History of anime

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The history of anime can be traced back to the start of the 20th century, with the earliest
verifiable films dating from 1906.[1] Before the advent of film, Japan already had a rich
tradition of entertainment with colourful painted figures moving across the projection screen in
utsushi-e (写し絵), a particular Japanese type of magic lantern show popular in the 19th
century. Possibly inspired by European phantasmagoria shows, utushi-e showmen used
mechanical slides and developed lightweight wooden projectors (furo) that were handheld so
that several performers could each control the motions of different projected figures.[2][3]

The first generation of animators in the late 1910s included Ōten Shimokawa, Jun'ichi Kōuchi
and Seitaro Kitayama, commonly referred to as the "fathers" of anime.[4] Propaganda films,
such as Momotarō no Umiwashi (1943) and Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei (1945), the latter being
the first anime feature film, were made during World War II. During the 1970s, anime
developed further, with the inspiration of Disney animators, separating itself from its Western
roots, and developing distinct genres such as mecha and its super robot subgenre. Typical
shows from this period include Astro Boy, Lupin III and Mazinger Z. During this period several
filmmakers became famous, especially Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii.

In the 1980s, anime became mainstream in Japan, experiencing a boom in production with the
rise in popularity of anime like Gundam, Macross, Dragon Ball, and genres such as real robot,
space opera and cyberpunk. Space Battleship Yamato and The Super Dimension Fortress
Macross also achieved worldwide success after being adapted respectively as Star Blazers and
Robotech.

The film Akira set records in 1988 for the production costs of an anime film and went on to
become an international success. Later, in 2004, the same creators produced Steamboy, which
took over as the most expensive anime film. Spirited Away shared the first prize at the 2002
Berlin Film Festival and won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, while
Innocence: Ghost in the Shell was featured at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Contents
  1Precursors
 2Origins of anime (early 1900s – 1922)
 3Pre-war productions (1923–1939)
 4During the second World War
 5Postwar environment
 6Toei Animation and Mushi Production
 71960s
 81970s
 91980s
 101990s
 112000s
 122010s
 13Firsts
 14Records
 15See also
 16Notes
 17References
 18Further reading
 19External links

Precursors[edit]
Before film, Japan had already several forms of entertainment based in storytelling and images.
Emakimono and kagee are considered precursors of Japanese animation. Emakimono was
common in the eleventh century.[5] Traveling storytellers narrated legends and anecdotes
while the emakimono was unrolled from the right to left with chronological order, as a moving
panorama.[5] Kagee was popular during the Edo period and originated from the shadows play
of China.[5] Magic lanterns from the Netherlands were also popular in the eighteenth century.
[5] The paper play called Kamishibai surged in the twelfth century and remained popular in the
street theater until the 1930s.[5] Puppets of the bunraku theater and ukiyo-e prints are
considered ancestors of characters of most Japanese animations.[5] Finally, mangas were a
heavy inspiration for Japanese anime. Cartoonists Kitzawa Rakuten and Okamoto Ippei used
film elements in their strips in the early 20th century.[5]

Origins of anime (early 1900s – 1922)[edit]

See also: List of anime by release date (pre-1939) and Kamishibai

Katsudō Shashin
According to Natsuki Matsumoto, the first animated film produced in Japan may have stemmed
from as early as 1907. Known as Katsudō Shashin (活動写真, "Activity Photo"), from its
depiction of a boy in a sailor suit drawing the characters for katsudō shashin, the film was first
found in 2005. It consists of fifty frames stencilled directly onto a strip of celluloid.[6][7] This
claim has not been verified though and predates the first known showing of animated films in
Japan. The date and first film publicly displayed is another source of contention: while no
Japanese-produced animation is definitively known to date before 1917, the possibility exists
that other films entered Japan and that no known records have surfaced to prove a showing
prior to 1912.[1] Film titles have surfaced over the years, but none have been proven to
predate this year. The first foreign animation is known to have been found in Japan in 1910, but
it is not clear if the film was ever shown in a cinema or publicly displayed at all. Yasushi
Watanabe found a film known as Fushigi no Bōrudo (不思議のボールド, "Miracle Board") in
the records of the Yoshizawa Shōten (吉沢商店) company. The description matches James
Blackton's Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, though academic consensus on whether or not
this is a true animated film is disputed.[1] According to Kyokko Yoshiyama, the first animated
film called Nippāru no Henkei (ニッパールの変形, "Nippāru's Transformation") was shown in
Japan at the Asakusa Teikokukan (浅草帝国館) in Tokyo sometime in 1911. However,
Yoshiyama did not refer to the film as "animation." The first confirmed animated film shown in
Japan was Les Exploits de Feu Follet by Émile Cohl on April 15, 1912. While speculation and
other "trick films" have been found in Japan, it is the first recorded account of a public showing
of a two-dimensional animated film in Japanese cinema. During this time, German animations
marketed for home release were distributed in Japan.[1] In 1914, U.S. and European cartoons
were introduced to Japan,[8] inspiring Japanese creators like Junichi Kouchi and Seitaro
Kitayama,[9] both of whom were considered the "fathers of anime."

