Seinen is a genre/demographic that is aimed primarily at the male, college-aged/young adult demographic. Seinen anime and manga tend to be a little bit more mature than it’s counterpart, Shounen, which is aimed at younger boys. This can be in Manga where a trademark of Seinen material is the use of Kanji in the writing. This is in contrast to Shounen Manga which have Furigana (A type of reading aid) adjacent to the Kanji, to help younger readers who have not advanced so far in their study of Kanji. In anime, Seinen series are often aired at later time-slots. For example, Neon Genesis Evangelion, famous for it’s cryptic, off-the-wall story telling, is considered Shounen because it aired at a 6pm time slot, and Hideaki Anno aimed the story at Youth. Also, sometimes Seinen is mistaken for shows that have a dark, edgy tone containing brutal violence but this is a common mistake. Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) is an example of a series that has such content and tone, but is actually a Shouen series, running in a magazine aimed at a young demographic. Seinen has a number of signifiers, but you can generally tell it apart from Shounen as Seinen series either have a more complex plot, more mature themes and content or have an older main character. Seinen series are also much more cynical and pragmatic in their approach to conflict. It’s also more likely that the conflict in a Seinen series might deal with more shades of gray, rather than black and white and good against evil. Also in Seinen, much more attention is paid to things like the overall plot, character interaction and dynamics, rather than fighting as compared to Shounen battle-manga. Increased realism is also a fixture of Seinen Material, often with a more realistic art-style or with details thrown in throughout the story to make it closer to real life. Even in Sci-fi or Fantasy Seinen, the fictional worlds may function very closely to the way ours does, often subject to the same increased cynicism mentioned prior. It’s also important to recognize that Seinen generally refers to shows that are marketed to an older demographic, and not who it ends up appealing to. Seinen material can find a younger, male audience as well as an older, female audience as can virtually all demographics of anime, respectively. Also, interestingly enough, Slice of life, high-school or rom-com Moe shows are actually generally thought as within the Seinen demographic. Now it’s important to mention that these qualities are a sliding scale rather than a hard and fast rule. Also many Seinen titles don’t necessarily feature all of the qualities above, but feature others that place it in the realm of Seinen. For example, Serial Experiments Lain features a young girl as it’s protagonist, but it’s complex themes, philosophical outlook and dense, cryptic story-telling place it firmly in the Seinen genre. Tatami Galaxy is an example of a show that has a very idealized, instead of realistic art-style, but is much more realistic in terms of themes of growing up and development, as well as its college-setting.

As stated above, a common mistake is that Seinen series is just shows that are dark and edgy. This mistake is easy to make, especially as Shounen series with darker content like Death Note and Shingeki no Kyojin have become extremely popular series, with followings outside of Japan. What generally places a series inside Seinen confines is that it’s more mature in its themes and plot, rather than just having a lot of violence. Now this is not to say that Violence usually isn’t a fixture of Seinen shows, it is, especially in shows with an Action element. But where the dividing line between Shounen and Seinen often comes about is that the Plots or the Themes the show deals with are more suited to an older audience. Character motivations too, might be more obfuscated and difficult to figure out as well. These are elements which are often dependent on the viewer, and which someone older in age might have a better chance of grasping in full. It’s not as if younger viewers wouldn’t be able to understand, but it’s a little advanced for a young demographic. Imagine reading Kafka or Dostoyevsky in middle school, there are some kids who can, but for most of us, we might be a little lost. Take for example the film Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. In Jin-Roh, the main plotline consists of characters caught in a web of multiple feuding Security agencies of the Japanese Government as well as a populace that is in revolt against an Autocratic regime. The various developments are subtle, under-stated and probably difficult for younger viewers to understand. In terms of its Themes, Jin-Roh explores how human relationships and individuals themselves are tainted, and might be doomed, when they exist underneath said oppressive structure, and how getting caught up in various factions might make us lose a little bit of our humanity.

Often times in Seinen series, conflicts will develop between people, factions or nations that don’t have a clear moral high ground. One group may have noble intentions, but have ways of achieving them that lead to violence against innocents. One group may be actually protecting the common good, but only doing so to keep in power a certain segment of a ruling class or family. Thus, it’s not often easy to distinguish which is the side we should be on, and often times, there’s no one side we should be on. This also leads to characters who have greater shades of moral complexity. The Main hero may not be an ideal-hero, someone who strives to act justly and selflessly all the time, and may be someone with more roguish and selfish character traits and a much more flawed character. Also, the main villain may actually be someone with goals that aren’t outright evil. Their cause may be just in some sense, or they may be attempting to redress some actual wrong doing, but may be using extreme methods. Gray Morality doesn’t mean it will never be resolved for a greater good. One great example of this is the famous Ghibli film Princess Mononoke. In the film, there are two primary warring factions, Iron-Town and the creatures of the forest. Iron-town consists primarily of those in human society who are downcast and oppressed such as war refugees, lepers, victims of disease and widowed/unmarried women. It’s a haven for those who are trodden upon by Japan’s feudal system, but to sustain and defend itself it cuts down the forest to use timber as a fuel source, something which puts them in conflict with the creatures who live there, who are just trying to protect their home. It’s two sides which generally have the right reasons for fighting, so it’s hard to justify a moral high-ground in the conflict. This is in contrast to Shounen series which may have a conflict with less moral complexity. Often times they have a hero who you’re clearly meant to root for and identity with, and is always seen to be doing the right thing. It might have a villain who is just outright in the bad, with selfish and cruel motivations as well as methods.

Ashitaka is a prince from an eastern tribe who battles an cursed boar to save his village, only to be infected with the same curse. Ashitaka leaves the village to find a cure for the curse before it destroys him, and eventually runs into Iron-Town, which defends itself with gunpowder weapons. However, the creatures of the forest led by a princess named San, seek revenge against Iron-town for their destruction of the forest.

Princess Mononoke – Official Trailer

When Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme” in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene, he probably would not have guessed that his creation would turn out to be one of the most ubiquitous aspects of the world wide web in the future. In a sense, memes are a representation of an original idea that spreads and varies from culture to culture. Today, on the world wide web, it is an extremely prolific subculture. Memes are present in every nook and cranny of the internet, with people from marketers to politicians and Fortune 500 companies utilizing them for one purpose or another. Of course, memes, as powerful as they are in spreading ideas, are usually used for one thing nowadays - humor. Some memes have made a brand for themselves, with people all over the world recognizing them just by a glance. Of course, anime has its own share of notable memes, both of the witty and the burlesque type of humor. Thus, here is our list of the internet’s Top 10 Funny Anime Memes!

So that wraps up the list of our Top 10 Funny Anime Memes! Yes, there are a lot more of them out there, so if you’d like to see more, do request for them in the comments below! Or better yet, why not post a meme yourself?

“You’re not an anime fan if you don’t know about hentai stuff!” I was once mocked by that very sentence, but there’s some truth to it, though. Anime is very different and unlike its Western counterparts. Anime covers pretty much everything from horror to pornography covering possibly all fetishes. One should experience at least a bit of the latter to truly appreciate that anime is a very versatile art form and is oftentimes unrestricted. Yeah, that’s right. I’m going to talk about the pornographic side of anime… in case the title of the article didn’t make that obvious enough! Before we start, I’ll try to focus more on the essential facts and share some thoughts on the matter. You really don’t need to watch an actual hentai show, but it would be nice if you can at least know its place in anime and its history. Let’s dive right in!

To put it simply, hentai loosely translates to “pervert.” It has a very negative connotation and can be used as a derogatory term. However, hentai is short for “Hentai Seiyoku” meaning “Abnormal Sexual Desire.” In the Western world, hentai is a term used to categorize pornographic material in anime, manga, games, etc. In Japanese media – a pretty different usage. More on that soon.

