Anime Evolution

Nowadays “anime” style is recognized all around the world and without a doubt
Japan has achieved to mark some characteristics that, if any other country tries to
use them, when we see it we will think that it´s from the rising sun country.

But this “Chinese drawings” were not the same as today, actually, if we compare
the first anime examples with recent ones, it will seem as a joke.

Although the western side growth faster in the animation field, Japan was working
on his first animations since 20th century beginnings, animations that, sadly, were
destroyed and only a few are known today. Maybe the first Japanese animation
example that we have is the 1907 short film known as “Katsudo Shashin”, recently
recovered and more with an experimental kind than the recent animations from this
country.

In 1943 appears the first feature film with sounds and voices, Momotarō - Umi no
Shinpei, with a warlike thematic but with a cute style and good-looking for the kids,
nothing to be surprised of because USA also worked hard to recruit children to the
army with the cartoons (yes, I’m talking about you Donald Duck).

It is not until a few years later that the anime begins to spread and that the
grandfathers of the new series were born. In the 60s we have a few animes like
Astro Boy, Osomatsu-kun and 009 Cyborg. The drawing style was not much
different from its North American counterpart because there were so many
exaggerated details typical from the cartoons, but since then the classic anime
standard: big and shiny eyes with long eyelashes, there was also an attachment to
the sci-fi and robotics.