A History of Costume Addiction

A History of Costume Addiction

Now cosplay is an extremely personal and individual creation. I won't claim to be an expert, but I've been around, done my own costumes, and generally enjoyed the experience. Cosplay can be a lot of fun and a lot of hard work, and it's up to you how you balance the two. I've seen costumes that took a year to make and costumes that were created over the week beforehand (or the night before).

Some of my advice might seem obvious, some might make the reader go "duh" in retrospect. In writing the column to be helpful for the general reader, it's necessary to start at the beginning. If you already enjoy cosplay a lot, I suggest you check out cosplay.com , where there seems to be an expert in every aspect of costuming, from making your eyes look Japanese to the intricacies of how to sew with different materials. And never underestimate the help of a crafty family member. Sure, they might look at you funny, but plenty of parents, grandparents, and others are happy to help out.

The History of Making Excuses to Wear Costumes when It's Not Halloween

As anime cons made their way into America back in the 80s, cosplay was immediately a popular event. Cosplay is the name used by otakus to distinguish it from that of a Masquerade, which is the typical term for the costume events at a science-fiction or comic con.

Masquerades often served as the only event where people were in costume, and the rest of the weekend would be filled with "normal" clothing. This difference in costuming attitudes is one of the reasons for the name distinction. Cosplayers at an anime convention often also hold themselves to a higher standard of acting in character, a trait that was brought over from Japanese counterparts.

So in other words, the term cosplay only refers to costumes related to Japanese medias, or at least that's how the most serious cosplayers define it. I've seen long debates break out on message boards about what exactly is allowed as part of cosplay. Some people will go so far as to say that video games, even when based on games from Japan like Zelda or Super Mario Brothers, are not permitted in the cosplay events. The term cosplay is beginning to creep into the general lexicon as a word that just means dressing in costume, and every year I see more and more cosplayers at anime conventions dressed as American creations.

Most actual cosplay events do place standards on the costumes, meaning they have to have something to do with anime. While it might be fun to wear your Harry Potter costume around the con (and I saw a wonderful Harry Potter cosplay group at Anime Expo once), those wouldn't be acceptable entries in the actual cosplay events. We may see a lessening in the stringency of these rules over the coming years as arguments for shows like Avatar are made. It will also depend on the focus of the event—some are more focused on anime in America, while others keep to a more traditional "anim

The History of Anime & Manga

The Father of Anime & Manga

Background on Art and Animation (Manga and Anime)

The Invasion:

