History of Anime Humanities 1101

Namakura Gatana

Jun 30, 1917

The first known Japanese Animation was traced back to the 1917 found in Osaka, Japan. A short two minute video about a samurai who bought a dull sword. The credit for creating the first Anime is due to Junichi Kouchi. (Anime News Network)

Urashima Taro

Feb 1, 1918

Another film discovered the same time was about about a fisherman and a turtle. Both artworks were meant to be for entertainment and folklore. (Anime News Network)

The Great Kanto Earthquake

Sep 1, 1923

This natural disater greatly affected the people of Japan and the Anime world. All other early work is considered lost and destroyed when the Shimokawa Warehouse was destroyed. " 90 percent of the buildings in Yokohama were damaged or destroyed, and an estimated two-fifths of the buildings in Tokyo had burned to the ground"(Kerry Smith, Brown University)

Voice Over

Apr 13, 1933

The first Anime with actual voice actors was "Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka". All prints have been misplaced and it has been now considered a lost film. (Midnight Eye)

First Feature Length Film.

Apr 12, 1945

The anime "Momotaro: Umi no Shinpei" holds the title for first feature length animated film Written and Directed by Mitsuyo Seo. The Japanese Naval Ministry funded Mitsuyo to create a propaganda film during the WWII era. (Anime Encyclopedia)

Toei Animation

Jan 23, 1956

One of the most influential Anime creators with the most recognition for its distribution of "the Tale of the White Serpent", "One Piece", "Dragon Ball", and "Salor Moon". Formally known asNichido Eiga (Film) CO, was renamed Toei Animation in 1965.(Toei-anim.co.jp/en/)

First Color Feature FIlm

Oct 22, 1958

"The Tale of the White Serpent" written by Taiji Yabushita and Shin Uehara, and Distributed by Toei Animation, was the first ever full color Anime movie. (Toei-anim.co.jp/en/)

First Televised Anime

Jan 15, 1960

According to The History of Anime & Manga "Mittsu no Hanashi" was the first ever anime to be publically televised. Directed and written by Keiko Kozonoe. No picture avail for this piece that can be directly corelated to the Anime.

First ever Anime Series

May 1, 1961

"Otogi Manga Calendar" is considered the first anime series airing from May 1961 to Feb 1962 with 312 episodes each about three min long. The "Anime Encyclopedia" described the series as a educational series about historical events that happened on that day in history.

Anime Sweeps the West.

Jan 1, 1963

Mighty Atom but more known by the american name "Astro Boy" was the first major Japanese Animation to be aired and viewed in the USA. This series later became globaly recognizable and made a name for the Anime industry (David 2006)

Dragon Ball

Feb 26, 1986

Dragon Ball hits the stage with 153 episodes and one of the most widely known animes that impacted our childhood. Adapted from the manga written by Akira Toriyama and produced by Toei Animation . (toei-anim.co.jp/en/)

Sailor Moon

Mar 7, 1992

Another anime that was a big hit in the western world was "Sailor Moon" Written by Naoko Takeuchi and produced by Toei Animation. While it only had thirty-nine episodes it was meant to catch the attention to female viewers but like all anime it was accepted by all.

One Piece

Oct 20, 1999

My favorite of all anime is "One Piece" It is one of the longest still running series with a new episode coming out every week. With over 740 episodes it has become a globally recognized series. It set Guiness Wrld Record For "Most Copies Printed for Comic by a Single Author" (Guiness 2015)

American Anime

Feb 21, 2005

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" is an american animation series produced by Nickelodeon that has many Anime aspects as well as design. Although is is argued under what genre it is considered, it is still widely accepted in the anime community. (O'Brien on The Escapist)
Photo credit: Bea-Gonzalez Deviantart

7 Deadly Sins

Oct 5, 2014

Netflix gains streaming rights to air the 7 Deadly Sins exclusivly on their site(Forbes). It gained massive popularity for the anime community on Netflix making the company consider producing Netflix original series.

Netflix Joins the Fun

Nov 4, 2015

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings stated that he was "Interested in having his company produce anime directly rather than simply distribute it"(Forbes.com) . After the recent rating increase theyve seen from the anime fanbase.

Still Going

Jul 23, 2016

With the global recognition that One Piece has and the Release of the new movie "One Piece Gold" shows that Anime is alive and strong and will keep going forward. Toei Animation has decided to release it on July 23 2016. (Toei Corp)