The 13 Most Popular Anime Genres & The Titles That Defined Them
It is classified into numerous genres targeting various broad and niche audiences. Anime is a diverse medium with distinctive production methods that have adapted in response to emergent technologies. It combines graphic art, characterization, cinematography, and other forms of imaginative and individualistic techniques.
Pikachu
It's all in the name, when it comes to slice of life anime: It's a genre containing stories that observe everyday life as it is lived by an individual or group of characters.
Animation is an art form, and it can do any genre. You know, it can do a detective film, a cowboy film, a horror film, an R-rated film or a kids' fairy tale. But it doesn't do one thing.
The five types are shonen, shojo, seinen, josei, and kodomomuke. Each kind of anime is focused on a specific target population of viewers.
List of Major Anime GenresAction.Adventure.Slice of Life.Fantasy.Magic.Supernatural.Mystery.Psychological.More items...•
Guillermo del Toro on Twitter: "Animation is a medium, not a genre- nor an interest for kids & families only." / Twitter.
Family film is a genre that is contains appropriate content for younger viewers. Family film aims to appeal not only to children, but to a wide range of ages. While the storyline may appeal to a younger audience, there are components of the film that are geared towards adults- such as witty jokes and humor.
Horror fictionDark fantasyThrillerTokyo Ghoul/Genres
GamblingPsychological thrillerKakegurui – Compulsive Gambler/Genres
ComedyComing-of-age storySports mangaHaikyu!!/Genres
Note that while the term "shōnen" tends to be used to refer to a few standard genres, it isn't technically a genre as it literally refers to the target demographic (and in Japan, generally refers strictly to manga, rather than animenote Light Novels are often marked with a generic "male" or "female" demographic.).
The 5 main anime genres are shonen, shojo, seinen, josei, and kodomomuke. How many genres of anime are there? There are dozens of genres and subgenres in anime. Some of the most popular are action, comedy, a slice of life, drama, tragedy, psychological, historical, mecha, military, supernatural, magic, and romance.
Action fictionDark fantasyApocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fictionDramaShōnen mangaAttack on Titan/Genres
Anime. Not to be confused with Amine. Anime ( Japanese: アニメ, IPA: [aɲime] ( listen)) is hand-drawn and computer animation originating from Japan. In Japan and in Japanese, anime (a term derived from the English word animation) describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin.
However, outside of Japan and in English, anime is colloquial for Japanese animation and refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. Animation produced outside of Japan with similar style to Japanese animation is referred to as anime-influenced animation . The earliest commercial Japanese animations date to 1917.
An anime episode can cost between US$100,000 and US$300,000 to produce. In 2001, animation accounted for 7% of the Japanese film market, above the 4.6% market share for live-action works. The popularity and success of anime is seen through the profitability of the DVD market, contributing nearly 70% of total sales.
English-language dictionaries typically define anime ( US: / ˈænəmeɪ /, UK: / ˈænɪmeɪ /) as "a style of Japanese animation" or as "a style of animation originating in Japan". Other definitions are based on origin, making production in Japan a requisite for a work to be considered "anime".
Anime is cinematically shot as if by camera, including panning, zooming, distance and angle shots to more complex dynamic shots that would be difficult to produce in reality. In anime, the animation is produced before the voice acting, contrary to American animation which does the voice acting first.
Anime artists employ many distinct visual styles. Anime differs greatly from other forms of animation by its diverse art styles, methods of animation, its production, and its process. Visually, anime works exhibit a wide variety of art styles, differing between creators, artists, and studios.
The anime industry consists of over 430 production companies, including major studios like Studio Ghibli, Sunrise, and Toei Animation. Since the 1980s, the medium has also seen international success with the rise of foreign dubbed and subtitled programming. As of 2016, Japanese anime accounted for 60% of the world's animated television shows.
It’s not a style because there are many styles used in animation even if you only look at Japanese animation. It’s not a genre because anime is defined by being an animated cartoon, one from Japan if you’re using anime the way it’s used outside of Japan instead of inside Japan. Genres are defined by themes and content.
A medium, for sure. The only thing all anime have in common, is that they’re, well, animated.
It’s hard to say which is better when it comes to content creation because some comedy shows produced by America are absolutely top quality, for example, Rick & Morty. However, making the statement that Japanese animation has a larger quantity of (significantly more diverse) animation with deep and provocative story telling is an easy statement to make.
All of these and yet none of them. Anime is a form of ‘media’, a type of animation which existed long before cartoons or CGI or animated films.
To wrap it up with a simple conclusion. In my opinion, Japanese animation is not just better than American animation, it is uncontested worldwide. It is supported by a SIGNIFICANTLY bigger industry, that has more time, money, expertise and cultural identity invested into it. America tends to focus more on live action & CGI and the result is the current imbalance that I’d like to believe I’ve highlighted here with this post.
As for the art, I’ll just say that there are some animes out there that you can screenshot and use as your wallpaper without any editing at all because they look that incredible. In fact, the behemoth that is the Japanese anime industry is supported by its unique art style and voice acting, which lends me to my final comparison.
