Behind The Nihon Review » Akikan! http://behind-the.nihonreview.com An insight into the minds of the staff of The Nihon Review Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:02:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Looking Back, Looking Forwards: This Decade in Anime http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20100103/looking-back-looking-forwards-this-decade-in-anime/ http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20100103/looking-back-looking-forwards-this-decade-in-anime/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:48:53 +0000 Akira http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/?p=1319 As this decade draws to a close, we celebrate the last ten years in anime. Certainly, the industry has progressed far in the last ten years: anime has become more popular, both domestically and worldwide; it has matured significantly as an art form, featuring cutting-edge CG technology and beautiful, streamlined animation; and it has become massively commercialized, with anime goods proliferating and saturating the market, far outstripping demand in many cases. The rapid, irreversible commercialization of anime has been further exacerbated by a (relatively) new artistic movement in the industry: moé.

Certainly, moé did not revolutionize the anime industry. The artistic beginnings of moé were not in this decade, or even the last. Like all artistic movements, it underwent periods of growth and development. What this decade did see, however, was the exploitation of moé. Instead of utilizing moé as a set of aesthetic choices, used to bolster, reinforce and beautify a work of anime, it became an end in and of itself. The industry quickly realized that their idealized representations of women— well-mannered, upbeat, bright and beautiful— resonated well with anime’s predominantly teenage male audience. Thus, the industry shifted more and more towards the production of moé-oriented titles, especially during the latter half of the decade.

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]]> http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20100103/looking-back-looking-forwards-this-decade-in-anime/feed/ 15 Winter 2009: First thoughts http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20090117/winter-2009-first-thoughts/ http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20090117/winter-2009-first-thoughts/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:34:19 +0000 Sorrow-kun http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/?p=387 winter2009

Northern hemisphere seasons always stuff me up, since I’m writing a post titled “Winter 2009″ despite the fact that it’s over 30°C outside. I’m not watching all that much this season, for two reasons. First, other than the slew of sequels (again), there’s not too much that seems interesting. Second, I’m too busy right now to waste as much time on anime as I usually do. Anyway, here are some first impressions on what I’ve seen so far this season.

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