences with the large-scale emergence of anime in the West, among whose main exponents were series such as Doraemon, based on the manga by Fujiko F Fujio; Shin Chan; Hokuto no Ken, based on the manga of the same name by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara; Dragon Ball, based on the manga of the same name by Akira Toriyama; Saint Seiya, exported as Knights of the Zodiac;' Captain Tsubasa, known in the Hispanic world as Oliver and Benji or Supercampeones; Rurouni Kenshin, which was titled The Samurai Warrior or Samurai X; Slayers, better known in the Hispanic world as Rina y Gaudi or Justicieros; Neon Genesis Evangelion, from director Hideaki Anno; Marmalade Boy or Kimagure Orange Road or Ranma 1/2 based on the manga of the same name by Rumiko Takahashi. There are also monster animes like Pokémon; Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh.

These allowed the rediscovery of anime in the West and in many countries the way was opened to the creation of their own otaku cultures. In addition, it allowed the massification of magical girls who starred in animes such as Sailor Moon, Sakura Card Captor and Magic Knight Rayearth.

With the premiere in 1995 of Neon Genesis Evangelion, a work that mixes mecha, a subgenre of science fiction with a psychological plot, it caused a leap towards television series aimed at a more adult audience, with complex characters and plots, witnessed by works such as Cowboy Bebop, Trigun or Serial Experiments Lain.

Additionally, together with all this the success of films such as Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo, Ghost in the Shell by Mamoru Oshii, Ninja Scroll by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Perfect Blue by Satoshi Kon, and Studio Ghibli films such as My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki, Grave of the Fireflies by Isao Takahata and Whispers of the Heart by Yoshifumi Kondo, opening anime cinema to the West in the following decades, winning the Oscar Award for Spirited Away by the aforementioned Hayao Miyazaki.

Beginning of the 21st century

A considerable part of the successful mangas in Japan currently end with their cartoon version, clear examples of which are series such as Rozen Maiden, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Inuyasha or Fullmetal Alchemist, among many others. Original anime series, those that are not based on mangas, are beginning to become less frequent, in addition to the case of mangas created from animated series.

Increasingly, this is also the case of anime based on video games, in the mid-90s with series such as Pokémon or Digimon, the first based on a role-playing video game and the second on a virtual pet. Entering the XXI century, series such as CLANNAD, School Days, Fate/stay night, Steins;Gate Kanon or AIR were born, The most commonly adapted being a genre of video games called visual novels that have certain stylistic similarities with manga and anime.

Another source from which anime has taken adaptations is the case of Light Novels, a typical Japanese literary genre, written with simple grammar that bears similarities to Western pulp novels, which has served as material to make animes, as in the case for example Sword Art Online, Hibike! Euphonium or Violet Evergarden.

Slice of life anime (also known by its English name Slide of life), which are those that focus on everyday life situations, proliferate in the first decades of the 21st century. with animes as examples: Shirobako, Bakuman, Barakamon, Usagi Drop, Sora Yorimo Tōi Basho, Yuru Camp△ and K-On!. In addition to the already common school-themed anime as a subgenre that is usually also accompanied by the romance genre such as Toradora!, CLANNAD, Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Ren'ai Zunōsen, among others. Within slice-of-life anime, many resort to moe aesthetics as a style resource, such as K-On!, Tamako Market, YuruYuri, Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon and Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu, etc.

Musical animes are also becoming common, where they show stories focused on performers or music groups, such as the aforementioned K-On!, Hibike! Euphonium, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, Piano no mori, Nodame Cantabile, Nana, Beck, Carole & Tuesday, Show by Rock!!, as well as a series of animes focused on idol groups such as Love Live!, The Idolmaster, Zombie Land Saga, Wake Up, Girls!, Oshi ga Budōkan Ittekuretara Shinu. Theme that has expanded to other arts such as gastronomy (Shokugeki no Sōma), painting (Art), comics or manga (Bakuman), animation (Shirobako) and also Japanese traditions such as the interpretation of the koto (Kono Oto Tomare !), the art of rakugo (Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū), Japanese calligraphic art (Barakamon), the game of shogi (Sangatsu no Lion) or the art of Kyūdō (Tsurune:Kazemai Kōkō Kyūdō-bu).

