Source: @Tencent Animation World Style Feature

Fans of anime who talk about anime every day, have you ever wondered where the word "anime" came from? Today we will reveal to you the past, life, present, and life of anime.

Astro Boy, which premiered on Fuji TV on New Year's Day in 1963, is regarded as the beginning of Japanese television animation, and 2013 marks its 50th anniversary. Many Japanese organizations and television organizations have launched a variety of commemorative features and retrospectives in due course.

Also in 1963, the broadcast of "Astro Boy" on NBC in North America also introduced North American audiences to the charm of Japanese television animation for the first time. The following video video from Zuò produced by QYLL in the United States introduces the rebirth of Japanese animation in the past 50 years, from a black and white film with a strong Disney style to a "Japanese animation" with its own distinctive characteristics, which can be called a miracle of pop culture (author's original words: 50yearslater, animeisapopculturephenomenon.). The "declaration of love" at the end of the film makes people deeply feel the huge influence of Japanese TV animation today, and interested students may wish to take a look.

Oh, I'm sorry, but you might think that this article is going to remember the "brief history of animation" that made countless students drowsy in the first class of the college animation elective, right?

It's a pity that we don't plan to talk about those clichés today, but let's dig into the root of the words - what should we call this thing we like?

"Anime" has not been around since ancient times

Yes, you read that right. Don't think that in the opening paragraph I kept calling it "Japanese TV anime", I think that discussing what it's called is just enough to eat. If the name is not right, it is not good, and the so-called otaku and otaku rarely use the "fashionable" title of "TV animation" directly in the daily communication of today's so-called otaku. This group of enthusiasts is currently using the controversial term "anime".

It is said that it is controversial not only because the meaning of this word has been changing since its birth (it is estimated that it will continue to change in the future), but also because over the years, in order to "correct its name", there have been countless verbal battles in various large and small animation communities in China, and countless quarrels have occurred, leaving countless saliva

An imported word originating from Europe, the United States, and Japan

Conventionally, the beginning of the story usually begins with something like "Once upon a time there was a mountain, and there was XXX in the mountain". Well, to be exact, hundreds of thousands of years ago, Paleolithic humans chiseled murals depicting hunting scenes on the rock walls of caves, which was the earliest act of "painting". In essence, it is no different from the spoof graffiti of today's primary school students who draw Du Fu carrying a sniper rifle and going out to the green when they are bored in class, until one day when ancient humans try to express the feeling of xiàn action scenes, but have to rely on repeated drawings to break down the actions in order to express their thoughts bluntly, today's primary school students have mastered more advanced skills: draw slightly different pictures on different pages and quickly turn the pages - animation was born! (No wonder everyone says, "Elementary school students are amazing!") ”）

In fact, the talent of this skill is called "visual residue", and at worst, it is called "optical illusion". Before the invention of film technology, the Fenaki mirror, the movable mirror, the magic slide lantern, the flip book, the diorama, as well as the Chinese marquee lantern and shadow puppet play were all based on this. Of course, the film itself was developed based on this theory.

Of course, whether it is manga or anime, their birthplace is Europe and the United States.

The original starting point was an Italian word called cartoon, which refers to the European comic strip. However, at that time, it was more of a political cartoon and a satirical cartoon. Then the French developed it.

At the end of the 19th century, also based on the great French creation, cinematic technology was able to emerge along with animation technology. At the same time, the new word "animation" was born, which was used to refer to "moving pictures". However, this kind of thing is still too similar to "cartoon", so both animation and cartoon are used to refer to "animation", or as an abbreviation of "animationCartoon", that is, "moving comics".

With the popularity of Disney in the early 20th century, the word "cartoon" was more used to refer to humorous comedy animation series, especially after the introduction of China, "cartoon" is firmly tied to Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Snow White. Animation, on the other hand, has become a term for a variety of "images in continuous motion", including animation made in various ways such as 2D, 3D, clay, and stickers, but it is not limited to the current concept of "animation". As for the original comics, today's Europe and the United States are more often called "Comic", especially their own comic works such as "Batman" and "Superman".

