field survey written work

8/8/2019 Field Survey Written Work

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Brief History

Anime

Anime is the term used to define animation in Japan and began at the start of the 20 th century when

Japanese filmmakers experimented with animation. The earliest anime was a short clip of a samuraiwho tried testing out his new sword on a random target but suffered defeat and was screened in1917.

By the 1930’s, anime became the alternative method for telling stories and was also the time whenthe Japanese government began enforcing cultural nationalism. This resulted in total control onwhat media can be published and strict censorship with many animators being persuaded toproduce animations that enforced affiliation and national spirit.

During the 1940’s it exploded into such a huge phenomena that by 1950’s, 40% of all Japanese

mainstream films were anime based on manga comic books and almost took over the live action filmindustry.

Commercially, animated medium was mainly consumed by children in the western world, wheremajority of animations were made, and due to lack of animators producing for a mature audience.With Japanese’s intergrational culture and society, manga and anime appealed to all age groups andwas regularly being published in either series or movie form. This continued expanding as televisionbecame a popular form of entertainment or pass-time.

“The Japanese animation industry is a $5.2 billion dollar industry ” - Rowley

Visual Characteristics

Anime is referred to an art form. As it’s a visual medium it can highlight different visual stylesdepending on the artist or studio the animation is authored in. Many use the familiar wild andexaggerated style for example, crazy spiky hair or its own unique style of clothing where as othersuse a less exaggerated and a more normal style were the clothes with common hairstyles which isthe style used in Pokémon.



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Some styles are so common, they are regularly used to describe anime which include longer limbs, alarge head and very large eyes. Artists say that large eyes are essential as they can be used to displaya large range of emotions even in the most basic animation and would take up 30% of the charactersface and this technique is believed to first be used by Osamu Tezuka. A tiny nose compared to thesize of a characters head as well as dramatic shaped speech bubbles whenever used and speed linesfor any fast movement the character makes are also common.

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The characters facial expressions are normally different from western animation expressions andtend be to overly exaggerated. A character that is angry will have a mouth that almost resembles afierce animal with veins pulsing out of its forehead or if a character is laughing hysterically then hiseyes will water and the mouth would be open up to 4 times the size it should be in comparison tothe characters facial proportions.

Stressed or embarrassed individuals will make a large sweat droplet roll down their face withexaggerated red cheeks and sometimes even zigzag lines underneath their eyes.

A common gesture called the akanbe face (this is where the character will pull down the bottomeyelid with its finger, exposing the inside of the eyelid while having its tongue out) is over used in



many animations which is a form of childish taunt towards another character and is used for thepurpose of comedy. A large ‘X’ is always replaces the eyes to show illness or a knockout.

http://animewallpapers.lt/albums/anime-wallpaper/Vocaloid/6543-akanbe-hatsune-miku-namamo-

nanase-vocaloid.jpg

Anime styles take on the males’ view of an idealistic female form when females are designed. Mostfemale characters will have large breasts, small waistlines and fit and toned bodies. Malecharacteristics are fairly feminine in nature and they tend to not be designed with any developedmuscle tone which would be expected to see as ideal in the view of a female.

Animation

Anime is often considered a very basic animation due to cost cutting methods which are set due to asmall budget. Even when the animations are produced using a high budget, the animation is made ina way were it fools the eye into thinking there’s more movement then their actually is and alot of the scene settings are used a number of times throughout the animation.

Before I started my work I decided to get in touch with several amateur independent anime/mangaartists based in the UK via e-mail and asked them whether they they’d answer a few of myquestions. Most of them didn’t reply back. In total, I got 2 replies back, one of them being no help tome whatsoever and another, who sounded like she was very passionate on this subject is not only aproducer, she was the consumer as well. The questions I sent her and her answers are as follows:

Questionnaire

• Why do you like anime?

I like anime because I find it a visually appealing cartoon style that is not just for kids. Animeseries can be targeted at an older audience with shows covering topics such as natural disasters and human drama (like soap operas, but in a pretty cartoon style).



• What’s your favourite anime?

At the moment, I'm really enjoying a new series called 'Bakuman', which is about twoteenage boys who want to make their own manga series. As an artist, it really inspires and motivates me to work hard like the characters.

• Why do you do what you do?

I want to be able to make comics that are as good as manga that inspire me, but I also want to raise the bar in the UK for the quality that OEL (Original English Language) manga tend tobe. (People tend to view OEL manga as been amateur and low quality compared to the Japanese originals). I also do it because I enjoy drawing cartoons, and have always done so.

• How do you work?

On my computer with a bar of chocolate and an energy drink by my side. I always sketchideas, and when I get a day free, I scan my best sketches and turn them into full images.

• What role does the artist have in society?