In contrast to the everyday realism of slice-of-life anime, the genre known as isekai also becomes common, where a protagonist is a normal person who is transported to a fantastic world as is the case from Sword Art Online, Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, KonoSuba, Overlord or No Game No Life.

There is also a return of the mecha genre with animes such as Full Metal Panic!, Eureka Seven, Gurren Lagann, Code Geass or Darling in the Franxx, in addition to other animes related to science fiction such as Psycho-Pass, Steins; Gate, Parasyte or Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song.

While dark fantasy such as anime, such as Death Note, Shingeki no Kyojin, Tokyo Ghoul or Kimetsu no Yaiba, achieve great popularity.

The nekketsu genre with the so-called "big three": Naruto, One Piece and Bleach, achieved great international popularity, this added to the return of Dragon Ball with the Dragon Ball Super saga and the anime adaptation from the classic manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, a witness taken by anime series such as Black Clover, Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia and parodied in others such as Gintama or One Punch-Man.

Thanks to the ground prepared in the West by the series of previous decades, it has allowed a large part of the anime created to be translated and distributed in markets around the world. In recent years, a large number of groups and fansubs have also emerged in the West, thanks to the otaku cultures of the 1990s, which translate and distribute series on the Internet. cartoons and mangas. This is, in turn, a cause and consequence of the growing distribution of anime outside Japan, since many series are already renowned before being licensed and translated, which allows their easier export, also thanks to streaming platforms. on the internet such as Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, this has achieved greater dissemination of anime.

In these years new studios emerge and others are born from the departure of members of other existing ones, such as for example from the Gainax studio the Khara, Trigger and Gaina studios emerge, from the Madhouse studio MAPPA emerges, from A -1 Pictures emerges CloverWorks and from Studio Ghibli arises Studio Ponoc, among others.

On July 19, 2019, the greatest tragedy in the history of anime occurred, an arson attack against the Kyoto Animation studio, resulting in 36 deaths and 34 injuries. Animation studio located in Uji in Kyoto Prefecture, considered the most important located outside of Tokyo, praised for the quality of its animation and for the work of its directors Naoko Yamada, Tatsuya Ishihara, Taichi Ishidate and Yasuhiro Takemoto, the latter one of the victims of the fire.

Anime in cinema at the beginning of the 21st century

In addition to series, in the world of cinema, the first two decades of the XXI century were a very prolific period for anime films, continuing with the international success of Studio Ghibli that began in 1997 with Princess Mononoke and continued with Spirited Away (2001), both by director Hayao Miyazaki; in addition to Studio Ghibli films, highlighting films by directors such as Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Hosoda, Masaaki Yuasa, Makoto Shinkai, Naoko Yamada, Sunao Katabuchi, Keiichi Hara, Mari Okada, Goro Miyazaki, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Kitarō Kōsaka, Michael Arias, among others.

Anime films have achieved awards and recognition inside and outside Japan, with Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki winning the Oscar for best animated film and the short film La maison en petits cubes by Kunio Katō winning the the Oscar category for best animated short film, in addition to other recognitions received worldwide. Within Japan, the Japanese Film Academy began awarding the best animated film in 2006, with director Mamoru Hosoda being the most awarded, receiving five of these awards.

Anime films have also had box-office successes, with films such as the aforementioned Spirited Away, Kimi no Na wa. by Makoto Shinkai, Koe no Katachi by Naoko Yamada and Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha-hen by Haruo Sotozaki, both inside and outside of Japan.

At this time, Hollywood cinema makes several references and tributes to anime, such as Pacific Rim by Guillermo del Toro inspired by mecha anime, Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky and Inception by Christopher Nolan inspired by Satoshi films Kon, as well as live action versions of Ghost in the Shell and Alita: Battle Angel.

