Anime, loved by some and loathed by others, has a robust history and its influence is seen in many cartoons today. While many cartoons in America have a lighthearted angle, some anime shows are able to address some of the more pressing issues in society – depression, to name one.
Some anime can be compared to the shows that we show our children and grew up watching. Some of those shows themselves were anime, such as Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragon Ball and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
As I’ve grown up, I have noticed the same kids who would watch those shows branched off to shows like Family Guy, Archer and the rest of those “adult cartoons.” Personally, I had a hard time finding the enjoyment in those shows.
So I continued to find more and more anime to enjoy. Unlike the cartoons filled with crude humor that my friends were watching, I was watching shows that talked about loneliness and depression. While I can see the appeal of just turning your brain off and laughing, I don’t understand how most Western cartoons are typically comedies first and everything else second.
Anime started coming to the Western market in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s with shows like Transformers, Voltron and Astro Boy. This time also saw the rise of anime movies like Akira and Studio Ghibli films My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service.
This can be seen as studios testing the waters of the Western market, which was then followed by a boom of shows that would change the medium forever in the coming decade. The 1990s had shows such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, Pokemon and Dragon Ball. This is when the medium began to diversify and branch out into new styles of storytelling and warping what those stories would be about. From Evangelion’s themes of loneliness to Cowboy Bebop’s amazing character studies, anime had for sure matured compared to the children’s shows of the ‘70s and ‘80s.
At the same time, there was still a mix of light hearted shows, as evidenced by Sailor Moon and Pokémon. They showed the diversity within the medium, something that is lost in western cartoons. The 2000s and 2010s that followed continued to show this diversity with the more “edgy” shows, like Bleach and Future Diary, being contrasted by the rise of sports anime, like Prince of Tennis.
This diversity is something that I feel most people forget about when it comes to anime. You are able to find a show for basically any niche you like and enjoy. Another reason I feel anime could be appreciated is that most current shows — and the ones that came before — are hand-drawn and -colored. With this amount of detail put into shows, you can see that the creators and directors truly do love the form and are not into it to make a quick buck.
Anime is an art form that may not be for everyone but could use a lot more appreciation. Those who watch could do more to try and make the community seem more appealing to those outside in order to make people more open to the idea of trying a new type of entertainment.
Logan Carr is a freshman studying political science at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Did you see the movie? Let Logan know by emailing him at lc300918@ohio.edu.
