Everything about animation in Japan today
is the result of decades and decades of stylistic
evolution.
Changes in technology, important cultural
events, economic shifts, innovative practitioners,
they all contribute to the this flowing timeline.
And styles can change drastically in just
a few years, triggered by something as small
of a single series or movie.
There are really fascinating, clear patterns
that emerge when you look into a medium in
chronological order.
Watching how these trends repeat and develop
is something i’m really fascinated by.
Your favorite character design or animation
cut will without a doubt have its roots in
shows from 30/40 years ago.
It’s both important and extremely interesting
to see how everything links together in one
giant web of influence.
Firstly we need to track that web all the
way back to it’s roots, with the birth of
animation in Japan.
The first wave of japanese animation came
at the start of the 20th century.
During the early decades, a number of anime
films were produced.
It’s an interesting period to cover because
there wasn’t a whole lot of animation being
made in Japan, and the stuff that was being
made was propaganda material commissioned
by the government.
Momotaro’s Sea Eagles is a good example
of this era.
Obviously black and white, very slow, simple
movements with static painted backgrounds.
Lots of the animations in each scene are loops
of the same 4-5 frames.
Movies like this were jam packed with political
propaganda, pushing different idealisms from
the Japanese government.
Everything was directly correlated with the
world war.
Hakujaden in 1958 is another good example,
the film is almost completely flat in it’s
dimensions, almost like a puppet show.
It really took a long time before there was
enough creative control and resources for
the medium to start developing.
I mean the 30s, 40s and 50s moved at a snail's
pace compared to the later decades.
The medium really struggled to find a stylistic
identity.
But that definitely changed as we go into
the 60s.
The 1960s was very much a stylistic kickstart
for anime.
It saw the birth of the anime TV series.
Multiple, long running series started to appear
every year, with that came opportunities for
directors and animators to really express
their own styles, this started the speedy
stylistic evolution of anime.
Certain titles started to influence each other
and distinct trends started to emerge as more
and more shows were made.
The early 60s is a period that would essentially
shape the whole medium, what happened here
is very important.
A good starting point to observe this is Tezuka’s
Astro Boy in 1963, the catalyst for this anime
boom.
The characteristics of this show become a
stylistic base point for almost everything
that follows.
One of the most important being the show’s
smart, simple design.
Allowing both rich emotional expression while
maintaining a realistic style of animation.
Obviously Japanese production studios weren’t
yet operating at the same level as other animation
studios like Disney at the time so movement
had to be used resourcefully.
Astro Boy’s character design was very intelligent.
Movable joints like elbows and knees had almost
no detail, leaving any complexity for static
aspects like his belt or his hair, this allowed
Astro Boy to look interesting but also made
him very easy to animate.
Emotions were expressed through his hands
and face, which leads onto another important
element used in the series, the eyes.
Astro Boy’s eyes are very recognisable,
because it’s a style that’s still very
popular today.
They’re big and bold, allowing animators
to express a lot of information using very
simple visuals.
Backgrounds were even more limited, they were
expressive but lacked detail and never really
moved, sometimes block colours or gradients
filled up the whole screen.
We see these characteristics continued and
developed upon into the 60s with shows like
Tetsujin and Prince Planet.
As the decade progressed, a number of stylistic
changes started to take place, mainly influenced
by the revolutionary introduction of colour.
Kimba The White Lion in 1965 is a great place
to look, you can see here the stark improvements
from Astro Boy and Tetsujin, the core style
is still very simple but the backgrounds for
example are far more detailed and sometimes
even dynamic.
Colour allowed them to be so much more expressive
with their backgrounds, using large scale
painted landscapes for settings.
Character design detail also improved, not
only in details of elements like clothing
but allowing that detail to move with more
fluidity.
Action saw a massive quality increase.
From the quick, scarcely animated scenes in
Astro Boy and Tetsujin, Kimba had a bigger
focus on movement and scale.
This allowed them to add a lot more emotion
and weight into their action scenes.
These slight improvements continued throughout
the 60s, highlighted even more so in 1967’s
Speed Racer.
By this time we’re seeing animation that
we’re more used to seeing today.
1969’s Dororo is very noteworthy.
Where the other series of the 60s were very
much for a younger audience, Dororo targeted
a more mature audience with more dark, violent
imagery.
Lot’s of death and fighting that was absent
from a lot of it’s predecessors.
Dororo also took a heavy influence from cinema,
classic samurai films from the 50s and 60s
being a clear influence.
This is possibly one of the most important
aspects, using cinematic techniques to push
the medium in it’s own stylistic direction.
Lighting, composition and more complex animation
all played a part in molding anime of the
late 60s.
And this regularity in TV anime caused an
increase in development, more progress was
made in this decade than was made during the
first 30/40 years of the medium.
Production teams began to grow and larger
creative risks were taken.