Truth be told, hentai has a very long history and it’s very difficult to type it all here. I’m going to provide its brief history and provide an external link that further explains its history. Hentai originally meant “transformation” and “abnormality” in the fields of science and psychology. A translation of German sexologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing's text Psychopathia Sexualis was the origin for the concept of "hentai seiyoku", as a "perverse or abnormal sexual desire". It was popularized outside the field of science and was used by many publications at the time to denote perverse or abnormal sexual acts. After World War II, hentai was sometimes seen shortened to “H” or “etchi/ecchi” after the post-war influx of English words in the country. The term “etchi/ecchi” became a word of its own and it’s often synonymous to “iyarashii” or “sukebe” or “lascivious” and “lewd” respectively but unlike hentai, etchi/ecchi doesn’t denote abnormality or anything sexually perverse.

Around the mid 1960s, etchi/ecchi was being used, particularly in the new burgeoning youth culture, to refer to sex in general. As an adjective, H or etchi/ecchi means “sexual” or “sexually oriented” with less negative connotations similar to “dirty” or “naughty”, and be can be used when referring to anything from H-anime, H-books, etc. When applied to a person, it means that the person is highly interested in sex and the usage is synonymous with the word “sukebe.” When used as a noun, etchi/ecchi refers to sexual intercourse itself. Keep in mind again that while etchi/ecchi originated from the word hentai, the two terms have branched off to have strikingly different meanings over the years – especially after World War II and the growing popularity of the English language.

Although the English use of H/etchi/ecchi to refer to Japanese media with pornographic content is not incorrect, the subtle difference between the two words became obscured in the West due to many factors such as inaccurate/improvised translations in both professional subtitles and fansubs, and how information is easily misinterpreted and spread across the internet. Translators often ignore the less offensive connotation of “etchi/ecchi” and translate them simply as “pervert” mainly because the word was originally derived from hentai, meaning pervert as well. Not only was the nuance lost in translation, but the usage caught on and “pervert” became an accepted and common translation. In truth, it is not fully clear where it all started, but hentai has come to be seen as a genre for pornographic anime media in the West. H/Etchi/Ecchi is now known to be a shortened term for hentai and this leads to the mislabeling of H-anime, H-books, H-manga, etc. as hentai.

Though the term is widely accepted in the West and is still used even to this day, you have to avoid describing every porngraphic material as hentai if you’re planning to converse with a native Japanese speaker. Most Japanese people never use the word hentai to describe every pornographic material, it’s simply incorrect. To the West, hentai is a genre consisting of porngraphic anime media. Western Hentai has two sub categories — Softcore Hentai and Hardcore Hentai. To the Japanese, hentai is used to describe material with abnormal or bizarre fetishes like tentacle sex, gang rape, guro/grotesque, etc. To the Japanese, H or Etchi/Ecchi + medium is used to describe material with normal or mostly heterosexual stories that are non-perverse or non-extreme. Etchi/Ecchi is also interchangeable with the loan word “Ero” (ero-anime, ero-manga, etc.).

In recent years, anime with sexual acts that air on TV like Yosuga no Sora are slowly becoming popular, and somehow they do not get categorized as hentai in the West, or as Ero-anime in Japan. I cannot say for certain how these shows managed to dodge the adult ratings, but these shows are out there and they defy classification. Perhaps hentai with meaningful stories are no longer welcome in the adult entertainment business for they prefer more sex than stories to get profit, or perhaps anime is still growing up, getting more bold and rebellious.

I’m going to list 3 shows that are considered hentai in the West and at the same time, show you the difference between hentai and etchi/ecchi. If you’re planning to actually watch these shows, please be warned that you’re going to be watching actual animated pornography. For those who are interested, the shows are arranged in terms of accessibility. If this is your first time watching hentai, this list will help you ease your way in… Honestly I never meant that line to sound perverted… Anyways!

It’s a story about a group of young people on the road of sexual discovery. Wataru, the main protagonist has his sights on Mai, the girl of his dreams. However, he soon finds out that catching her isn’t as easy as it seems and he has to deal with other girls who have a crush on him. Didn’t I tell you the stories in hentai aren’t really that great? Sure, the typical romance story is nice, but compared to their non-pornographic counterparts, they’re just not good. You watch hentai mainly for the, well, sex. I mean, duh. On the good side though, End of Summer is beautifully drawn (the first two episodes at least) and the sex scenes are all tastefully assembled. There is some build up leading to the love-making and the overall experience is non-offensive. In Japan, End of Summer is an ero-anime, not classified as hentai.

The Words Worth tablet is said to contain all the secrets of the universe, but was shattered and its pieces scattered all over the land. This led to a long painful war between the tribes of Light and Shadow, accusing each other of breaking the sacred tablet. Astral, prince of the Tribe of Shadow, desires to become a Swordsman of Shadow. However, his father, King Wortoshika, forbids him to do so. He is engaged to Sharon, a beautiful swordswoman and Astral's childhood friend, who has feelings for Astral but wishes he were stronger. The show has decent pacing, and the story is good when it comes to porn. The final plot twist may send your brow soaring up to the sky, killing a few pigeons because it’s so stupid. As for sexual content, it has bestiality, rape, and tentacles. Thankfully the best sex scenes are the ones that are non-offensive and they actually outnumber the offensive ones. Just like End of Summer, the sex scenes are very well-animated and very tasteful. Unlike End of Summer though, Words Worth shows the male genitalia and penetration. It’s hard to classify this one because it has both traits of an ero-anime and hentai.

Mido Miko is the descendant of the most powerful clan of female ninjas. They are tasked to keep the Shikima, horny beings from the demon realm, away from humans. As any typical hentai show goes, a powerful force is trying to open up the realm of the humans to the realm of the demons. It’s up to Miko and her sexcraft ninjitsu to save the world. On the good side, the art and animation are all top notch, there’s actually a decent plot going on, it’s often comedic and pokes fun at the “tentacle hentai” genre. The bad side? A ton of explicit sex scenes every few minutes or so. If you don't see sex, you’ll see tons of fanservice, masturbation, the works. On the good side, the art and animation are all top notch, there’s actually a decent plot going on, it’s often comedic and pokes fun at the “tentacle hentai” genre. The bad side? A ton of explicit sex scenes every few minutes or so. If you don't see sex, you’ll see tons of fanservice, masturbation, the works. And despite all that, La Blue Girl is considered to be one of the best and most successful true hentai shows out there. If you want to see true hentai that is accessible, then look no further.

It is a must given for all anime lovers who visit Tokyo that they must see Akihabara, what we proudly call our Mecca or Vatican City. If you ever get the chance to visit, there are plenty of places to visit for a large percentage of your needs. But where can you go for the hottest anime goods? One easy answer is Mandarake. It is eight floors of anime, manga, retro video games, J-pop and tokusatsu goods. It has something for all Japan entertainment buffs. All items are used and depending on the rarity of a certain item, it can go as high as 300,000 yen!!! (Current exchange rate as of Fall 2015 is averagely 120 yen to $1USD)

The First Floor

Before entering prior to opening hours, customers can enjoy some window displays. Usually it has some nice cosplays on exhibit and various retro toys not only from Japan, but from all over the world. The first floor serves as the place where people can sell their goods. Before opening hours on weekends, lines will be packed but it is mostly with people who want to sell stuff, so you are not 100% obligated to wait in line with them. Also on display are retro toys from between the 1950s and 1970s. Paintings by Japanese artists such as Matsumoto Leiji, the creator of Galaxy Express 999 and Space Battleship Yamato are occasionally on display as well. On the side, there is an entrance that is instantly accessible to the elevators and stairs. Customers are free to use this entrance. If you desire the exercise, please use the stairs. The elevator (only 2 sets) can get crowded, and you may have to wait awhile to get in.

The Second Floor

This is the cosplay floor and from my personal experiences, this is mostly aimed for female customers. From Sailor Moon, Madoka, to Hatsune Miku, fans can find quality costumes, wigs, and props. There may be cosplay for male characters from series like Prince of Tennis, but due to its popularity with women in Japan, the material and design of the shirts and pants are meant to fit a woman's frame. Due to the high domestic made quality of the costumes, costumes will range between 10,000 to 30,000 yen. Compared to other floors, this section is relatively small and is not really that crowded.

