Portal:Anime and Manga
Anime and manga portalIntroduction Anime (アニメ?) refers to the animation style originated in Japan. It is characterized by distinctive characters and backgrounds (hand-drawn or computer-generated) that visually and thematically set it apart from other forms of animation. Storylines may include a variety of fictional or historical characters, events, and settings. Anime is aimed at a broad range of audiences and consequently, a given series may have aspects of a range of genres. Anime is most frequently broadcast on television or sold on DVDs and other media, either after their broadcast run or directly as original video animation (OVA). Console and computer games sometimes also feature segments or scenes that can be considered anime. Manga (漫画?) is Japanese for "comics" or "whimsical images". Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and Western styles of drawing, and took its current form shortly after World War II. Manga, apart from covers, is usually published in black and white but it is common to find introductions to chapters to be in color, and is read from top to bottom and then right to left, similar to the layout of a Japanese plain text. Financially, manga represented in 2005 a market of ¥24 billion in Japan and one of $180 million in the United States. Manga was the fastest growing segment of books in the United States in 2005. Anime and manga share many characteristics, including: exaggerating (in terms of scale) of physical features, to which the reader presumably should pay most attention (best known being "large eyes"), "dramatically shaped speech bubbles, speed lines and onomatopoeic, exclamatory typography..." Some manga, a small amount of the total output, is adapted into anime, often with the collaboration of the original author. Computer games can also give rise to anime. In such cases, the stories are often compressed and modified to fit the format and appeal to a wider market. Popular anime franchises sometimes include full-length feature films, and some have been adapted into live-action films and television programs. Featured articleShakugan no Shana, also known simply as Shana, is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi with illustrations by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 26 novels from November 2002 to November 2012. The story focuses on Yuji Sakai, a high school boy who inadvertently becomes involved in an age-old conflict between forces of balance and imbalance in existence. In the process, he befriends a fighter for the balancing force and names her "Shana". The series incorporates fantasy and slice of life elements into its tale. Two manga adaptations were published by ASCII Media Works in Dengeki Daioh and Dengeki Maoh. Between 2005 and 2012, the series was adapted by J.C.Staff into three 24-episode anime television series, a four-episode original video animation (OVA) series, an animated film and an additional stand alone OVA episode. A PlayStation 2 video game was released in March 2006, and it was ported to the Nintendo DS in March 2007. Viz Media licensed the novels and the first manga series for release in North America, but stopped publishing both prematurely. Geneon originally licensed the first television series for release in North America, but the license later transferred to Funimation, who also licensed the remaining anime properties. Critics praised the series for its execution of typical story elements and how it continuously becomes better over time. However, the series is described as having issues with the pacing of the story. Featured biographyHimura Kenshin (緋村 剣心), known as Kenshin Himura in the English-language anime dubs, is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin universe created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. He is the main protagonist of the manga and anime series, as well as the related media in the franchise. When creating Kenshin, Watsuki designed him to be the physical opposite of Hiko Seijūrō, a character that appears in Watsuki's first one-shot manga, "Crescent Moon in the Warring States"; a character with the same name appears in Rurouni Kenshin as Kenshin's swordsmanship teacher. Kenshin's story is set in a fictional version of Japan during the Meiji period. Kenshin is a former legendary assassin known as "Hitokiri Battōsai" (人斬り抜刀斎?). The term refers to an assassin and translates as "manslayer." Within the Rurouni Kenshin universe "Battōsai" refers to someone who has mastered battōjutsu. Assassins during the bakumatsu adopted professional names; for instance Kawakami Gensai was known as Hitokiri Gensai and as The Unsheather on the Japanese kanzenban covers. At the end of the Bakumatsu, he becomes a wandering samurai, now wielding a sakabatō (逆刃刀?, lit. "reverse-blade sword"), a katana that has the cutting edge on the inwardly curved side of the sword, thus being nearly incapable of killing. Kenshin wanders the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need, as atonement for the murders he once committed as an assassin. In Tokyo, he meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who invites him to live in her dojo despite learning about Kenshin's past. Throughout the series, Kenshin begins to establish lifelong relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, while dealing with his fair share of enemies, new and old. Through these encounters and relationships, Kenshin begins to find true atonement for his past enabling him to fully conquer his "Battōsai" nature. Featured listThe chapters of Soul Eater is written and illustrated by Atsushi Okubo. The series follows the adventures of three students at a school called the Death Weapon Meister Academy (or DWMA for short), known as meisters, who use demon weapon companions with human and weapon forms. These meisters, Maka Albarn, Black Star, and Death the Kid, seek to turn their weapons, Soul Eater, Tsubaki, and the Thompson sisters respectively, into "death scythes" for Shinigami, the Grim Reaper and head of the DWMA, by having their weapons consume the souls of ninety-nine evil humans and one witch. The manga initially began as three separate one-shots serialized between June 24, 2003 and November 26, 2003 in two manga magazines published by Square Enix. The first one-shot was published in the summer 2003 special edition of Gangan Powered, the second following in the autumn 2003 special edition of the same magazine, and the third serialized in Gangan Wing. The manga started regular serialization in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine on May 12, 2004. The first tankōbon was released by Square Enix under their Gangan Comics imprint (trade name) on June 22, 2004 in Japan; as of February 22, 2010, 16 volumes have been released. Selected picture The member of the manga artist group CLAMP. Their works includes mangas like Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Chobits. On this day...Did you know
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