Experimental productions are usually the catalyst
for innovation.
In 1971, Osamu Dezaki proved this with Ashita
no Joe, possibly one of the most progressive
works in the medium so far.
It took the TV anime format that had been
established and injected it with a cinematic
flare.
This could be a response to how prosperous
and experimental the movie industry had become
in the 60s.
One of the most obvious changes is the huge
leap in character detail and animation.
Compared to even 5 years ago, Dezaki’s characters
are far more detailed and utilize movement
more effectively.
This is mirrored in Lupin III the same year,
at the time, these were some of the most detailed
characters the medium had seen, with some
of the most expressive animation.
You’ll notice also that these shows were
aimed at a much older audience.
Were the likes of Astro Boy and Kimba were
aimed as a younger teenage audience, Joe and
Lupin had a much older demographic.
What starts to develop in a really interesting
way in the 70s in the animation of human elements,
we start to see it a lot in Joe and Lupin
with their more realistic character designs
and detailed facial expressions but it’s
in the more subtle shows that this really
starts.
If you look at Heidi, Girl of the Alps from
1974, there’s a huge focus on the animation
of things like facial expressions and body
movement.
Unlike almost everything that i’ve mentioned
so far, Heidi didn't have action to portray
strong emotions, so animation had to be focused
in the small details.
There are a number of shows that echo this
development like Nobody’s Boy Remi and later,
Akagi No Anne, the amount of detail put into
a single facial expression in this show was
spectacular, unlike really anything the medium
had seen.
Animation was no longer a scarcely used tool
for key scenes, it was now being utilised
in the intricacies of a show.
Background art is also something that grows
very heavily in these shows, these backgrounds
were created with such skill but also a level
of consistency, they blend with the animation
of the show and start to form incredibly immersive
worlds.
Another important development that strived
in different areas was the boom of Mech anime
in the 70s, or Giant Robot anime.
This is a really important development because
it dominates the industry for about 20 years.
Some of the early titles such as Casshan or
Grendizer in 1974 show the beginnings of this
trend.
Obviously they all develop from a lot of the
sci-fi shows in the 60s but it’s here where
they start to really create a specific identity.
Mechanical animation was something really
unique to Anime, shows like Yamato and Tekkman
are prime examples of how japanese animators
were making this their speciality.
It would become something that Japan would
be known for worldwide.
Loads of complex, detailed mechanical animations
started to appear.
So much so that the production of Space Battleship
Yamato included a dedicated team for Mechanical
design: Studio Nue.
Leading us into one of the single most important
titles for the medium, Mobile Suit Gundam
in 1979.
A show that would become the stylistic benchmark
for the next decade of anime.
The legendary Kunio Okawara was behind the
mechanical design for this series, possible
making the single most important set of designs
the medium had seen so far.
It wasn’t just the complexity of the mech
designs that are important here, it’s the
level to which they’re animated, it’s
simple outstanding, and crazy to think that
just 15 years before Astro Boy was just beginning
to incorporate what is now relatively basic
animation.
And this development in mechanical animation
continues into the 80s where it becomes one
of the most important areas of the medium.
There’s a huge wave of mech anime that come
during the early 80s, and instantly you can
see how fast the medium is developing stylistically.
I want to start with Macross in 1982.
What’s important to see here is the development
of specific areas.
Dynamic, animated backgrounds for instance,
this is something that really starts to develop
in the 80s.
Before, TV anime would have simple images
or layered images, very rarely would the backgrounds
or environments move.
In Macross the line between foreground and
background start to blur, and this becomes
one of the most important technical developments.
Also, how characters and objects are drawn
change, Macross has that sketchy style animation
that you seen in Mobile Suit Gundam, this
time, far more detailed and dynamic.
This is a big change from the bolder, more
solid line work of previous TV anime, and
it opens up opportunities for more unique
movement.
This causes really important details like
hair movement and clothing detail, aspects
that were sorely missed until this point.
Macross really set the standard for TV mech
anime, and you can see how that reflects into
other shows like Armoured Trooper Votoms,
one of my personal favourites and Mospeada.
But it would be Gundam that once again pushed
this area of the medium.
A few years later in 1985, Zeta Gundam was
released, you can see instantly the improvements
in shading and line detail.
Also, the mechanical design has improved so
much.
A year later in 1986 you can see this happening
again in Gundam ZZ.
I think one of the most notable developments
is the consistency of everything.
There’s no longer a big quality gap between
backgrounds and characters or one scene and
another, everything is as detailed as it needs
to be and it all fits together really nicely.
As I was saying earlier, experimentation is
usually the catalyst for development.
You can see how the experimental shows of
the 80s mirror the developments of the decade.
Starting with Urusei Yatsura in 1981.
This is, i think, one of the very first shows
that really start to resemble modern anime.