The Third and Fourth Floors

If any of you are looking for manga and/or art books, this is the place for you. The third floor is aimed for male customers while the fourth floor is for females. Most of the manga will be used and one volume can be as cheap as 100 yen and can go as high as 500 yen. Depending on the series and the quality, a 25-volume manga set can range from 2000 to 20,000 yen. The third floor sells Japanese translations of American comics as well. Both floors (and from time to time, the second) will also sell scripts and animation cels of anime series!!! There, fans are likely to see the cels of the original Sailor Moon anime series and Macross 7 for sale, and they can range from 1,000 yen to 20,000 yen. Compared to the second floor, these floors are very spacious but between bookshelves within the asiles, these places can be very cramped. So be careful if you are carrying a backpack. Trying to walk between people in bookshelf aisles is going to be a nightmare on a crowded day!

The Fifth Floor

This is for people who love hentai. This is just one of those instances where you are encouraged to use your imagination on what they got for sale in a place like this. Everyone who loves anime and knows about the hentai genre already has a general idea of how "creative" it can get and if you choose to enter, it is within at your personal discretion.

The Sixth Floor

Looking for DVDs, Blurays, retro games, CDs, and posters? This is the place for you!! The front half of this floor from the entrance is dedicated to retro games between the days of the Famicom to the PS2/Dreamcast/GameCube generation, while the back half is the place for anime, tokusatsu, and J-Drama DVDs and Blurays. Game prices can range from 1,000 yen for any common Famicom game to let's say 10,000 yen for Crows on the Sega Saturn. Most Neo Geo games can go as high as 80,000 yen!!! Also, please keep in mind these games will not work on non-Japanese consoles so you may have to get a converter, or buy a Japanese console. Retro consoles from the Famicom to the Dreamcast average from 3,000 to 6,000 yen depending on the quality. The Mega Drive however will cost 10,000 yen and so will the Mega CD. But many hardcore Sega game collectors can promise that the Japanese Mega CD (and Saturn) library has some really awesome Japanes exclusive games that justify its costs. DVD and Bluray Japanese prices are a completely different beast altogether. For example, the 1986 animated Transformers movie on DVD there costs 15,000 yen!!! In addition, the DVD set of Mach Go Go Go (or known world wide as Speed Racer) for 25,000 yen while the Bluray is 40,000 yen!!! The bad news is that Japanese DVDs will not work on most US DVD players, but should with European due to both being region 2 coded, while the US is region 1. But in some pleasing news, Japanese Blurays will work with a good number of Bluray players around the world. So for lets say American buyers, Japanese blurays will work on American players. The prices will also apply to tokusatsu series like Zyuranger (the series that paved way the original Power Rangers) and popular J-drama series like Gokusen. CDs can be pricey as well. I bought a CD set of Transformers soundtracks for 7,000 yen. In addition, a rare Rockman soundtrack goes for 30,000 yen!!! But for more common and mainstream franchises such as Bleach and Naruto, prices will be as low as 1,500 yen. Compared to the manga floors, this area is surprisingly not as crowded, and has a bit more walking space in the aisles. So if you like some privacy while browsing, this might be the right spot.

The Seventh and Eighth Floors

The seventh and eighth floors are dedicated to action figures, trading cards, models and build-a-figures. The seventh floor is mostly dedicated to anime while the eight floor is dedicated to Transformers and tokusatsu. The space of these floors is the same as the remaining stores, but the aisle space is CRAMPED. If you're Yokozuna size, you're not going to fit in. Many of the retro figures, especially Ultraman and Godzilla merchandise from the 60s and 70s, are going to be astronomical. If you want the Dino buckler from Zyuranger (or the morpher from Power Rangers), be prepared to pay 120,000 yen!!! If you want master grade Transformers figures exclusive to Japan (the size of let's say 1/60 Gundam model), you may have to pay 40,000 – 80,000 yen. If you are looking for generic anime figures, prices will be more averagely affordable between 2,000 to 10,000 yen. Most Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Bandai figures in addition to most Gundam models will be around 3,000 to 6,000 yen. As for trading cards, be prepared to pay 30,000 yen for Sailor Moon cards from the 1990s!!! The seventh floor also sells figures of American comic book characters as well from Marvel, Image, and DC.

Mandarake Akihabara Complex Floor Guide

The great news is that there will be foreign staff that can help if you can't understand Japanese. One of the clerks is a young American lady. She normally works the seventh and eighth floors so please look for her if she happens to be working there. Akihabara also has Wi-Fi so hopefully you should be able to access it there. On one important note, the store will have displays and signs that say you can't take pictures so if you want to post pictures of a figure that caught your eye and want to post it on your Instagram or Facebook, then you can't. If you get hungry after some hard shopping, at the recommendation of Honey’s Anime, you try this ramen restaurant just right by. It's the yellow building just right across from the front entrance, and you can't miss it. The ramen there is probably one of the best you can ever have in Japan! Unfortunately, it does get busy and during lunch, the lines are pretty hectic, but worth the wait! During the summer, there is a nice ice cream stand just right outside as well.

In other good news, there are other Mandarake locations around Tokyo such as in Shibuya, Nakano, and Ikebukuro. Outside of Tokyo, there are locations in Osaka, Utsunomiya, Sapporo, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. But nothing beats the one in Akihabara. This place has most of your needs on practically every front whether it would be soundtracks, DVDs, blurays, figures, games, posters, etc.

So, I heard you like anime memes? Everyone on the internet has probably trolled someone with ‘em. Just in case, a meme is like an inside joke for peeps on the internet. Images that go viral because of their funny content or because of some random dude making it funny by adding text to it is basically meme material. As long as many people abuse an image for the same type of joke, making it become famous on the internet - anything and anyone can become a meme. Anime has often shown on people's screens as memes, most times not a specific anime, but anime in general. Those famous anime-referenced memes that have made us laugh over the years are the ones I’m gonna show ya here. The amount of time I wasted on this intro is too damn high! Let's start!

Am I the only one around here who didn't want this to end? I hope this was an enjoyable article and if you didn’t know any of these, I hope you looked ‘em up and smiled or lol’d with a serious face - either way, it doesn't matter, memes are the best. Let us hope that in the future there are even funnier anime memes filling our Facebook pages with silly and interesting anime-related jokes. Please don’t say “ain't nobody got time for comments!” Show me memes I don't know and I’ll love you forever! Like and no comment? That’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this works!

Disclaimer:

If you’re like me, who watched anime before Crunchyroll even existed, you’ll know what fansubs are. You know, fansubs are those downloadable subtitled anime with often silly names attached to them like “ShinobiKitsuneLovers Fansubs” and are distributed free of charge. But have you ever wondered how fansubs or fan-made subtitles were made? If you’re fluent in Japanese and English and want to help the anime community by translating and sharing neglected anime, do you even know what the steps are and the tools needed to fansub? If the title of the article wasn’t obvious enough, I’m going to show you how to fansub anime. I’ll tell you from the get-go that is not easy and while it’s a fun experience, the process is very tedious and you may end up getting overwhelmed. I know because I’ve been fansubbing for 8 years now.

Before we go to the guide, let me explain what fansubs are. Fansubs, or fan-made subtitles are, well, subtitles made by fans for fellow fans. Back in the day, people mostly relied on companies to localize anime, but since these companies were small and barely touched 1% of the anime found in Japan, fans decided to take matters into their own hands to translate and distribute anime. These are fansubs. Now that’s over with, let’s get to the guide!

I will list down every step needed to produce a modern fansubbed anime with toggle-able subtitles (subs you can turn on or off), so don’t expect me to take you back to the distant past and fansub using dated software, hardware, VHS, and hundreds of miles worth of cables. This guide will show you the tools required, but I will not teach you how to use them. Manuals exist for each one of them and part of the fun is figuring them out! Seriously, when I started out, I had to learn everything through trial and error. Also please note that the steps in fansubbing are different in every group, but the entire processes are structurally the same.

Step 1: Group Coordination

Step 2: Encoding

Encoding the episodes to small sizes in popular “containers” like MKV and MP4 are recommended because these types of containers and the right video codec settings are compatible with any modern device. If you want your fansubs to reach to a bigger audience, make sure your encodes are compatible.

