I have a free write for my essay and I want to write about the history of anime because I am really thankful for anime. I have been reading that the godfather of anime was Osamu Tezuka, but I'm not too sure.
Who is the father or godfather of anime?
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Do you mean the person who first created it, the person who popularized it, or something else?– kuwalyCommented Sep 10, 2017 at 2:55
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It would be nice to know all that you mentioned @kuwaly. I would like to know the person who first created it and the one who popularized in specifically in the U.S.– RoyalDragonOtakuCommented Sep 10, 2017 at 5:12
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1 Answer
History
Tezuka is considered to be the father of the post-war anime. The concept of anime exists in the early XXth century but there were no real standardization. I think Tezuka was the first ever to define some rule and above rule, the first one to be able to have a mass production as stated here (the conquest of the television)
Moreover, I guess it would also be interesting for you to find out per your favorite genre. For instance, if you like mecha, clearly Tezuka is a name to quote. If you are more into romance, well... once you have found your focus, you can highlight some masters and their productions. Afterwards, you can make the relationship between those productions and you have your history :)
But looking for the father of anime is like looking for the father of science-fiction to me: you can almost say whatever you want as it is pretty hard to define it objectively.
Your essay
As for your essay, I did some myself when I was a student. My favorite topics were:
- Comparison of anime and Japanese history. A good example is why the anime in the 90s are somehow apocalyptic (Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell). Without entering into the detail, I made the parallel with the economic crisis. If you follow this axis, and I recall properly, you can split into big period: post war (50s), the early stage (70s, early 80s), golden age (80s-90s), democratization (2000s)
- Comparison of mecha and Japan's past. You find a lot of symbol in the mecha etiquette and it somehow reminds the formerly glorious samurai (e.g. the Lancelot launching procedure in Code Geass). You can develop either toward the "Japanese are looking for their golden past" (once again Code Geass is a good example but Gundam series is like a golden mine) point or "Human always wanted to overcome their condition thanks to the technology" (Evangelion, Gundam...). Well, I'm not a mecha expert ._.
- Impact of Japan culture in the anime and impact of the anime in the Japanese culture. Unlike in the West, anime is fully part of the Japanese culture, regardless if they are happy with it or not. And the dependency is on two ways. A good example for me is fashion where sometimes the border between cosplay and clothing is pretty thin.
