Japanese Animation: From Painted Scrolls to Pokemon

by Brigitte Koyama-Richard

A sweeping journey through the history of Japanese animation, tracing this cultural phenomenon from its origins in traditional art to the present day. A dominant force in its home country since the 1970s, Japanese animation has become a global phenomenon in recent years. But far from being a contemporary invention, anime draws on the same centuries-old artistic traditions that form the basis of manga. Widely disparaged when it first appeared in the West, today the real value of Japanese animation is recognized, and it has inspired international film directors. Fairy tale, romance, adventure, fantasy, anime encompasses many genres and its creativity knows no bounds. Brigitte Koyama-Richard studies the evolution of Japanese animation through the centuries, retracing its history from painted scrolls to woodblock prints, to animated films, first in black and white, and then in color. A number of prominent artists are showcased, including Tezuka Osamu, the "godfather of anime," and Hayao Miyazaki, founder of the world-renowned Studio Ghibli and creator of films such as Spirited Away —the first anime film to win an Academy Award. Illustrated with over 500 images, many rarely seen in the West, this book bridges the gap between art history and pop culture.

Genres: Anime, Nonfiction, Japan, Manga, Art

248 pages, Hardcover

First published February 18, 2009

Reviews

[Simon Binning · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the plus side, it is beautiful; the illustrations are well chosen, well captioned and the print quality is extremely high (I've given an extra star for appearance!). The structure of the book, however, is another matter. By the end, I felt I had been reading a sixth former's project. The book has no real flow; the author does briefly cover the history of Japanese scrolls, as well as the development in Europe of the various devices to produce moving images and their impact in Japan. She then covers the history of animation in Japan, picking out important people and studios. Interspersed in all this are transcripts of the various interviews she carried out, mostly verbatim.
The problem for is that it never engaged me in a subject that I already had a little interest in. The text is mostly lists of people, studios, and films released, with little or no interpretation and the interview transcripts seemed to me to have no place in the book at all. My knowledge of Japanese animation is very limited, but I had seen a number of Studio Ghibli films recently; about two thirds of the way through the book, there was one line which stated that the author had been unable to obtain interviews at the studio or permission to reproduce images. It was at this point that I began to wonder what else might be missing from the book.
Overall, this is a beautiful, coffee table book. It will give you a taste of Japanese animation, but is definitely not a comprehensive history.