Anime (アニメ) refers to animation originating from Japan. It is characterized by distinctive characters and backgrounds (hand-drawn or computer-generated) that visually and thematically set it apart from other forms of animation. Storylines may include a variety of fictional or historical characters, events, and settings. Anime is aimed at a broad range of audiences; consequently, a given series may have aspects of a range of genres. Anime is most frequently distributed by streaming services, broadcast on television, or sold on DVDs and other media, either after their broadcast run or directly as original video animation (OVA). Console and computer games sometimes also feature segments or scenes that can be considered anime.
Manga (漫画), Japanese for "comics" or "whimsical pictures", are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and Western styles of drawing, and took its current form shortly after World War II. Manga, apart from covers, is usually published in black and white but it is common to find introductions to chapters to be in color and read from top to bottom and then right to left, similar to the layout of Japanese plain text. Financially, manga represented 2005 a market of ¥24 billion in Japan and $180 million in the United States. Manga was the fastest-growing segment of books in the United States in 2005. In 2020, Japan's manga industry hit a value of ¥612.6 billion due to the fast growth of the digital manga market, while manga sales in North America reached an all-time high of almost $250 million.
Anime and manga have a shared iconography, including exaggerating the scale of physical features, to which the reader presumably should pay most attention; the best known being "large eyes". Manga are often adapted into anime, usually with the collaboration of the original author. Light novel series and video games can also be adapted into anime or manga. In such cases, the work's original story is often compressed or modified to fit the new format and appeal to a wider demographic. Popular franchises sometimes include full-length feature films, both animated and live-action, as well as live-action television programs.
In most places, LGBT themes in comics are a relatively new concept, as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) themes and characters were historically omitted from the content of comic books and their comic strip predecessors due to anti-gay censorship. LGBTQ existence was included only via innuendo, subtext and inference. However the practice of hiding LGBTQ characters in the early part of the twentieth century evolved into open inclusion in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and comics explored the challenges of coming-out, societal discrimination, and personal and romantic relationships between gay characters. (Full article...)
The episodes of Asu no Yoichi!anime are based on the manga of the same name written by Yū Minamoto. The episodes were directed by Rion Kujo and produced by Anime International Company. The general animation director was Ishii Yumiko and Morishima Noriko was the character designer. The screenplay was written by Hideyuki Kurata. Composed by Kikuya Tomoki, the music was produced by Lantis with Jin Aketagawa as the sound director. The plot follows the adventures of a teenage samurai named Yoichi Karasuma as he lives in with the Ikaruga family, after being ordered by his father, to live with them in order to learn more martial arts. As Yoichi struggles to live in the city and starts going to school, he meets students of the Saginomiya clan, martial art rivals to the Ikaruga family and their Ukiha Divine Wind Style Swordplay school of martial arts.
The anime's twelve episodes were broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System between January 8, 2009 and March 26, 2009. The anime was broadcast on Sun Television from January 25, 2009 to March 2009. Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting and BS-i both aired the first episode on January 29, 2009. BS-i aired the anime until April 11, 2009. Geneon Entertainment released the twelve Asu no Yoichi! episodes in six Region 2 DVD compilations from March 25, 2009 to August 21, 2009. The first opening theme song of the anime was "Egao no Riyuu" (笑顔の理由) by Meg Rock while its ending theme was Life and proud by Aki Misato. (Full list...)