Image of Namakura Gatana or Hanawa Hekonai meitō no maki, a short Japanese animated film
produced by Jun'ichi Kōuchi in 1917

Few complete animations made during the beginnings of Japanese animation have survived.
The reasons vary, but many are of commercial nature. After the clips had been run, reels (being
property of the cinemas) were sold to smaller cinemas in the country and then disassembled
and sold as strips or single frames. The first anime that was produced in Japan, Namakura
Gatana (Blunt Sword), was made sometime in 1917, but there it is disputed which title was the
first to get that honour. It has been confirmed that Dekobō Shingachō: Meian no Shippai (凸坊
新画帳・名案の失敗, "Bumpy New Picture Book: Failure of a Great Plan") was made
sometime during February 1917. At least two unconfirmed titles were reported to have been
made the previous month.[1]

The first anime short-films were made by three leading figures in the industry. Ōten Shimokawa
was a political caricaturist and cartoonist who worked for the magazine Tokyo Puck. He was
hired by Tenkatsu to do an animation for them. Due to medical reasons, he was only able to do
five movies, including Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki (1917), before he returned to his
previous work as a cartoonist. Another prominent animator in this period was Jun'ichi Kōuchi.
He was a caricaturist and painter, who also had studied watercolour painting. In 1912, he also
entered the cartoonist sector and was hired for an animation by Kobayashi Shokai later in 1916.
He is viewed as the most technically advanced Japanese animator of the 1910s. His works
include around 15 movies. The third was Seitaro Kitayama, an early animator who made
animations on his own and was not hired by larger corporations. He eventually founded his own
animation studio, the Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo, which was later closed due to lack of commercial
success. He utilized the chalkboard technique, and later paper animation, with and without pre-
printed backgrounds. However, the works of these pioneers were destroyed after the Great
Kanto Earthquake of 1923.[5] The works of these two latter pioneers include Namakura Gatana
("An Obtuse Sword", 1917) and a 1918 film Urashima Tarō which were believed to have been
discovered together at an antique market in 2007.[10] However, this Urashima Tarō was later
proved to most likely be a different film of the same story than the 1918 one by Kitayama,
which, as of October 2017, remains undiscovered.[11]

Pre-war productions (1923–1939)[edit]

Yasuji Murata, Hakuzan Kimura, Sanae Yamamoto and Noburō Ōfuji were students of Kitayama
Seitaro and worked at his film studio. Kenzō Masaoka, another important animator, worked at
a smaller animation studio. Many early animated Japanese films were lost after the 1923 Tokyo
earthquake, including destroying most of the Kitayama studio, with artists trying to incorporate
traditional motifs and stories into a new form.[12]

Prewar animators faced several difficulties. First, they had to compete with foreign producers
such as Disney, which were influential on both audiences and producers.[13] Foreign films had
already made a profit abroad, and could be undersold in the Japanese market, priced lower
than what domestic producers needed to break even.[14][15] Japanese animators thus had to
work cheaply, in small companies with only a handful of employees, which then made it difficult
to compete in terms of quality with foreign product that was in color, with sound, and
promoted by much bigger companies. Until the mid-1930s, Japanese animation generally used
cutout animation instead of cel animation because the celluloid was too expensive.[16] This
resulted in animation that could seem derivative, flat (since motion forward and backward was
difficult) and without detail.[17] But just as postwar Japanese animators were able to turn
limited animation into a plus, so masters such as Yasuji Murata and Noburō Ōfuji were able to
perform wonders that they made with cutout animation.

Animators such as Kenzo Masaoka and Mitsuyo Seo, however, did attempt to bring Japanese
animation up to the level of foreign work by introducing cel animation, sound, and technology
such as the multiplane camera. Masaoka created the first talkie anime, Chikara to Onna no Yo
no Naka, released in 1933,[18][19] and the first anime made entirely using cel animation, The
Dance of the Chagamas (1934).[20] Seo was the first to use the multiplane camera in Ari-chan
in 1941.
Such innovations, however, were difficult to support purely commercially, so prewar animation
depended considerably on sponsorship, as animators often concentrated on making PR films for
companies, educational films for the government, and eventually works of propaganda for the
military.[21] During this time, censorship and school regulations discouraged film-viewing by
children, so anime that could possess educational value was supported and encouraged by the
Monbusho (the Ministry of Education). This proved important for producers that had
experienced obstacles releasing their work in regular theaters. Animation had found a place in
scholastic, political, and industrial use.

During the second World War[edit]

See also: List of anime by release date (1939–1945)

In the 1930s, the Japanese government began enforcing cultural nationalism. This also lead to a
strict censorship and control of published media. Many animators were urged to produce
animations which enforced the Japanese spirit and national affiliation. Some movies were
shown in newsreel theaters, especially after the Film Law of 1939 promoted documentary and
other educational films. Such support helped boost the industry, as bigger companies formed
through mergers and prompted major live-action studios such as Shochiku to begin producing
animation.[22] It was at Shochiku that such masterworks as Kenzō Masaoka's Kumo to Chūrippu
were produced. Wartime reorganization of the industry, however, merged the feature film
studios into three big companies.