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.
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.
Mecha. For many Americans, mecha anime was the first taste of the genre, thanks to the Robotech invasion of the ’80s. The tradition continues with old-school classics like Mobile Suit Gundam (made initially around the same time as Robotech) while Netflix delivers newer hits in the form of Knights of Sidonia.
Anime comes in two formats: Dubbed and subbed. Subbed plays the original Japanese vocal track for the show or movie you’re watching with English (or whatever language you’re watching in) subtitles. Dubbed, on the other hand, features an English-speaking cast of voice-over actors working from a translated script. There are advantages to both formats.
Today, anime is available on most streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.
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.
Horror anime comes in countless flavors, from action-focused titles like Attack on Titan to the gore-soaked insanity of Tokyo Ghoul. Don’t worry, it’s not just one big bloodbath, thanks to contemplative sci-fi series like Serial Experiments Lain or Dusk Maiden’s soapy delights.
The adventure genre is about travelling and undertaking an adventure in a certain place or around the world (which may sometimes escalate to the whole universe or even to the other dimensions). In this genre, the main characters don’t usually stay in one place. They venture into several different places, usually with a goal in mind (e.g. searching for treasure, exploring some new place, defeating a heinous villain, or saving the world). Adventure anime are so broad and flexible that these shows can usually stretch to a huge number of episodes as well as overlap with multiple genres, usually with action.
The action genre in anime depicts extremely high levels of intense action. More often than not, you’ll be witnessing thrilling battles and action-packed fight scenes in the shows from this genre. These series will make you jump off your seat or knock your socks off. Overall, the action genre usually possesses lots of battle scenes, fluid animation, and highly-engaging elements that will make your adrenaline rush!
Bringing us tears and a wave of emotions is basically what the drama genre does best! Drama anime tends to connect the viewers to the experiences of the characters. This results in viewers feeling what the characters are going through. Whether it's a tickle of emotion or a barrage of feelings, the goal of these series is to touch our hearts. In anime, one of the greatest signs that the drama effectively worked is if it was able to make you cry.
The fantasy genre in anime primarily deals with fantasy worlds and surreal events and locations. Most of the time, the setting is in a magical world where the characters start an adventure. Sometimes they get sent there from the real world. Magic is oftentimes a component of this genre, and various mystical elements serve as the building blocks of the story. You’ll often know it’s a fantasy anime if the environment and atmosphere seems so dazzling and dreamlike that it’ll make you feel captivated and allured.
Cheeky Kid has been watching anime and reading manga for as long as he can remember. Doing so takes him to different worlds. pinterest-pin-it. Anime genre list. If you’ve been an enthusiastic watcher of anime just like me, then one thing you’ve come to know is that each and every show comes with a set of specific genres.
As such, these anime tend to have lengthy runs. One Piece currently has over 800 episodes and is still running. These shows are typically the most popular with mainstream audiences.
Magic, in all its essence, is about magical stuff like spells and incantations. It can also include magical sources, beings that grants wishes, and good ol’ sleeve tricks. One of the most famous themes in the magic genre is magical girls. It is so popular that it might just become a whole new genre on its own in the future.
Whether someone watches anime actively or has simply heard of it, the most common feature that makes it distinguishable from other forms of animation is the art style . Considering these points, why isn't anime a genre?
What content do all anime have in common? None. That's why it's not a genre, it's a medium.
If we go further meta anime is a subdivision under animation which includes western animations and other styles. I don't know where Puppetry would fall under, possibly it's own niche.
A genre would be something like Romantic Comedy, RomCom, or Fantasy. And then that would be on a medium like western tv shows or anime.
In the mind, when it comes to genre, their are expectations that make it obvious what the film or show is meant to be. For example, when it comes to comedy, It's expected that the show/film will include humor.
Nobody should suggest "book" is a genre, regardless of where the book comes from.
It's not a movement within a larger medium, it's just the Japanese representation of said medium. Really, that's all there is to it.
Anime art styles range from the flamboyant and outlandish in shows like "Samurai Champloo" and " FLCL" to the simple and direct in shows like "Azumanga Daioh! . " That said, even shows with more "basic" artwork can still be visually striking. Anime has this way of making everything look fresh and new.
Updated September 07, 2018. The word anime — pronounced " ah- knee-may" — is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word is used to refer to all animation. However, outside of Japan, it has become the catch-all term for animation from Japan. For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan — a local product, ...
These differences show up in many ways including the artwork storytelling, breadth of material and even cultural nuances exhibited by the characters .
There are even some animes aimed at older teens like "Death Note" and some for mature audiences only like "Monster" and "Queens Blade.". Japanese cultural attitudes about sexuality and violence require some titles to be placed a category higher than they might normally be.
For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan — a local product, with a distinct look-and-feel to not just the artwork but the storytelling, the themes, and the concepts. Over the last forty years, it has become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans and being translated into many languages.
Because all things anime tend to be lumped together, it's tempting to think of anime as a genre. It isn't, at least no more than animation itself is a genre, but rather a description of how the material is produced. Anime shows, like books or movies, fall into any number of existing genres: comedy, drama, sci-fi, action-adventure, horror and so on.
