Anime (アニメ) refers to the animation style originating 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; 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) 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 read from top to bottom and then right to left, similar to the layout of a Japanese plain text. Financially, manga represented 2005 a market of ¥24 billion in Japan and $180 million in the United States. Manga was the fastest-growing segment of books in the United States in 2005. 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 at almost $250 million.
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 percentage) are adapted into anime, often with the collaboration of the original author. Computer games can also be adapted into anime. 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 anime franchises sometimes include full-length feature films. Some anime franchises have been adapted into live-action films and television programs.
Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the 2020s and focuses on protagonists Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play through various virtual realityMMORPG worlds, and later their involvement in the matters of a simulated civilization. Kawahara originally wrote the series as a web novel on his website from 2002 to 2008.[1] The light novels began publication on ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko imprint from April 10, 2009, with a spin-off series launching in October 2012. The series has spawned twelve manga adaptations published by ASCII Media Works and Kadokawa. The novels and the manga adaptations have been licensed for release in North America by Yen Press.
The episodes of the anime Gunslinger Girl were directed by Morio Asaka, animated by Madhouse Studios, and produced by Bandai Visual, Marvelous Entertainment, MediaWorks, and Madhouse Studios. This anime series is based on the first two manga volumes of the Gunslinger Girlmanga series that was written and illustrated by Yu Aida. The thirteen episodes of the anime series was aired in Japan from October 8, 2003 to February 19, 2004 on Bandai Channel and Fuji Television. Set in contemporary Italy, the series tells about young girls who are turned into cyborgs, trained as assassins by adult male "handlers" and their missions against terrorists and gangsters on behalf of a secretive government agency.
A sequel to the first anime series, called Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-, was directed by Hiroshi Ishiodori and animated by Artland. The sequel aired in Japan on Tokyo MX TV from January 7, 2008 to March 31, 2008. It adapts the third, fourth and fifth volumes of the manga over fifteen episodes, with the first thirteen episodes airing on television and the final two released directly to DVD. (Full list...)
...that the thirteen episodes of the Rental Magicaanime were shown in a nonlinear order, meaning that the order the episodes were aired in is different from the episodes' chronological order?
... that Firo Prochainezo, a character of the Baccano!light novel and anime series, wears glasses in an attempt to look smarter?
An artwork depicting shōnen-ai. Unlike yaoi manga, shōnen-ai manga focus more on romance and do not include explicit sexual content, although they may include implicit sexual content.
