Anime Part 3... Not another cartoon - the late 90s and my classifications of genres
Jun 04 '01
The Bottom Line Brief history into the late 90s and current year. Includes my way of classifying anime which is based on most people's standards of classification.
Now... we come to the third article on anime in the US. In the last 2 parts of this series I dealt with some basic definitions of anime, the preconceptions of anime versus cartoons, and a detailed history of events that increased anime's presence in mainstream US culture. In this part, I plan to discuss the late 90s and the genres present in anime. I should point out that my classifications of anime are not strict due to the large amount of overlap of many series over several genres. Also because of that overlap, people may classify an anime in various ways.
Before we continue, you may want to read parts 1 and 2 of this discussion first.
Here is the link to part 1, the preconceptions of anime and history:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_1494065284
Here is the link to part 2, history of the rise of anime in mainstream US culture:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_1509335172
The late explosive 90s
With the advent of DVDs and the explosive popularity of DragonBall Z and Sailor Moon, various anime began to appear on US store shelves. Cartoon Network no longer was viewed as a failing cable channel, but now prospered with the newfound audience gathered from their acquisitions of Sailor Moon and DragonBall Z (DBZ). New distributors began to appear in the US... most notable were Bandai and the evolution of ADV and Pioneer to DVD publishing powerhouses.
Many new titles appeared in US video stores. Cartoon Network’s Toonami added a slew of new series for its audiences. Notable titles included Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Princess Mononoke, Gundam Wing, and more. DVDs appeared on shelves with more episodes than the same VHS counterparts… plus it also came dubbed, subtitled, and with additional spoken languages with special features to boot. There were times that the DVD edition was cheaper than the similar VHS tape. Even better was that the distributors only had to press one copy of a DVD and not two or three or more versions of a particular anime movie or episode.
There are some drawbacks however… although anime has gained more mainstream US support, the fansubber groups have been slowly stamped out. A few still exist… but not to the degree of the 80s and early 90s. The reason that the decline of fansubbers is a bad thing for the anime industry… fansubbers were more willing to translate some of the less popular and even obscure anime works from Japan. Not to say that other companies haven’t released unique anime into the US video mainstream… i.e. Lain released by Pioneer, but that the majority of anime releases have too many similarities to other titles on the market already.
Regardless of what happens, I can only hope that anime/animation continues to evolve as an art form and that the US market will see more of storytelling power and some of its advantages over the live action market. Strangely enough, despite Disney’s rather rudimentary storylines, Disney has shown the power of animation as a storyline. Look at Tarzan, the upcoming Atlantis, and all those Disney classics. If you want to take the epitome of anime… one needs to look no farther than the master himself, Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki has always combined theme with powerful characterization and a mix of flights of fancy as well as fantasy… if you are willing to keep an open mind and an attentive eye, Miyazaki tells a powerful story in his animation… something many other filmmakers are yet unable to perform.
My Anime Classifications
Before I continue here, note that these classification are my classifications… they may fall into the standard classification used to describe many animations out there and a few categories I’ve termed for my use and my description of certain animation to others. Also note that many anime series crossover several genres.
Magical Girl Series
What else can you say here… this classification was made most popular in the US by Sailor Moon. These series usually involved at least one female (or a group of females) who were for some reason selected to save the world from evildoers. The female(s) would be granted tremendous powers to battle said evil. In many of these series, the main female tended to be a ditz but not always. Pretty Sammy (magical girl series involving the characters from Tenchi Muyo in a alternative universe… main character is Sasami) and Nurse Angel Ririka (guess who the main character is!) did not have a ditz as the main female role. Sailor Moon did have a ditz (Bunny/Selena/Yusagi are the various translations of the Sailor Moon’s name). Also, in the original Japanese versions of many magical girl series, the transformation scenes may be a little racy and for some series, did hint or even show nudity. Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne is another magical girl series with a smart main female role. Many of the female leads are also idealistic and tended to dress in tight fitting or suggestive costumes… i.e. the school/sailor outfits for the Sailor Scouts. Again, the most important requirement of being a magical girl series involved a female lead with magical/mystical powers (even technological powers) battling evil. The nemesis could be male or female. Rivals also could be either male or female. Magical Knights Rayearth and Hime-Chan no Ribbon are other magical girl series as well.
Sport series
These involve anime like Slam Dunk and Initial D. These involve the characters being shown in the particular sport during most of the series. The sport is the main driving force for the main and supporting characters’ lives. In Initial D, the series is mostly focused on the sport of street car racing in Japan. It involves Takumi, who seems to be clueless about the inner working of cars, but he has been driving since his mid-teens. He has nearly flawless technique in his driving skill and fall unexpectedly into the world of street car racing. The series also involves a bit of drama and romance as well, but they are not the main driving force of Initial D. The same can be said of Slam Dunk as well.