What's most striking is how anime's impact is coming full circle. Some recent American cartoon productions, like "Avatar: The Last Airbender, " are openly inspired by anime itself, and live-action English-language versions of anime titles are starting to come into production more frequently.
To me, the main distinction is in which eyes are doing the beholding. If you’re a fan, it’s easier to think of anime as a medium, because odds are you’ve spent enough time up close and personal with it to see how it manifests in too many different ways to be a genre. If you’re a non-fan, looking in from the outside, many aspects of it tend to blur together to present to an outsider the trappings of a genre.
Fans on the inside, though, see genres within anime, but they don’t automatically regard anime as a whole as a “genre”. They know that it’s a container, though, one which can enclose any number of different sorts of experiences. Nobody with enough experience thinks the works of Satoshi Kon, Clannad, the various Gundams, or the various Monogataris are coming from remotely the same places. Odds are no two of those things even have the same fanbases within anime fandom — but again, to an outsider, it’s all one big undifferentiated lump of Weird Japan. Labeling it as a genre makes it easier to not have to think about the possibility that it might in fact be not all that undifferentiated.
Examples: Revolutionary Girl Utena or Kannazuki no Miko. Shōnen-ai or Yaoi is Japanese for 'boy-love'. These focus on love and romance between male characters. The term "Shōnen-ai" is being phased out in Japan due to its other meaning of pederasty, and is being replaced by the term "Boys Love" (BL).
Shotacon ("Shōtarō Complex") is the sexualization of under-aged male characters, the name coming from the lead child actor from Tetsujin-nijūhachi-gō. Example: Boku no Pico. Harem is a genre which focuses on a male character surrounded by the romance of multiple female characters.
Anime refers to a specific style of cartoon produced or inspired by Japanese animation. Think of it this way: all anime shows are cartoons, but not all cartoons are anime. The art style associated with anime is very unique and recognizable. You’re probably familiar with the large eyes, wild hair, long arms and limbs, and more. This exaggerated design helps the characters more easily express emotions — of which there are plenty in anime.
Popular subreddits where fans gather to talk about anime include r/anime, r/animemes (memes about anime), and countless others for particular shows and movies.
Similar to messaging app Slack, Discord is home to many anime servers where fans gather to message and voice chat.
Anime has been popular in Japan for more than a century, and its TV shows and movies are now exported all over the world. America has been enjoying anime as far back as the ‘60s with Speed Racer, a kid favorite at the time. In the ‘90s, the loveable Studio Ghibli had a string of mainstream movie hits. Spirited Away even won an Oscar for best foreign-language film at the 2001 Academy Awards.
As anime has become more mainstream, though, a quick Google search can reveal whether a certain TV show or movie is for kids or adults, which can help you set limits on what’s allowed. Fortunately, there’s absolutely no shortage of anime that is completely acceptable for kids to watch. Bark can also help you keep your kids safe from inappropriate content by blocking categories of content and specific websites.
Crunchyroll is basically a Netflix just for anime. It’s free with ads, but there’s also a premium option.
Think of it this way: anime is to animated cartoons as manga is to comic books. Manga is essentially the paper (or ebook) version of anime, with similar drawing styles and themes.
Anime differs greatly from other forms of animation by its diverse art styles, methods of animation, its production, and its process. Visually, anime works exhibit a wide variety of art styles, differing between creators, artists, and studios. While no single art style predominates anime as a whole, they do share some similar attributes in terms of animation technique and character design.
As a type of animation, anime is an art form that comprises many genres found in other mediums; it is sometimes mistakenly classified as a genre itself. In Japanese, the term anime is used to refer to all animated works, regardless of style or origin. English-language dictionaries typically define anime (/ˈænɪmeɪ/) as "a style of Japanese animation" or as "a style of animation originating in Japan". Other definitions are based on origin, making production in Japan a requisite for a wor…
Emakimono and kagee are considered precursors of Japanese animation. Emakimono was common in the eleventh century. Traveling storytellers narrated legends and anecdotes while the emakimono was unrolled from the right to left with chronological order, as a moving panorama. Kagee was popular during the Edo period and originated from the shadows play of China. Magic la…
The animation industry consists of more than 430 production companies with some of the major studios including Toei Animation, Gainax, Madhouse, Gonzo, Sunrise, Bones, TMS Entertainment, Nippon Animation, P.A.Works, Studio Pierrot and Studio Ghibli. Many of the studios are organized into a trade association, The Association of Japanese Animations. There is also a labor union for workers i…
Anime has become commercially profitable in Western countries, as demonstrated by early commercially successful Western adaptations of anime, such as Astro Boy and Speed Racer. Early American adaptions in the 1960s made Japan expand into the continental European market, first with productions aimed at European and Japanese children, such as Heidi, Vicky the Viking and B…
• Animation director
• Chinese animation
• Cinema of Japan
• Cool Japan
• Culture of Japan
• Anime at Curlie
• Anime and manga in Japan travel guide from Wikivoyage