MeGUI

Step 3: Translation

A typical pair of monitor headphones.

A typical translation environment.

Step 4: Script Timing

You rely on your ears and the audio spectrum on the top right.

Step 5:Typesetting

What the signs look like as a series of code.

Step 5: Editing

Editor checking the script in Aegisub and leaving notes.

Step 6: Translation Check

The TLC’er fixing a joke and providing a detailed explanation.

Step 7: Assembly

Tool for putting everything into one usable media file.

Step 8: Quality Check

Step 9: Distribution

Common naming format

Conclusion

An OVA is an Original Video Animation. The most notable difference between OVA and a standard anime series is that the OVA never aired on television. It was created and then directly made available for consumers to purchase. Originally they were available on VHS. Of course, today the primary way people buy OVA are in the form of DVD’s or Blu-rays. Usually they are related to an existing anime series. It can be a prequel, sequel, alternate universe storyline, or any other kind of narrative that connects to a series. But, it doesn’t have to tie in to a pre-existing anime or manga. It can be completely original. The allocated resources are usually higher than that of standard anime episodes. So, studios can use the extra freedom to push for higher standards of quality. This usually manifests in beautifully animated, well-told stories that can make some regular anime pale in comparison. Also, the acronym used to look slightly different. It used to be OAV. However, AV (animation video) was a little too confusing because it was very similar to a couple of other terms. Audio/Video and Adult Video were commonly mixed up whenever OAV was brought up. So, the anime industry quickly changed the acronym and the community backed the new version.

When most anime fans think of Japan, they think of stores packed to the brim with anime and floors upon floors of figurines. People dream of billboards plastered with the newest anime to date, video games never translated, and manga that you’ve never heard of as far as the eye can see. This is what the anime capital of the world Akihabara has to offer. Specifically, this is what Animate in Akihabara has to offer. If there is one store that is a must visit, it’s Animate. It is every anime fan’s dream and, even if you can’t speak or read Japanese, you’ll probably be extremely tempted to squeeze every last drop out of your wallet. Each floor is dedicated to mostly one thing such as manga, anime DVDs, figurines, etc and you can and will spend hours in every section.

Note:

There’s an Animate nestled away in a corner that is a little more noticeable but isn’t as big and has elevators over stairs. The Animate talked about in this article is the one on a main street.

At first glance, the outside of Animate and its logo does it justice. It’s primarily white and blue, solid, firm, and has its solid ground in, well, anime. It’s a thin, tall building nestled to other thin tall buildings but it captures your attention well and the gashapon machines outside help too. Once you venture in, you’ll find yourself on the first floor that completely entrances and intrigues you on the first go. If you look to your left, there’s a plethora of anime food merchandise ranging from anime girl Umeshu (Very sweet Japanese plum wine) to tsundere biscuits. To your right is walls of anime magazines and in the middle of the room is manga. Every floor has a back area too and the back of floor one is all different kinds of trading cards from different series. Downstairs in the basement they feature a new anime every so often that the whole room is dedicated to and includes promotional videos, different kinds of merchandise and more. Now the next three floors you could easily say are just manga, manga, and more manga but upon closer inspection are obviously divided up into different genres with some extra things thrown in. For starters, floor two is every aspiring manga artists dream. On the left hand side is an entire section of manga material central, both traditional and nontraditional supplies alike. Copic, of course, is the predominate brand because it is most widely used by professional mangaka and inkers in the industry but there’s plenty of different brands of inks, sketchpads, etc. On the top shelf of all the traditional supplies lies the digital side of the manga industry. Drawing tablets, manga drawing programs, and also lit up tracing boards. The manga side of the floor is different manga suited for a wide audience and, even if you can’t read Japanese, you much just study every aisle meticulously. The back of floor two is the ever so popular BL (Boy’s Love) and shoujo, so a section many ladies (and some gents) might find themselves in for awhile.

The Third Floor

Floor three is more manga but with more action and horror thrown into the mix. Manga genres are hard to solidify into one basic genre to begin with so it’s not easily visibly separated but you can see some types nestled into certain corners. The back of floor three is where most people’s goal location is because it contains doujinshi as well as some of the most popular manga including Naruto, Haikyuu, One Piece, and newer but popular series like Nanatsu no Taizai.

The Fourth Floor

Floor four is where heaven officially starts, with oodles and oodles of merchandise of newer series that probably would not be available so readily in your own country. This first section of merchandise, however, is actually mostly men! Bishounen to be specific and the merchandise itself is often really fun; scrunchies of your favorite characters, cels, and various functionable and cute merchandise. In the back is more merchandise and plenty of gashapon machines if you’re on a lower budget!

The Fifth Floor

Floor five is now the opposite, with beautiful girls lining the walls. There’s similar types of merchandise but with less strictly feminine things such as scrunchies because the primary aim is males. But of course, both girls and boys alike lined up every aisle, trying to decide what to spend their money on because we live in a world that doesn’t let the vast majority buy everything out at once! The back is the same as floor four, more merchandise and gashapon.

The Sixth Floor

Floor six is large array of soundtracks from different anime, movies, and the artists that sung them. The back is more soundtracks but also has some console games related to anime and the like.

The Seventh Floor

Floor seven is what one would expect, the long awaited anime DVD collections! All the latest anime on DVD but also many, many live actions, musicals, and more! Live actions such as Death Note, Prince of Tennis and Prince of Tennis musical, if that’s up your alley! The back of floor seven is similarly set up as the basement but with less lighting and more focus on the selected anime playing. It focuses on one anime and plays that so it looks like a theater but without chairs, also with small amounts of merchandise.

Additional info

Overall conclusion

If you are even 0.1% otaku, you should visit Animate. It has the latest and greatest anime, merchandise, wonderful food souvenirs, and supplies to create your own manga! It’s basically a mashup of all the little specialty stores conveniently put into one building. The only thing it is not in abundance of is figurines but they do have plenty of gashapon and smaller figures to make up for it! Animate is a place you go to if you want to know what’s popular, what’s new, and what’s hip! It all starts with floor one’s magazines, who tell you what’s out and popular so you can venture forth with the knowledge you need to buy everything your heart desires.

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Saying something is the best or worst is fine and all but for many of those interested, they want to know why it is. Why is Evangelion the best of all time? Why is it the worst? Through a quality review that can back each respective argument, maybe that review can persuade or dissuade a new audience. So what defines a quality review? Mainly, it it’s one that focuses on how the story and its characters are good or bad. Without trying to get into spoilers, an effective review can help indicate why the anime has a very captivating story that is worth immersing the viewer in, and that its characters are relatable and engaging. In addition, the review also shares what is good and bad about its art and animation. There are some reviewers on YouTube, other sites, and on Honey’s Anime who have an extensive educational and professional background in art (and probably animation) that can also talk about some of the animation techniques in a certain scene, or why it may not be that impressive. For some other fans, reviewers like to passionately share the quality of the soundtrack and why it works or doesn't work with a certain anime. Reviewers who have a musically inclined background can share why the chord progressions of a certain piano track work well with the mood, or why the opening and ending songs are a great warm up or cool down for a series. Sometimes a great review can compare and contrast the original Japanese track and the English dub track. Maybe someone with experience in acting or voice acting could discuss the performance of a voice actor for a certain character. The reviewer can share how the Japanese and/or English version captures its characters more effectively over the other, etc. If the reviewer is fluent in Japanese, maybe they can provide a great argument on why the Japanese performance is superior or inferior. A great review can provide an abundant amount of information and some of that info, no matter how trivial, might captivate a new viewer, or it may not. Some reviews like to emphasize the music and voice acting, while some choose not to. Different reviewers with different backgrounds can all potentially offer something educational even to those who are already familiar to certain anime whether it be something as mainstream as Naruto or as unknown as Popolocrois. With much of Honey’s staff located in Japan, we are positive that the quality of our reviews, lists, and articles can give a distinct perspective that not many others can.

