What Makes an Anime an Anime?

Anime has been rising in popularity worldwide for years now. Mostly in part due to series like Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan luring in new viewers with their bombastic action scenes and engrossing character moments. 

On the surface, they’re no different from any other piece of cinematic media with a story and characters on various streaming platforms, but on a deeper level, anime is wildly different. Which begs the question: what makes an anime an anime? We’ll answer that for you!

What Goes Into an Anime?

Japanese animation, or what the rest of the world knows as anime, is an immense medium of different styles and production methods that have often been adapted based on the progression of technology. Despite its advancement, anime has always focused on creating imaginative graphic art, making diverse characters, experimental cinematography, and other techniques that deliver a detailed visual experience.

Unlike Western animation like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Japanese animation is less about movement and more about enhancing art detail and using camera effects such as panning, zooming, and weird angle shots that make viewers react.

Of course, you can always spot the large and emotive eyes on anime characters that have been a mainstay in the medium. But in the quieter moments where characters walk through rain or dial up a friend, Japanese animation blows up its quality to attract attention in ways that leave an impression on a viewer and sometimes even build characterization through its imagery.

That’s everything you need to know about what makes anime an anime. Be sure to check out the Twinfinite site for other bits of anime news, guides, quizzes, and features of the series you might be watching!