During the Second World War, more animated films were commissioned by the Imperial
Japanese Army,[23][24] showing the sly, quick Japanese people winning against enemy forces.
This included films such as Maysuyo Seo's Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei or Momotarō's Divine Sea
Warriors which focused on Japanese occupation of Asia.[25]

Postwar environment[edit]
In the post-war years, Japanese media was often influenced by the United States,[9] leading
some to define anime as any animation emanating from Japan after 1945.[26]:5 While anime
and manga began to flourish in the 1940s and 1950s, with foreign films (and layouts by
American cartoonists),[27] influencing people such as Osamu Tezuka,[28]

In the 1950s, anime studios began appearing across Japan. Hiroshi Takahata bought a studio
named Japan Animated Films in 1948, renaming it Tōei Dōga,[15] with an ambition to become
"the Disney of the East." While there, Takahata met other animators[29] such as Yasuji Mori,
who directed Doodling Kitty, in May 1957. However, for the Japanese public, it wasn't until the
release of Panda and the Magic Serpent in October 1958 that Japan fully entered into world of
professional animation.[13] While animators began to experiment with their own styles, using
Western techniques,[24] Tezuka Osamu began drawing shonen manga[30] like Rob no Kishi
(Knight of the Ribbon), which later became Princess Knight, trying to appeal to female readers,
while also pioneering shoujo manga.

Toei Animation and Mushi Production[edit]

See also: List of anime by release date (1946–1959)

Toei Animation and Mushi Production was founded and produced the first color anime feature
film in 1958, Hakujaden (The Tale of the White Serpent, 1958). It was released in the US in 1961
as well as Panda and the Magic Serpent.[31] After the success of the project, Toei released a
new feature-length animation annually.[32]:101

Toei's style was characterized by an emphasis on each animator bringing his own ideas to the
production. The most extreme example of this is Isao Takahata's film Horus: Prince of the Sun
(1968). Horus is often seen as the first major break from the normal anime style and the
beginning of a later movement of "auteuristic" or "progressive anime" which would eventually
involve directors such as Hayao Miyazaki (creator of Spirited Away) and Mamoru Oshii.[citation
needed]

A major contribution of Toei's style to modern anime was the development of the "money
shot". This cost-cutting method of animation allows for emphasis to be placed on important
shots by animating them with more detail than the rest of the work (which would often be
limited animation). Toei animator Yasuo Ōtsuka began to experiment with this style and
developed it further as he went into television. In the 1980s, Toei would later lend its talent to
companies like Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, DiC Entertainment, Murakami-Wolf-
Swenson, Ruby Spears and Hanna Barbera, producing several animated cartoons for America
during this period. Other studios like TMS Entertainment, were also being used in the 1980s,
which lead to Asian studios being used more often to animate foreign productions, but the
companies involved still produced anime for their native Japan.[citation needed]

Osamu Tezuka established Mushi Production in 1961, after Tezuka's contract with Toei
Animation expired. The studio pioneered TV animation in Japan, and was responsible for such
successful TV series as Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Gokū no Daibōken and Princess Knight.

Mushi Production also produced the first anime to be broadcast in the United States (on NBC in
1963), although Osamu Tezuka would complain about the restrictions on US television, and the
alterations necessary for broadcast.[33]

1960s[edit]
In the 1960s, the unique style of Japanese anime began forming, with large eyed, big mouthed,
and large headed characters.[24] The first anime film to be broadcast was Moving pictures in
1960. 1961 saw the premiere of Japan's first animated television series, Instant History,
although it did not consist entirely of animation.[32]:90 Astro Boy, created by Osamu Tezuka,
premiered on Fuji TV on January 1, 1963.[15][34] It became the first anime shown widely to
Western audiences, especially to those in the United States,[35][36]:31 becoming relatively
popular[13] and influencing U.S. popular culture, with American companies acquiring various
titles from Japanese producers.[37]:95 Astro Boy was highly influential to other anime in the
1960s,[38] and was followed by a large number of anime about robots or space. While Tezuka
released many other animated shows, like Jungle Emperor Leo,[9] anime took off, studios saw it
as a commercial success, even though no new programs from Japan were shown on major U.S.
broadcast media from the later 1960s to late 1970s.[36]:33 The 1960s also brought anime to
television and in America.

1963 introduced Sennin Buraku as the first "late night" anime[38] and Toei Doga's first anime
television series Wolf Boy Ken. Mushi Pro continued to produce more anime television and met
success with titles such as Kimba the White Lion in 1965. What is noted as the first magical girl
anime, Sally the Witch, began broadcasting in 1966. The original Speed Racer anime television
began in 1967 and was brought to the West with great success. At the same time, an anime
adaptation of Tezuka's Princess Knight aired, making it one of very few shoujo anime of the
decade. The first anime adaptation of Shotaro Ishinomori's manga Cyborg 009 was created in
1968, following the film adaptation two years prior. 1969's "Attack no.1", the first shoujo sports
anime was one of the first to have success in Japanese primetime and was also popular
throughout Europe, particularly in Germany under the name "Mila Superstar."

