In its most basic form, anime refers to animation. Interestingly enough, the name itself isn’t an abbreviation of the English word animation. Instead, it’s how you say “animated cartoon” (written アニメ) in Japanese. To a Japanese viewer, anime is any cartoon, whether it’s made in Japan or not. Outside of Japan, however, the term anime has come to mean “animation made in Japan,” or more broadly, any animated show or movie that uses signature aspects of Japanese-style animation, like vibrant colors, dramatic panning, and characteristic facial expressions.
In the U.S., most anime is classified as a niche form of entertainment, especially for adults. It’s looped in alongside other fandoms and often left to the wayside of mainstream entertainment. In Japan, however, anime is a culturally accepted and fairly basic form of entertainment for adults. This difference means that anime contains multitudes, with content produced for a wide range of viewers. Your first mental image of anime might be a spiky-haired magician or a sci-fi robot, but the genre contains multitudes. From drama, action, and romance to historical fiction, horror, comedy, and more—there’s an anime to match any taste.
What İs Anime ?