And in Japan, the term "manga (マンガ, romanized manga)" appeared as early as the ukiyo-e era. In the early 20th century, Japanese manga developed rapidly, but animation started relatively late. It wasn't until the influx of foreign animation, such as European, American, and Chinese works, that it led to the rise of Japanese animation (there is no doubt that Chinese animation did start earlier than Japan, such as the famous "Iron Fan Princess" had a huge impact on Osamu Tezuka's concept).

Later, with the post-war economic miracle in Japan, Japanese animation gradually created a result of the simple "take-it-or-leave-it" of imported works at the beginning. Since the 70s, it has gradually developed and separated into its own style of animation, during which there have been various names such as "line drawing", "animation", and "manga filming", but basically they all belong to the meaning of "TV comics". Finally, with the Japanese transliteration of "Animation" "アニメーション" simply to "アニメ", the new word "Anime" was coined, which is considered by Europeans and Americans today.

In short, Europe, the United States, and Japan have always defined animation as an art form called "dynamic manga."

With the domestic history of the continuous "name change"

Let us now turn our gaze back to our great motherland. At the beginning, our animation had a special literary name called "art film", which is almost a unique title for domestic animation. It may be because domestic animation was originally paper-cut, puppetry, shadow puppets and other culturally rich things, and until now the official is still using this term.

Although it was pointed out above that domestic animation was at the forefront of the world at the beginning, it was slow to develop due to various reasons, and then the introduction of Japanese animation began in China. For example, "Machine Qì Cat" and "Yixiu" have gradually become the childhood memories of a generation in China, and have therefore been upgraded to classic works in the hearts of Chinese fans; Domestic animation has gradually begun to be neglected with the name "art film". Well... It seems that there is a feeling that a literary youth has lost to an ordinary youth?

It's just that no one knew anything about "anime" or "Japanese animation" at that time, so it was called "cartoon" along with American animation works such as "Transformers" that came in at the same time - both of them looked like pictures anyway! It seems to be a coincidence that these stories are also relatively in line with children's appetites, and from then on, the mainstream idea that "cartoons can only be read by children" has gradually formed. But no matter what, the name "cartoon" is widely accepted in China. The first batch of related magazines in China also began to use such a title in front of people's eyes, such as "Cartoon King".

In the 80s and early 90s, Japanese TV animation was at a relative low point, and the high cost of production of animation itself had made the production company miserable, and the traditional concept was that the biggest audience for animation was children. Children spend watching TV in the afternoon, when TV stations are very expensive, so many producers are constantly exploring new ways to make a profit, such as selling videos and DVDs.

It wasn't until 1995 that Hideaki Anno, the famous film "Neon Genesis Evangelion" ("EVA") by "revenge society" came out, and this animation triggered a huge change in the Japanese television animation industry. For example, the "system of making committees" pioneered by "EVA" solves the cost problem of TV animation in a certain way. Another example is "industry stories" such as "the response was average when it was broadcast in prime time, but after it was changed to a late-night broadcast, it was warmly welcomed by adult audiences", which led to the rise of late-night TV animation.

Late-night animation, in a sense, is indeed a good thing. The TV station can only greatly reduce the cost because of the small number of viewers in the late-night file, so it is logical for the animation production company to start the idea of the late-night file. Of course, in the late-night file, the degree of freedom is already higher, and the viewing group is mainly adults, so more dark and depressing stories, more obscure and novel settings, more bloody and violent battles, and more beautiful and delicious girls are more and more created to meet the audience's tastes. To put it simply, the audience says, "Let there be light!" So there is the rhythm of "Holy Light"—a kind of Cheng dù, which is the path that "EVA" points out.

Of course, this kind of thing that children will obviously not be able to hold after watching it, of course, cannot be broadcast on domestic TV! It's just that it would be naïve to think that the giants we see today are just illusions.

You can eat cake without bread! Although I couldn't see it on TV, my friends and I started to come into contact with things called CDs and the Internet. Just like those teenagers who are still at the age of having the luxury of "ideals", when they see Brazilians playing freestyle football for the first time, they can't help but shout "It turns out that football can still be played like this", and then they plunge into the bottomless pit of Chinese football without hesitation; When I was a child, I had to blush and my heart beat when I watched Shizuka take a bath, and the teenagers would also shout at the Japanese late-night animation that they inadvertently found, "It turns out that the palace can still be opened like this", and then there is no more

And here's the problem.,Teachers and parents can't tell the difference between Japanese animation and domestic, European and American.,Anyway, it looks like it's just some moving pictures.。 They'll just say, "Is the homework done?" What cartoons did you watch before you finished writing! Such a big person still looks at these! ”

So the teenagers were angry, not because the adults objected to their hobby, but because the things they liked were called "cartoons" - the kind of stuff for little kids! This is obviously unbearable! These connotative Japanese animation kids can't understand at all, so how can they be confused with the "Mickey Mouse and Blue Cat" that they watch? We are determined to draw a line with "cartoons"!