The long-running Sazae-san anime also began in 1969 and continues today with excess of 6,500
episodes broadcast as of 2014. With an audience share of 25% the series is still the most-
popular anime broadcast.[31]:725

1970s[edit]

The release of Space Battleship Yamato is often cited as the beginning of anime space operas.

During the 1970s, the Japanese film market shrank due to competition from television.[39] This
reduced Toei animation's staff and many animators went to studios such as A Pro and Telecom
animation. Mushi Production went bankrupt (though the studio was revived 4 years later), its
former employees founding studios such as Madhouse and Sunrise. Many young animators
were thrust into the position of director, and the injection of young talent allowed for a wide
variety of experimentation. One of the earliest successful television productions in the early
1970s was Tomorrow's Joe (1970), a boxing anime which has become iconic in Japan. 1971 saw
the first installment of the Lupin III anime. Contrary to the franchise's current popularity, the
first series ran for 23 episodes before being cancelled. The second series (starting in 1977) saw
considerably more success, spanning 155 episodes over three years.

Another example of this experimentation is Isao Takahata's 1974 television series Heidi, Girl of
the Alps. This show was originally a hard sell because it was a simple realistic drama aimed at
children, and most TV networks thought children needed something more fantastic to draw
them in. Heidi was an international success, popular in many European countries, and so
successful in Japan that it allowed for Hayao Miyazaki and Takahata to start a series of literary-
based anime (World Masterpiece Theater). Miyazaki and Takahata left Nippon Animation in the
late 1970s. Two of Miyazaki's critically acclaimed productions during the 1970s were Future Boy
Conan (1978) and Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).

During this period, Japanese animation reached continental Europe with productions aimed at
European and Japanese children, with the most-pronounced examples being the
aforementioned Heidi but also Barbapapa and Vicky the Vikings. Italy, Spain and France grew an
interest in Japan's output, which was offered for a low price.[40][41] In the 1970s, censored
Japanese animation were shown on U.S. television. One example of this censorship was
transgender characters in Gatchaman ("Battle of the Planets").[42]

Another genre known as mecha came into being at this time. Some early works include
Mazinger Z (1972–1974), Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972–1974), Space Battleship
Yamato (1974–75) and Mobile Suit Gundam (1979–80).

As a contrast to the action-oriented shows, shows for a female audience such as Candy Candy
and The Rose of Versailles earned high popularity on Japanese television and later in other parts
of the world.[40]

By 1978, over fifty shows were aired on television.[43]

1980s[edit]
In the 1980s, anime started to go through a "visual quality renewal" thanks to new directors like
Hayao Miyazaki, who founded Studio Ghibli in 1985, Isao Takahata and Katsuhiro Ōtomo.[9]
Anime began to deal with more nuanced and complex stories, while Boy's Love continued to
impact cultural norms, taking root across East Asia, as countries such as South Korea, Thailand,
and China ingested these Japanese pop culture exports.[44][45]:3 The shift towards space
operas became more pronounced with the commercial success of Star Wars (1977). This
allowed for the space opera Space Battleship Yamato (1974) to be revived as a theatrical film.
Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) was also successful and revived as a theatrical film in 1982. The
success of the theatrical versions of Yamato and Gundam is seen as the beginning of the anime
boom of the 1980s, and of "Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age".[46]

A subculture in Japan, whose members later called themselves otaku, began to develop around
animation magazines such as Animage and Newtype. These magazines formed in response to
the overwhelming fandom that developed around shows such as Yamato and Gundam in the
late 1970s and early 1980s.

In the United States, the popularity of Star Wars had a similar, though much smaller, effect on
the development of anime.[citation needed] Gatchaman was reworked and edited into Battle
of the Planets in 1978 and again as G-Force in 1986. Space Battleship Yamato was reworked and
edited into Star Blazers in 1979. The Macross series began with The Super Dimension Fortress
Macross (1982), which was adapted into English as the first arc of Robotech (1985), which was
created from three separate anime titles: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super
Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada. The sequel to Mobile Suit
Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985), became the most successful real robot space opera
in Japan, where it managed an average television rating of 6.6% and a peak of 11.7%.[47]

The otaku subculture became more pronounced with Mamoru Oshii's adaptation of Rumiko
Takahashi's popular manga Urusei Yatsura (1981). Yatsura made Takahashi a household name
and Oshii would break away from fan culture and take a more auteuristic approach with his
1984 film Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer. This break with the otaku subculture would
allow Oshii to experiment further.

The otaku subculture had some effect on people who were entering the industry around this
time. The most famous of these people were the amateur production group Daicon Films which
would become Gainax. Gainax began by making films for the Daicon science fiction conventions
and were so popular in the otaku community that they were given a chance to helm the
biggest-budgeted anime film (at that time), Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise
(1987).

