Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: Is anime only Japanese?
Although anime can be considered by some as distinctly Japanese animation, some scholars and fans relate to them by their animated nature similar to the works of Walt Disney. Researchers found that this created a subset of people that distinguish themselves from the similar subculture of Japanophiles. The fandom originally proliferated using participatory media via the nature of fan-subbing anime, or the English subtitling of the original Japanese shows. This voluntary labor connects people on a global scale as fans from all over the world participate in and benefit from the collective community's work. During the 1990s, industry officials viewed fan-subtitlers as useful to the budding Anime industry, as they used fan production to see where potentially profitable markets might lie. Interviews from some of the earliest fansubbers reveal that most of them subscribed to an unspoken code that they should not make a profit from their illegal activities. However, most distributors do asked to be reimbursed for the cost of the tape and for shipping. Whether through fansubbing or professional industry translated anime and manga, the North American distribution of anime and manga has been primarily an import business for the Japanese produced content. However, due to the nature of its roots, the fandom is better thought of as a hybrid of American and Japanese cultural notes.
Suguha ranked 6th, on a Japanese Charapedia poll of the "anime character they’d want as a little sister" the most. Another Charapedia survey where 10,000 fans were asked to find the most "charming busty characters" in anime and manga had Leafa placed 3rd with 409 points, though she came 2nd with 370 points for just the male respondents. Asuna, Kirito and Leafa appeared in a campaign by the "Manga Anime Guardians" project in combating anime and manga piracy, with the project being supported by 15 anime production studios and manga publishers. Leafa has also appeared in "Sword Art Online"-related video games, including crossover title "". A pre-release promotion by Bandai Namco for video game "" allows already registered users to be entered into a lottery where the winner receives a Leafa figure.
Although the Super Sentai Series originated in Japan, various Sentai series have been imported and dubbed in other languages for broadcast in several other countries.
A is an interactive game genre, which originated in Japan, featuring text-based story with narrative style of literature and interactivity aided by static or sprite-based visuals, most often using anime-style art or occasionally live-action stills (and sometimes video footage). As the name might suggest, they resemble mixed-media novels.
"Bleach" was serialized in the Japanese manga magazine "Weekly Shōnen Jump" from August 2001 to August 2016, with its chapters collected into 74 "tankōbon" volumes. The series has spawned a media franchise that includes an anime television series that was produced by Studio Pierrot from 2004 to 2012, two original video animation episodes, four animated feature films, ten stage musicals, and numerous video games, as well as many types of "Bleach"-related merchandise. A live-action film adaptation was released in 2018. English-language releases of "Bleach" are coordinated by Viz Media, which has released several volumes of the manga each year since 2004, and published chapters of "Bleach" in its "Shonen Jump" magazine since November 2007. Viz Media secured foreign television and home video distribution rights to the "Bleach" anime in 2006. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim began airing dubbed episodes of "Bleach" in the United States that Fall, and Hulu later began to stream subtitled versions of the anime a week after each episode aired in Japan. Viz Media has also released each of the "Bleach" feature films in English.
The manga of the same name was created after the anime was developed, and while the major characters and plot elements remain the same, the overall story arc was (according to the production notes in the first volume) changed to fit the medium better, and a few new characters and subplots are added (i.e. Ochi, a manga only character, is a young landlady who is very taken with Sasshi that receives multiple incarnations throughout the different worlds. Also, Sasshi's feelings for Arumi are much stronger and less ambiguous than they are portrayed in the anime). Furthermore, the manga features more frontal nudity than the anime.
The series was adapted into an anime television series by A-1 Pictures in 2011 and into an anime film ("Ao no Exorcist Gekijouban") in December 2012. Viz Media has licensed the manga for North American production, with the first volume released in April 5, 2011. Aniplex of America also released the anime's DVDs in English regions. A second season, titled "Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga", premiered on January 7, 2017.
In Japanese terminology, a distinction is often made between visual novels (abbreviated NVL, derived from "novel"), which consist predominantly of narration and have very few interactive elements, and adventure games (abbreviated AVG, or ADV derived from "adventure"), a form of adventure game which may incorporate problem-solving and other types of gameplay. This distinction is normally lost outside Japan, where both NVLs and ADVs are commonly referred to as "visual novels" by international fans. Visual novels and ADVs are especially prevalent in Japan, where they made up nearly 70% of the PC game titles released in 2006.
There are four animated feature films based on the "Bleach" series, all of which are directed by Noriyuki Abe, director of the "Bleach" anime series. The films were released annually each December starting in 2006, though none were released in 2009. Each movie features an original plotline along with original characters designed by Tite Kubo, which is contrary to the normal practice for anime-based films, as the original author usually has little creative involvement.