So what defines a bad review? To some, it is a review that does not really back its arguments on why it is good or bad, and just simply says it is and that's it. There are numerous reviews on other sites and on YouTube in which the reviews are more of a synopsis and do not get into detail on the qualities of the anime that is being reviewed. The review will do little-to-nothing in sharing personal feelings or providing any other useful background information－ nothing aboutthe art and animation, and/or next to nothing on the music and voice acting. Whether it be games, anime, or movies, a good number of YouTube reviewers are more about promoting themselves or their “character,” as opposed to what they are reviewing. However, there are some really excellent dedicated anime YouTube reviewers out there that provide very great reviews. Sometimes, reviews can just be centered around being hateful and provide nothing constructive. And there are reviews in which the reviewer is just a fanboy/fangirl and does nothing to provide an effective argument on why an anime is great. Some do it for humor, some do it to purposely generate controversy, and some just enjoy being trolls and/or haters. Yes, some of these reviews can be funny, but many of them do nothing to provide information on why they don't recommend the anime other than that it is overrated, or plain bad.

The difficulty with relying on reviews in some instances is when people have differing opinions. For many mainstream titles such as Naruto and Dragon Ball, there are an equal amount of thought-provoking reviews that call it the best and worst. Despite the constant praise of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and it winning best picture at the America Anime Awards, there are some very excellent reviews that provide YouTube viewers with insight on why it could be one of the most overrated anime of all time. Granted, many big-name titles out there can collect differing opinions, but maybe a well-presented review of an anime can be the hook. In some instances, there are reviews on this site and on YouTube that are dedicated to reviewing lesser known anime from either modern times, or from the older eras and those reviews help capture new audiences. Sometimes an effective review of a lesser known anime – whether it be the first Garo anime series or Wangan Midnight can help because that reviewer already has an established reputation as a trusted reviewer. Sometimes the fact that nobody else has an opinion on a certain anime can help a viewer make a decision in their selection process, or maybe it doesn't. In the end, only the viewer can make that choice, which brings me to my next point.

Compared to the Hollywood industry, there is no formal study or first-hand research on whether or not a review, or how unanimous praise or bashing of an anime affects whether or not audiences choose to view it. With popular and reliable movie review sites like Rotten Tomatoes and professional critics having Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise being ranked as some of the worst movies of all time, the constant bashing of those movies have not stopped them from being a multi-billion dollar hit. With some movies like Dredd having universal praise with critics, its comic fans, and the creators of the original comic, all it managed to capture was a cult audience. Then again, lack of advertising and the stigma of Stallone’s version back in 1995 may have given the public a very negative pre-conception of the movie, which resulted in its unfortunate failure. With anime fandom being a younger and smaller audience, most fans these days just explore the Internet, and not just TV and movie theaters. With a smaller audience, word-of-mouth and forums work with passing along what is recommended to watch. Sometimes people care more about style over substance. In cases like Transformers, in addition to its highly emphatic special effects, the brand already had a long established legacy and brought back some voice actors of the original animated series such as Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. Plus, the franchise has award worthy actors like Marky Mark now headlining the franchise to pull in more viewers.

There probably isn't something as prominent as the odd-color haired characters as there is fan service in anime. No doubt you have had experience with ecchi content in at least one anime. It seems that as anime fandom has grown, so too has ecchi anime evolved with the times. Ecchi has advanced forward a lot in the recent years to the point where there are massive amounts of ecchi and censors! Oh, censors...they're everyone's best friend. There are a handful of ecchi anime out now that are very close to hentai so of course the amount of censors in this type of contents are increasing. Although this may not be new for viewers who are familiar with hentai anime. Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan is a very popular code to cite when it comes down to censorship laws in anime because of the way it is currently interpreted, which essentially bans the depiction of genitalia. Due to this particular article, genitalia is pixelated in hentai anime and scenes deemed particularly ecchi are censored when aired. Even in video games, in particular eroges, genitalia will not be shown or will be pixelated. Though the strictness of the interpretation of Article 175 has vastly changed over the years, there is still a lot of content that is censored. When eroges are released overseas, however, the pixelation may be taken out. Still, with the way Article 175 of the Criminal Code is interpreted, it has spawned a new era in hentai because it gave birth to things like tentacle porn that Japan is notorious for even in individuals who are not as knowledgeable of Japan.

In Japan, the legal age in which people are deemed as "adults" is at the age of 20. This is the age when individuals can either drink alcohol or smoke. Most anime seem to revolve around high school or middle school students who are not yet adults. While in reality, there are people who defy that law no matter what country they're in, in anime, students are not depicted doing anything that they should not be doing because they're minors. Usually, to bypass these restrictions, you will often see characters in anime getting "drunk" off of common things like carbonated drinks or water (non human) to add the comedic effect of drunk characters without promoting drinking alcohol because that would be inappropriate and irresponsible! Often times, though not usually noticeable, content like gore or excessive amounts of blood are censored when making the switch from manga to anime. Your favorite shounen series may seem awesome and you wonder how some of them survive the brutal beatings they get in the fight scenes, but do not be fooled, they're not bleeding because it's been censored out of the anime! In the manga versions, you will be surprised by the vast amounts of blood that didn't show in the anime. You just cannot show that much blood on TV!

If you have ever watched dubbed anime, censorship is not something new to you. While western broadcasting is generally more liberal than it is in Japan, there is still a good amount of censorship. When it comes down to sexual content, oversexualization of students is not really condoned in the West. While the age of consent in Japan is 13, it is a little if not more so, higher in the West. What is deemed as fan service in anime, may be excessive sexualization in western societies so often, the anime will be altered so you cannot see cleavage or the shape of a bathing woman. This is quite evident in anime such as Sailor Moon, which experienced so much censoring when it was brought over to the West. The magical girl transformations were changed to hide the feminine lines of the bodies of the Sailor Scouts. Sailor Moon is also notable for censoring out homosexuality when it was dubbed. The relationship between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune was changed into a familial one that often left viewers confused due to the romantic nature of the scenes in contrast to what was being said. Even the last season of Sailor Moon was omitted from the American release due to the transexual nature of the Sailor Starlights. The censoring of anime in the west is not limited to sexual content, however. There are many cultural differences and in the west, when anime are dubbed, content may be changed so that they are not viewed in a negative light. If content may seem to be related to black magic, it will be edited or renamed to detract from the negativity of black magic. The Black Magician in Yu-Gi-Oh! was renamed as the Dark Magician so that he would not seem to be related to black magic. In the west, even under aged smoking, drinking, and doing drugs can be changed as well to abstain from promoting these acts much the way Japan does. However, sometimes Japanese culture may be edited out of anime that is shown in the west to be more relatable to western audiences. Pokemon is a good example; foods have been renamed or even changed completely in the anime. Even something as small as an onigiri has been given different names like "donut" or taken out completely so that western audiences will recognize the food, though how hard is it to recognize a ball of rice.

As an avid anime watcher, it’s pretty obvious that no one needs to tell you about the different genres, especially if they try to tell you about shounen! If you are less of a romantic and prefer to just watch badass fights between strong characters, then this is the genre for you! Although typically not used in everyday lingo, the word “shounen” means “boy”. Thus, the genre shounen is one that is targeted at a younger male audience. Nonetheless, people who are in their late teen years and sometimes even in their 20s are very much into this genre. Although the genre itself originates back to the 90s before it became a big thing in the early to mid 2000s, there seems to be more and more manga and anime out there that are set in this genre! When immersing yourself in this genre, you never have to worry about running out of anime or manga: there will always be new ones!

In any anime that’s classified as shounen, there’s always an underdog that’s cast as the protagonist. This character is always shunned by society for a characteristic that they possess which makes them “different”, and they are therefore seen as a possible threat that could change the entire system that most people are comfortable with. Essentially, the goal of these protagonists is to prove themselves to be worthy and to receive acknowledgment. Whether it’s for good or for evil depends entirely on the character, but typically, these guys end up on the good side and want to protect instead of destroy. What anime and manga in this genre attempt to teach us is that: no matter where you come from, if you work hard enough, you will get to where you need to be, and you will be happy. What makes this genre so popular isn’t just the fighting scenes and the brilliantly constructed villains, it’s also about the life lessons that are offered by each character, which is meant to teach us to have different perspectives and how that is a harbinger for success, no matter what life throws at you. A thoughtful notion, of course.

