Japanese animation began in the early twentieth century, much as animation in the rest of the world did. In the beginning, Japanese animation studios attempted to utilize the same techniques for animation that many of its western counterparts used. However, the arrival of Astro Boy from comic book format to television animation in 1963 began to change this. Produced by Mushi Productions animation studio, Astro boy introduced television audiences to the wild action and offbeat characters that would eventually prove to make Japanese animation popular the world over.
The 1970s would see even more growth in Japanese animation studios. Studios like Tokyo Movie Shinsha began producing popular shows like Lupin III. The 1970s also saw the birth of one of Japanese animation's most popular selling points: giant fighting robots. Mazinger Z became hugely popular in Japan and had some cross over success in other countries. The growing excitement and acceptance of Japanese animation paved the way for a full scale assault in the 1980s.
In 1988 Tokyo Movie Shinsha released a milestone in Japanese animation. The movie was called Akira and it became an instant classic. Akira combined state of the art animation technology with a riveting score and was based off an enormously popular manga by the same name. This success was carried over to the west where Akira achieved a cult movie status in the United States. Today animation studios like Aniplex, who produce Full Metal Alchemist, are known in the states as much as in Japan. Japanese animation studios have come far in the last forty years.
There are many different Japanese animation studios. The best way to identify them is by listing some of the most popular Japanese animations studios with the works they are most commonly associated with.
Tokyo Movie Shinsha:
Akira
Lupin III
Studio Ghibli:
Grave of the Fireflies
My Neighbor Totoro
Princess Mononoke
Mad House Studios:
Demon City Shinjuku
Devil May Cry
Ninja Scroll
Wicked City
These are just a few of the most popular Japanese animation studios.
According to jetro.org, the market size of Japanese animations studios is huge. In 2005 sales of Japanese animation came in at 97.1 billion yen. Also box office sales of Japanese animation movies in Japan totaled over 20 billion yen in 2005. Currently close to 20 billion yen a year is made off of exporting and licensing anime outside of Japan. Japanese animation studios are at the helm of an incredibly lucrative industry.
The effects of the success of Japanese animation studios are wide reaching. Their techniques of plot creating, art direction and character development are now being mimicked in the west. This is a stark contrast from the beginning of Japanese animation, which borrowed heavily from western techniques. Animation like Star Wars: Clone Wars and Samurai Jack have borrowed many of the same techniques employed by Japanese animation studios for years.
There a many misconceptions about Japanese animation studios. One of the most common misconceptions is regarding the type of material that they create. There is a stereotype that Japanese animation studios make films and television shows that feature predominately science fiction plots and hulking machines. However, directors like Hayao Miyazaki have used their Animation studios to create works of innocence and breathtaking beauty. There is humor, grief and lightness in many of the projects produced by Japanese animation studios and more are made as the industry continues to grow.