With its growing influence upon American popular culture, anime is bringing three elements to television and film that a majority of cartoon animation productions currently lack- vibrant displays of color, imaginative multi-faceted characters and complicated plots- that really do appeal to all ages.

The presence of anime in today’s media is all around, from movies to video games. No longer is anime just gaining popularity, but it is influencing works in film and media as a whole.

Current popular anime productions include cartoon series such as "Chobits," "Gundam Seed," "Mahoromatic," "Naruto," "FLCL," and "Full Metal Panic;" video games such as "Final Fantasy," "Castlevania," "Star Ocean" and "Dragon Warrior;" and films such as "Castle in the Sky," "Princess Mononoke,""Ghost in the Shell,” and "Spirited Away."

When Hayao Mayazaki’s “Spirited Away,”won an academy award in 2003 it became apparent to fans that anime was receiving not only popularity- but proper recognition.

The 2001 film, which won over 31 subsequent awards, features a fantastical adventure of a little girl who wanders into a world full of spirits, monsters and a witch, according to Nausicaa.net.

“Spirited Away is my favorite and it’s such an imaginative film,” said Karl Coher, president of the International Animated Film Association group in San Francisco.

The beauty of anime is that the themes are not necessarily safe- or predictable, according to fans.
Straight from Japan, the first edgy American anime series ever made was “Astro Boy,” a science fiction cartoon that came out in 1963.

One of the first anime movies to cause a stir in America was Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 film “Akira,” a violent action film about a bike gang leader who’s friend becomes involved in a secret government project called “Akira,” according to IMDB.com.

With an intense plot and themes not suitable for children, Akira proves that cartoons can be made for adults.

“Akira was a big break through for anime,” said Coher.

Since then, anime has even influenced ideas for un-animated films with adult themes, such as Kill Bill and The Matrix, as according to Jesse Barredo, a member of the Anime FX club at SF State.

According to Coher, anime themes and cartoons are unlike those featured on the Disney channel and many fans like the break from traditional animation.

“The anime craze offers excitement because it is different and is an alterative to the norm,” he said.

Anime offers a wide number of genres to choose from and Coher said that in recent years anime has been created for specific groups of people, like young teenage girls.

In San Francisco, stores such as Super7 on Post Street and Double Punch on Powell Street feature trendy anime knick-knacks galore, such as Gundams and “Harajuku girl” figurines- which feed off of popularized anime/Japanese-inspired trends- and appeal to all different interests.

“American animation is limited to either super heros or straight slap stick comedy, but anime has any type of genre you can think of - romance, action, or drama.” said Barredo.

A club for students on campus interested in anime, Anime FX meets for the first time this semester on Friday, Sept. 30 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. in room 135 of the HSS building.

The club’s meetings are scheduled for every Friday, where students can watch and then hold discussions about anime films. There will also be discussions surrounding up-to date anime challenges and issues.

“Anime is not just for kids,” said Marc Dichoco, the president of the Anime FX.

Dichoco encourages students who think they might want to learn about anime to attend a meeting.

“Our door is open to anyone who is interested in anime,” he said.

The rich world of make believe within anime can teach viewers about Japanese culture and make them more wordly, said Coher.

One SF State student who’s passion for anime spurred creative expression is Anni Tu, a senior cinema major who designs anime.

“Ever since elementary school I have been watching anime cartoons like Dragon Ball and then I would draw it,” said Tu.

After sketching her characters with pencil and then outlining with markers, Tu said she scans her photos on the computer.

She then paints them in the photo shop program. Tu said she creates the characters in her imagination and has used the art classes at school to gain technical skills.

“Anime is really entertaining and the images are really attractive because the colors are vibrant,” said Tu.

The style of anime is portrayed in Tu’s drawings, where characters have pointy noses and chins, as well as large exaggerated eyes.

“They are not really realistic but more of a fantasy type of drawing,” said Tu.

With a focus on animation, Tu said that there should be an anime class so people can learn about Japanese culture. She said that anime is never mentioned in her classes and it is an important genre of drawing that should be studied.

Fellow anime fans agree the anime media trend is present in San Francisco, but they would like to see new films released in more theaters, so that word will spread concerning the creative take on animation from Japan.