Anime (アニメ) refers to the animation style originating in Japan. It is characterized by distinctive characters and backgrounds (hand-drawn or computer-generated) that visually and thematically set it apart from other forms of animation. Storylines may include a variety of fictional or historical characters, events, and settings. Anime is aimed at a broad range of audiences; consequently, a given series may have aspects of a range of genres. Anime is most frequently distributed by streaming services, broadcast on television, or sold on DVDs and other media, either after their broadcast run or directly as original video animation (OVA). Console and computer games sometimes also feature segments or scenes that can be considered anime.
Manga (漫画) is Japanese for "comics" or "whimsical images". Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and Western styles of drawing, and took its current form shortly after World War II. Manga, apart from covers, is usually published in black and white but it is common to find introductions to chapters to be in color and read from top to bottom and then right to left, similar to the layout of a Japanese plain text. Financially, manga represented 2005 a market of ¥24 billion in Japan and $180 million in the United States. Manga was the fastest-growing segment of books in the United States in 2005. In 2020, Japan's manga industry hit a value of ¥612.6 billion due to the fast growth of the digital manga market, while manga sales in North America reached an all-time high at almost $250 million.
Anime and manga share many characteristics, including exaggerating (in terms of scale) of physical features, to which the reader presumably should pay most attention (best known being "large eyes"), "dramatically shaped speech bubbles, speed lines and onomatopoeic, exclamatory typography..." Some manga (a small percentage) are adapted into anime, often with the collaboration of the original author. Computer games can also be adapted into anime. In such cases, the work's original story is often compressed or modified to fit the new format and appeal to a wider demographic. Popular anime franchises sometimes include full-length feature films. Some anime franchises have been adapted into live-action films and television programs.
School Rumble is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Jin Kobayashi. First serialized in 345 chapters in Weekly Shōnen Magazine between 2002 and 2008, it is a romance comedy centering on relationships between three Japanese high school students. The series often discards realism in favor of comedic effect. Its popularity resulted in television adaptations, video games, novels and guidebooks. It has also been translated into English and other languages. The manga was well received by Japanese-language readers; the North American English translations were less popular, and ranked 145th for overall manga series sales in 2008. Some critics of the English-language translation praised Kobayashi for his art style and overall use of humor, while others disliked some of the jokes and repetitive plot. The anime adaptation sold well in Japan and was praised by Kobayashi and—for the English-language translation—critics. The decision by Media Factory to aggressively pursue its intellectual property rights for School Rumble is believed by proponents of fansubs to have had a negative impact on the franchise's release and sales in the North American market. (Full article...)
The episodes of the anime Gunslinger Girl were directed by Morio Asaka, animated by Madhouse Studios, and produced by Bandai Visual, Marvelous Entertainment, MediaWorks, and Madhouse Studios. This anime series is based on the first two manga volumes of the Gunslinger Girlmanga series that was written and illustrated by Yu Aida. The thirteen episodes of the anime series was aired in Japan from October 8, 2003 to February 19, 2004 on Bandai Channel and Fuji Television. Set in contemporary Italy, the series tells about young girls who are turned into cyborgs, trained as assassins by adult male "handlers" and their missions against terrorists and gangsters on behalf of a secretive government agency.
A sequel to the first anime series, called Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-, was directed by Hiroshi Ishiodori and animated by Artland. The sequel aired in Japan on Tokyo MX TV from January 7, 2008 to March 31, 2008. It adapts the third, fourth and fifth volumes of the manga over fifteen episodes, with the first thirteen episodes airing on television and the final two released directly to DVD. (Full list...)