Starting in 2006, Kyoto Animation, the animators of another Key game-turned-anime, "Air", decided to animate a new adaptation of "Kanon". This version, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and written by Fumihiko Shimo, aired between October 5, 2006 and March 15, 2007 on BS-i, containing 24 episodes. The series was later rebroadcast on TBS. ADV Films announced on September 21, 2007 at the Anime Weekend Atlanta anime convention that they have officially licensed the second "Kanon" anime series. ADV had previously posted a trailer for the series in August 2007, but was soon taken offline once the news had been spread on the Internet. The first English-dubbed episode was made available via streaming online at Anime News Network between December 23 and December 30, 2007. In July 2008, the licensing rights of the second "Kanon" anime were transferred from ADV to Funimation Entertainment who continued to produce the series in North America.
The "Zatch Bell!" anime/manga series had video games, most of which were published in Japan only. Ten "Zatch Bell!" video games were only published in Japan with half of them being Game Boy Advance titles but three games were localized in North America including "Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles", "Zatch Bell! Electric Arena", and "Zatch Bell! Mamodo Fury". "Konjiki no Gash Bell!! Unare! Yūjō no Zakeru 2" was planned to be localized in North America as "Zatch Bell! Electric Arena 2" but it was canceled for unknown reasons.
In a survey from Oricon in 2009, "Fullmetal Alchemist" ranked ninth as the manga that fans wanted to be turned into a live-action film. The series is also popular with amateur writers who produce "dōjinshi" (fan fiction) that borrows characters from the series. In the Japanese market Super Comic City, there have been over 1,100 "dōjinshi" based on "Fullmetal Alchemist", some of which focused on romantic interactions between Edward Elric and Roy Mustang. Anime News Network said the series had the same impact in Comiket 2004 as several female fans were seen there writing "dōjinshi".
My Monster Secret, known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiji Masuda. It has been serialized in Akita Shoten's "shōnen" manga magazine "Weekly Shōnen Champion" since January 31, 2013. As of December 2016, the series has been collected in 20 "tankōbon" volumes. An anime television series adaptation began airing July 2015. AnimeLab has secured streaming rights in Australia & New Zealand. Seven Seas Manga acquired the rights to translate and distribute the manga for North America with the first volume being released in January 2016.
The manga series was adapted into a one-episode original video animation that was released in May 2005 and a live-action film starring Jun Matsumoto and Nana Eikura that premiered in Japan on January 20, 2007.
, also known as for short, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Milan Matra. The story revolves around Yuto Amakawa, an orphan who, on his sixteenth birthday, meets Himari, a cat spirit samurai girl who has sworn an oath to protect Yuto from the various monsters and demons that are out to kill him.
On March 15, 2007, the Japanese television station BS-i announced a "Clannad" anime series via a short 30-second teaser trailer that was featured at the end of the final episode of the second "Kanon" anime series. "Clannad" is produced by Kyoto Animation, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, and written by Fumihiko Shimo, who also worked on other adaptations of Key's visual novels "Air" and "Kanon". The anime aired between October 4, 2007 and March 27, 2008, containing 23 aired episodes out of a planned 24; the broadcast time was first announced on August 11, 2007 at the TBS festival "Anime Festa", which is also when the first episode was showcased. The anime series was released in a set of eight DVD compilations released between December 19, 2007 and July 16, 2008 by Pony Canyon, with each compilation containing three episodes. Of the 24 episodes, 23 were aired on television with the first 22 being regular episodes, followed by an additional extra episode. The last episode was released as an original video animation (OVA) on the eighth DVD on July 16, 2008 and is set in an alternate universe from the anime series where Tomoya and Tomoyo are dating, which is based on Tomoyo's scenario in the game. The OVA episode was previewed on May 31, 2008 for an audience of four-hundred people picked via a mail-in postcard campaign. A Blu-ray Disc (BD) box set of "Clannad" was released on April 30, 2010.
A series of rhythm games starting from "" were produced by Sega under license using Hatsune Miku and other Crypton Vocaloids, as well as "fan-made" Vocaloids like Akita Neru. TinierMe also made attire that looks like Miku's for their services, allowing users to make their avatar resemble her. The series has sold 6million copies. "" was developed for the Nintendo 3DS. Miku's appearance in this game is based on the Nendoroid series of figures. Hatsune Miku is also briefly referenced in the game "Recettear", where a young man stargazing sees "The Green-Onion Girl" constellation. Also, in 2013, Saki Fujita voices Fei-Yen HD, a character based on one of Hatsune Miku's modules, in "Super Robot Wars UX"; this appearance does not use Miku's vocal library.
Set in the fictional Hoenn region, the season follows the adventures of the ten-year-old Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum (voiced in English by Veronica Taylor and in Japanese by Rica Matsumoto) and his electric mouse partner Pikachu (voiced by Ikue Ōtani) as they collect Gym Badges so they can compete in the Hoenn League competition, as well as the Pokémon coordinator May (voiced in English by Taylor and in Japanese by Kaori), who earns Ribbons from Pokémon Contests so she can enter the Hoenn Grand Festival.
