Anime history in a nutshell. Part two: through the 80s and the economic crisis (Topic)

We continue to review the history of the anime. In the previous article, we talked about how it originated, what prerequisites for this were and how it began to develop. In the following, we will tell you how anime became what it is today.

Charming bastards

In the 70s, which fell in the era of the dawn of anime, the first antihero appeared, to whom people sympathized. With the release of Lupine III, the idea took root that the protagonist doesn't have to be a role model, fight for good, or promote values. The series told about the adventures of the charming thief Lupine, who always gets into criminal trouble.

In addition to the series about Lupine, two full-length films were shot about him. The second film, Lupine the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro [1979], was directed by Hayao Miyazaki. At the same time, anime began to spread around the world, and primarily in America, although it got there a little modified. However, the introduction of culture was not one-sided, and in Japan they began to make anime based on fairy tales and short stories by classical American and European authors such as Mark Twain, Hans Christian Anderson and Tove Janson.

Western influence extended to traditional anime, so in 1977, in the anime "Candy Candy", based on the novel by Japanese writer Kyoko Mizuki, the main character lived in America. In general, this project, which tells a common story about a girl and her adventures, pushed the studios to new experiments.

May the 80s come!

One of the important events of the 80s [which cannot be called anything other than "Renaissance Anime"] is the first release of the OVA anime, that is, made specifically for sale on DVD. It was "Dallos", which tells the story of the lunar colonists who are fighting against the slave system. Although Japan was already becoming very progressive and strange, even there at one time not everyone could afford a video player. For this reason, OVA was an expensive entertainment that only the most dedicated anime fans could afford, and there were. The budget for making anime for cassettes was much higher than that of a standard TV series, which was reflected in the better picture quality.

As a rule, OVA began to play sequels or relaunches of projects that were successful on TV.

At the same time, original full-length films began to actively develop. And that's when Studio Ghibli came into being in the 1980s with Laputa Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Firefly Tomb and my favorite Witch's Delivery Service.

Also in 1988, Akira was released, which collected a record amount at the box office. He also became one of the first anime that aroused great interest in the Western public. In Japan itself, it was perceived not so violently, since many had previously read Akira in 6 volumes of the manga, and for them the plot looked like a run through the main points of the original source. Fortunately, Katsuhiro Otomo was even able to perfectly convey the mysticism of what was happening, which so captivated in this work.

In 1988, the most famous martial arts shonen "Dragon Ball Z" was released, which popularized the genre so much that thanks to it we will see "Naruto", "One Piece" and "Bleach" in the future. The Gundam franchise, which breathed new life into anime furs, became no less popular then.

But not only furs, shonen and full-length films have become rich in Japanese animation. In the same decade, thanks to Urotsukidoji. The Legend of the Super Demon ”the hentai genre received public coverage. Yes, this is an anime, the footage of which looks like a cool 80s action movie with a charismatic main character - damn hentai, liked by viewers around the world for this very reason. They also helped popularize the hentai ova "Cream Lemon" and "Lolita Anime".

Plaid Shirts, Grunge & Anime

The 90s came, and with them came the anime from studio Gainax "Nadia from the Mysterious Sea" and its characteristic kawaii, which today is closely associated with anime.

Began to tolerate change and shoujo anime. There is no more colorful example to illustrate this than 1992's Sailor Moon. Thanks to the fact that the authors combined Sentai with Maha Shoujo and added a little magic, the series came out amazing, unlike other works. It had everything: a love story, cute characters, action scenes and a bit of revealing outfits. The series was liked by both girls and boys.

And now we come to a huge block, which is impossible to get around, remembering the anime - "Evangelion". Yes, I know that everyone is tired of hearing about "Evangelion", but he made so much noise in 1995 that the echoes are still heard now. He has influenced all anime, not just the fur genre. He was stylish, with philosophical overtones and focused on the psychologists of the protagonists against the backdrop of humanity's struggle against an unknown threat. But most importantly, he popularized anime around the world as never before in its history. "Eve" is loved by millions, millions do not understand, and the same number of people consider it a deeply overrated and transient work.

Didn't slow down the pace in the nineties and feature films. In the same year, the second high-profile work, which today can be called folk, was the full-length film "Ghost in the Shell", which touches on the pressing theme of cyberpunk, where an android is trying to understand whether he can be human.

Also, after working on Magnetic Rose, Satoshi Kon releases his most famous psychological thriller, Ideal Sadness, and Hayao Miyazaki releases the film Princess Mononoke worldwide. It became a new word in the problem of the struggle between progress and ecology, showing that one cannot exist without the other in modern realities.

Catch them all and more

Another iconic thing that probably became the first brick in the creation of the anime community that grew up in the 2000s was Pokemon. That in America and Europe, that in the post-Soviet space, many children of the 2000s first began their acquaintance with anime with "Pokemon", without even realizing that it was an anime, and even more so that it was based on a series of games from Nintendo.

It is important to note that the economic situation around the world in the late nineties and in the 2000s was shaken. So in Japan, since the 80s, an economic crisis has gradually developed, which hit hardest on the Land of the Rising Sun in 2003, and the global crisis of 2008 kicked it so hard in the kidneys. At the time, anime studios had to choose between several things: downsizing, making production cheaper, and shortening series. Many went the latter way, so the history of anime led us to the appearance of the first 13-series, which began to slowly break the standard of 26 episodes.

At the same time, anime with abundant fan service began to appear often, the most striking example of "Hot Summer". Much more often, anime based on manga was created, as it was not as risky as releasing something new.

And if there are such examples as "Bleach", which started off with a bang, lasted 366 episodes and ended not very well. And there is Death Note, about the confrontation between the greatest detective and a guy who imagines himself to be God, ideally fit into 37 episodes.

There were other cases as well, like "Fullmetal Alchemist" and "Helsing". Both anime were based on the manga, but overtook her. The creators had to finish the anime on their own without a source. But also in both cases, OVAs were later released, which were based on the manga from start to finish.

It should be noted that thanks to Hao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon [and later Makoto Shinkai], full-length anime began to appear on the world cinema stage and receive various awards at festivals. "Spirited Away", "Howl's Moving Castle", "Millennium Actress" made the world's film critics look more often at anime works.

All this rapid development has led to the fact that when the Internet came into use, a bunch of streaming services began to appear that give access to any anime at any time. The series themselves almost completely switched to the format of 12-13 episodes and began to appear in seasons.

And now, the modern history of anime is at the mark of 2019, when it became a massive phenomenon, has millions of fans around the world and has the form that we are used to seeing.

The Topic of Article: Anime history in a nutshell. Part two: through the 80s and the economic crisis.
Author: Jake Pinkman