The film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind helped jumpstart Studio Ghibli.

One of the most-influential anime of all time, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), was
made during this period. The film gave extra prestige to anime allowing for many experimental
and ambitious projects to be funded shortly after its release. It also allowed director Hayao
Miyazaki and his longtime colleague Isao Takahata to create their own studio under the
supervision of former Animage editor Toshio Suzuki. This studio would become known as
Studio Ghibli and its first film was Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), one of Miyazaki's most-
ambitious films.

The success of Dragon Ball (1986) introduced the martial arts genre and became incredibly
influential in the Japanese Animation industry. It influenced many more martial arts anime and
manga series' including YuYu Hakusho (1990), One Piece (1999), Naruto (2002), and One Punch
Man (2015).

The 1980s brought anime to the home video market in the form of original video animation
(OVA), as shows were shifting from a focus on superheroes to robots and space operas,[24]
with original video animation (OVA or OAV) coming onto the market in 1984, with a range in
length.[13] Home videos opened up the floodgates, introducing viewers, especially those in the
West, to anime films.[35] Although anime was widely distributed through international piracy in
the 1980s and 1990s,[37] before the days of online piracy, it continued to survive. Anime
recovered in the U.S., becoming more of Japan's television exports as the country became the
"world's leading authority" in entertainment.[26]:19–20 The first OVA was Mamoru Oshii's
Dallos (1983–1984). Shows such as Patlabor had their beginnings in this market and it proved to
be a way to test less-marketable animation against audiences. The OVA allowed for the release
of pornographic anime such as Cream Lemon (1984); the first hentai OVA was actually the little-
known Wonder Kids studio's Lolita Anime, also released in 1984.

The 1980s also saw the amalgamation of anime with video games. The airing of Red Photon
Zillion (1987) and subsequent release of its companion game, is considered to have been a
marketing ploy by Sega to promote sales of their newly released Master System in Japan.

Sports anime, as it is now known, made its debut in 1983 with an anime adaptation of Yoichi
Takahashi's soccer manga Captain Tsubasa, which became the first worldwide successful sports
anime. Its themes and stories were a formula that would be used in many sports series that
followed, such as Slam Dunk, Prince of Tennis and Eyeshield 21.

The late 1980s saw an increasing number of high-budget and experimental films. In 1985,
Toshio Suzuki helped put together funding for Oshii's experimental film Angel's Egg (1985).
Theatrical releases became more ambitious, each film trying to outclass or outspend its
predecessors, taking cues from Nausicaä's popular and critical success. Night on the Galactic
Railroad (1985), Tale of Genji (1986), and Grave of the Fireflies (1988) were all ambitious films
based on important literary works in Japan. Films such as Char's Counterattack (1988) and Arion
(1986) were lavishly budgeted spectacles. This period of lavish budgeting and experimentation
would reach its zenith with two of the most-expensive anime film productions ever: Royal
Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise (1987) and Akira (1988). Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery
Service (1989) was the top-grossing film for 1989, earning over $40 million at the box office.

Despite the commercial failure of Akira in Japan, it brought with it a much larger international
fan base for anime. When shown overseas, the film became a cult hit and, eventually, a symbol
of the medium for the West. The domestic failure and international success of Akira, combined
with the bursting of the bubble economy and Osamu Tezuka's death in 1989, brought a close to
the 1980s era of anime.

1990s[edit]
In 1995, Hideaki Anno wrote and directed the controversial anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.
This show became popular in Japan among anime fans and became known to the general public
through mainstream media attention. It is believed that Anno originally wanted the show to be
the ultimate otaku anime, designed to revive the declining anime industry, but midway through
production he also made it into a heavy critique of the subculture. It culminated in the
successful but controversial film The End of Evangelion which grossed over $10 million in 1997.
The many violent and sexual scenes in Evangelion caused TV Tokyo to increase censorship of
anime content. As a result, when Cowboy Bebop was first broadcast in 1998, it was shown
heavily edited and only half the episodes were aired; it too gained heavy popularity both in and
outside of Japan.
Evangelion started a series of so-called "post-Evangelion" or "organic" mecha shows. Most of
these were giant robot shows with some kind of religious or complex plot. These include
RahXephon, Brain Powerd, and Gasaraki. It also led to late-night experimental anime shows.
Starting with Serial Experiments Lain (1998), late night became a forum for experimental anime
such as Boogiepop Phantom (2000), Texhnolyze (2003) and Paranoia Agent (2004).
Experimental anime films were also released in the 1990s, most notably the cyberpunk thriller
Ghost in the Shell (1995),[48] which had a strong influence on The Matrix.[49][50][51] Ghost in
the Shell, alongside Evangelion and the neo-noir space western Cowboy Bebop, helped further
increase the awareness of anime in international markets.[52]

The late 1990s also saw a brief revival of the super robot genre that had decreased in
popularity due to the rise of real robot and psychological mecha shows like Gundam, Macross,
and Evangelion. The revival of the super robot genre began with Brave Exkaiser in 1990, and led
to remakes and sequels of 1970s super robot shows like Getter Robo Go and Tetsujin-28 go FX.
There were very few popular super robot shows produced after this, until Tengen Toppa Gurren
Lagann in 2007.

