In the last twenty years some American and other animation has adopted some of the styles used in anime. To make matters worse, American observers are often quite ignorant about animation and cartoons and will often label material anime when it definitely is not.

The major difference between Japanese and American animation is that in Japan, cartoons are regarded as main stream entertainment for all ages. In the United States, cartoons are regarded as a humor device or as children’s programming. One interesting point here is that American cartoons are often much better drawn than Japanese cartoons.

Anime Storytelling

Part of anime’s appeal is its flexibility as a storytelling medium. Japanese animation like American animation started out as short subjects in movies. What is now considered anime comes from Japanese television where long with elaborate story lines similar to those on American soap operas developed.

The most famous anime series are science fiction and fantasy stories similar to those found in American comic books but with strong Japanese cultural influences. Adult content in terms of sex is sometimes found in these. Interestingly enough when these kinds of shows are broadcast on American TV they are often censored or cleaned up for American audiences.

In addition to the common science fiction there are soap operatic series and teen love stories to name just a few. Huge numbers of these stories have been created for Japanese TV and are now available all over the world via DVD. The audience for them outside Japan is large but often limited.

Some Differences between Anime and American Animation

There are some big stylistic differences between American and Japanese Animation. Both of which can trace their routes to comic books and comic strips. Historically, American and British cartoonists have favored a realistic style of drawing for non-humor work. This is often reflected in the action cartoons sometimes seen on American television. Japanese favor a more cartoonish style that some Westerners find appealing and others cannot stand.

Another difference is that American and British comic creators and animtors often inject a lot of social and political commentary into their work. This can be seen in TV series like South Park and The Simpsons as well as in comic books like those written by Allen Moore. The anime distributed outside Japan appears to be decidedly apolitical. Or the social commentary is lost on non-Japanese observers.

One popular tradition in American animation is to insert celebrities into cartoons and make fun of them. Another is to parody popular movies, TV shows and political figures. It isn’t uncommon to find direct attacks on major political figures or their policies in American and British animated productions. Another tradition in recent years is for American cartoons to make fun of manga and anime.

Anime in America

Another problem is that the market for non humor cartoons in the English peaking world is limited. Even though many excellent, well-written, well drawn and highly entertaining action series (many derived from manga or anime) have been created for American audiences few of them have found a mass audience. Some of these are aimed at particular groups such as fans of American comic books.

The idea of animation being used to create serious entertainment for adults is simply alien to Americans. Even though there is apparently a huge audience for such products in the US. The huge market for superhero movies is definitely a sign of this. In recent a large audience for animated DVDs has developed. This includes quite a few direct to video productions.

There have also been attempts to put material that is well known to British or American audiences such as super hero comic books into animated form. Whether this will actually lead to a large adult audience for such animation is hard to say. Either way the appetite for anime on this side of the Pacific does seem to be huge.

The main character in the series is Ryuji Takasu, an awkward seventeen year old who has a hard time forming relationships with girls. The name of series comes from a combination of the names of Ryuji and his best friend Taiga Aisaka. Ryuji means son of dragon in Japanese and Taiga means tiger so the Toradora! can be translated as Tiger Dragon.

As with Archie Comics the central plot in Toradora! centers around the relationships between teenagers. A great deal of comedy is generated by Ryuji’s pursuit of Minori, a beautiful classmate who does not returns his affections. Like the central character in Archie, Ryuji eventually gets caught in a love triangle between two very different girls the fiery Taiga and the air-headed Minori.

There is also a cast of supporting characters who embody various levels of Japanese society. At least one of these, Koite Tomiee is the main character in a spin off called Toradora Spin Off.

Toradora! Anime

Toradora! first appeared in a series of 10 light novels released in Japan between March, 2006 and 2009. The light novels were bestsellers in Japan, the Manchi Shinbun newspaper reported that over three million copies of Toradora! novels had been sold in that country.

Around 25 episodes of a Toradora! Anime were produced by J.C. Staff and shown on Japan’s TV Tokyo in 2008 and 2009. The series has been shown on several other Japanese TV stations and broadcast in the Philippines as well.

Since the market for anime in the US is limited the series has not been shown on any American TV networks. Instead it was released on DVD in the US as two sets each containing a half season’s worth of episodes. It remains to be seen whether American audiences will respond to anime that does not contain a lot of violence, magic or robots. It should also be noted that teenaged girls the prime audience for Toradora! traditionally don’t watch animated television shows in the US.

Toradora! in Other Media

The series was also turned into a Manga and an internet radio show in Japan. Namco Games created a Toradora! video game for the Sony Play Station. So far none of the other Toradora! media appears to have been released outside Japan.

Almost all of the popular anime series are available in a variety of boxed sets. These usually contain several episodes, a half season, or an entire season of a program. Much like the popular boxed sets of American or British TV shows. Ordering a boxed set can enable you to catch up on a whole season of your favorite anime.

