39
votes
Accepted
Why isn't anime critically analyzed like other forms of literature or entertainment?
I think the simplest answer is that anime is just not that popular. Though immensely popular and gaining momentum, the anime community just isn't that widespread. If you look at it critically MOST of ...
- 9,238
30
votes
Accepted
What is the longest anime title?
Okay, so I have been able to find a definitive answer!
Naruto Narutimate Hero 3: Finally a Clash! Jonin VS Genin!! Indescriminate Grand Melee Tournament Meeting!!
is the longest titled anime with ...
- 33.8k
27
votes
Why are most women in anime housewives instead of being independent?
Since the question has picked up steam, I am going to construct the answer by including both historical and modern viewpoint and then the depiction of women in anime and manga
Part I: Historical ...
- 2,204
26
votes
What is the first ever produced anime and manga?
The First Anime
Astroboy's Claim to Fame
Astroboy (1963) is often thought to be the "first anime", but that's false. It does merit some firsts though: it was the first anime to be broadcast ...
- 33.8k
24
votes
Why are most people in anime white or European-looking (instead of Japanese)?
If we look back to Astroboy, the first regularly broadcast tv-length animated series, we can see that characters are still not necessarily Asian-looking
Astroboy started off as a show targeted mostly ...
- 33.8k
23
votes
Accepted
Which anime has the most number of filler episodes and the longest filler arc?
Percentage wise bleach has the most fillers, since it has a total of:
366 episodes
160 filler episodes
which means 43.4% of the anime are fillers.
naruto and naruto-shippuuden combined have
640 ...
- 21.9k
23
votes
Why isn't anime critically analyzed like other forms of literature or entertainment?
There are critically analyzed works.
It is indeed a much newer and nicher area than traditional film, but there are communities around it. There is just much less of it (as @Arcane states) due to ...
- 33.8k
22
votes
Accepted
What, if anything, was the early 90s anime creativity crisis?
I don't know where you heard about a creativity crisis but in the early 90's there was indeed a huge crisis which weakened the anime industry for a few years, along with a lot of other industries: an ...
- 1,663
21
votes
Accepted
Why does anime air in 4 seasons per year of ~13 episodes?
It is for financial reasons.
In the past, many series had longer seasons: 24, 26 or 28 episodes for a season was common in the 90s (Meitantei Conan's first season was 28 episodes). Series that were ...
- 10.7k
19
votes
Accepted
Why do people tend to think anime is weird porno?
In the 90s, Anime (formerly called Japanimation in some magazines and sources) became the latest target of alarmist conservative media due to a set of OVAs titled "Urotsukidōji" or "The Overfiend" in ...
- 33.8k
18
votes
Accepted
What does this Treaty have to do with Ecchi Girls?
You have two questions here:
What exactly is this treaty?
and
Does it really have so much control over anime?
The Treaty of San Francisco they reference is otherwise known as the Treaty of ...
- 8,499
17
votes
Accepted
How did maids get popular in anime?
Most of this is a summary of the paper Maid in Japan:
An Ethnographic Account of Alternative Intimacy by Patrick W. Galbraith (author of 'the otaku encyclopaedia')
The first maid costume in ...
- 33.8k
17
votes
Accepted
Why are most women in anime housewives instead of being independent?
TLDR: The premise of the question is only true for male-oriented works.
The main bulk of the question (the reason for women in anime being portrayed mainly as housewives) has been answered by Fumikage ...
- 616
16
votes
What was the first anime to have a "please notice me senpai" moment?
In real-life Japanese culture, many people do hope to get and attempt to get the attention of their love interest without ever voicing it or being direct, so this is not an anime/manga-specific trope ...
- 10.7k
16
votes
Accepted
Who was the first tsundere character?
According to The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan, Lum Invader from Urusei Yatsura is possibly the first tsundere to exist (and also potentially the source of all ...
- 33.8k
16
votes
Accepted
Is it normal to 'erase' a seiyu?
Kotaku says in its post here:
Increasingly, Japanese authorities have been cracking down on drugs and celebrities. Instead of letting these famous individuals off, like police seem to do in the U.S., ...
- 9,639
15
votes
Accepted
Why not export to America?
It may come to a surprise for you, but the anime you typically watch is not what is considered mainstream in its country of origin, unless of course you watch shows made for children and families.
In ...
- 41k
14
votes
How did the lolicon genre begin in anime/manga?
Adding onto Angelo's answer, the rise of the trend seems to coincide with the rise of idol culture in Japan.
The idol phenomenon began during the early 1970s, reflecting a boom in Japan for the ...
- 33.8k
14
votes
Accepted
Is it common for games to get a anime?
Just like in this answer, let's take a look at /u/homu's data.
This basically answers your question right here: between 8% and 15% (avg. 10%) of anime in each year from 2000-2013 were based on a ...
- 34.6k
14
votes
Accepted
What was the first magical girl transformation scene?
The first 'magical girl' anime was Sally The Witch, who transformed with a wand into another costume - This was a simple animation though and performed in the same cut as the rest of the scene. Sally ...
- 33.8k
14
votes
Accepted
What's with the "x" in "Hunter x Hunter" (and other anime/manga)?
I've done some searching about the names like this, and I wasn't able to find any particular explanation. Some people say it's just for style, other argue that the × is another form of "vs" (which ...
- 9,311
13
votes
Accepted
What should a university-level course about manga and anime culture cover as part of its curriculum?
Some Notes Before Reading
This is an imaginary course that I have created. I think it gives a broad enough overview of the subject for a single term, but I think it could be extended easily to a two ...
- 33.8k
13
votes
Accepted
Is there a reason for the "Hair of Death" hair style?
This meme seems to be a conflation of two very different things.
First, Hyakuya Akane from Owari no Seraph (the girl on the lower part of the image) does not share the low below-the-shoulder ponytail ...
- 10.7k
12
votes
Why do many characters tend to have crazy hair colors and styles?
Question #1: Why do many characters tend to have crazy hair colors? What is the cultural origin of such a style?
The origin of this practice is the primarily black and white medium of manga.
Manga ...
- 10.7k
12
votes
As of 2014, are there any people at Gainax who worked on Evangelion (the TV series)?
In 2011, many main creators did drop out from Gainax. They are the members of the 'Gurren Lagann' and 'Panty & Stocking' creator.
Panty & Stocking with Garter Belt Wikipedia
After that, ...
- 878
12
votes
What is the longest anime title?
I took all anime titles from MyAnimeList, parsed and sorted them by length:
Dragon Ball Z Special 1: Tatta Hitori no Saishuu Kessen - Freezer ni Idonda Z Senshi Son Goku no Chi 100
Naruto: Dai ...
- 9,377
12
votes
Accepted
Is there something like the Academy Awards for anime?
There are two I could find:
Tokyo Anime Award: The Tokyo Anime Award started from 2002, but was named in 2005. The
first, second and third awards were only named simply
'Competition'.1 The ...
- 2,749
12
votes
Accepted
What was the first anime aired in HD?
You question intrigued me quite a bit, so I decided to try to solve this problem. Here is what I found and I would be grateful if anyone can help me improve my answer!
The first thing I knew was ...
- 140
11
votes
Accepted
Are anime that are not based on manga common?
Let's take a quick sample of full-length non-children's anime that began airing during the current season (Winter 2014) and see which are based on manga.
Based on a manga: D-Frag; Engaged to the ...
- 34.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible