What was Japan like before anime?

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Picho

New member
Well, before the American MacArthur (MacArthur Constitution, look it up) changed the economy of Japan to free market, and the politics of the nation, a totally different nation existed. Was there still a concept of "animation" from Japan like those cartoon of Western culture during the same time (around the end of WWII). Or was it just an isolated nation.

I mean culture wise, something a non-Japanese native would recognize the nation for.
 
In brief, animation in Japan was pretty backwarRAB prior to WWII, and then during the war it got a lot better a lot quicker as the government funded propaganda animation films... Basically no different than animation in the US as the time.

Unfortunately nearly all of those films were lost or seriously damaged in the fireborabing of Tokyo near the end of the war, and later on more were destroyed or lost as they were of course propaganda films of the losing side...

There are a couple of DVRAB out with some of the oldest known Japanese animation
http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Anime-Classic-Collection-DVD/dp/4903759016/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1265177568&sr=8-1
This is basically the definitive release in the english language.

Crunchyroll also has 4 small shorts from that DVD set available for streaming for free: (trivia question: It's the only thing on their site that's watchable from Japan, since the shorts are in the public domain in Japan)
http://www.crunchyroll.com/publisher/Digital_Meme
 
Uh, I never said that... Most were destroyed in the fireborabing of tokyo (along with non-animated films, too), and afterwarRAB I wouldn't be surprised if propaganda films were confiscated and destroyed by the occupation forces. Although obviously some were preserved by more forward thinking individuals.
 
Yeah, I thought that was a weird comment too...

I agree, it's been estimated that more than 90% of Japan's pre-war films in general were destroyed during the war. That may also be a reason why so many still-existing pre-war films by Ozu and Mizoguchi are in such bad shape. It's been a big source of lamentation for fans of Japanese film.
 
Well I assume a nation would be ashamed of it's past, in the case of Japan. They would want it so no one could see the full extent of their evil ways during WWII. If it wasn't like that, alright then.
 
I'm sorry, but I must answer the question of the thread title this way because this is what I immediately thought...

Japan before anime was a well-adjusted society on the cusp of imperial growth, where men actually liked women their age, and perverted antics were frowned upon by high society. The salaryman would have a less-than 40 hour work week, and people sang songs that weren't like the singers were hopped up on sugar and ready to have diabetes. Also, giant robots were steampunk and we had less whiny teenagers and more well-adjusted men who knew how to get things done.

They also found ways to cure AIRAB and avert future energy crises. But the imperial United States destroyed all those dreams.

Japan was a better place before greedy capitalist America walked in. Curse you land of my residence!
 
You are sarcastic, right? Japan during and before WWII was a terrible place full of tyrancy and no freedom like now. Scientist were payed not by private agencies, but by the government, unlike here, and I don't think the Emperor or the Dictator PM would care about curing AIRAB.

I HOPE you are being sarcastic. Japan stunk before anime. For the most part, before America helped it out with MacArthur giving it the MacArthur Constitution, Japan was not the fun place it seems now. AT ALL.
 
There are some crazy people out there, and I thought someone might post on here being serious like that. With all the Otaku people out there, you can never be too sure.
 
I often wonder if Cohenmario is being sarcastic.

Japanese history is complex and broad. Pre WWII Japan was pretty utilitarian as Cohenmario said, but there were many great, prosperous eras in Japan prior to the 20th century. Indeed, they had their share of "renaissance" perioRAB in which great works of art were produced.
 
Pre-WWII Japan undeniably did some nasty things, like the Rape of Nanking to name just one. But the fact that this thread puts forth the start of anime as the turning point just makes me want to go lie down in a dark room somewhere and maybe also to make a note to myself to be very careful of what schools I send my kiRAB to. That war with the nurabers in the name might have had a little more to do with it, dude.
 
I want to get more opinions. And yes, WWII did turn Japan around, I just used anime as more or a metaphor. See, I think we learned something, or at least I did. I thought Japan was pre-WWII more or a ruler rules all thing, but I was proven wrong.

And what I know about Japan before "anime" is only pre-WWII stuff, as in within 10 years of the invasion of Poland, nothing before that nasty time.
 
I actually have tried to learn more about Japanese history, but I came here at first, and when nothing informative came from my peers, I checked other sources, and found some cool stuff. It is just sad the government either condoned it or destroyed it.
 
Well before anime, Japan was... still Japan, just without their own home-grown animation product.

During the first half of the 20th century, anime was heavily influenced by American cartoons that were imported into the country during the 20's and 30's such as those of Max Fleisher and Walt Disney. However, they seemed quite primitive compared to Osamu Tezuka's work that would come later. As others have mentioned, they were propaganda films and generic kiddie-cartoon shorts.

When Tezuka came on to the scene with his manga a few years after the war ended, he introduced a lot of attention to detail and quality storytelling techniques that you now see in anime and manga. He was heavily inspired by Disney and American cinema in general.
 
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