Thrillers/Suspense/Horror
This may be a difficult category to describe. Perfect Blue is one of the best examples of a thriller/suspense. Perfect Blue shows the life of an up and coming young pop star turned actress and idol. It shows the consequences of her decisions and how it affected others who worked with her and for her. Mind games abound on the poor main character (which is the one thing I can’t remember the name of in this movie… Ako? Or something like that) when people who turned her towards the life of acting start getting murdered… the murders being rather brutal. Perfect Blue is a definite must see for anyone with any interest in thrillers or suspense flicks.
Vampire Princess Miyu OVA series (released by AnimEigo) is an example of Japanese horror. Japanese horror seems to be quite different that American standards of horror. In the US, horror is associated with movies like Psycho… I think most American horror movies rely more on the timing to create horror, although there are definite exceptions to this (like Seven). Vampire Princess rely more on defining situations that can be considered horrible (at least to certain cultures/upbringings). The horror elements are rather subtle and are more reflective of the cultural background of the anime. Many US viewers may not even consider Vampire Princess Miyu a horror series because it is so different. Please note that there is a Vampire Princess Miyu TV series (not yet released in the US but licensed by ADV) which plays with a mix of the elements from the OVA and a little of a warped Magical Girl genre feel.
I think I would classify X 1999 by CLAMP (an extremely talented anime group composed primarily if not completely by women) in this category as well. It deals mainly with a boy named Kamui… the most powerful of a group of chosen humans with superhuman powers. There are supposed to be 14 people… 7 will be known as Dragons of Earth and 7 as Dragons of Heaven. The two groups of people will have to battle each other to determine the fate of the Earth… a battle that takes place completely in Tokyo. What Kamui must face is his own doubts and conscious, but he must also face tough situations with or against close friends. The X 1999 is a really shortened version of the manga series in Japan… as reading the series (partially translated by Viz Comics) displays much more characterization and each characters rise or fall from grace.
The second season Neon Genesis Evangelion can also be considered horror to some extent. Neon Genesis Evangelion crosses over so many genres however so it is hard to put into a small paragraph.
Comedy
This is one of the largest and most varied of anime genres. The comedy can vary from subtle to outrageous humor and liking one comedy does not mean you will like another anime comedy. Also, most of the comedy series have a lot of overlap with several other genres… many times overlapping into romance and relationships. On top of all this, there are subgenres in comedy as well. In particular, the spoofs can be considered a subgenre.
Spoofs include Project A-ko, Martian Successor Nadesico, Slayers, Excel Saga, ack… there is so many in this catagory. Project A-ko is a spoof of just about every 80s anime that existed… from robots and androids to superheroes and supervillains to the ditz best friends and so on and so forth. If you’ve watched a lot of 80s and 90s anime, you will see elements from most of the major anime series of that time. From the ridiculous missle barrages unleashed from C-ko’s skimpy battle suit to the super strong and near invulnerability of A-ko to the unbelievable random and thoughtless destruction of the town. Project A-ko is a barrel of laughs especially for those of us who have been watching for many years.
Martain Successor Nadesico is more of a spoof against Gundam, space adventures, the lone hero, and the odd captain and crew. The series also crosses over action and adventure as well. Nadesico deals with a young but very odd space ship crew assembled to crew the first of hopefully many new space battleships with the latest and most powerful earth and alien technology.
Ranma ½ is another comedy based also on relationships and romance. Ranma Saotome is a highly skilled martial artist although somewhat dull minded but always brash teenage male returning from a trip from China with his dad. Ranma is supposed to be engaged to one of his father’s best friend (Tendo) daughters (Akane will the daughter who is chosen). Unfortunately, Ranma’s father (Genma) is even duller in the head and brought them to a cursed training grounds where Genma and Ranma have been cursed. Genma is cursed to change into a Panda when doused with cold water and takes back his regular shape when splashed with hot water. Ranma is a bit different… he changed into a sexy redhead… that’s right!, macho Ranma changes into a girl! Ranma ½ was created by Rumiko Takehashi… she is the creator of another comedy (Urasei Yatsura), as well as Maison Ikkoku, One Pound Gospel, and Inu-Yasha (most current manga/anime of Takehashi’s).
Tenchi Muyo also falls into this category. The Slayers is another comedy that spoofs off fantasy series like Record of Lodoss Wars and Orphan: Scion of Sorcery.
Action/Adventure
This may be the largest of all anime genres… this ranges from Record of Lodoss Wars to Orphan to Bastard to Gundam to Gasaraki to Fushigi Yuugi to BubbleGum Crisis to Neon Genesis Evangelion to Spriggan to Cowboy Bebop. This particular genre crosses over to so many other genres extremely frequently.
