an·i·me: [an-uh-mey] noun
"a Japanese style of motion picture animation,characterized by
highly stylized, colorful art, futuristic settings, violence, and sexuality
however, stories do encompass everything from romance, SciFi, horror,
children’s stories, martial arts, sports, to animal stories"
Nothing exists in a vacuum. Behind everything that we love and inspires us are artists, producers, writers, actors and directors with their own sources of inspiration. Because of its unique storytelling styles, anime is one of largest influences in the world.
Not sure what anime is? Anime: Drawing a Revolution from Starz is an excellent introduction. While not overly detailed, it will get you over the initial hump and into the general area providing good, basic knowledge of this worldwide phenomenon.
Anime: Drawing a Revolution explores the genre’s roots in Manga, the Japanese illustrative comic art-style with an over $5 billion a year revenue. From Manga’s beginnings in Post WWII and the creativity and business acumen of Osamu Tezuka, “the Walt Disney of Japan”, creator of Astroboy the first domestically produced anime on Japanese TV, to the current trend of live action films based on manga like the Transformers series, Frank Miller’s graphic novels and movies Sin City and 300, Anime: Drawing a Revolution lays down in broad strokes a framework history of this art form.
What is so unique about Manga is its use of filmic shorthand, using camera angles to frame the action in its panels and cinematic approach to the dialogue and storytelling that transfers so well to the big screen and makes Anime so powerful. This is illustrated by such examples as The Matrix, Blade Runner, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Akira and Speed Racer and guests that include well-known creators Stan Lee, Rob Zombie, Marc Silvestri, and RZA.
While probably not a buy for everyone, Anime: Drawing a Revolution is a definite watch, novices will have the opportunity to learn about manga and anime, experienced fans of those genres will have a window in time and references to movies no longer in production.
Anime: Drawing a Revolution is still available on Netflix Instant Watch, mostly available on youtube and through Veoh.
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