Recognised directors

Studio Ghibli

Meanwhile, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, after leaving Toei Doga, were working on television series, but the latter felt a great desire to return to cartoon films for the big screen. Miyazaki managed to sign his first film as director thanks to the commission received to adapt the popular television character of Lupine III for the cinema, in The Castle of Cagliostro (1979). Thanks to the fast pace that Miyazaki gave it and some gags based above all on action, it turned out to be a highly recognized work.

Since 1982, Miyazaki had published the manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in the specialized magazine Animage, which enjoyed great prestige. Thus, in 1984 the production Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was presented, which Miyazaki himself directed and scripted, while Takahata produced it. Miyazaki portrays an Earth devastated by war, where humanity is in danger of becoming extinct. Despite dealing with such a non-commercial topic as the relationship between humans and nature, the public showed a great response.

Thanks to the success of this film, Takahata and Miyazaki convince the publishing magnate Yasuyoshi Tokuma to collaborate in the formation of their own animated film studios, Studio Ghibli, which were inaugurated in 1985. Among these, Miyazaki he directed titles such as Castle in the Sky (1986), loosely inspired by Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift; My Neighbor Totoro (1988), with a strange forest creature that only clean-hearted children can see; Majo no Takkyūbin (1989), about the hardships of a young witch; or Porco Rosso (1992).

For his part, Takahata directed Grave of the Fireflies (1988), based on a plot by Akiyuki Nosaka, which tells the story of two brothers who were killed by American bombing during the war. left orphaned. After this he made Pompoko —Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko, 1994—, where the tanuki protagonists see their home threatened by urban development and decide to go on defense using their skills to transform your appearance.

All of these productions had great commercial success and also had an impact abroad, where the name of Studio Ghibli began to gain fame. Since then, the studio has achieved great success, including the Oscar for best animated film in 2002 for Spirited Away, as well as nominations in the same category for Howl no Ugoku Shiro and Kaze Tachinu.

Mamoru Oshii

In Japan, Mamoru Oshii's anime (1951) is very recognized. After working for television for a time, Oshii soon attracted attention for his series Urusei Yatsura, as well as the much later Patlabor. However, Oshii's name will reach Western audiences thanks to Ghost in the Shell (1995). At the Cannes edition of April 2004 she presented Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004), which is a continuation of the previous one.

Katsuhiro Ōtomo

Katsuhiro Ōtomo (1954) achieved international fame thanks to Akira (1988), based on a self-created manga of the same name, after which comes the film Memories (1995).), co-directed with Kōji Morimoto and Tensai Okamura. He later gained attention again for his Steamboy (2004), a more traditional steampunk story with a huge budget.

Hayao Miyazaki

With the release of Princess Mononoke (1997) the name of Studio Ghibli resonates once again. With this story set in the Muromachi era - 14th to 16th centuries - we return to the theme of nature threatened by human beings. Exceeding all expectations, the collection exceeds ten billion yen, even surpassing the North American E.T., the Extraterrestrial. Miyazaki, who had declared to the media that this would be his last film, retracted that statement shortly after.

Miyazaki will return to directing in 2001 with Spirited Away, the story of a capricious girl who, to save her parents trapped by a witch, risks her life by entering a gigantic bathhouse populated by supernatural beings, learning to fend for itself. It once again renewed the box office record, with revenues of thirty billion yen, above the twenty-six thousand for Titanic. In the February 2002 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival it won the Golden Bear and in March 2003 the Oscar for best animated film, facts widely reported by the Japanese press.

Miyazaki later returned with Howl no Ugoku Shiro —translated as Howl's Moving Castle, The Amazing Howl's Castle and The Castle Andante, 2004—. In September 2005, Miyazaki received the Golden Lion for her career. On the other hand, Takahata, his partner, after the commercial failure of My Neighbors the Yamada, (1999) and after several years away, returned to directing and in 2013 he released what would be his last film El story of Princess Kaguya, in 2018, Isao Takahata dies.