Anime and Manga 40's-70's
Anime
The first color anime feature film was produced and animation was founded. Hakujaden was the anime that changed everything, also know as The Tale of the White Serpent. It was later released as Panda and the Magic Serpent in the US. Throughout the 60's untill the early 70's, these Disney-like films were released by Mushi Productions. Anime began to evolve into what became modern anime.
Manga
Possibly the most important factor of the creation of manga production was the work of one artist that stands out by far: Osamu Tezuka, who is also known as "The God of Manga". His wonderful sci-fi creation Mighty Atom was later brought to the U.S. as Astro Boy. Astro boy takes place in year 2000. It is about a man who loses his son but creates a robotic version of him with all of his memories. Inside of the young robot is the powerful core . The robotic boy falls from the hovering city he lives in into a land fill that was basically like a robot graveyard. Astro boy makes friends with the orphans that live in the land fill. In 1954, when TV first hit Japan, there was just about 870 TV sets throughout the country. As you can tell, this era is concentrated on childrens' manga. Television set the flow of new entertainment. So Japan's first weekly magazines were issued. In 1959, the first weekly Shonen magazines issued, creating a path for the first monthly children's magazines. Magazines are responsible for manga chapter to easily be distributed, which contributed to manga being the number one source of entertainment in Japan.
The first color anime feature film was produced and animation was founded. Hakujaden was the anime that changed everything, also know as The Tale of the White Serpent. It was later released as Panda and the Magic Serpent in the US. Throughout the 60's untill the early 70's, these Disney-like films were released by Mushi Productions. Anime began to evolve into what became modern anime.
Manga
Possibly the most important factor of the creation of manga production was the work of one artist that stands out by far: Osamu Tezuka, who is also known as "The God of Manga". His wonderful sci-fi creation Mighty Atom was later brought to the U.S. as Astro Boy. Astro boy takes place in year 2000. It is about a man who loses his son but creates a robotic version of him with all of his memories. Inside of the young robot is the powerful core . The robotic boy falls from the hovering city he lives in into a land fill that was basically like a robot graveyard. Astro boy makes friends with the orphans that live in the land fill. In 1954, when TV first hit Japan, there was just about 870 TV sets throughout the country. As you can tell, this era is concentrated on childrens' manga. Television set the flow of new entertainment. So Japan's first weekly magazines were issued. In 1959, the first weekly Shonen magazines issued, creating a path for the first monthly children's magazines. Magazines are responsible for manga chapter to easily be distributed, which contributed to manga being the number one source of entertainment in Japan.
Anime and Manga in the 70s
Anime
During the 70's, the Japanese film market slowed due to the popularity of TV series. This caused Mushi productions to go bankrupt, which sent animators to newer studios. In that time period there was alot of young talent, which allowed experimentation. An example of this experimentation is Isao Takabata's 1974 series Heidi. Heidi was originally aimed towards children. Other TV networks thought it would fail because the Networks thought children needed something some fantastic to draw them in. But the little girl in the Alps became an international success.
Gatchman is one of the most famous anime series in the 1970's. Around the same time as Gatchman, the genre mecha, along with the newer genre science- fiction became popular as well. Sci-Fi later plays an important roll modern manga later on.
Manga
In the 70s sci-fi and romance manga were popular. Romance was especially for girls and women (shojo). The women in this era read manga with adult topics and things they encountered in life. Shonen manga had - most of the time - sci-fi and had violence (as usual). Star Wars is responsible for continuing the triggering of sci-fi manga. The unexpected success of Star Wars inspired Japanese animators and artists to expand the audience of sci-fi manga and anime. This is one way Astro boy contributed too. Because Astro Boy was a popular sci-fi anime, the genre itself increased in popularity too. Super heros later become an important part of anime and manga. They are incorporated in sci-fi too and are almost always included in sci-fi manga.
During the 70's, the Japanese film market slowed due to the popularity of TV series. This caused Mushi productions to go bankrupt, which sent animators to newer studios. In that time period there was alot of young talent, which allowed experimentation. An example of this experimentation is Isao Takabata's 1974 series Heidi. Heidi was originally aimed towards children. Other TV networks thought it would fail because the Networks thought children needed something some fantastic to draw them in. But the little girl in the Alps became an international success.
Gatchman is one of the most famous anime series in the 1970's. Around the same time as Gatchman, the genre mecha, along with the newer genre science- fiction became popular as well. Sci-Fi later plays an important roll modern manga later on.
Manga
In the 70s sci-fi and romance manga were popular. Romance was especially for girls and women (shojo). The women in this era read manga with adult topics and things they encountered in life. Shonen manga had - most of the time - sci-fi and had violence (as usual). Star Wars is responsible for continuing the triggering of sci-fi manga. The unexpected success of Star Wars inspired Japanese animators and artists to expand the audience of sci-fi manga and anime. This is one way Astro boy contributed too. Because Astro Boy was a popular sci-fi anime, the genre itself increased in popularity too. Super heros later become an important part of anime and manga. They are incorporated in sci-fi too and are almost always included in sci-fi manga.
Citations
Thorn, Matt. "A History of Manga." Welcome to Matt-thorn.com––shoujo Manga (shojo Manga) and More! Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.matt-thorn.com/mangagaku/history.html,
Kelts, Roland. Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Print."ANIME." JAPAN HOTELS JAPAN TRAVEL GUIDE. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.gojapango.com/culture/anime.html>.
Kelts, Roland. Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Print."ANIME." JAPAN HOTELS JAPAN TRAVEL GUIDE. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.gojapango.com/culture/anime.html>.