Alongside its super robot counterpart, the real robot genre was also declining during the 1990s.
Though several Gundam shows were produced during this decade, very few of them were
successful. The only Gundam shows in the 1990s which managed an average television rating
over 4% in Japan were Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994) and New Mobile Report Gundam Wing
(1995). It wasn't until Mobile Suit Gundam SEED in 2002 that the real robot genre regained its
popularity.[47]

3D rendering was used in this scene of Princess Mononoke, the most expensive anime film at
the time, costing $20 million

In 1997, Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke became the most-expensive anime film up until
that time, costing $20 million to produce. Miyazaki personally checked each of the 144,000 cels
in the film,[53] and is estimated to have redrawn parts of 80,000 of them.[54] 1997 was also
the year of Satoshi Kon's debut, Perfect Blue, which won "Best Film" and "Best Animation"
awards at Montreal's 1997 Fantasia Festival, It also won awards in Portugal's Fantasporto Film
Festival.

By 1998, over one hundred anime shows were aired on television in Japan,[43] including a
popular series based on the Pokémon video game franchise. Other 1990s anime series which
gained international success were Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, and Digimon; the success of
these shows brought international recognition to the martial arts superhero genre, the magical
girl genre, and the action-adventure genre, respectively. In particular, Dragon Ball Z and Sailor
Moon were dubbed into more than a dozen languages worldwide. Another large success was
the anime One Piece, based on the best-selling manga of all time, which is still ongoing.
2000s[edit]
The "Evangelion-era" trend continued into the 2000s with Evangelion-inspired mecha anime
such as RahXephon (2002) and Zegapain (2006) – RahXephon was also intended to help revive
1970s-style mecha designs. The number of anime productions began to decline after peaking in
2006 due to alternative forms of entertainment, less ad revenue, and other reasons, with TV
Tokyo remaining one of the only channels airing anime shows.[15] Even so, anime began
entering U.S. homes like never before, with fans able to get their hands on Japanese-language
originals of animes they watched, thanks to the internet.[55]

The real robot genre (including the Gundam and Macross franchises), which had declined
during the 1990s, was revived in the early 2000s with the success of shows such as FLCL (2000),
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002), Eureka Seven (2005), Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
(2006), Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007), and Macross Frontier (2008).[citation needed]

The 1970s-style super robot genre revival began with GaoGaiGar in 1997 and continued into
the 2000s, with several remakes of classic series such as Getter Robo and Dancougar, as well as
original titles created in the super robot mold like Godannar and Gurren Lagann. Gurren
Lagann in particular combined the super robot genre with elements from 1980s real robot
shows, as well as 1990s "post-Evangelion" shows. Gurren Lagann received both the "best
television production" and "best character design" awards from the Tokyo International Anime
Fair in 2008.[56] This eventually culminated in the release of Shin Mazinger in 2009, a full-
length revival of the first super robot series, Mazinger Z.

An art movement started by Takashi Murakami that combined Japanese pop-culture with
postmodern art called Superflat began around this time. Murakami asserts that the movement
is an analysis of post-war Japanese culture through the eyes of the otaku subculture. His desire
is also to get rid of the categories of 'high' and 'low' art making a flat continuum, hence the
term 'superflat'. His art exhibitions have gained popularity overseas and have influenced a
handful of anime creators, particularly those from Studio 4 °C.[citation needed]

The experimental late night anime trend popularized by Serial Experiments Lain also continued
into the 2000s with experimental anime such as Boogiepop Phantom (2000), Texhnolyze (2003),
Paranoia Agent (2004), Gantz (2004), and Ergo Proxy (2006)

In addition to these experimental trends, the 2000s were also characterized by an increase of
moe-style art and bishōjo and bishōnen character design. There was a rising presence and
popularity of genres such as romance, harem and slice of life.

Anime based on eroge and visual novels increased in popularity in the 2000s, building on a
trend started in the late 1990s by such works as Sentimental Journey (1998) and To Heart
(1999). Examples of such works include Green Green (2003), SHUFFLE! (2006), Kanon (2002 and
2006), Fate/Stay Night (2006), Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (2006), Ef: A Tale of Memories (2007),
True Tears (2008), and Clannad (2008 and 2009).
Many shows have been adapted from manga and light novels, including popular titles such as
Yu-Gi-Oh! (2000), Inuyasha (2000), Naruto and its sequel series Naruto Shippuden (2002 and
2007), Fullmetal Alchemist and its manga faithful adaptation Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
(2003 and 2009), Monster (2004), Bleach (2004), Rozen Maiden (2005), Aria the Animation
(2005), Shakugan no Shana (2005), Pani Poni Dash! (2005), Death Note (2006), Mushishi (2006),
Sola (2007), The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006), Lucky Star (2007), Toradora! (2008), K-
On! (2009), Bakemonogatari (2009), and Fairy Tail (2009); these shows typically last several
years and achieve large fanbases. Nevertheless, original anime titles continue to be produced
with the same success.

