Adaptations of Manga

-History of Anime
-From Panel to Screen
-Differences between Manga and Anime
-Other Adaptations

History of Anime

Introduction
What is anime? Society has come to a simple understanding that anime is “Japanese animation” or “Japanese cartoons”. Just simply calling anime a cartoon seems very bland for what it is, with its rich and vibrant history from the pre World War II to modern day. The history of anime gives an in-depth understanding to how the medium came to be from adaptations of simple drawn black and white manga to a colorful, freeform, animated series. The first releases of Japanese animation were one-reelers that lasted one to five minute back in 1917.

Osamu Tezuka, the Father of Anime and Manga
In 1963, Tezuka Osamu released the legendary Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy). Just in the following year Tezuka released another masterpiece called Janguru Taitei (Kimba the White Lion). This was just the start of the steady stream of animated series to be released onto Japanese television. Over the next two decades animated television series showed a steady rise in popularity and showed no slowdown whatsoever in its rise of glory.

Two Decades Later, the Rise of Miyazaki Hayao, Takahata Isao and Many More
The mid-1980s was a major turning point of Japanese animation in terms of story, quality, and overall uniqueness. Miyazaki Hayao was the head runner of this boom to Japanese animation with his released of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in March of 1984. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was first released as a manga which brought in the popularity to produce the film interpretation. Nausicaa was the first step Miyazaki used in creating his animated film studio that later became known as Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by Miyazaki Hayao, Takahata Isao and the producer Suzuki Toshio. After the establishment of Studio Ghibli, several more animated masterpieces were released to the public from Miyazaki and company and many others. Takahata himself released Grave of the Fireflies in combination with Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro back in April of 1988. Within the same year the post apocalyptic smash hit animated film Akira by Otomo Katsuhiro was also released. Kiki’s Delivery Service by Miyazaki in 1989, along with Akira, was groundbreaking animated films in terms of quality and detail. These magnificent animated films paved the way and set the standard of quality for future animated series.

The Early 1990s to Now
The 90’s was a time where both animated television series and animated films came about that reinforced why Japanese animation is so popular. The ability of fluent animation and high detailed quality appeared in most if not all of the anime series that aired in Japan in the 90s. Many animated television series made there debut, stunning the masses, and reinforcing the love for animated series. Some examples of which are: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gundam Wing, Pokémon, Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, and many more. A few Japanese animated films made just as deep an impact as television series during the mid 90’s, one of which was Oshii Mamoru’s work of art Ghost in the Shell which pushed the boundaries of philosophical work. In 1997 Miyazaki produced the animated film Princess Mononoke which was a stunning work of art that held the top of the Japanese box office until beaten by Titanic, and yes our James Cameron Titanic.

Conclusion
Anime is still as high as ever with a steady increase of new fans in terms of popularity worldwide. Each year Japanese airs on television roughly 50 new anime and OVAs (Original Video Animation) that are seen worldwide. Anime of the 21st century are so vibrant and colorful compared to anime of the 20th century. Anime will continue to grow, develop and improve with the advancement of technology and artistry.

From Panel to Screen

Many of the popular anime movies and series on television began as
manga. The process of transforming a manga into an anime is difficult.
The easy part about doing it this way, is that most of the storyline is
already set, there is a script with only some details to work out, and the
animators already know what many of the characters and scenes will look
like, as well as what kind of target audience they will make the anime for.

Another advantage is the fact that there is already a fan base, so the
chances of the anime being a success is higher than starting from scratch.
The first step from there is the storyboard. The creators work
with the manga's creator, producers, director, and production supervisor to
decide how to lay out the events in the story. The production supervisor
also meets with the art production director and the key animator to analyze
the overall "smoothness" of the storyboard; checking the position of the
characters, angles, light direction, shadows, etc.

The next step is beginning to animate. The art production takes
place in three general stages, which are "layout", "key art", and "in-
between animation". The layout is the flow of the characters actions,
background details and off camer actions. After this is complete, it is
examined by the production supervisor and then by the art director. The
key art are images used by the layout to determine fixed points of object
in the scene, e.g. the character's starting point and ending point in
movement, and where his or her footsteps will be. In-between action is the
art that is responsible for making the character move from point A to point
B. This stage is important and is monitored well to ensure there are no
gaps in movement. The final product of these stages are also examined by
the production supervisor and the art director.

The next steps are filling in the color, and making sure the colors
throughout the cells match. The color coordinator is in charge of this,
and the color designer makes unique color adjustments for characters and
objects that only appear in certain episodes. The next step is the fine
art step, where the settings and backgrounds, which are seperate from the
character and object animations, are made and fine-tuned. The art director
makes a picture and the staff animate it; adding components such as moods
and time of day.

The next step is the compositing and editing. All the components
(characters and backgrounds etc.) are synced together, adding visual
effects and motion. Computers do most of the work, but before computers,
each frame had to be shot one at a time. Cutting comes next, the segments
of shots are cut to fit into broadcasting or film time schedules, in
accordance with openings, endings and commercials.

Performing the voice overs are the next step. A studio is rented
and actors are hired to do the various voices of the characters. Recording
is usually divided into halves and is overseen by the sound director. A
recording session for one television episode usually takes about 2 or 3
hours due to troubleshooting and retakes. Background sounds such as
background chatter are recorded at this stage as well.
Dubbing is the next step. This step involves bringing together
sound effects, background music and the voice actors' recordings. This can
bring actions and characters to life as well as bring more insight into the
scene. It can change the mood of the scene and makes the whole scene more
realistic.

The final stage of the process is the final editing stage. If its
a television anime, they revise it to fit around scheduled commercial time.
Some effects are added at this stage as well, including flashback fading
and light halos. After that, the anime is sent to the broadcasting station
for broadcasting or is sent to the theatres for viewing or its sent to
whatever it's final destination may be.

Differences Between Manga and Anime

Other Adaptations of Manga

Works Cited

http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.5/articles/patten1.5.html

Napier, Susan. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke. New York, NY: PALGRAVE, 2000.

From Panel to Screen

http://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/international/sp02/index.html

http://www.mit.edu/~rei/Expl.html