Artists are very important to society, but I don't think that most people realise this. Artistsare designers and architects, as well as cartoonists, so without them everything would be plain and dull, and on TV we'd have nothing to watch but our plain and dull world! Artistsboth give us a place to escape to, and help make our world more enjoyable.

• How has your practice change over time

When I first started, I would mostly draw characters that existed in anime I liked, and I would colour them with pencils. I did it because I enjoyed drawing and liked the appearances of thecharacters I drew, so I didn't mind that the pictures were messy. Now I scan my sketches of my own original characters into the computer to give them digital outlines and vibrant colours. Over the years I've learnt more techniques to make the pictures morevisually appealing, as I focus more on other people seeing it and enjoying my work. I still enjoy drawing, but I also really like hearing the reaction of other people to what I do.

• What part of anime art do you most identify with?

The art itself portrays the experiences and feelings that the artist behind the work has beenthrough. I think you can learn a lot from the stories in manga (more than anime, because the producers of anime often change the original story quite a bit) because the artist will beteaching you the way they view people and the world in their work. I mostly identify with thestories behind the art.

• What works do you most enjoying doing?



I don't think I've found a media that I enjoy most yet, but I try to find the best way to 'bringmy characters to life', so I tried to do animation for a while, but I think even a really good piece of still artwork can bring the subject 'to life'.

• What themes do you pursue in anime?

I usually watch and try to create things in the 'Slice of Life' genre, where you get an insight into the daily lives of the characters. This genre usually involves the characters learningsomething about themselves and the world around them in the same way that we do. It'snice to get to see the world from another point of view

• What do you dislike about anime?

I dislike being stereotyped part of 'the fandom', actually. There are many different types of people who enjoy anime, and there are many different types of anime for people to enjoy,but people who don't know much about anime assume we're all the same, because we all 'like anime'. This means the most common type of anime fan sets the stereotype for how we're all viewed, which is like assuming everyone who enjoys reading books is a Twilight fangirl.

• What do you like about your work?

I recently started making much more colourful pictures than I used to, which I'm really happy about. Like a lot of artists, though, I don't like much about my work. There's a lot I want tochange and improve on, so it's hard to see the good things. I like that people like my work,though.

• What research do you do in relation to your work?

I love researching, but I don't do enough of it! I research whatever I feel that researchingwould benefit. If I'm trying to make an outfit for a character that lived 100 years ago, I'll research the types of clothes they wore. If I'm writing a script about an alien race, I'll research scientific facts to back up the fiction. It's a lot of fun because you learn a lot of new things, and improve your work by expanding the boundaries of your imagination.

• Name three artists you’d like to be compared to. o Yun Kouga, I adore her art style but I doubt I'll be compared to her because

the style of my pictures is very different.o BLADE is an artist who I really like, but again, I don't think I could be

compared to them.o Any other professional manga artist! If I'm compared to a real manga artist,

I'd be really happy.

• What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?



Stop thinking too hard about what you're drawing: don't draw for the purpose of having a final picture! If you just draw for the love of it, the really good pictures will come on their own.

• Professionally, what’s your goal?

To be a known manga artist, with higher quality work than what is expected of UK manga. And perhaps to be able to live off my art alone

• What wouldn’t you do without?

My mechanical pencil. If ever I forget it and have to use a normal pencil, I can't draw! They're tooblunt! Mechanical pencils give me nice, clear fine lines.

- Jasmine ‘Hoshii’ Walton [email protected] http://www.hoshiichannel.co.uk/

Images taken from the artist’s website

There have been many well known anime artists which include:

Professional Anime Artists

• Anno Hideaki – Gunbuster, Kare-kano, Nadia, Neon Genesis Evangelion• Ikuhara Kinihiko – Revolutionary Girl Utena, Sailor Moon• Matsumoto Leigi – Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999, Queen Emeraldas• Miyazaki Hayao – Future Boy Totora, Spirited Away, Future Boy Conan

The two artists I’ve decided to look at are:

• Tsugumi Ohba – Bakuman, Death Note – This is the artist I’m mainly going to focus on• Osamu Tezuka – Astro Boy, Black Jack

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.hoshiichannel.co.uk/






This medical doctor first dabbled into drawing manga art before getting involved with

animation then later assisting larger companies in producing a series of anime’s. Eventhough he produced many pieces of work, he was popular for writing Astro Boy and BlackJack and was later dubbed as ‘The Godfather of Anime’ as many compared him to WaltDisney.

Osamu Tezuka (1928 – 1989)

• Astro Boy – First broadcasted in 1967. This story is about an adventurous robot and consistsof several story lines one of which was later adapted for an English version. This anime wasmarketed more towards children.

