Anime and Manga/Useful Notes: Difference between revisions

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* Anime, as opposed to many Western animated works, is generally not episode-based, but has a clear beginning, middle and end. (Minus the occasional filler)

* The vast majority of anime are based off of some other medium, usually manga or Japanese light novels, but more recently anime have been based off of Japanese TV dramas and even some Western media such as comic books (Wolverine and [[Iron Man]]), or Western television shows (''[[Supernatural (TV)|Supernatural]]''), and even books (''[[Film/Howls Moving Castle|Howls Moving Castle]]'').

* The vast majority of anime are based off of some other medium, usually manga or Japanese light novels, but more recently anime have been based off of Japanese TV dramas and even some Western media such as comic books (Wolverine and [[Iron Man]]), or Western television shows (''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''), and even books (''[[Film/Howls Moving Castle|Howls Moving Castle]]'').

* Western animation tends to have a higher frame rate then TV anime works, as anime is so prevalent that episodes need to be made quickly and on a budget, especially if they are trying to keep up with the manga. This means there's lot of anime out there which is [[They Just Didn't Care|relatively low quality]], in terms of animation. Frequent use of panning over stills and blatantly recycling animation are ways you'll see it. There's plenty of great animation as well, though.

* Made in the iconic anime style of art.

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* [[Sentai]]: A team of fighters with matching uniforms and crazy poses and attack speeches. Think [[Power Rangers]] and you'll know exactly what this genre, is but animated.

* [[Mecha Show]]: people driving human shapes robots and fighting each other. It spawned a pair of sub-genres, [[Super Robot]] and [[Real Robot]].

* [[Magical Girl]]: A cute young girl, often a preteen, can use some form of magic, and she uses it to fight evil against great odds. There's more to it than that but you get the gist. Exemplified by ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' and ''[[~~Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|~~Cardcaptor Sakura]]''.

* [[Magical Girl]]: A cute young girl, often a preteen, can use some form of magic, and she uses it to fight evil against great odds. There's more to it than that but you get the gist. Exemplified by ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' and ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]''.

* [[Magical Girlfriend]]: In which a kind but unlucky guy is blessed with the perfect girlfriend who happens to be some kind of goddess or demon or what have you. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* [[Harem]]: In which a guy, who may or may not be deserving is saddled with a veritable harem of girls who are fighting for his love. He may be [[Oblivious to Love]] or just not like any of them. Again though, [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* [[Mon]]: Short for monster, it basically involves owning/collecting often adorable little creatures with powers, which are used to fight. ''[[Pokémon (~~Anime~~)|Pokémon]]'' and ''[[~~Digimon (Franchise)|~~Digimon]]'' are often considered the poster children of this genre, a comparison of the two showing how diverse it can get.

* [[Mon]]: Short for monster, it basically involves owning/collecting often adorable little creatures with powers, which are used to fight. ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' and ''[[Digimon]]'' are often considered the poster children of this genre, a comparison of the two showing how diverse it can get.

If you're ''really'' bent on the evolution of anime and its many genres, we urge you to check out the [[Essential Anime]] page, which certain to catch you up on all the genres and their origins. Not to mention everything on it is a classic that most fans will have passing knowledge of.

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** Common female name endings are: -ko, -mi, -e and -yo

So remember, if you hear a character by the name of Akira being talked about, it's just as likely a male as a female. And likewise, a character named Tomoyo is going to be a girl. Also, there isn't a standard for Japanese-to-English romanization, so things can get a bit wonky when it crosses the sea. You'll want to see [[Japanese Romanization]] for that. One big thing to know though it that the 'L' sound [[Japanese Ranguage|doesn't exist in Japanese]], and will usually be replaced with an 'R' sound for non non-Japanese names and words in original dialogue. It's how you get names like [[Spell My Name ~~With~~ an "S"|Rorand turning into Roland]] once it's translated.

So remember, if you hear a character by the name of Akira being talked about, it's just as likely a male as a female. And likewise, a character named Tomoyo is going to be a girl. Also, there isn't a standard for Japanese-to-English romanization, so things can get a bit wonky when it crosses the sea. You'll want to see [[Japanese Romanization]] for that. One big thing to know though it that the 'L' sound [[Japanese Ranguage|doesn't exist in Japanese]], and will usually be replaced with an 'R' sound for non non-Japanese names and words in original dialogue. It's how you get names like [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Rorand turning into Roland]] once it's translated.