This is easy to do.,Isn't Japanese animation called "anime"?,The origin of this word is the English "animation" mentioned earlier.,That is, animation.,So there is:"I watch animation.,Not cartoons.,Children will watch cartoons like childish things!" ”

Of course, not everyone is willing to change the name they are used to, and not everyone can tell it so clearly, so between enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts, between enthusiasts and enthusiasts, between enthusiasts and enthusiasts, there will inevitably be a long-term quarrel between "animation or cartoon".

The battle for "fame".

Teenagers are still growing, and this circle is slowly growing, more and more young people are starting to go online, and the number of people watching animation is gradually increasing. Only the domestic entertainment and cultural industry for teenagers has fallen offline during this critical period of rapid development of the motherland. As a result, we became "a generation that grew up with Brazilian football, American basketball, Korean esports, European and American music, and Japanese anime." It's the best of times, and it's the worst of times – and that's right! So it's really our fault that the Qixi Festival is not as hot as the ** Festival, sorry (I know that you must complain about my "wide thinking" here).

There are many "words" red

Gradually, the media that followed the trend were affected, and more and more people began to abandon the word "cartoon" and turn to the term "animation" to refer to all Japanese animation - yes, all animation from Japan is called "animation", whether it is "Crayon Shin-chan", "Slam Dunk" or the banned "Death Notes".

So the boys quit again. We animation fans don't watch the so-called animation channels on TV, how can those young things be compared with "gods"? So he turned to the next status symbol. This time, a new word brought by AnimeComicTime (earlier than many people remember as the first to use the word "anime") came into their sight, and it quickly spread.

"I'm watching anime, not animation, and children only watch childish things like anime!" Eh, where do you think you've heard it?

This time, the media also reacted quickly, with various "anime" magazines emerging one after another, and various "anime" websites also springing up. Even the state has begun to support the "animation" industry - although the "animation" discussed in various online communities is basically discussing animation, and the content of the "animation" information on the website is basically animation information. As for the "animation industry", have you ever heard of the statement that "the state supports XX comics"?

When the newlyweds ask the old man:

"Have you ever watched the XXX anime?"

"Are you talking about anime or manga?"

"Isn't anime just animation?"

"Huh? Anime is animation, manga is comic, how can anime be animation? ”

So a better than the former "animation or cartoon?" "More intense" anime or anime? The quarrel was inevitably ignited and continues to this day.

The word "anime" is very interesting, originally it was a phrase abbreviation made up of phrases like technology (science and technology), film and television (movies and TV series, cartoons), vegetables and fruits (vegetables and fruits), and culture and sports (culture and sports), but now it has gradually changed to refer specifically to "animation" due to habits and media orientation.

Some people say that there was a manga first, and then it was adapted into an anime, so "anime" is used to call this anime, such as "One Piece"; But what about original works that don't have manga and only anime in the first place?

Some people also say that this is because animation and comics are inherently closely linked, so it is normal to use them together, after all, such a name can be promoted and inseparable from the country's policy-oriented role - I want to pinch the two industries tightly, and then bundle development. That's true, but the funny thing is that in China, animation and manga are not so closely linked, and Japan, the only country in the world where animation and manga are most closely linked, does not have the name "anime" at all, on the contrary, in Japan, "anime" refers to animation, and "manga" refers to "manga", which is very clear.

We have no responsibility to guess one: "Anime" can also be abbreviated as AC, originally A here refers to "anime", C refers to "comic", but some people mistakenly think that C refers to "cartoon", so AC is the meaning of "animecartoon (animation cartoon)", so after abuse, it has caused a confused situation between animation and animation today!

