What is Anime?
Anime is an unique take on Japanese culture through animations. Although it is animation, not all anime is for children to see. Anime can have adult material that can sexual sitituations, extreme violence and other themes inapproiate for children. Anime is different from comic books because of varied audience. Anime can be televison shows like Pokemon. People watch more for the characters than the quality. Anime is released as direct to video movies with higher quality animation than shown in television. Sometimes the focus is on one storyline, and then it is an feature length film. People enjoy anime because of the storylines, topics,quality of the art and the variety of genres. Here is a list of the type of genres that exist in anime:
Action
Action animes like Naruto, Bleach and Samurai Champloo are really popular in America due to it's element of non-stop, fast-paced action. This anime is recommended for an action-loving audience.
Horror
Bloody,horrific instances of torture and murder is what Horror animes are all about. Shows like Higurashi and Elfen Lied are clear examples. Of course this genre is recommended for mature audeinces and people who can handle a little animated gore.
Romance
Like every other romance, there's a guy and a girl. They fall in love and live happily ever after. That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell. There are a countless numbers of series of this genre, but my personal favorite is Clannad because of its originality, which this genre does not lack. People that like touchy movies will definitely get into these kind of shows.
Sci-fi
Aliens, monsters, androids, vampire you name it, they got it. Most of it can be action, like Ghost in the Shell, or comedy/romance, To Love-Ru. Recommended to Sci-Fi geeks.
Comedy
Comedy in anime is funny because it's always something we can relate to, eithier in relationships, experiences, personalities, or weaknesses. LuckyStar is a one of my favorites that covers all of these aspects. Recommended for people who don't like to watch funny stuff. :p
Adventure
Kino's Journey, Pokemon, and Digimon are examples of Adventure anime. Usually it's main theme is freedom or aprreciation of nature, recommended for kids or young teens.
Psychological
Psychological is a very complex and intresting sort of genre that can be compared to a thriller as well. Hikaru no Go is a good example of this kind of genre. These shows can get confusing so it is aimed for an audience of good knowledge of world affairs, culture, and philosophy.
School Life
School Life is a popular genre that mainly involves the every day life of the students that attend a certain school. The charm of this anime are the indirect messages and lessons that you get out of this genre. A type of anime that I'd recommend to anyone.*K-ON* ^
Mystery
Mystery is very popular in America as well. Animes like Conan the Detective and Death Note dominated main stream animes with their deep and suspenseful stories. Recommended for people who like to watch detective shows.
Mecha
Mecha animes are all based on war type themes and giant battling robots, an image that can almost immediately be recognized as Japanese. One of the most popular animes in Japan, Code Geass, is a Mecha anime. Recommended for people who love to watch giant robots fighting to the death.