Set in the fictional Hoenn region, the season follows the adventures of the ten-year-old Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum (voiced in English by Veronica Taylor and in Japanese by Rica Matsumoto) and his electric mouse partner Pikachu (voiced by Ikue Ōtani) as they collect Gym Badges so they can compete in the Hoenn League competition, as well as the Pokémon coordinator May (voiced in English by Taylor and in Japanese by Kaori), who competes in Pokémon Contests with the aim of earning Ribbons so she can enter the Hoenn Grand Festival.
Okayado (a pen name of Takemaru Inui) published the prototype for "Monster Musume" in "Comic Ryu"'s Anthology Comic "Kemomo 02", published by Tokuma Shoten, in 2011. He then reworked the story into a serialized publication, and the first chapter was published in Tokuma Shoten's "seinen" manga magazine "Monthly Comic Ryū" on 19 March 2012. The first collected "tankōbon" volume was released on 13 September 2012. The series moved to online-only serialization when "Comic Ryū" changed formats on 19 June 2018. The series has been licensed in English by Seven Seas Entertainment and in German by Kazé.
The Japanese macaque (Japanese "Nihonzaru" 日本猿), characterized by brown-grey fur, red face, red buttocks, and short tail, inhabits all of the islands in the Japanese archipelago except northernmost Hokkaido. Throughout most of Japanese history, monkeys were a familiar animal seen in fields and villages, but with habitat lost through urbanization of modern Japan, they are presently limited to mountainous regions. Monkeys are a historically prominent feature in the religion, folklore, and art of Japan, as well as in Japanese proverbs and idiomatic expressions.
The anime industry consists of over 430 production studios, including major names like Studio Ghibli, Gainax, and Toei Animation. Despite comprising only a fraction of Japan's domestic film market, anime makes up a majority of Japanese DVD sales. It has also seen international success after the rise of English-dubbed programming. This rise in international popularity has resulted in non-Japanese productions using the anime art style. Whether these works are anime-influenced animation or proper anime is a subject for debate amongst fans.
Despite some fansubbers declaring (due to fansubbing's illegality) that they will stop distribution once a series is licensed, many fansubbed versions of anime are produced because of the stiff localization process in official translations. According to one survey only 9% of fans prefer dubbing over subs; some fans believe that the localization process degrades the quality of anime and thus look to fansubs for the purer form of Japanese culture, feeling that something is lost in translation. Most hardcore fans are motivated by the desire not to miss the jokes and puns present in Japanese anime and manga. In fact, most people interested in anime express at least a passing desire to learn Japanese, but usually choose not to, due to either time constraints or rumours about the difficulty involved in learning Japanese. Japanese terms are so well integrated into the anime and manga fan culture that during a Fanime convention, a newcomer expressed confusion at some of the announcements because she was unable to understand the Japanese words used. As fans become more proficient at Japanese; they often also become more critical toward the quality of various translations; some critique the different translations of a single series by different fansub groups.
In the '70s, Japanese Animation reached Europe mainly with productions aimed at European and Japanese children with the main results being "Heidi", "Vicky the Vicking" and "Barbapapa". However these works were not recognized as Japanese productions and did not earn much of a dedicated fanbase. However Italy, Spain and France grew an interest for more Japanese animation for their television programming, due to success of previous co-productions, Japan's productive output and cheap selling price in comparison to US animation. Particularly Italy imported the most anime outside of Japan. Like in the Philippines, the Super Robot Genre became very popular with series such as "UFO Robot Grendizer" and "Mazinger Z". However many more genres got added to the mix, with space opera such as "Captain Harlock", shojo shows like "Candy Candy" and "Rose of Versailles", sports like "Captain Tsubasa" and more. Germany however largely rejected Anime other than western literature adaptations of Nippon Animation, with Speed Racer and "Captain Future" proving to be problematic. It was only during the rise of cable television during the '90s that Japanese series such as "Queen Millennia", and "Rose of Versailles" went on air. A strong affinity for unique Japanese productions was developed among a generation of German children during this period.
A short anime adaptation aired in Japan between January 12 and February 23, 2006; there were six episodes. The anime was produced by the Japanese animation studio Group TAC and was aired on the WOWOW television network. Three DVDs were originally released, each containing two episodes, between April 19 and June 21, 2006. The premium DVD box set containing the six episodes was released on January 16, 2008. The anime has been licensed by Japanese-based company Bost Digital Entertainment for distribution through their video streaming website Bost TV. The episodes are available only to Australia and New Zealand for the price of US$1.99 per episode. Crimson Star Media licensed the anime for a North American release in September 2013, however, the release was canceled following the prison sentence of Corey Maddox, who was in charge of the company. The series was later re-licensed by Lucky Penny, a division of Right Stuf Inc.