This, and a handful of other shows really
became the standard for non-mech anime in
the 80s, and then kind of all anime after
this decade.
The show’s colourful aesthetic and exaggerated
visual presence becomes a staple of japanese
animation.
Aspects like the character’s hair and the
bright backgrounds are all extremely important
developments.
Another big change in the 80s was the introduction
of the OVA (productions that went straight
to video), allowing creators to bring to life
projects that didn't quite fit the TV or Movie
template.
This started with Dallos in 1983, and you
can see instantly how it differs from almost
everything else, it has it’s own unique,
maybe darker atmosphere and imagery.
And again with Angel’s Egg in 1984, a really
unique, visual style that really pushed the
kind of art-house aesthetic into the medium.
You can see influences from very specific
areas like eastern european cinema here that
definitely hadn’t had the chance to appear
before.
These OVAs are definitely steps into the foundation
of future styles.
This is around the time Studio Gainax were
founded, one of the first modern anime studios.
They kind of revolutionised how a studio worked
and pushed the boundaries of what a smaller
team could achieve, subsequently pushing their
own style and influence, which you’ll see
this in later years.
These OVAs also played a big part in the development
of the cyberpunk look later in the decade,
before Akira came along, titles like Megazone
23 and Bubblegum Crisis kickstarted that whole
cyberpunk sub genre, elements that anime is
renowned for like large futuristic cities
and neon imagery.
But before that we have a wave of movies that
would really define a whole generation of
films to come, this is of course the birth
of Studio Ghibli, a coming together of some
of the industry’s most important individuals.
Their first project, actually coming before
the studio officially founded was Nausicaa
of the wind in 1984 and then their first official
film as a studio in 1986, Laputa, Castle in
the Sky.
These productions were huge steps in many
areas, firstly Animation.
Aspects like character animation and crowd
animation were outstanding.
The detail and movement were completely unique
to the studio at the time.
They managed to create a sense of realism
with their ultra-smooth movement, consistently
layered throughout their films.
Matched only by their spectacular background
art, I mean Nausicaa had 17 credited background
artists, production teams with this scale
and talent were really rare at this point
in the industry, these films were such a leap.
This kickstarted a huge wave of anime films
from the mid to late 80s, these kind of massive
production teams became more common and subsequently
some really amazing work was done.
One of the more unique additions is Wing of
Honneamise in 1987.
The film had, again, incredible background
art and character animation accompanied by
very mature themes.
This was happening alongside the growth of
Cyberpunk anime and it becomes a really influential
title, unfortunately it was kind of dwarfed
by Akira the next again year.
Akira is possibly the single most influential
anime film… ever.
It was at the time, and still is, one of the
most technically impressive pieces of Japanese
animation.
It was obsessive in it’s attention to detail,
every scene containing an unbelievable level
of dynamic animation.
It’s very much a turning point for sci-fi
anime aswell.
Where a lot of the genre’s previous additions
had been brighter and aimed at a younger demographic,
Akira marker a change in a more mature focused
sci-fi audience.
And that more mature audience is something
that continues into the 90s, along with a
number of other developments.
The 90s becomes a really interesting time
period, you have all the amazing development
of the 80s with a bit more freedom in the
form of OVAs and niche markets.
The early 90s in particular was an interesting
time for this.
Titles like Macross Plus offered a very quirky
take on the cyberpunk genre and on the Macross
franchise.
This title is very much a preview of what’s
to come.
I love the interesting blend of old and new
in Macross Plus, the character designs are
more in the style of the mid 80s but the general
aesthetic is very 90s.
Stuff like this happens a lot in OVA titles.
There was a lot of improvements in technology
which I think completely changed the direction
films and series were taking.
Ghost in the Shell in 1995 is a great place
to look into.
Instantly you can see that Ghost in the Shell
is taking less from the mech era of the 80s
and more from those later films, calculated
body proportions, very neat line-work, smooth
animation, realism was the focus of the film.
The photorealistic backgrounds and more traditional
clothing choices, this is all part of the
growth towards a more realistic style.
That realistic style of animation and design
is definitely a development that continues
throughout the decade.
You can see it in shows like Evangelion and
Gundam Wing the same year.
I think this more realistic design is a reflection
of an older target audience.
Evangelion is a great example of where TV
anime is at this point, there’s some really,
really talented animators working in the industry
and it shows.
But this isn't the only kind of style that
is developing.
Lots of shows are branching out into different
styles.
Escaflowne in 1996 is one of my personal favourites
from the decade, it has a unique fantasy aesthetic,
I think deriving more from video games than
anything else, but it’s fantastic.
It mixes fantasy and sci-fi in the same way
Miyazaki does with a lot of his studio Ghibli.
And the quality of animation for a tv production
is just mind-blowing.
And again another fantasy series, Berserk,
it didn't quite get the same level of production
value as Escaflowne but the designs are just
awesome.
