Anime Reviews

Introduction

"Konnichiwa, minna and greetings to you! I hope your trip here wasn't too long. Now that you've arrived, I must welcome you to the world of anime! My name is Anya and I am the queen of the land," a black-haired girl announces. She wears a smile on her face and her brown eyes are alight with excitement.

A little introduction to anime for newbies... (If you already know the basics of anime, feel free to skip ahead.)

"Umm, excuse me..." a quiet voice pipes up from the audience. "What exactly is anime?"

Anya looks down at the young child and responds, "anime is literally just Japanese cartoons. They are like any normal tv show, but animated. That means someone draws out the artwork for ever scene. The characters in anime are given a distinct look and feel, much different from normal cartoons. The artwork, themes, and concepts of anime are often much deeper than other cartoons, hence why they fall under a separate category."

The newbies nod, glad that they understand what the concept of this book is now. "There are many different types of anime," Anya continues. "Just as there are different genres of broadcasted tv shows, there are many genres of anime. Some are typical such as adventure, sports, thriller, mystery, etc. You may watch your first anime, say it's Death Note and decide you don't like it. That doesn't mean you don't like all anime, it just means you didn't like that type of anime. Next you could watch an anime like Sword Art Online and love it. Don't judge the whole concept of Japanese animation by one show. Just as tv programs work, there are many different types of shows."

"Are there Japanese words that help you figure out what an anime is about?" another audience member asks.

"There are two general words that categorize animes, both which you should know. First off, there is shonen. This genre appeals mostly to boys, but if you ask me, they are interesting for both genders. Some examples of shonen animes are Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball Z. The opposite would be shojo anime which is aimed at girls, but who doesn't love magical girls?Popular shojo animes are Sailor Moon, Madoka Mágica, and Fruits Basket. Even though shonen is stereotypically for boys and shojo for girls, both can be fascinating for each gender."

"Wait, is anime in Japanese? I don't know a word of that language!"

"Not necessarily. A lot of anime fans don't speak Japanese, including myself, and that's okay. Since anime is a worldwide phenomenon, it has been dubbed and subbed in many different languages," Anya explains. "My native language is English, quite obviously. Since this is a well-known language, a lot of mainstream animes have a dubbed version of the show."

A girl dressed in a typical school uniform raises their hand and Anya points to them. "What do dub and sub mean?"

"Dub is when the vocal language is switched. For me, that would mean all the speaking is changed to English. Some animes don't have a dub, which means to watch it, you will need to find a sub version. A subbed version of the anime is when the voices are still in Japanese, but there are subtitles in your language. For me that would mean it has English subtitles. You can remember which is which by this; 'sub'titles," Anya replies. "Personally, I like to watch the dub version more than the sub. (I know I know, I'm that person. It's just so much easier to multitask if I don't have to read subtitles the whole time.) Remember that some animes don't have a dub version so then you have to watch the sub."

The audience understands, but has one more question. "Where do you watch anime from? Is there a website, a computer program, an app...?"

"There are many different browsers to watch anime from. I watch from a website called kissanime. So far, it has had every anime that I've wanted to watch. It also has the dub and sub of every show available. My main problem with this site is that it is very slow and depending on the device, it can take a while to load up. What's great though, it'scomepletly free of charge. It does have advertisements though. If you want to try it, the website is called kissanime.ru," Anya begins. "Another option is crunchyroll. It is an android app and a website. You can have a 30 day free trial, but then you have to pay a monthly fee. From this app though, you can make anime lists, keep favorite tabs, and track which shows you've watched. If you are one of those Netflix and chill people, there are some animes on there. Sadly, Netflix only has the mainstream animes and often times they don't have the dub. I have a Netflix account and don't recommend watching from there." She pauses. "Of course there are many other browsers out there, these are just the ones that I have tried. My preference is kissanime so you can always try that."