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 ...
- 9,258
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 ...
- 34k
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 ...
- 2,532
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 ...
- 34k
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 ...
- 34k
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 ...
- 22k
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 ...
- 34k
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 ...
- 34k
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 ...
- 8,519
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 ...
- 34k
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 ...
- 626
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 ...
- 34k
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., ...
- 9,709
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 ...
- 41.6k
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 ...
- 34k
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 ...
- 34k
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 ...
- 9,341
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
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 ...
- 9,447
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
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
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 ...
- 2,759
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
Why the popularity of German?
From the perspective of someone from Japan, I suppose there are some reasons.
First, the saturation of English names. Because there are quite a lot of anime/manga contents in Japan, it is really hard ...
- 111
11
votes
Accepted
What was the first anime to have a "please notice me senpai" moment?
To be perfectly honest there was no original "notice me senpai" moment in anime. The way it started is when a female character has feelings for a guy, but she never manages to tell him, and this just ...
- 382
11
votes
Accepted
Who was the first seiyuu?
The first seiyuus that were credited in an anime were Furukawa Roppa and Sawa Ranko. They voiced characters in Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka (The World of Power and Women). Unfortunatly, this anime ...
- 34k
11
votes
What was the first Hentai ever made?
The history of Japanese hentai manga is very, very old.
For example, The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife (NSFW) was drawn in 1814.
The work is also known as the earliest tentacle erotica.
In 1722, the ...
- 2,863
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