Anime

:This article is about Japanese animation. For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin).

Types of anime

Production types

Most anime can be categorized as one of three types:

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• Films, which are generally released in theaters, represent the highest budgets and generally the highest video quality. Popular anime movies include Akira, and Spirited Away. Some anime films are only released at film or animation festivals and are shorter and sometimes lower in production values. Some examples of these are Winter Days, and Osamu Tezuka's Legend of the Forest. Other types of films include compilation movies, which are television episodes edited together and presented in theaters for various reasons, and are hence a concentrated form of a television serial. These may, however, be longer than the average movie. There are also theatrical shorts derived from existing televisions series and billed in Japanese theaters together to form feature-length showing.
• Television series anime is syndicated and broadcast on television on a regular schedule. Television series are generally low quality compared to OVA (Original Video Animation) and film titles, because the production budget is spread out over many episodes rather than a single film or a short series. Most episodes are about 23 minutes in length, to fill a typical thirty-minute time slot with added commercials. One full season is 26 episodes, and many titles run half seasons, or 13 episodes. Most TV series anime episodes will have opening credits, closing credits, and often an "eyecatch", a very short scene, often humorous or silly, that is used to signal the start or end of the commercial break (as "bumpers" in the United States are used in a similar fashion). "Eyecatch" scenes are often found in TV series anime and are generally similar throughout the series.
• OVA (Original Video Animation; sometimes OAV, or Original Animated Video) anime is often similar to a television miniseries. OVAs are typically two to twenty episodes in length; one-shots are particularly short, usually less than film-length. They are most commonly released directly to video. As a general rule OVA anime tends to be of high quality, approaching that of films. Titles often have a very regular, continuous plot best enjoyed if all episodes are viewed in sequence. Popular OVA titles include FLCL, Bubblegum Crisis, and Tenchi Muyo!. Opening credits, closing credits, and eyecatches may sometimes be found in OVA releases, but not universally.

It is very common for one title to spawn several different releases. A title that starts as a popular television series might then have a movie produced at a later date. A good example is Tenchi Muyo!—originally an OVA, Tenchi Muyo! spawned three movies, three television series, and several spinoff titles and specials.

Related Topics:
Tenchi Muyo!

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Genres

The following are genres and designations that are specific to anime and manga. (For other possible genres, see list of movie genres.) Many anime shows feature a large mix of genres, making distinguishing and categorizing difficult. For instance, a show might have a seemingly simple surface plot, but at the same time feature far more complex storyline and character development. Take for example the television series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Some people place this under the category of mecha because it features mecha-like constructs. But at the same time the focus on the Evas - the "mechas" in the show, though they are really biological living beings - is relatively minor compared to the exploration of the main characters' thought processes and personal circumstances. Thus it could also be classified as progressive, as a more philosophical/literary anime. Even then, it contains some amounts of fan service of the prominent female protagonists, Ayanami Rei and Asuka Langley Soryu, and a few romance and comedic sections (as is often the case of Hideaki Anno's works) and thus could be "classified" under any of those genres as well.

Related Topics:
List of movie genres - Neon Genesis Evangelion - Mecha - Evas - Fan service - Ayanami Rei - Asuka Langley Soryu - Hideaki Anno

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• Bish?jo: Japanese for 'beautiful girl', blanket term that can be used to describe any anime that features pretty girls.
• Bish?nen: Japanese for 'beautiful boy' blanket term that can be used to describe any anime that features "pretty" and elegant boys and men, example: Fushigi Yugi
• Ecchi: Japanese for 'indecent sexuality'. Contains mild sexual humor, example: Love Hina
• Hentai: Japanese for 'sexual perversion'. Pornographic anime, erotica. Sometimes referred to as "seinen" (成年; adult).
• Yaoi: Homo-erotic hentai featuring men, intended for females.
• Yuri: Homo-erotic hentai featuring women.
• Shotacon: As in 'shotaro complex' - erotic anime featuring young boys.
• Lolicon: As in 'lolita complex' - erotic anime featuring young girls.
• Josei: Japanese for 'young woman', this is anime or manga that is aimed at young women, and is one of the rarest forms.
• Mecha: Anime or manga featuring giant robots, example the various Gundam series.
• Moé: Anime or manga featuring characters that are extremely perky or cute.
• Progressive: "Art films" or extremely stylized anime, example Voices of a Distant Star.
• Seinen: Anime or manga targeted at young adults, example Ghost in the Shell.
• Sentai/Super Sentai: Literally "fighting team" in Japanese, refers to any show that involves a superhero team (e.g. Cyborg 009).
• Sh?jo: Japanese for 'young lady' or 'little girl', refers to anime or manga targeted at girls, example Cardcaptor Sakura.
• Mah? Sh?jo: Subgenre of Shoujo known for 'Magical Girl' stories, example Sailor Moon.
• Sh?jo-ai: Japanese for 'girl-love', refers to anime or manga that focus on love and romance between female characters, example Revolutionary Girl Utena.
• Sh?nen: Japanese for 'boys', refers to anime or manga targeted at boys, example Dragon Ball Z.
• Sh?nen-ai: Japanese for 'boy-love', refers to anime or manga that focus on love and romance between male characters, example Gravitation. However it is no longer used in Japan as it refers to pedophilia in their culture. The term Boys Love or BL is now used to refer to this genre.