• Black Jack – Consists of hundreds of short episodes involving a supernatural doctor (BlackJack) going around performing miraculous deeds. His past experience as a doctorate was oneof the main inspirations for this anime. Some episodes involved science fiction andpseudoscience and was marketed towards not only children but adults as well.

This artist is recognised for his ‘out of this world’ stories stylised in Japanese with hints of westernculture mixed in as he enjoyed reading novels written by authors from the western world. Eventhough his first pieces of animation were very basic, they were titled ‘Japanese version of Disney’but this was only when he wasn’t working on gritty, gory or graphic violent animations.

http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/Astro_Boy_red-explosion_-01.jpg

http://www.freewebs.com/raijin-akuma2/blackjack/BlackJackSerious.jpg






This person’s gender and identity isn’t known to the public as well as its real name, equivalent toBanksy in the graffiti scene. Some say, he/she leaves small clues in all his/her work such as past andwho this person might be.

Tsugumi Ohba

• Bakuman – Written and produced by this artist. This story follows a boy who wants tobecome a manga artist. People believe this is a true story and it may just be a reconstructionof the artist’s life.

• Death Note – Written and produced by the artist. A psychological suspense about asupernatural book dropped on earth by a god of death (‘shinnigami’) that can kill people justby written a person’s name inside it while picturing their face. The main character (Light)tries to use this book to ‘cleanse the world of evil’ while detectives lead by ‘L’ try to stophim. Both Light and L go head to head throughout the series trying to outwit each other on

an intellectual battle ground fashioned around logic, trust and betrayal until the seriesreaches its climax. This series was later made into a two part live action film.

Death Note Analysis

Many believe that the character L is a caricature of Tsugumi Ohba in real life. From the wayhe behaves his eating habits, the way he sits and his love for food. Rumours in Japan suggestthis artist is witty and intelligent because of how wit and intelligence were the main traits of both of the main characters as well as this animation having an intricate story line.

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z237/IsaYunYum/Death%20note/L.jpg



This artist likes to play games with people as Death Note is simply a story of disguises andcat and mouse. All the major characters hide behind an alias for most of the time and iswhat the artist has been doing since he began making animations. I’d like to point out; theartist placed himself comfortably in his final piece of work which in my opinion is majordedication to art.

This anime was the very reason why I became interested in anime in the first place and is thereason why I decided to do my field survey on it because Death Note raises many interestingquestions about morality. If you had the power of god, the power to kill, would you withoutthinking twice? Who would you kill? If you were killing criminals, is it still murder? Who’s lifeis worth saving and who’s isn’t? Unlike many pseudo-intellectual anime series where aproblem like this is eventually solved the right way, Death Note doesn’t take these questionslightly and begins experimenting with these questions.

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The artists work is in fine form here. From distinctive, clean lined character features,distinctively the death god (‘Ryuk’) who instead of being drawn in a typical muscular godwearing robes like many people might visualise a god, it’s drawn into a grotesque wingedbeast. A good visual of what death might look like.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/DeathNoteShinigami



The animation

As well as a gripping story line, the realistic artwork plays a major role in drawing the viewerinto this anime. The colours used are very crisp and vivid yet the tones are kept grim to setthe dark mood of the series. The animation itself is said to be excellent as every movementhas been paid close attention to and no frames were ever used twice like many anime’s dodue to production costs. Throughout the whole series, the artist made sure everything wasshaded to perfection and was complimented to be some of the best shading ever to be seenin anime. The camera angles are used to accentuate moods while the scenery defines itwhile the aesthetics reflect the storyline.

The sound

The fast pace, dark and aggressive opening and closing metal sound tracks capture the mood

of the series well along with well directed orchestral, dark background sounds that areplayed throughout the series. The voice actors accurately capture the characters moods andpersonalities such as near the end when a character loses his sanity and uses the Death Noteto go on a killing spree while saying ‘Delete!’ and laughing in hysterics every time he killssomeone. Playing and pulling off a psychopathic role like this must be difficult as its notnormal behaviour so it’s not an acting skill you can pick up through everyday life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYGuSpwhFFE&feature=related

The cons

This anime is very dark and dense so it’s only recommended for the more mature audienceand due to its complex story line; it requires the viewers full attention at all times.



Using anime artist’s techniques I’m going to make an anime version of myself for my finalpresentation. I’m going to do this in adobe illustrator as most anime graphics are vectors sothat they come out in best quality and can be resized without any losing any quality

While I’m making this I’m going to pay close attention to the following:• My anime character is going to have large eyes which will help determine the mood

of my drawing• Small nose• The hair is going to be exaggerated• The background is going to have typical anime speed lines which are normally used

to show movement• Use some shading to make the hair and hair line look more realistic• Have a pointy chin to define it and have some shading above the chin and below the

mouth to give my picture some realism

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