Barefoot Gen, Volume Two by Keiji Nakazawa

Yet they’re all tinged with melancholy and wistfulness. Some may feature fantasy plots, others are set in grim and grounded reality.

While some of these anime movies may be escapist, others will leave you sad and teary eyed. There’s something so relieving about a good purgative cry. My list here attempts to put together anime that evokes genuine human emotions from hand-drawn or computer-generated characters. All these anime were largely aimed at adults and incorporated complex, mature themes sometimes missing even in live-action films. But the Japanese animation perfectly addressed the nation’s social realities and created plenty of naturalistic dramas. Consequently, the video revolution of the 1980s strengthened the prospects of anime in the Western countries.Īnimation is naturally expected to feature fantastical and otherworldly elements. Moreover, with the emergence of major animation studios in Japan in the 1980s, the manga were adapted into anime. The diversification is so profound that manga covers everything from dystopian sci-fi tales to slice-of-life social dramas. The Japanese graphic or comic novels, known as manga, don’t confine themselves to superhero saga and risqué adult stories. But in Japan, anime and manga have long been major cultural forces, and in the 21 st century have gained admirers and fans across the globe. In cinema, animation is reduced into a genre for family entertainment.

Animation is repeatedly misunderstood as a medium for kids.

Barefoot Gen, Volume Two by Keiji Nakazawa