Wait and see how it changes, and smile at the clouds

Well, in fact, what I want to say is: we don't need to be thick and thin (although this is human nature), and we don't need to think that a change in habit is a flood of beasts. After all, a name is just a name, and there are many words in ancient times that were widely misused and eventually completely detached from their original meaning, but do we feel bothered when we use them in our daily life today? No, just like some people who came into contact with the Internet late in the post-90s and post-00s, many of them were exposed to the word "anime" at the beginning, and they don't need to think about it or understand the origin and rights and wrongs of this word. In the future, people will prefer to use the word "anime" or "anime", and it will be left to time to judge, and there is no other way.

By the way, remember when you first talked about Japanese animation and European and American animation, both "animation" and "dynamic manga"? So if you think of the current "anime" as an abbreviation of "dynamic manga", it is a very apt name, at least closer to the meaning of "anime" itself. So why bother with what the people who used the word in the first place think?

It is even more unnecessary to feel that this misunderstanding will have a huge impact on China's animation industry, or that this is "unprofessional" with Chinese characteristics, and to have a huge prejudice against the word animation. There is nothing wrong with the word itself, at most it is an act of misuse.

In fact, even in Europe and the United States, there have been similar misunderstandings and quarrels for a long time. “It‘snotcartoon，it‘sanime.” It is a popular phrase among European and American animation lovers, and if you search for it, you will know that this is actually a European and American version of "cartoon war animation". (Sure enough, the world's otaku is a family), and this sentence is so famous that it is even complained about in "The Big Bang Theory".

Nowadays, video download websites and online video websites are constantly emerging, and online communities are becoming popular. People who share common hobbies form various circles on the web. The constant influx of newcomers and the old people who are actively seeking change are still inventing new words. For example, people who have similar common hobbies such as watching anime, reading comics "comic", and playing the beautiful girl game "galgame" (which seems to have been extended to all "games" recently) have also quoted a word used earlier by anime fans at Sun Yat-sen University - "ACG" (abbreviation of Anime, ComicsandGames, also known as "anime game", "two-dimensional" or "roaming game") to collectively refer to this field. Even later, after the addition of the light novel "Novels", there was a more advanced upgraded version: "ACGN" (it should be pointed out that both ACG and ACGN are still only original proper nouns in the Chinese region, and there is no such name in Japan, Europe and the United States).

As a result, "a new group was formed, and they called "Anime" by "anime", "Cartoon" by "anime", and "manga" by "manga". There is only one question, what do they call "anime" and "manga"? "Anime manga"? Thankfully, they still have ACG usage. (by netizen ZC language)

So in the future, I will hear again "I only watch anime, not manga." What about such claims? Didn't Ayanami Rei tell everyone with her actions a long time ago? "At this time, just smile ~"

Resources:

Multiple entries on Wikipedia

Li Jie: "The History of Japanese Anime"

Catalogue System zuò Committee (リスト制zuò委), by Masayoshi Isobe and Masahiro Haraguchi: "50th Anniversary of the History of Japanese Television Animation"

Discussion on Zhihu Online: Do people in the circle dislike the word "anime"?

Netizen "ZC" published an article on Guoke.com: Talking about the change of the title of "Japanese animation".

Netizen "qyll" video work "Animegraphy2013" in the release page of the production zuò testimonial

and various anime community discussion posts about "anime" and "anime".

Special Instructions and Thanks:

The video quoted in the article comes from the video work "Animegraphy2013" posted by netizen "qyll"

The video information is kept as follows:

Title: Animegraphy2013

Author: qyll (USA)

Songs: TheTemperTrap - "LoveLost", TheVaccines - "IfYouWanna", TheXX - "Intro"

A total of 207 animation footage was used

It takes 4 months to complete

Released on 2013-11-06

epilogue

Many years ago, the "post-70s" felt that the "post-80s" were not good; Later, the "post-80s" felt that the "post-90s" were not good; Recently, the "post-90s" began to feel that the "post-00s" are not good, and in the future, the "post-00s" are estimated to feel that the "post-10s" are not good, the times are changing, and every generation that is not optimistic will always grow up, but this world has never really "failed". And from "art films" to "cartoons" to "animation" to "anime", and maybe "ACG", in the end, it is just another version of the story of "70, 80, 90, 00". Stop dwelling on a simple term, let's jump out of the strife and return to the joy that anime originally brought us!