Many people in the U.S. probably heard of cartoons like Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Voltron, Gundam Wing, Speed Racer, Digimon, and the ever so popular Pokemon; Famous cartoons that have bizarre character designs: female characters with beautiful round eyes, hair that is incredibly big, and gorgeous figure and physique. Male characters would usually have enormously huge muscles (as seen in Dragonball Z and GT), powerful bodies and maybe, on occasion, have gigantic robots as seen in cartoons like Robotech and Gundam Wing.
Where did all these cartoons come from? To find the answer one must look no further than in Japan, the birthplace of Japanese animation, the main source for all of this madness.
Japanese animation, also known as anime (pronounced "ani-may"), is a popular form of animation in Japan which is quickly spreading in the U.S. The major difference between anime and American cartoons is that unlike American cartoons, which are only watched by children, anime is popular among the Japanese adults and is watched by millions. The audience is not merely directed to children but to teens and adults as well. The same applies to Japanese comics known as manga.
In order to understand anime and its invasion into the US, a look into its history would be most appropriate. The best place to start is around World War II, since that was the time when the anime and manga (Japanese comics) industry evolved significantly.
During World War II the entire Japanese nation was mobilized. The people were forced to conform to the government's demands or pay the ultimate price. According to Frederik Schodt's book, Manga Manga: The World of Japanese Comics, those who failed to cooperate were punished by "preventive detention, bans on writing, and social ostracism, while those who recanted were rewarded with rehabilitation programs and support from the community...artists who had spent most of their lives criticizing the government did an about-face and offered wholehearted support to the militarists" (Schodt, 55).
Around 1940, many organizations for artists and cartoonists were formed. Among them were the New Cartoonists Association of Japan (Shin Nippon Mangaka Kyokai) and the New Cartoonists Faction Group (Shin Mangaha Shudan). During that time, the government used the few remaining cartoonists, who were not banned from working or who were not in the army, to influence the people through their artwork by creating comic strips filled with propaganda to use against the nation's enemies.
Animation in the US:
In another part of the world, an influential artist who went by the name of Walt Disney was struggling as a cartoonist. Long before Mickey Mouse, he started out with Alice's Wonderland and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in the 1920s. Then on November 16, 1928, Mickey Mouse was born and became an instant hit in the US. Disney decided to work on other projects and started on an animated feature film called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film, released in 1937, was a spectacular hit. Things went smoothly for the Disney Studio until World War II came along. Nevertheless, Disney continued to work and released Pinocchio and Fantasia in 1940. Although the two were technical masterpieces, the studio was losing a great deal of money since they were losing the foreign market due to the war. Disney then released Dumbo,on a very limited budget, in 1941 and Bambi in 1942. As a result of releasing many expensive and costly films during the war, Disney began to diminish in influence.
During the war, Walt Disney Studios released two more films Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros in South America. Throughout the war, Disney concentrated on making propaganda and training films for the military. After the war, Disney Studios struggled to make it back to top as they released several "package" films containing groups of short cartoons packaged together. Among these films were Make Mine Music and Melody Time. By 1950, Disney Studios regained success with the live action film, Treasure Island, and the animated feature, Cinderella.
With all the success, Walt Disney felt there was still something he had not yet accomplished. It was not until he found his intriguing attraction to amusement parks that pushed him to build his own theme park, one that children, parent, and people of all ages could enjoy. Thus after many years of planning, construction, and development, Disneyland was built in 1955. It became a monumental park that brought visitors from around the world.
Though Disneyland kept Disney rather busy, he, along with his studio and team, continued releasing quality entertainment. Disney released 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Shaggy Dog, the popular TV series Zorro, and Mary Poppins. Unfortunately, the 1960s brought the end of an era: in December 15, 1966 Walt Disney died. However, the Walt Disney Studios managed to survive under the plans that Walt left behind and under the guidance of his brother Roy Disney. Disney remained under Roy's leadership with further releases of The Jungle Book in 1967, The Love Bug in 1969, and The Aristocrats in 1970. By 1971 Roy Disney died and for the next decade, the company was led by a team who was originally trained by the Disney brothers. The team included Card Walker, Donn Tatum, and Ron Miller.

The Master Brings Life to Animation:

Back in Japan, after World War II, a young aspiring artist named Osamu Tezuka became a cartoonist and released his first work Shintakarajima (known in English as "New Treasure Island"). As a child, Tezuka was a fanatical fan of Walt Disney's early animations. Many were impressed by Tezuka's original style. However, it was not until Tezuka released his ultimate work Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy) that he achieved success; he was pronounced "the Father of Manga and Anime".
When Tezuka made a name for himself in the industry, he managed to establish his own production company in 1962. He formed Mushi Productions, where he released his best work, Astro Boy. With Astro Boy, Many recognized Tezuka's original style and approach that was new to the entire industry. The style of his illustrations and characters came from French and German cinema. His characters exploded with life and emotion, and his stories would unfold themselves on hundreds of pages. By 1963, Astro Boy crossed international borders and was premiered on NBC stations all over the US and was still successful with American audiences.
After the success of Astro Boy, Tezuka released another work, Jungle Taitei (Kimba the White Lion). There was much controversy in the past about this anime after Disney released a similar version with the movie The Lion King with Simba as the main character. Although Disney denies this, many believe that Disney stole the anime and recreated it with their own version. (To learn more about the conflict between Disney and Tezuka

Japanime!...

Anime

Animé" redirects here. For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin).

Anime (アニメ, Anime^? literally - "Anima", taken from half of "animation") (pronounced [anime] listen (help·info) in Japanese, but typically pronounced /ˈænɪmeɪ/ or /ˈænɪmə/ in English) is animation in Japan and considered to be "Japanese animation" in the rest of the world.^[1] Anime dates from about 1917.^[2]

Anime, in addition to manga (Japanese comics), is extremely popular in Japan and well known throughout the world. Anime itself is considered a form of limited animation. Anime can be released either by television broadcast or released directly to video, in which case it is often called OVA or OAV (Original Animation Video).

Anime can be hand-drawn or computer animated. It is used in television series, films, video, video games, commercials, and internet-based releases, and represents most, if not all, genres of fiction.