Taking a glimpse into the shounen world, you’ll find that it’s not always about fighting and battles. While shounen technically aims at younger boys, there are also people of various ages that get sucked into the shounen world. For those who are slightly older than the targeted age, they need a little more than just the simple “I want to fight to be better” trope to stay interested. Mangakas have taken the liberty to begin making their stories more wholesome, with less plot holes and flaws. If a story becomes timeless, it means that the lessons that it teaches are ones that can be used at any time — and if that is the key to making a series a classic, mangakas need to consider problems of the world that are repetitive in history, in the present, and even for the future. A somewhat common predicament that presents itself in shounen anime and manga is the problem of authority: who is the government? What have they indoctrinated into their people? Who controls the government? Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the classic examples of a series that doesn’t merely focus on the protagonists’ personal catharsis. While the mangaka is aware that her characters are flawed, it is apparent that she doesn’t allow their weaknesses to be a catalyst for their downfall. Instead, she chooses to make them stronger by posing a bigger problem in their society, which is what drives them to utilise their flaws as a way to achieve a bigger goal that ultimately changes their world. Shounen isn’t always so hard-hitting, though! It is no secret that in the various anime genres, there’s always the supernatural genre that can be considered to be quite popular, and has thus gained some semblance of an audience. The interesting thing about supernatural-themed anime is that with genres like shoujo and slice-of-life, the supernatural thing can definitely work, and has been proven to pique the interest of audiences. The aspect of the supernatural world is that it’s not universal, and it is pretty much limited to the Japanese definition of supernatural, creating a sense of authenticity that instantly pulls you in and keeps you hooked.

When Japanese myths and folktales are in the mix with a shounen genre, it creates a whole new element of excitement for the audience. Not only is the protagonist facing a fatal flaw that could be their downfall, but there are supernatural aspects of their world that they need to fight off, too! A prime example of this is Noragami, in which the protagonist is a god, named Yato, that seeks to achieve his goal of being acknowledged by believers of the Shinto faith. The series is action-packed, filled with “sword” fights and endless battles between the good and the evil. This type of shounen is always interesting because the weight of the battles is lightened due to the immensely plot-driven aspects.

Apart from the usual shounen trope with an underdog for a protagonist, there’s an additional aspect to consider: comedy. While all shounen series have an element of comedy present, there are some series that revolve around jokes and puns while simultaneously displaying the classic shounen characteristics. Gintama, for example, is an anime that is labeled as comedy, but it is also most certainly a shounen. When we are introduced to the series, we are merely being told what goes on in the world of Edo at a particular time in history. It is a little misleading to think that this is what Gintama is entirely about, because of course, the fact that the protagonist was a samurai that was stripped of his power ever since the freedom of the country was compromised is enough of an indication to tell you that there is a past. Gintama by itself is already an interesting series, and it’s characterised by its long but fruitful dialogue. More often than not, fans of this series are either snorting through their noses at how stupid some of the characters act, or trying very hard not to laugh too much because of how ridiculous some of the jokes and running gags are. An element of vulgarity is present that makes Gintama an irreplaceable series, even though there are other series out there that are just as vulgar. Another aspect of an anime like Gintama is the fact that it references other popular manga and anime, which is common in comedic series such as Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru Wakaranai Ken. Essentially, anime like these are ones that break the fourth wall between the characters and its audience, almost as though the writer is making a direct connection to his or her audience. Despite the many benefits of a shounen anime also being predominantly comedic, these types of anime usually have a fanbase of those who are in their early 20s to late 20s.

As you can see, there are so many different types of shounen anime, but they all have one thing in common: they all want to reach out to you and tell you their story, and hope that you can see their hard work being rewarded, in the hopes that it'll be a story that sticks with you! Whether it’s a classic shounen like Naruto or Fairy Tail, a shounen that is about changing the system, like Attack on Titan, or a comedic shounen that'll have you on the floor laughing like Gintama, surely you will be taught new life lessons. Many shounen fans don’t like to stick to just one sub-genre of shounen, as they say they like to expand the anime they watch so they don’t get bored. Truly, there’s a reason why shounen is one of the most popular genres: it’s because of how willingly writers want to reach out to their audience!

It is almost certain that most anime fans of all ages are aware of Tezuka Osamu’s (the granddaddy of Japanese manga AND anime) classic, Astro Boy, or Tetsuwan Atom in Japan. Shortly after the anime debuted in Japan in 1963, Astro Boy was picked up and aired by NBC studios. However, in order to adapt to western standards and appeal to American audiences, names and plot points needed to be changed. This practice of westernizing anime adaptations would actually be standard practice even to this day. Even though a large majority of international audiences are aware that Pokemon is Japanese in origin, it still maintains a practice of westernizing names and plot points to appeal to wider audiences, and certain original elements (such as how regions are named in the Japanese version to reflect Japan’s geography) wouldn't transition due to distinct cultural and society differences. Another popular post-World War II anime that successfully hit the US airwaves is Gigantor, or Tetsujin 28 in Japan, one of the original mech anime. Even though the original Japanese version takes place in modern times in context to its original broadcast in the 1960s, the American version took some significant creative liberties and made Gigantor take place in the year 2000!

Probably the most famous 1960s anime of all time is Tatsunoko’s Mach Go Go Go, or most famously known as Speed Racer to international audiences, which has a reputation of its rather speedy and over dramatic dub (in addition to its iconic opening theme song). Due to the settings being distinctively non-Japanese and the material taking influence from international cinema (such as the Mach 5 being influenced by 007’s Aston Martin DB5), the transition for American audiences was rather easy. Other than the name changes, the dub masterfully matches the original Japanese dialog literally word for word, and is essentially true to the original Japanese in context to plot points.

With the success of the previously shared titles, anime continued to sneak into American airwaves, but very few American audiences were aware of their Japanese origins. So what anime came to the US during the era of disco that still has a large impact to this day? For the older half of Generation X, it has to be Battle of the Planets, or Gatchaman, also made by Tatsunoko. Due to society differences and the values of an older time period, many key elements from the original source material were cut out. Naturally, with the violence and the transgender nature of its villain, a lot had to be changed in the programming aimed for American children, and its original content would have caused a moral panic. As a matter of fact, the name Battle of the Planets itself was meant to be a cash-in on the popularity of Star Wars, which debuted a year before the US broadcast of this respective hit anime. Although the original Gatchaman Japanese series was based on Earth, the American version somehow changed it to being about traveling to other (Earth-like) planets. Even though modern (and maybe younger) anime fans would be outraged by these changes, it didn't stop it from achieving numerous successes in being recognized as one of the best animated programs of all time from pop culture news sources, such as Wizard Magazine and IGN. Alex Ross, who many American comic fans like to say is the Norman Rockwell of his trade, happens to be a fan of this anime and even contributed art to DVD and VHS releases in the past.

In the 1980s, in which many veteran fans claim to be the 'golden age of anime', more Americanized titles hit the airwaves, but were still subjected to censoring for American audiences. One of the first titles from this time period is Star Blazers (though it was first broadcasted in the 1970s in Japan it became famous as an 80s anime in America), or Space Battleship Yamato. Naturally, with the original Japanese name and the ship itself being a reference to a sunken World War II battleship, America couldn't present something controversial to domestic audiences so names had to be changed. What made Star Blazers distinct is that it was one of the first anime to be aired in the US, which had a serialized story as opposed to being episodic. Despite this format being new to American audiences, it was a success and paved way for anime of similar nature to come to the US. The biggest US broadcasted anime of the 1980s and to younger Generation X audiences is Robotech. This is probably one the oldest anime that has received any controversy for its censoring, and is still controversial towards its fans to this very day! Of course, one side are the purists, while the other side claims that at the time, these changes were necessary to help anime grow in the US. However, thanks to Harmony Gold and other legal issues, other series being released in the US has become a struggle. And the anime that is most fondly remembered by the Oregon Trail generation (the generation between Generation X and the millennials) is probably, Voltron, or originally known as, GoLion. The art style resonated with audiences, most especially with the Voltron mech itself, but most viewers were still not aware of its original Japanese origins, and that it had VERY graphic violence in its original Japanese broadcast. It had a unique story, exciting characters, and a very exciting soundtrack. But after watching GoLion and how dark and violent it is, it can be difficult to go back to Voltron despite loving it as a child. Still, most anime titles released in the US up to this point were not advertised as being from Japan and only just a decade later, would mainstream audiences get an idea of what anime is in its purest form.

