Anime (アニメ) refers to the animation style originating in Japan. It is characterized by distinctive characters and backgrounds (hand-drawn or computer-generated) that visually and thematically set it apart from other forms of animation. Storylines may include a variety of fictional or historical characters, events, and settings. Anime is aimed at a broad range of audiences; consequently, a given series may have aspects of a range of genres. Anime is most frequently distributed by streaming services, broadcast on television, or sold on DVDs and other media, either after their broadcast run or directly as original video animation (OVA). Console and computer games sometimes also feature segments or scenes that can be considered anime.
Manga (漫画) is Japanese for "comics" or "whimsical images". Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and Western styles of drawing, and took its current form shortly after World War II. Manga, apart from covers, is usually published in black and white but it is common to find introductions to chapters to be in color and read from top to bottom and then right to left, similar to the layout of a Japanese plain text. Financially, manga represented 2005 a market of ¥24 billion in Japan and $180 million in the United States. Manga was the fastest-growing segment of books in the United States in 2005. In 2020, Japan's manga industry hit a value of ¥612.6 billion due to the fast growth of the digital manga market, while manga sales in North America reached an all-time high at almost $250 million.
Anime and manga share many characteristics, including exaggerating (in terms of scale) of physical features, to which the reader presumably should pay most attention (best known being "large eyes"), "dramatically shaped speech bubbles, speed lines and onomatopoeic, exclamatory typography..." Some manga (a small percentage) are adapted into anime, often with the collaboration of the original author. Computer games can also be adapted into anime. In such cases, the work's original story is often compressed or modified to fit the new format and appeal to a wider demographic. Popular anime franchises sometimes include full-length feature films. Some anime franchises have been adapted into live-action films and television programs.
Tokyo Mew Mew is a Japanese shōjo manga series written by Reiko Yoshida and illustrated by Mia Ikumi. It was originally serialized in Nakayoshi from September 2000 to February 2003, and later published in seven tankōbon volumes by Kodansha from February 2001 to April 2003. It focuses on five girls infused with the DNA of rare animals that gives them special powers and allows them to transform into "Mew Mews". Led by Ichigo Momomiya, the girls protect the earth from aliens who wish to "reclaim" it. The series was quickly adapted into a fifty-two episode anime series by Studio Pierrot. It debuted in Japan on April 6, 2002, on both TV Aichi and TV Tokyo; the final episode aired on March 29, 2003. A two-volume sequel to the manga, Tokyo Mew Mew a la Mode, was serialized in Nakayoshi from April 2003 to February 2004. The sequel introduces a new Mew Mew, Berry Shirayuki, who becomes the temporary leader of the Mew Mews whilst Ichigo is on a trip to England. Two video games were also created for the series. (Full article...)
The fifth season of the One Pieceanime series was directed by Kōnosuke Uda and produced by Toei Animation. Like the rest of the series, it follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates, but instead of adaptating part of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga, it features three completely original, self-contained story arcs. The first five episodes, each following their own plots, form the "Dreams!" (ドリームス!) arc. The next three episodes make up the "Shutsugeki! Zenii Kaizoku Dan" (出撃! ゼニィ海賊団, lit. "Sortie! Zenny Pirates") storyline and focus on the Straw Hats meeting an old moneylender. The last five episodes form the "Niji no Kanata e" (虹の彼方へ, lit. "To the Other Side of the Rainbow") arc and deal with the protagonists getting trapped inside a mysterious, rainbow-colored mist.
The season initially ran from November 3, 2002 through February 2, 2003 on Fuji Television in Japan and was released on DVD in five compilations, each containing one disc with two or three episodes, by Toei Animation between March 3, 2004 and July 7, 2004. The season was then licensed and heavily edited for a dubbed broadcast and DVD release in English by 4Kids Entertainment. Their adaptation ran from August 4, 2007 though September 22, 2007 on Cartoon Network and omitted seven of the season's thirteen episodes. It was the last season to be dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment. DVDs of their adaptation were not released. Starting with the sixth season, Funimation Entertainment began dubbing new episodes for broadcast on Cartoon Network. Eventually they began redubbing the series from the start for uncut release on DVD and released the fifth season, relabeled as "One Piece: Season Two – Seventh Voyage", on May 11, 2010. (Full list...)
