1. Artistic Freedom

Anime is not just about big eyes and small mouths — it is about artistic expression freedom. While animation in the rest of the world is generally tied up to childish and often cheap themes, Japan has covered nearly all conceivable subjects through animation. Not only themes, but also budgets. Japan has produced some of the finest animation productions, covering themes to catch the attention of people of all ages and gender.

2. Stereotyping — No-no-no!

When Anime first got into America, it was sort of unfortunate that the chosen titles were rather shocking to the unsuspecting public.  Titles such as “Hokuto no Ken” (Fist of the North Star), one of the first Anime videos to get here, was loaded with extreme violence and gore. As a matter of fact, it’s one of the most bloody violent videos I have ever watched to the date. The second polemic video to get to the US was probably “La Blue Girl”, which is — least to say— not for children. Ever since I have heard people all over claiming that this is all there is about Anime. As a consequence, some stores still refuse to sell it.

In addition, westerners often associate cartoons with children, and the fact that Japan produced erotic cartoons led many to believe that the Japanese allowed kids to watch adult contents, which only added to the misunderstanding problem that still remains to this date.

Now, what if the first American movie to reach Japan were “Hellraiser”? Would the Japanese think all American movies are bloody and gory? Probably. Generalization is a common but dangerous thing. The truth is: each film has its own public, and that’s where the polemical choice of titles first brought to America has affected Anime’s reputation as a whole.

There are animated series like “Maison Ikkoku”, from the infamous Japanese cartoonist Takahashi Rumiko, where it took about 30 episodes just for the boy to hold the girl’s hand. And that was a pinnacle event in that series! There are Anime series like “Marmalade Boy” and “Kodomo no Omocha”, depicting the life of young boys with deep family problems. Now try fitting this into the stereotype described above — it just won’t! ^_^

3. High School Life

Anime themes cover just about anything, but noticeably, the most explored subject is — plain and simple high school life. Most Anime characters are, numerically speaking, mere high school students. That is, perhaps, why my very first commercial digital artwork product were — Japanese high school uniforms! And there is a reason for that.

In Japan, most of the exciting events for a regular Japanese guy will most probably happen during his/her school years. Or sometimes the period right after the school years, when the scenario changes to cram schools and university exam studying. It is pretty common to try to enter a certain university for several years, since the number of candidates is way larger than the number of available chairs. After all, Japan is an overcrowded country, where people are used to small places and lots of people. At least in Tokyo, for I never really traveled to know the rest of Japan. Those who fail the exam are commonly called “ronin” (literally "masterless samurai"), a term used to describe members of the rogue samurai clans during the Meiji Restoration period. (Please, do not use Tom Cruise’s “The Last Samurai” as a historical reference to that period.) ^^:

There are entire animated series covering the daily life of ronin students, like Godai Yusaku (Maison Ikkoku), Hideki Motosuwa (Chobits) and Touma Inaba (Sakura Diaries), who helplessly fail the first try to pass the university entrance exam. Judging by the Japanese population numbers, there could be tens of thousands of potential ronins every year. Of course the Anime production studios want people to identify themselves with the story protagonists, who are living the same reality.

4. Teenagers Driving Multi-billion Yen Machines?

Let’s take a look at teenagers driving giant robots (“mechas”). Heard of that? Of course — there are countless Anime series covering that ground down to exhaustion. Perhaps the most notorious in America is, ironically, “Neon Genesis Evangelion” (aka “EVA”), which didn’t even make to the end of the series on Japanese television. Nearly nobody understood the last episode anyways, so they had a second ending produced. Artistically speaking, it was not the storyline that made this series famous, but rather the innovative organic-like mecha design. Originally called “transformers”, early mecha were primarily blocky-like, made of basic straight lines, very robotic. Now look at the revolutionary organic lines on the new EVAs and Angels — that was the hit. And the creators were also masters on making famous the character with the least of personality and expression: Ayanami Rei — a character on her on category. You can even kill her, and she comes back...

Now, why would you let a rather immature/insecure/irresponsible teenager drive your multi-billion yen mecha in the first place? There have been several interpretations for this phenomenon, but the most probable is: how exciting would it be if mechas were driven by old geezers? Like in Hollywood flicks, it doesn’t have to make sense as long as it is fun.

5. Busty Girls

For hundreds of years, Japanese women worn kimonos with the obi (belt) wrapping around the breast level. The intent was to indeed hide the breast line the most possible. To many men of the old days, women with larger breasts were often considered unattractive and less feminine. While most westerners would think women would wear kimonos with the obi around the waist, it was instead around the chest.

