Anime (アニメ) refers to animation originating from 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; consequently, a given series may have aspects of a range of genres. Anime is most frequently distributed by streaming services, 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), Japanese for "comics" or "whimsical pictures", are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. 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. It is typically read from top to bottom and then right to left, similar to the layout of Japanese plain text. In 2005, manga represented a market of ¥24 billion in Japan and $180 million in the United States, and was the fastest-growing segment of books in the United States in the same year. In 2020, Japan's manga industry hit a value of ¥612.6 billion due to the fast growth of the digital manga market, while manga sales in North America reached an all-time high of almost $250 million.
Anime and manga have a shared iconography, including exaggerating the scale of physical features to which the reader presumably should pay most attention, the best known being "large eyes". Manga are often adapted into anime, usually with the collaboration of the original author. Light novel series and video games can also be adapted into anime or manga. In such cases, the work's original story is often compressed or modified to fit the new format and appeal to a wider demographic. Popular franchises sometimes include full-length feature films, both animated and live-action, as well as live-action television programs.
Nejishiki (Japanese: ねじ式), also Screw Style or Screwceremony, is a Japanese surrealist manga written and illustrated by Yoshiharu Tsuge. Nejishiki follows the story of an unnamed boy who wanders around several unfamiliar places to find a doctor who can fix his pierced artery. The manga was first published in the manga anthology magazine Garo in 1968 amidst a growing avant-garde art movement and student political radicalism. Tsuge has provided various accounts of the story's development, but often refers to it as a dream. During his time working on the story he was also employed as an assistant to Shigeru Mizuki and adopted different philosophical and aesthetic influences from his work.
Upon its publication, the story was popular among the avant-garde art culture, but was parodied and criticised by others. The story was popular among Garo's audience, and came to retrospectively define popular associations of the magazine's aesthetics. The manga has had an enduring influence and been adapted into a video game and a live action film. Analyses of the story often focus on the manga's tableau imagery, discussing it as an allegory for the afterlife, and identifying motifs of war, personal psychology, and rural poverty. (Full article...)
The series debuted in Japan on July 19, 2000 with One Piece: Mezase Kaizoku Ou!. At the moment, the series contains 33 games, not counting Battle Stadium D.O.N, the title One Piece shares with its related anime series Dragon Ball Z and Naruto. The first game in the series to be released outside of Japan, One Piece: Grand Battle!, was released on September 7, 2005. The One Piece series received a mixed reception; assessments ranged from "slightly below or slightly above average" to "a grand video-game series". (Full list...)
An example of a tsundere character. The word is derived from the terms tsun tsun (ツンツン), meaning "to turn away in disgust", and dere dere (デレデレ) meaning "to become affectionate".