I like how experimental and bold choices with
lighting and colour are getting.
And that kind of sketchy line work that we
seen back in the 80s is coming back.
And towards the end of the 90s we have a collection
of just really solid shows, this is a really
special period I think, especially for audiences
in the West.
Titles like Cowboy Bebop and trigun were a
really nice blend of everything that happened
over the last 20 years in the industry.
These were a mix of so many different styles
and genres, becoming a kind of the turning
point at the very end of the 90s and the start
of the 2000s were everything changes stylistically.
Around the same time we start seeing a lot
more experimental shows popping up too, this
is possibly the most influential development
going into the 2000s.
I want to start with Utena in 1997.
For me, I think Utena’s use of colour and
exaggerated imagery are both links to the
past with similarities to the works of Dezaki
for example and also previews of styles to
come.
And also, Serial Experiments Lain.
We really hadn’t had many TV productions
that were this visually experimental until
now.
You can see Lain takes the standard aesthetic
and tweaks it to make it the deeply psychological
experience it is.
The simpler character designs and subtle background
art become a real trend in later years too.
Similarly with Boogiepop phantom in the year
2000.
These signify a very important change in how
the industry was working or more specifically
how TV anime were working.
All the variables that previously mattered
in TV anime production went out the window,
and this change in production ended up making
one of the most experimental and visually
interesting shows of the last decade.
the uses of lighting in these series were
amazing and the the muted colour palettes,
it was all it was all so unique, we really
hadn't seen anything like it.
This period of experimentation is incredibly
important going into the 2000s.
A lot of the shows that are made over the
next 10 15 years come from this period of
experimentation.
Whole studios are based around the idea of
creating experimental and unique looking shows.
It's something that has a real market and
stylistically it just explodes the amount
of evolution.
Going into the next decade I think a lot of
things drastically change.
for instance, the use of digital animation
is more common that is ever been, and that
changes a lot of things in terms of how many
people need to work on a project, how a project
can get funded, the resources needed to make
a project, it's all very different.
One show that I think encapsulates this is
FLCL.
A kind of transitionary anime into the new
decade.
The show has this really bright exaggerated
aesthetic while maintaining a really high
level of polish.
The animation and shot compositions are amazing,
but aspects of the visual style like the background
art are definitely a step away from that idea
of realism and revert back to a more playful
style, and it has a level of surrealism to
its visuals and it's story telling, this is
all very much a theme of the time.
REC
Gurren Lagann is a later example of this,
and an interesting one because it has this
playful aesthetic but such a high level of
polish, you can see the wild bu amazing line-work
in almost every detail of the animation, and
this is kind of due to the developments in
digital animation.
Digital animation really Becomes of the most
important and most influential aspect of the
industry.
Shows kind of revolve their world's around
this idea, and it leads to a wave of very
very exploratory but also high quality anime.
But of course, that more realistic style that
was saw in the 90s doesn't disappear, in fact
it keeps developing and produces some of the
decade's most visually impressive works.
Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex was
a great alternative adaptation to the previous
decade’s film, Ergo Proxy in 2006 was a
fantastic development of that dark, muted
style from Serial Experiments Lain’s era.
And the experimental phases of the 80s and
the 90s don't just stop there.
Going into the 2000s there are just as much
if not more experimentation than ever.
Studio shaft is one of my favourite examples
of this.
They are behind some of the most visually
impressive titles of the decade, shows like
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei and Monogatari.
They have all of the characteristics of those
previous phases with an added layer of quality
and finesse.
I think some of the shows that Shaft make
over the years are outstanding in their animation
quality, their smoothness and adjust general
production value without them losing the experimental
flare.
Also you have a collection of practitioners
during this period, creating some extremely
experimental shows, masaaki yuasa, kenji Nakamura,
and Rei Matsumoto are a few great examples.
These practitioners all use animation and
resources in a way that has never been done
before.
masaaki yuasa for example creates these huge
worlds with extravagant animation using just
very small teams and simpler tools.
And this progression leads us up to the current
set of styles really.
The landscape at the moment is one dominated
with digital animation, causing almost every
show to have a very unique style.
You can take any 5 anime films from each year
and chances are they’ll all have their own
visual identity, but they’ll all be firmly
rooted somewhere in the past.
Even the most exciting new design will have
it’s influence in the works of Dezaki or
Tezuka.
And that is fascinating.
We’re in a new, internet driven era and
the landscape of animation is changing so
much, I think the fact like creators like
Masaaki Yuasa are given opportunities is testament
to how creative the medium has become, and
I can only really hope for that to continue….
And I hope you have enjoyed this video, and
the last few videos i’ve made about visual
developments in anime.
I’ve spent months researching and making
these videos so if you enjoyed them please
do check out some of my other videos and click
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I have similar videos looking into specific
areas of development that you can check out
on the screen, but thanks for now.