Anime began at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques that were being explored in France, Germany, the United States, and Russia.^[3] The oldest known anime in existence was screened in 1917 - a two minute clip of a samurai trying to test a new sword on his target, only to suffer defeat.^[4]

By the 1930s, animation became an alternative format of storytelling compared to the underdeveloped live-action industry in Japan. Unlike in the United States, the live-action industry in Japan remained a small market and suffered from budgeting, location, and casting restrictions. The lack of Western-looking actors, for example, made it next to impossible to shoot films set in Europe, America, or fantasy worlds that do not naturally involve Japan. Animation allowed artists to create any characters and settings.^[5]

The success of Disney's 1937 feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs influenced Japanese animators.^[6] Osamu Tezuka adapted and simplified many Disney animation techniques to reduce the costs and number of frames in the production. This was intended to be a temporary measure to allow him to produce material on a tight schedule with an inexperienced animation staff.

During the 1970s, there was a surge of growth in the popularity of manga—which were often later animated—especially those of Osamu Tezuka, who has been called a "legend"^[7] and the "god of manga".^[8][9] His work and that of other pioneers in the field, inspired characteristics and genres that are fundamental elements of anime today. The giant robot genre (known as "Mecha" outside Japan), for instance, took shape under Tezuka, developed into the Super Robot genre under Go Nagai and others, and was revolutionized at the end of the decade by Yoshiyuki Tomino who developed the Real Robot genre. Robot anime like the Gundam and Macross series became instant classics in the 1980s, and the robot genre of anime is still one of the most common in Japan and worldwide today. In the 1980s, anime became more accepted in the mainstream in Japan (although less than manga), and experienced a boom in production. Following a few successful adaptations of anime in overseas markets in the 1980s, anime gained increased acceptance in those markets in the 1990s and even more in the 2000s.

Terminology

In Japanese, the English term animation is written in katakana as アニメーション (animēshon, pronounced [ɑnimeːɕoɴ]). The term, anime (アニメ), emerged in the 1970s. This most likely derived from the French l'animé. ^[10][3] Both the original and abbreviated forms are valid and interchangeable in Japanese, but the shorter form is more commonly used.

The pronunciation of anime in Japanese, ɑnime, differs significantly from the Standard English IPA: /ˈænɪmeɪ/ which have different vowels and stress. (In Japanese each mora carries equal stress.) As with a few other Japanese words such as saké, Pokémon, and Kobo Abé, anime is sometimes spelled animé in English (as in French), with an acute accent over the final e, to cue the reader that the letter is pronounced, not silent as would be expected in English. However, this accent does not appear in any commonly used system of romanized Japanese and is not in frequent enough use to be recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary.

Word usage

In Japan, the term does not specify an animation's nation of origin or style; instead, it is used as a blanket term to refer to all forms of animation from around the world.^[11][12] In English, dictionary sources define anime as "a Japanese style of motion-picture animation" or "a style of animation developed in Japan".^[13] Non-Japanese works that borrow stylization from anime is commonly referred to as "anime-influenced animation" but it is not unusual for a viewer who does not know the country of origin of such material to refer to it as simply "anime". Some works are co-productions with non-Japanese companies, such as the Cartoon Network and Production I.G series IGPX or Ōban Star-Racers, which may or may not be considered anime by different viewers.

In English, anime can be used as a common noun ("Do you watch anime?") or as a suppletive adjective ("The anime Guyver is different from the movie Guyver"). It may also be used as a mass noun, as in "How much anime have you collected?" and therefore is not pluralized as animes.

Synonyms

Anime is occasionally referred to as Japanimation, but this term has fallen into disuse.^[14] Japanimation saw the most usage during the 1970s and 1980s, but was supplanted by anime in the mid-1990s as the material became more widely known in English-speaking countries.^[15] In general, the term now only appears in nostalgic contexts.^[15] Although the term was coined outside Japan to refer to animation imported from Japan, it is now used primarily in Japan, to refer to domestic animation; since anime does not identify the country of origin in Japanese usage, Japanimation is used to distinguish Japanese work from that of the rest of the world.^[15]

In Japan, manga can additionally refer to both animation and comics (although the use of manga to refer to animation is mostly restricted to non-fans).^{[citation needed]} Among English speakers, manga usually has the stricter meaning of "Japanese comics".^{[citation needed]} An alternate explanation is that it is due to the prominence of Manga Entertainment, a distributor of anime to the US and UK markets. Because Manga Entertainment originated in the UK the use of the term is common outside of Japan.^{[citation needed]} The term "animanga" has been used to collectively refer to anime and manga, though it is also a term used to describe comics produced from animation cels.