As time progressed to the 1990s, many anime continued to hit the airwaves but with a new twist, audiences were finally given information that the hits at the time, such as Ronin Warriors and Sailor Moon, were originally from Japan. Despite this, changes were still made. Ronin Warriors was initially meant to be released under its original Japanese title, Samurai Troopers. Due to legal reasons (with Saban owning the rights to shows, such as Super Human Samurai Cyber Squad and VR Troopers), the title had to be changed to avoid any issues. In addition, character names were still changed but still kept a Japanese feel to it. It was one of the first anime on TV, despite all of its changes, which managed to keep its “Japanese-ness.” Then on September 11, 1995, (Wow! That's now over twenty years ago!) after being a huge hit in Asia, Europe, and South America, Sailor Moon finally hit American shores. Even though the character names and certain plot points were changed, Sailor Moon still gave American viewers a taste of school life in Japan with juken jigoku (examination hell), sailor uniforms and gakurans, Tokyo Tower, the swear drop trope, Japanese style bentos, big eyes, glittering nudity transformation scenes, crazy hair styles, and everything that virtually defines anime on a surface level. Plus, the theme song manages to capture most of the melody of the original Japanese version, and somehow make it appropriate for North American audiences. Despite Sailor Moon’s aggressive marketing campaign, it only managed to capture a cult audience and was on hiatus between 1996 and 1999. Shortly before the coming of Toonami, what also helped spread the awareness of anime during the 1990s was the Sci-Fi channel’s (now called SyFy) Saturday anime block. It aired some of the big titles from the 1970s like Galaxy Expresss 999, to the hits of its time such as, Tenchi Muyo! In Love. In addition, it also provided a gateway to other classics (Akira, Roujin Z and Robot Carnival). Unfortunately, this block only aired at 1am but effectively appealed to the building cult audience.

Then in 1998, with Nintendo’s genius marketing, Pokemon finally hit US airwaves and became an instant and an on-going success. Despite its changes from the food (such as rice balls becoming jelly donuts in the US release), understanding its need for international appeal, many fans went with the changes and felt a sense of faithfulness to the nature of its source material. After Pokemon, other anime of similar nature for children followed such as Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh! But it was not the anime that became a success, it was a franchise as a whole. Pokemon is not just anime, but of course games on Nintendo’s consoles and trading card game. This would also apply to other franchises such as Yu-gi-oh!, Digimon, and Megaman Battle Network (Rockman.exe in Japan). Plus, other anime based on legendary game franchise continued to be broadcasted on American TV such as Sonic X, but its dub became a long source of controversy, which is another topic in itself.

Between 1999 and 2000, Cartoon Network took advantage of the cult followings of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z and brought further popularity through an aggressive marketing campaign of their rising Toonami block, which previously aired non-anime shows such as the new, Johnny Quest. Thanks to other Internet campaigns back in the day such as, Save Our Sailors, or SOS for short, with the exception of the Stars season, remaining episodes of Sailor Moon were broadcasted in English on Toonami. Despite some of the titles that would soon follow such as Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star and Tenchi Muyo being relatively old in Japan by five to ten years, they were fresh to American audiences and each found great success. Through Gundam Wing, Toonami started a midnight block broadcast where it would have an unedited broadcast that included more violence and swearing. Later, this practice would pave way for its Adult Swim block. What was also unique about Gundam Wing is that it was also one of the first anime that kept the original Japanese tracks of songs such as Just Communication as background music during its broadcast. It was the beginning of American audiences seeing anime for what it is, and not as a filter for Americanization.

In the early 2000s, thanks to building a mature audience through some of its anime titles, Cartoon Network started its Adult Swim block, which also includes original content and anime for its target audience. One of the most successful anime titles that helped build that brand is Cowboy Bebop, which many fans consider to be one of the best anime of all time. Cowboy Bebop (despite already having a strong popularity through the home video market) managed to expand its popularity through a TV broadcast and was repeatedly aired due to its high ratings and excellent reception. Later on, the success of the broadcast of mature oriented anime would allow the network to broadcast other critical hits such as Attack on Titan and Parasyte not too long after their Japanese broadcasts (despite those titles being aimed for teens in Japan). With a season 2 of Attack on Titan underway in Japan, Cartoon Network will soon follow and most likely air it. In addition, Adult Swim would also air anime influenced shows such as Afro Samurai and The Boondocks. Afro Samurai, based on a sleeper-hit manga by Okazaki Takashi, took years to get the anime version to launch. With its pilot/pitch trailer somehow managing to fall into the hands of Samuel L. Jackson, his influence resulted in getting the project off the ground, becoming an instant hit in America, while its popularity is still non-existent in Japan. Thanks to the fans and Cartoon Network Eventually, Cartoon Network became the TV haven for anime. Yes, there were network TV broadcasted anime after Toonami became a hit in 2000, but with some hit titles such as One Piece, the edits (and infamous rap opening) was subjected to very heavy negative criticisms from the established hardcore fan base and eventually got cancelled. According to dub actor Greg Ayers, he says that the Japanese executives approved the edits in order to get the show licensed and exposed to American audiences no matter what. However, some Japanese studios have openly criticized the editing process for western releases of Miyazaki Hayao films after the fiasco of the first dub of Naussica.

According to the Japanese-English dictionary, chibi is a Japanese slang term that means small and is used to refer to: a child, short person, midget, dwarf, small animal or runt. It can be used to mean pipsqueak, small fry, shrimp and such as well. Chibi is also used to describe small, cute versions of manga and anime characters, typically with oversized heads. That’s a whole lot of meaning for a word that represents smallness! Ok, so let’s split this up in two. First we have the Japanese slang term which is used mostly as either a taunt or a term of endearment. If you’ve ever seen Fullmetal Alchemist, you’ll recall Ed has a bit of an issue with his short stature and is often referred to as chibi (shrimp or small fry in the translations) which usually leads to a very ticked off Ed. Sometimes a character will call out to a young child as chibi, which can be translated as something like “little guy” or “shorty”. And we can even see it in names like Chibiusa from Sailor Moon which is short for Chibi Usagi (lit. Little Rabbit) since she’s basically Usagi’s Mini Me. The second way the term is used – and let’s face it, probably the main reason you ended up here – is to refer to those tiny, extra cute versions of anime (or manga) characters with big heads. Known in Japan as Super Deformed or SD, this style makes all characters look like small children, (though sometimes the curvier females tend to keep that quality). SD and chibi are used interchangeably by most non-Japanese fans and it can be easily identified by disproportionately large eyes and heads and –most of the time - little detail in regards to things like wardrobe or even fingers or feet, these sometimes ending in pointy stubs instead. Some features like noses and mouths can be lost as well depending on the emotion being presented.

While there is some anime which is completely in SD/chibi style, it is most widely used to express emotions in an exaggerated way. For example, a character can be in his usual style until someone calls him “shrimp” at which point he proves the person right by turning into a tiny, stubby, adorable version of himself with a huge head, no nose, exaggerated angry eyes with no pupils and a big screaming mouth. Sounds familiar? Other characters turn chibi when they are being super cute, energetic, sassy, shy, or yes, even sad! This style is used mostly to enhance an emotion by making it exaggerated, funny and 99% of the time, pretty cute! As for the shows that are all in chibi form, they usually tend to add the normal amount of detail to wardrobe and extremities, just keeping the cuteness of having a bunch of tiny, rounder, softer, cuter, big-headed characters running around. Now that you know way more than you ever thought necessary about chibis, here are some shows you can get your chibi fill from!