The lists are extremely long. The only criteria is that the anime have a good amount of action and adventure. Gundam deals with large mobile suits during a time of war both on the Earth and the far reaches of space. Fushigi Yuugi is about a modern age girl sucked into a world that is a mix of ancient Chinese empire and magic. Spriggan is about a boy name Yu Omisake who works for an organization that seals dangerous artifacts out of the reach of those who would do harm to the world. Spriggan feels very much like an Indiana Jones movie. My favorite anime… Cowboy Bebop deals with a small group of bounty hunters that slowly grow and understand each other as well as themselves. Each of them has a past… many times a past that is hard to forget or even deal with. The series progresses to deal with each character’s past and their ultimate outcomes.
Fighting Anime
If you haven’t heard of this category, then your head must have been stuck in the sand during the 80s and 90s. The title that most people would associate with this genre is Street Fighter: The Animated Movie. The center of these animes is the fighting. Street Fighter:TAM has great art and for the most part shows fairly realistic fighting movement and motions and attack follow ups (no the Hadoken is not a real move in any martial arts school/system I know… well at least it doesn’t shoot out a fireball!). Story… what story? Story lines tend to extremely dumbed down if a decent storyline was incorporated into these anime. Other series here include Fatal Fury, Tekken, Samurai Showdown, Ranma ½ to some extent, Virtua Fighter, and the other various Street Fighter variations (Alpha/Zero and III).
Epics
This category includes anime like Record of Lodoss Wars, Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind, and Mononoke Hime otherwise known as Princess Mononoke. These anime have a broad range audience and have characters that can affect the course of the anime’s history not by their power but by their determination and will. There is a feeling of awe in the characters… a feeling of influence over a vast amount of the other characters in the anime.
Record of Lodoss Wars starts with Parn, a young boy who has a sense of justice. He starts adventuring with an odd group of people brought together in this time of war. The story builds to show Parn’s growth and the changes in others that he and his party come in contact with… eventually leading to change and Parn’s involvement as a major figure in the war. From a young naïve wannabe knight to the Knight of all Lodoss, Record of Lodoss Wars starts small and expands right before your eyes.
Nausicca involves the princess from a small valley who bravely travels out to find out the troubles of the world and with nature. The world has gone through a technological evolution only to wind up with human in a huge war against each other. During the periods of war, nature grew angry and attacked engulfing a large part of the world in huge forests that emitted poisonous gas. Nausicca doesn’t realize yet how much she means to all the world... both human and nature. This is a anime by the great Hayao Miyazaki who also created…
Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke. In many ways the stories of Nausicca and this anime are very similar. Both deal with themes of harmony with nature and the nature of man. Princess Mononoke deals with Ashi-taka a prince from a small village who is cursed/poisoned by a wild mystical boar made crazed by technology (muskets/rifles). Ashi-taka goes to find the cause of the madness occurring in nature and the nature of man far from his homeland. He finds things that are very different from his village and situations that he hoped people would never put themselves and others in. He meets many strong female characters… one of them is the Princess Mononoke… a young wild girl living with the other magical and huge animal guardians. Mononoke is a bit harder to understand than Nausicca since there are a bit more Japanese cultural references than in Nausicca. To me, it is one of the greatest films of all time.
The Hakkenden is about feudal Japan and the legend of the 7 dog-warriors/samurai.
Thought provoking and Themed anime
Lain is the first anime that comes to mind here. I feel there isn’t any right way to describe Lain… it is very open to interpretation and presents vivid and thought provoking imagery and background. Lain makes a statement of so many levels of society today, the nature of technology, and even what limit might or might not exist. Lain is not meant for a light viewing… it is rich and requires your attention. If you have a short attention span, Lain will quickly lose you. If you want something new, definitely watch Lain and keep and open and questioning mind.
The second season of Neon Genesis Evangelion is also very thought provoking. It explores the nature of man and their fragile ego and personalities. Here is where Evangelion began to soar… showing a strength in storytelling and character development not often seen in many medium.
Many of Miyazaki’s works have strong central themes with excellent storytelling and characterization. His other works include My Neighbor Totoro, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, and many more. Disney has picked up the rights to all of Miyazaki’s works except for Totoro (who was rumored to be very unhappy with Fox’s job of translating and editing the anime).
Final words
I hope you had fun reading about anime from my perspective and seeing a way of classifying some of the various anime out there. I will repeat that those already familiar with anime may not agree with parts of my classification system… and also that I did not put up my whole way of classifying anime as thing was getting rather long. The point is that anime is a medium for expressing oneself and of telling a story. It is as flexible and sometimes more flexible that movies and TV in the way that it can approach and present a story. I know that there is still more nuances to anime that I have not even touched and terms that I have not yet defined. Maybe I can get to those later.
If you want to read my reviews of several animes, visit my profile page for the list of anime I have reviewed to date.
The last thing I’ll leave you with is that if you’ve never touched anime before, try it, maybe you’ll like it.
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