But like any fashion, time passes and changes everything. If you watch Anime from the early 80’s up to the late 90’s, there is a clear change on that pattern. The newer the Anime, the bustier the girls, almost to a point of extreme exaggeration.

And there is a new trend to this: the bounciness. It all started with “Voltage Fighter Gowkaizer”, where the girls were not only busty, but also noticeably “bouncy”. After this, there are entire Anime series covering this ground, such as “Burn-Up Excess”, where a “bounce counter” at the bottom of the screen shows the exact number of times it happened — in case you missed something. Many other Anime series now follow the cliché.

6. Death

You cannot go without this subject, considering how Buddhism turns around death as a ritual. This is quite evident on samurai dramas such as the “Rurouni Kenshin” TV series (“Samurai X”), or the dramatic “Hotaru no Haka” (“Grave of the Fireflies”). The Japanese talk about death more often than you may think, but not in the same fearful way westerners do. Most (if not all) of the rituals related to death in Japan are Buddhism-related, and that extends a great deal into daily life issues. So much that suicide attempts are common elements in Anime, and I’m not talking about the more obvious samurai drama’s sempuku (aka “harakiri”).

Even high school students (here we go again!) attempt suicide quite often in Anime. You can see it very early in the “Serial Experiment Lain” series, where a young girl jumps from a high building’s window. A boy student tries it several times, jumping from the school roof in the “Great Teacher Onizuka” series. A pre-adolescent little girl happily plans her collective suicide with two older guys in the “Paranoia Agent” series.

Since Japan is a small island and there is so many people, there is little space for the ones who feel they do not fit in. To fit in is a vital element in the Japanese life — as you can see. It is literally a matter of life and death.

7. Taking a Bath

If death is a ritual for the Japanese, taking baths is yet another one. It doesn’t take long until you see a bath scene in Anime. It will probably happen multiple times in a single episode, almost to an exaggerated level — as in the Ranma 1/2 series, where water treatment was taken to a “new level”.

Some Anime series even turn around taking a bath as a business and main theme, such as in the “Love Hina” and "Niea Under Seven" TV series, where all characters live in an “onsen house” and everybody is taking a dip all the time. There are countless Anime episodes where the entire story happens in such places.

Of course, it is already a cliché when we see girls taking a shower in American movies, but in Anime we see just about everybody bathing, from men, women, elderly and children. Possibly the most frequent scenes in Anime.

8. Eating

Besides taking a bath, eating is probably the second most frequent thing we see in most — if not all—Anime. Eating osembei and okaki (sorts of rice crackers) can be seen everywhere, as well as drinking ocha (green tea). As often as Americans drink sodas, the Japanese drink ocha and coffee (often cold canned coffee). It is sometimes overwhelming to see the characters eating all the time — at school, at home, just about anywhere. There is a whole obento (lunch box) industry in Japan, to make sure you can carry your food anywhere you go to. In Japan, I often have the impression there are more restaurants out there than any other business on sight. Of course, Anime also reflects that side of daily life.

9. Uniforms

As opposed to the American way, the Japanese like to think they are all alike — not in the physical appearance, but as a person that belongs to a group. The Japanese do not like to feel uniquely different from the others. It is vital to belong to a group, and for that much it is also important to fit in. It is difficult to fit in if you think you are different, so most Japanese do everything to look alike the others in the group. Thus, nothing more natural than the Japanese obsession with uniforms. Even side road construction workers proudly wear their distinctive uniform, often mistaken by foreigners as policemen. Even one small company I worked for in Tokyo had its own uniforms for all employees to (proudly) wear. Actually, the first think you do when you arrive in the office is to go to your locker and get your uniform.

Of course, school uniforms are all over Anime as well. It is probably the most common clothing to be seen in most Anime. Sci-Fi Anime goes even beyond, creating very stylish and fashionable uniforms for just every single crew member. It helps people to “fit in”.

10. Blood Type

I have been asked this several times. Why in heaven Anime people ask others about their blood type as such a casual thing? Why people want to know such thing? Well, the Japanese believe that a person’s blood type can tell two things about them: their personality and how good they can “match” with somebody else. And some people take this seriously! I will not elaborate much on this, but it is enough to know people commonly ask the opposite gender for that information. So don’t be surprised next time you see a character introducing him/herself by proudly declaring his/her blood type. That is for couple matching purposes. Good luck with that!