Sunday, 05-Jul-2009 12:24:54 CDT
Global
History of Anime
Anime in the 90's
In many ways, the anime world of 1991 was
very different from the world of 1995 ... and in others, it was
very much the same. Once again, creativity largely seemed to lag
when it came to groundbreaking design and execution. In short, there
was a whole lot of nothing going on. For this, there were precious
few excuses: the technology of animation had advanced tremendously
in four years. Still, anime was largely rudderless as it floundered
along; it was buoyed by only occasional huge successes that could
almost have been accidental (like Macross Plus and Giant Robo, which
were hits in every sense of the word).
Once again, Gainax steps up to the plate and hits one out of the
park with Neon Genesis Evangelion. Huge amounts of speculation began
when it was announced that Gainax was working on something new,
and it intensified when no details of the project were given. The
only thing that everyone could agree on was that this thing had
the potential to be huge. We're talking Nadia huge. Maybe more.
It was, therefore, with great anticipation that television channels
were carefully scanned in the weeks leading up to the premiere (itself,
quite low key). The art flashed on the screen. The music started.
The opening credits ran. Everyone was hooked. Gainax was hitting
on all the cylinders. Again. This is the sort of show that anime
studios have dreams about ... or nightmares, as the case may be
if you're someone other than Gainax. Creatures come down out of
the sky. Okay. They're "Angels". Okay. They tell Mankind collectively
to stop this Biotechnology stuff. Okay. And, to make things interesting,
they start smashing cities. Big cities. Pancake flat ... with no
syrup to be found.
 Five
years later, things get really interesting, and the show turns into
something that Gerry Anderson would be proud to put his name on.
Movable underground buildings. Last Hope Of Humanity robots ...
with extension cords. Ordinary Guy Who Is The Scientist's Son stuff,
but this is (surprise) no ordinary boy. If you aren't hooked in
the first few minutes, you might want to check your pulse. And,
the show just kept getting better ... until the last episode. I
have no intention to giving anything huge away, but many found it
to be (tongue firmly in cheek) a bit of a disappointment. There
is, of course, that old saw about the journey being the important
part ...
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