Indeed anime with soap opera type plots, continuing storylines, cliff hanger endings and fast paced is well suited to a boxed set. A fan can easily catch up on a whole season of his or her favorite show in a couple of days sitting. Such a boxed set is a perfect way to fill the time on a boring weekend or a rainy day off.

Where to Find Anime Boxed Sets

The best place to shop for anime boxed sets is online. Almost every series ever made from classics of the 1920s and 30s to the most recent hits has been collected into some sort of a boxed set. These are almost all available for sale online.

Prices do range widely so you will have to shop around. The big shopping sites such as Buy.com and amazon.com appear to be the best place to look. Deepdiscount.com also seems to have some pretty good deals.

One way to save money is to purchase titles that are a few years old. Online retailers often offer these at some sort of a discount. It is also possible to find some used titles for sale through sites like E-bay. Another way to save money is to swap boxed sets you aren’t watching to somebody else for their sets.

The average price for a popular anime boxed set can range between $40 and $100. Some will go for more than that but those willing to shop should be able to save money.

Shopping for Anime Boxed Sets

Simply typing the name of a series that you are looking for into a search engine will show you how easy it is to find. It often takes a while for recent titles to show up in the US. Another problem is that big American video distributors may not stock anime. This means it is often distributed by smaller outfits.

A person should definitely be careful when dealing with these. Some of them are pretty good but others may not do that good a job of customer service. It may take weeks for some of them to ship out a particular title and they may not have everything that they advertise or list on their websites in stock.

One good suggestion is to always pay extra for the UPS or FedEx shipping this will get the DVDs to you quicker and they are less likely to be damaged. Shipping through the mail is cheaper but it is slower. It must also be noted that the Post Office is no longer as reliable as it once was.

Boxed Sets via Streaming Video

Unfortunately it is currently not possible to order boxed anime sets through methods like streaming video. Individual episodes can be found this way but most equipment won’t provide enough of them. Services like Netflix may not have more obscure material available.

That means it’ll probably be a few years until you can download your favorite series directly into a box next to your TV. It isn’t here yet but it is definitely coming some day.

If you can find individual episodes of a particular series you have not seen yet it might be a good idea to watch one or two of them before ordering the series. That way you won’t end up wasting money on a boxed set you don’t plan to watch.

Another place it is sometimes possible to get boxed sets from is the public library. Libraries in some cities like Denver do stock large selections of animation. These sets are often scratched up but they can be a good introduction to a particular series.

The SyFy or Scifi Channel, a popular cable TV channel in the US that primarily shows science fiction and fantasy programs does have Animonday which is a weekly Japanese animated feature. This is often shown on Tuesday or Monday later in the night. The selection of the films shown is somewhat cheap and not very discriminating. The films shown seem to be picked for their corny content as much as anything else.

The Cartoon Network also shows some anime movie features as part of its programming. These are usually shown later at night often on Saturday night and are interspaced with American feature length animated productions. These include some of the longer direct to video efforts being put out by US comic book publishers DC and Marvel that usually focus on adaptations of popular superhero comics.

Some of the popular anime websites also review a movie every week. An example of this is JFEFusion which tries to introduce readers to some of the more quality products of Japanese cinema. There are also some attempts to get the fans of anime TV interested in more traditional Japanese animated cinema.

Anime Movie Week Elsewhere

An anime of the week club is a good way to experience anime and to find products that might be ignored. Many people in the US dismiss the whole art form as mindless cartoons. Or simply find it confusing. Although I imagine the Simpsons and South Park must be completely confusing to non Americans.

The British website movie week makes an anime film available as streaming video every week as well. Interestingly enough it lists John Cameron’s live action/CG mix Avatar as anime. Although Avatar’s plot line appears to be derived from 1970s and 80s British science fiction shows like Doctor Who and Blake’s Seven.

These “movie of the week” features are a great way to catch up on a variety of different features. In particular they are a good way to experience top directors’ whose work is normally only seen at art house movie theaters or on direct to video in the USA.

Movie of the Week in Streaming Video

Another big advantage to the movie of the week features is that they are available in streaming video. This means that nobody has to wait until something comes out on DVD (if it ever does) to see it.

One problem is that not all of these appear to be updated all the time but when they are it can be a lot of fun. Especially to hard core anime fans and those getting bored with their favorite series. Some of the sites also feature fan forums which can help viewers find new treasures to watch.

Something to remember is that streaming video is still developing. Getting it to work on most late model computers is fairly easy but getting it to work on TV sets can be a little hard. Devices like Apple TV and Hulu are making this a lot easier but internet hookups are still limited in a lot of areas.

The big video websites such as Netflix now have a fairly good selection of anime. Something to remember is that their selections are still a lot better in DVD than in streaming but that’s changing too. This means it could soon be fairly easy for almost anybody to organize his or her own anime movie week.