History of Graphic Design Assignment 1

Exercise 4

History of Graphic Design

Nicole Bresler

Dv2010-0117

Anime, Manga, Otaku and Kawaii

Anime

The word anime -- pronounced "ah-knee-may" -- is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word's used to refer to all animation. Outside of Japan, it's become the catch-all term for animation from Japan. Anime has a distinct stylized look where literally everything in the animation is brought down to the characteristics that are identified with that object in the real world.  Female anime characters typically have a very good body build, are really pretty, beautiful hair, have nice eyes and personalities and large breasts. Some of the main types include the over expressive one (kinda like a loud cheerleader), the goody-two-shoes, that never seems to do anything wrong and the quiet-watch-her-crush-for-a-distance type.

Female

An example of the typical stylization of the face.

An example of a really pretty anime girl with nice eyes and beautiful hair. (Goody-two-shoes)

An example of an anime character with a good body and large breasts. (Over-expressive cheerleader)

An example of the quiet type.

Male anime characters are typically the hero of the story that save the damsels in distress, are afraid of nothing and beat down the bad guy with flash, sometimes unrealistic moves. Most of the time the male characters fall under the stereotype of a know-it-all, who think they know it all and are better than everybody else, the pretty boy, with naturally perfect hair, smile and eyes or the slightly less impressive nerd, with glasses that reflect light every time the push them back up.

The know-it-all

A common characteristic of this type is that they are all cocky.

The pretty boy

Most pretty boy characters have a more feminine look to them and are more feminine in the way they act.

The nerd

Don’t underestimate them; they are more dangerous than they look.

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for comics. It is used in the English-speaking world as a generic term for all comic books and graphic novels that were originally published in Japan. Manga is released in a weekly form in magazines or in a graphic novel and is very popular in Japan. The manga, like anime, is translated into many different languages but too keep to the traditional way of reading the manga the English version is read back to front, right to left.

There are two main types of manga, namely Shōujo, which is aimed at young females up to the age 18. These series tend to focus on romance and relationships from a young female's point of view. And then Shōnen, this is almost the same as shojo except it is mostly action, sports or romance for males up to age 18. It translates literally as "boy".

Shōujo 

                      

Shōujo

Otaku

Originally お宅 otaku meant house - and as nerds and geeks tend to hang out in their house the word for them became Otaku. In Japanese Otaku generally refers to a nerd or freak of some sort - most usually a computer nerd with no physical abilities who is heavily into reading and other solitary pursuits. It can also refer to someone who has an unhealthy obsession for anything that is unphysical.

In Western cultures the word Otaku has been taken to refer to people who are specifically into Japanese Anime, Games, Cosplay. "Otakon" (short for "otaku convention") is a convention organized by Otakorp, Inc, a non-profit organization. Otakon is focused on anime, manga, East Asian culture, and its fandom.

Kawaii

This is a term in the Japanese language to address anything cute and is literally translated to pretty; cute; lovely; charming; dear; darling; pet. It is not to be confused with Kowai, which means scary. This term is used very often by anime girls to describe anything that can remotely be classified as cute.  As a cultural phenomenon, cuteness or kawaii is increasingly accepted in Japan as a part of Japanese culture and national identity. Kawaii is branching out into nearly everything such as fashion (known as Harajuku style which Kawaii is only a portion of: http://amfibang.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/harajuku-style/  ), jewellery, nail art, normal art, food etc. This website is dedicated to Kawaii: http://tokyokawaiietc.com/

The influence

Anime, or the Japanese style of drawing, has influenced the west since the 1920’s. This has resulted in the change of the western style of art, but more specifically drawing. During that time the influence of the Japanese art caused the western art to become extremely simplified and with bold solid out lines. Such examples of this type of work are:

                                                                                  

Also, I think that the Japanese style of art heavily influenced the comic book in the Western culture. When looking at most comic books they have the same characteristics of the Art nouveau and Art Deco period; the think out lines, stylized objects and simplified characters.

Another influence that the Japanese art has on Western art is shown in the modern Western cartoon. These have the typical simplification and stylization of objects that shows just enough detail for the viewer to identify that object with its realistic partner and thick out lines that hold it all together. Examples of these are: Fairly Odd Parents, Ben Ten, Avatar: The last Air bender and power Puff Girls. 

The Japanese also had an influence on the Modern Western style of housing. The Japanese style of house was designed to be very open (reveal a lot of the landscape outside), neat and for everything to fit into one another or in other words to be compact.

Here are some examples of Japanese houses.

Modern Western houses are designed to be spacious, compact and have very often than not geometric structures, which if you compare the two style of house look very similar. Here are some examples of modern Western houses: