He shows this film even though it is not truly an animation, but consists of stop motion. Clements also incorporates the influences of Western films that have been introduced to Japan such as The Haunted House in the Ruins of Napoleon’s palace. The board becomes strange is one of the early Japanese cartoon films that he talks about. These animations are from the years 1912 – 1921. Pre-animation was the beginning of anime as it evolved with more modern technologies and practices it could turn into the anime we know today.Ĭlements starts off with the early animations in chapter 1 called kid deko’s new picture book. This book starts off with Akira being one of the first animes and moves up to more recent films, however Akira and Astro Boy are not the true beginnings of anime. An example of this is from a book called Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation by Susan J. Many of them refer to Astro Boy and Akira as the classics and origin of anime instead of the pre-animation back in the early 1900’s. There are few anime history books that have been published. He heavily focuses on the animation in the early years to show the true origin of anime. By breaking up the content in chronological order it makes the text clean and easy to follow. He continues through to the twenty first century with animes like spirited away. Clements starts off in the early 1910’s with pieces like circa. Clements explores the world of anime by going giving an in depth look on the process of anime.Ĭlements breaks up his content in ten chapters going in chronological order.

Anime is a growing subculture in American and in other countries as well. Anime, a style of animation in Japan that has influenced many over the years and has become a big topic to many as well. Johnathan Clements’ Anime: A history showcases an in depth look of the evolution of anime while highlighting eras that have been overlooked by many. (London: Palgrave Macmillan on Behalf of the British Film Institute, 2013.

Anime a history jonathan clements