== [[Japanese Language]] ==

This isn't the place for a huge lesson on Japanese language, check out [[wikipedia:Japanese language|The Other Wiki]] for that, but there are some things simple things to mention that will crop up in relation to Japanese language in Anime and Manga. For instance, Japanese has '''three''' writing systems, Kanji, Katakana and Hiragana, which have different purposes. Kanji in particular represent ideas which can be grouped together to form a word or concept. These Kanji don't always have a set pronunciation, or can pronounced pretty much however someone wants to say they are despite established norms, so you can get people in Anime and Manga having to explain to others essentially how to [[Spell My Name ~~With~~ an "S"|spell]] or [[It Is Pronounced Tro PAY|pronounce]] their names a lot. Knowing Japanese is not at all necessary to enjoy anime, but knowing some (even just how to read hiragana and katakana) can be a benefit, since many anime works which are produced in Japan are never translated into English, and those that are often suffer from inferior quality to the original. This is the reason behind the ongoing [[Subbing Versus Dubbing]] flamewar, which never seems to end.

This isn't the place for a huge lesson on Japanese language, check out [[wikipedia:Japanese language|The Other Wiki]] for that, but there are some things simple things to mention that will crop up in relation to Japanese language in Anime and Manga. For instance, Japanese has '''three''' writing systems, Kanji, Katakana and Hiragana, which have different purposes. Kanji in particular represent ideas which can be grouped together to form a word or concept. These Kanji don't always have a set pronunciation, or can pronounced pretty much however someone wants to say they are despite established norms, so you can get people in Anime and Manga having to explain to others essentially how to [[Spell My Name with an "S"|spell]] or [[It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY"|pronounce]] their names a lot. Knowing Japanese is not at all necessary to enjoy anime, but knowing some (even just how to read hiragana and katakana) can be a benefit, since many anime works which are produced in Japan are never translated into English, and those that are often suffer from inferior quality to the original. This is the reason behind the ongoing [[Subbing Versus Dubbing]] flamewar, which never seems to end.

== Japanese Culture ==

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Believe it or not, it exists! The Japanese may have invented it, but they do not have a monopoly on the media. Manga-style comic books have been coming out of Korea, China and Taiwan for years now, though it's only recently that Westerners have become more aware of them. They are practically no different from Japanese manga, other than slight differences in culture and characters names. Manga in Korea is called [[Manhwa]], and Chinese and Taiwanese manga is called [[Manhua]]. It's no coincidence that the names are more or less identical. Korean and Chinese manga is just as excellent as the Japanese, so it's highly suggested that one check them out. There are also various original western manga coming out, especially in America and France, not to mention the huge amount of amateur manga worldwide which is easily accessible through the internet.

Anime is somewhat of a different story. While there are Korean and Chinese anime, it's pretty much non-existent in the West, or even on the internet, so good luck with that. Anime's influence however has definitely been felt worldwide, and many animated works tend to be [[Animesque]], or created with a similar style or in the spirit of Japanese animation ([[~~Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|~~Avatar: The Last Airbender]], [[Samurai Jack]], [[Megas XLR]], etc.). While there isn't exactly anything Western that one could pin down and say ''is'' Western anime, it's possible that one day soon it might happen.

Anime is somewhat of a different story. While there are Korean and Chinese anime, it's pretty much non-existent in the West, or even on the internet, so good luck with that. Anime's influence however has definitely been felt worldwide, and many animated works tend to be [[Animesque]], or created with a similar style or in the spirit of Japanese animation ([[Avatar: The Last Airbender]], [[Samurai Jack]], [[Megas XLR]], etc.). While there isn't exactly anything Western that one could pin down and say ''is'' Western anime, it's possible that one day soon it might happen.

Okay, now you know most everything you need to know to get a good start on reading manga and watching anime! It's guaranteed that you'll learn more as you continue your journey through the world of anime and manga, but for now, you should be able to navigate through this vast body of media!