Japanese animation is most well known for its high levels of action, and violence, but that is only part of the story. It is generally split into two types, shonen (for boys), and shojo (for girls) although many anime fit into both. There are sports anime (often promoting the advantages of teamwork) and romance anime, children's anime, the best of which undoubtedly come from Studio Ghibli, and anime aimed at the older fans, as well as anime based on computer and card games. In other words, anime is not just a genre, but (much like the US film industry) covers a large spectrum of genres.

I started getting interested in manga in 1989, and anime in 1990. From the early days scraping around in the hope of finding an nth generation fansub of something you had seen in Newtype magazine, things have come a very long way. It is now possible to get perfect quality DVDs of titles only a few months after release in Japan. And if that isn't quick enough for you, fansubbers distribute titles (via the internet) sometimes only days after they have aired on Japanese TV. It used to be the case that if you wanted to buy anime merchandise, you hoped that what you wanted was available at a convention, or you hit lucky and found a friend in Japan to buy it and send it over. Now, there are plenty of online shops that will be more than happy to send your bank balance plummeting into the red. It is almost true to say that anime is a more expensive habit than drugs. For one it isn't illegal, and there really is no limit as to how much you can spend.

Japanese animation is full of surprises, and the great series just keep rolling out. Some of last years outstanding titles include Last Exile, Scrapped princess and Stellvia of the universe, and that has barely scraped the surface of the excellent anime that is available, so go on, dive in, the anime is lovely ^_^

Tsunami