The 2000s marked a trend of emphasis of the otaku subculture. A notable critique of this otaku
subculture is found in the 2006 anime Welcome to the N.H.K., which features a hikikomori
(socially withdrawn) protagonist and explores the effects and consequences of various Japanese
sub-cultures, such as otaku, lolicon, internet suicide, massively multiplayer online games and
multi-level marketing.

In contrast to the above-mentioned phenomenon, there have been more productions of late-
night anime for a non-otaku audience as well. The first concentrated effort came from Fuji TV's
Noitamina block. The 30-minute late-Thursday timeframe was created to showcase productions
for young women of college age, a demographic that watches very little anime. The first
production Honey and Clover was a particular success, peaking at a 5% TV rating in Kantou, very
strong for late-night anime. The block has been running uninterrupted since April 2005 and has
yielded many successful productions unique in the modern anime market.

There have been revivals of American cartoons such as Transformers which spawned four new
series, Transformers: Car Robots in 2000, Transformers: Micron Legend in 2003, Transformers:
Superlink in 2004, and Transformers: Galaxy Force in 2005. In addition, an anime adaptation of
the G.I Joe series was produced titled G.I. Joe: Sigma 6.

The revival of earlier anime series was seen in the forms of Fist of the North Star: The Legends
of the True Savior (2006) and Dragon Ball Z Kai (2009). Later series also started receiving
revivals in the late 2000s and early 2010s, such as with Studio Khara's Rebuild of Evangelion
tetralogy (2007–), and new adaptations of Masamune Shirow's manga Appleseed XIII (2011)
and Ghost in the Shell: Arise (2013–2016).

The decade also dawned a revival of high-budget feature-length anime films, such as
Millennium Actress (2001), Metropolis (2001), Appleseed (2001), Paprika (2006), and the most
expensive of all being Steamboy (2004) which cost $26 million to produce. Satoshi Kon
established himself alongside Otomo and Oshii as one of the premier directors of anime film,
before his premature death at the age of 46. Other younger film directors, such as Mamoru
Hosoda, director of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) and Summer Wars (2009), also
began to reach prominence.

During this decade, anime feature films were nominated for and won major international film
awards for the first time in the industry's history. In 2002, Spirited Away, a Studio Ghibli
production directed by Hayao Miyazaki, won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film
Festival and in 2003 at the 75th Academy Awards it won the Academy Award for Best Animated
Feature. It was the first non-American film to win the award and is one of only two to do so. It
has also become the highest grossing anime film, with a worldwide box office of US$274
million.

Following the launch of the Toonami programming block on Cartoon Network in the United
States in March 1997, anime saw a giant rise in the North American market. Kid-friendly anime
such as Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, Doraemon, Bakugan, Beyblade, and the 4Kids
Entertainment adaptation of One Piece have all received varying levels of success. This era also
saw the rise of Anime-influenced animation, most notably Avatar: the Last Airbender and its
sequel The Legend of Korra, Megas XLR, Code Lyoko, Ben 10, Chaotic, Samurai Jack, The
Boondocks, RWBY and Teen Titans. As such, anime further became entrenched in U.S.
households with the launch of Adult Swim by Cartoon Network in 2001, aimed at those in the
"older OVA & tape trading crowd," with a new fandom forming.[57] This fandom was, however,
exclusive and elitist with newcomers expected to know how to use IRC, some basic Japanese,
and so on.

At the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, directed by Mamoru Oshii,
was in competition for the Palme d'Or and in 2006, at the 78th Academy Awards, Howl's
Moving Castle, another Studio Ghibli-produced film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, was
nominated for Best Animated Feature. 5 Centimeters Per Second, directed by Makoto Shinkai,
won the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2007, and so far,
anime films have been nominated for the award every year.

By 2004, over two hundred shows were aired on television.[43]

In 2006, graduates of the University of California, Berkeley launched Crunchyroll in 2006,[58]

becoming the first "anime streaming service," a model later used by Netflix, Funimation, and
Amazon.com in the later 2010s.