So there you go. Chibi isn’t just about being cute; it’s mostly about expressing emotions. Though the cuteness doesn’t hurt! Chibis make appearances in a vast number of anime and the list of suggestions could go on and on. I settled on the three I mentioned because they showcase a nice spectrum of situations in which you may encounter chibis in anime. Plus, 90’s chibis! A lot of shows won’t use chibis as often as the ones mentioned and will only reserve it for one particular character or only in certain situations, and in fact shows like Attack on Titan: Junior High are rare. I hope this article was enlightening and entertaining. What do you think? How do you feel about chibis? Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? Need ‘em!? What chibi-featuring anime would you suggest? Let us know in the comments below! Nya~!

Just in case you missed the last article (which you can find here), I’ll take a quick moment to define what it is we’re actually talking about. Anime, as we know it, is Japanese-style animation (whether it’s a feature-length film or a serialized TV show), where manga refers to Japanese-style comic books. Both are instantly recognizable to Western audiences, in large part due to their differences when compared to what readers are typically familiar with; stylistically and thematically they cater to a wide variety of audiences and tastes. Unlike their respective Western counterparts, which are often supported by relatively small pockets of feverishly dedicated fans, they are ubiquitous parts of mainstream Japanese culture.

While the legacy of both anime and manga is obviously much greater than simply when it was created, it’s important to take into account which one came first, to better understand the type of impact they had on the culture, both at the time and in the present. Both mediums had inspirational iterations in the early 20th century, but came into existence proper in Japan’s post-war period. Obviously, due to the limitations of technology, animation wasn’t something that was easily created, and was even less accessible for popular consumption until around the 70s (keep in mind that the decision to surrender during WWII wasn’t televised, but broadcast over radio). But manga was a part of everyday life, even then, as evidenced by immensely popular strips serialized in newspapers, contests that regularly published fan-made submissions, and the eventual rise of manga-specific publications that collected the work of the best and brightest around the country. Even under the country’s post-war economic strain, these publications were money making machines, because they were cheap enough for the everyday consumer. They were so popular that they rocketed cultural icons into the stratosphere, creating legends and paving the way for continuous booms in manga, and eventually, anime. Got to give points to manga for this one. (For a more comprehensive history on the rise of the manga industry, as well as the crushing pressure on artists at the time, I highly recommend A Drifting Life, by legendary author and manga pioneer Yoshihiro Tatsumi.)

The same can’t be said for manga. Despite its insane saturation into everyday Japanese life, regardless of gender, socio-economic status, or age, manga has never garnered the critical or commercial attention that anime has around the globe. Typically, when Western audiences think of Japanese cultural mainstays like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, or Naruto, they think of them as pivotal anime series’ (I admit, I didn’t know what manga was until junior high school, at the earliest). There are a couple of factors that help contribute to this perception. The first is that comics have never been as popular with mainstream audiences as their Japanese counterparts. They were associated with “nerd culture,” and were always more of a subculture than pop culture. However, the critical attention garnered by graphic novels and quality comic book series’ have created a bit of a sea change lately, as has commercial success of comic book film adaptations. There were also heavy-hitting publishing houses that made it incredibly hard to break into the market, especially if you were looking to publish something outside of tested genres. The second factor is related to the first, because it was rarely financially viable for Japanese publishing houses to put forth resources to translate manga for Western audiences, due to the poor expectations of return on their investments. Incidentally, this gave way to another important facet of otaku culture amongst Western audiences in the form of fan-translations, as well as fan-subs (which you can read more about here). But this, too, has changed over time, with increasingly large amounts of manga series’ receiving quality translation treatments that capture the essence that gave rise to their popularity in their native country, as well as entire sections of brick and mortar book stores dedicated to the genre. When it comes to matching the accessibility the Japanese audience has to manga, there’s still a long way to go.

There are other considerations that come to mind as well, with special regard for pacing. Depending on how much time you want to spend investing yourself in any given story, certain iterations of a beloved series might benefit you better than another. I’ll leave it at that, as I discussed it at greater length in the previous article.

Now that we’ve had even more to chew on when it comes to considering both mediums, which is actually better? First, I want to emphasize the fact that when it comes to personal tastes, there is no one, right answer. That said, most people do have a preference, and I’m no different. Before I get to that though, let’s see how it’s shaping up, pound for pound. As discussed, manga was obviously first on the scene and helped shape the way Japanese culture consumed media, arguably paving the way for animated adaptations of stories filled with characters they grew to love. In regard to how stories are first conceived, historically manga came before anime, but that has slowly changed over time, and there are plenty of popular standalone anime series’, as well as tie-ins. In terms of access to either, the Western world has myriad ways to get their hands on their favorite shows, but not as much luck as their Japanese counterparts when it comes to access to manga, with language as a barrier for most of it. They are neck and neck when it comes to storytelling, as different types of consumers prefer different types of media, and it’s just as easy to get wrapped up in a show as it is a book. With those points in mind, as well as its iconic status in the collective Western consciousness, the victory has to go to anime. That said, when it comes to immersing myself in quality Japanese entertainment, manga is the right choice for me. Since I live in Japan, it’s cheap, it’s everywhere, and it’s a lot easier for me to consume in bite-sized chunks (like for ten minutes before I go to bed, or while waiting for a train at the station). I also control the rate at which I consume it, in a way that benefits my everyday life here. For example, if I don’t understand a word, I can stop and look it up, forcing me to actively engage the language and more effectively memorize particular words. Unless I want to re-watch scenes in a particular show or movie, or turn on subtitles (and basically cheat my brain out of having to work as hard as it normally would) there’s no real way for me to do the same with anime. But of course, that’s just my opinion. Which do you prefer, and why? There are countless reasons to choose one over another. What are some unmentioned factors for why one particular medium is more appealing to you than the other? Sound off in the comments below, and let’s get a discussion going.

First there was kabe-don, then there was agokui. Now, there's katazun! Along with the former terms, you may not have even known that there was such a term for something like katazun, but you've probably seen them in action in one anime or another. Even if you haven't seen it, you've most likely experienced it one time or another. Definition What is katazun exactly? It's the term used to describe a scene in which someone's head hits someone. Well, that's the basics of it. Technically, it's the sound effect used to describe when someone's head lightly hits someone, though it's usually on the shoulder and is in no way a headbutt! It's generally an accident, though sometimes it can be intentional due to certain circumstances depending on the characters.

What is katazun exactly? It's the term used to describe a scene in which someone's head hits someone. Well, that's the basics of it. Technically, it's the sound effect used to describe when someone's head lightly hits someone, though it's usually on the shoulder and is in no way a headbutt! It's generally an accident, though sometimes it can be intentional due to certain circumstances depending on the characters.

Usually the circumstances are something along the lines of when one character is extremely tired after a long day, they may nod off on the train and their head will lightly hit and fall onto their neighbor's shoulder. While Izumi from Lucky Star says it can happen any time, most anime tend to just show katazun between close characters. There's another time when katazun happens, but this situation is seen more in shoujo anime and manga than other types of series. It occurs when the male protagonist resigns or is exhausted so, while facing the heroine, he slumps over and his head lands on her shoulder. Usually this type of situation occurs when the male lead has been desperately trying to save the heroine or something dire happens that puts stress on the male lead.

Ignoring the real life situation that Izumi highlights in which you can katazun a stranger on the train, katazun is something that shows just how intimate two characters can be. Despite how much characters can bicker, when you see two characters katazun after a long day, you know that they are close. That doesn't mean it has to be just between couples. Siblings and friends can katazun as well. It shows you just how comfortable they are with each other to let themselves be vulnerable.

Although katazun isn't widely known as a term, you've probably seen it in action plenty of times. There aren't too many sources outside of pictures defining it, so hopefully you now know that it is the sound effect used to describe someone's head lightly hitting or falling on someone. It's a sign of intimacy and friendship, so it's not something to be missed!