Determination sits at the top of anime’s favorite themes. When I first considered writing about this, the obviousness of determination made me wonder what I could say about it that wasn’t, uh, obvious. Anime heroes are determined to achieve their goals. Full stop. They aren’t any different from heroes in other stories. But there is…
Category: Understanding Anime
Anime Visual Language Guide
Anime has a visual language that shorthands character emotions and states of mind. The visual language comes from manga and its efforts to clarify the inner world of characters without resorting to words. Visual language can be thought of as a vocabulary of adverbs and adjectives. They add more detail to a character’s behavior. To…
Pokemon’s Animation Gets Better….Then it Gets Worse Again
Pokemon’s animation style has changed since the first episode of the anime debuted in 1997. The changes often spark controversy among fans. The design changes seen in Sun and Moon has certainly riled many fans. But in order for any franchise to remain strong, it has to reinvent itself time-to-time. Sensibilities change with each decade….
Anime Offers Diversity, More than We Think
When you hear the word anime, you likely think of today’s current styles: moe. But anime offers more diversity than that. Moe is a design that seeks to make you feel a warm protectiveness. Typically, this involves large eyes, small noses, small mouths, and oval faces. A few of you may think about anime designs…
What Does Tsundere Mean?
Anime has its own vocabulary that’s confusing for beginners. Tsundere is one such word. The word describes a type of character common to anime. When we meet these characters, they are initially harsh and even violent. Other times they are just cold and aloof on the outside, but either type eventually warms to be…
The Madness Behind Goblin Slayer
I’ve addressed the controversy surrounding the first episode of Goblin Slayer. I’ve also seen (as likely you have) plenty of articles that speak about the status of women in the series. “Rotten Chivalry: The Role of Women in Goblin Slayer” at UEM struck me as one of the best. But the articles also ignore the…