2010s[edit]
In May 2012, the Toonami programming block in the United States was relaunched as a late
night adult-oriented action block on Adult Swim, bringing more uncut popular anime back to a
wider audience on cable television. In addition to broadcasting or re-broadcasting previously
released dubbed anime, the block (as well as Adult Swim itself) has overseen the worldwide
premiere of English dubbed releases for various anime, including but not limited to: Durarara!!
(2010), Deadman Wonderland (2011), Hunter x Hunter (2011), Sword Art Online (2012), JoJo's
Bizarre Adventure (2012), Attack on Titan (2013), Kill la Kill (2013), Space Dandy (2014), Akame
ga Kill! (2014), Parasyte -the maxim- (2014), One-Punch Man (2015) Dragon Ball Super (2015),
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (2017), and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019).[59]
On September 6, 2013 Hayao Miyazaki announced that The Wind Rises (2013) would be his last
film, and on August 3, 2014 it was announced that Studio Ghibli was "temporarily halting
production" following the release of When Marnie Was There (2014), further substantiating the
finality of Miyazaki's retirement. The disappointing sales of Isao Takahata's comeback film The
Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) has also been cited as a factor.[60] Several prominent staffers,
including producer Yoshiaki Nishimura and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, left to form their
own Studio Ponoc, premièring with Mary and the Witch's Flower (2017).[61][62][63] Both Ghibli
and Miyazaki subsequently went back into production for the up-coming film How Do You Live?,
[64] while Takahata died on April 5, 2018 of lung cancer.[65]

Additionally, various international anime distribution companies, such as ADV Films, Bandai
Entertainment, and Geneon Entertainment, were shut down due to poor revenue, with their
assets spun into new companies like Sentai Filmworks or given to other companies.[66]

In 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica was aired in Japan. The anime was a change from normal
magical girl anime, as this anime contained more darker, complex and more gorier themes than
magical anime usually would. The anime got great reception from critics, as United Kingdom's
Anime Network's Andy Hanley rated it a 10 out of 10 for its emotional content and evocative
soundtrack.

Both Attack on Titan and The Wind Rises reflect a national debate surrounding the
reinterpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, with Miyazaki's pacifism in the film
coming under fire from the political right,[67] while Attack on Titan has been accused of
promoting militarism by people in neighboring Asian countries, despite being intended to show
the haunting, hopeless aspects of conflict.[68] The mecha anime genre (as well as Japanese
kaiju films) received a Western homage with the 2013 film Pacific Rim directed by Guillermo del
Toro.[69]

Western streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are increasingly becoming
involved in the production and licensing of anime.[70]

In 2015, an all-record-high of three hundred forty anime series aired on television.[43]

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Infinity Train became the highest-grossing Japanese
film and one of the world's highest-grossing films of 2020.[71] It also became the fastest
grossing film in Japanese cinema, because in 10 days it made 10 billion yen ($95.3m; £72m).[71]
It beat the previous record of Spirited Away which took 25 days.[71]

Firsts[edit]
First...Native language nameEnglish nameReleasedType

Anime (oldest known) 活動写真 Katsudō Shashin Unknown[a] short film

Confirmed film release 凸坊新画帳・名案の失敗 Bumpy new picture book – Failure of a great
plan February 1917[1] short film

Anime publicly shown in a theater 芋川椋三玄関番の巻 or 芋川椋三玄関番之巻 The Story

of the Concierge Mukuzo Imokawa April 1917[1] short film

Talkie 力と女の世の中 Within the World of Power and Women[b] April 13, 1933[72] film

Entirely cel-animated anime 茶釜音頭 The Dance of the Chagamas 1934[20] film

Feature film 桃太郎 海の神兵 Momotaro: Sacred Sailors[c] April 12, 1945[73] film

Appearance on television (non series) もぐらのアバンチュール Mole's Adventure July 14,

1958[74] short film

Color feature film 白蛇伝 The Tale of the White Serpent October 22, 1958 film

Television series インスタントヒストリー Instant History May 1, 1961 series

First Populair Television series Worldwide 鉄腕アトム Astro Boy January 1, 1963 series

Late night series 仙人部落 Hermit Village September 4, 1963 series

Giant robot series 鉄人 28 号 Tetsujin 28-go October 20, 1963 series

Color television series ジャングル大帝 Kimba the White Lion October 6, 1965 series

Magical girl series 魔法使いサリー Sally the Witch December 5, 1966 series

Sports series 巨人の星 Star of the Giants March 30 1968 series

Adult-oriented (animated) film 千夜一夜物語 A Thousand and One Nights June 14, 1969 film

Hentai with an "X rating"[d] クレオパトラ Cleopatra September 15, 1970[75] film

Space opera series 宇宙戦艦ヤマト Space Battleship Yamato October 6, 1974 series

Isekai series 聖戦士ダンバイン Aura Battler Dunbine February 5, 1983 series

OVA ダロス Dallos December 12, 1983 OVA

First Populair Worldwide Movie アキラ Akira July 16, 1988 film

Fully computer animated anime[76] A.LI.CE A.LI.CE February 5, 2000 film

ONA あずまんが WEB 大王 Azumanga Web Daioh December 28, 2000 ONA
Records[edit]
Record...Native language nameEnglish nameReleasedType

Highest grossing anime film in Japan 千と千尋の神隠し Spirited Away July 20, 2001 film

Fastest grossing anime film[71] 劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no

Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train October 16, 2020 film

Highest grossing anime film worldwide 君の名は。 Your Name July 3, 2016 film

See also[edit]
 Anime and manga portal
 Animation portal
 Cartoon portal
 Film portal
 Japan portal
 History of manga
 Kamishibai