The history, development and present situation of Japanese animation can be roughly divided into six stages: First, the early period before the war-from 19 17 when Japan started animation to 1945 when Japan was defeated. In the early period of this period, the theme was mainly world famous works, while in the later period, due to the rampant Japanese militarism, the theme of animation could not be separated from the route of publicizing and boasting Japanese militarism. For example, 1942' s The Magic of the Sea is like this. However, this has also led to the progress of fighting and explosive painting technology, which is also the most proud technology of Japanese animation today. Second, the post-war exploration period-from Japan's defeat to 1947. After the defeat of Japan, in view of the lessons of the war, some people began to use anti-war themes in animation. This theme has far-reaching influence and is still quite popular until now. Others try different animation themes. Therefore, the animation themes in this period range from very meaningful to very low-level. For example, The Adventures of Prince Sun by 1968 is a successful example, which later became the basis of high-level animation. Of course, there are also examples of failure. For example, the invincible King Kong in 1970 is a typical bad animation, which is not only violent but also bad, and has brought bad influence to Japanese animation. Three. Theme Determination Period Theme Determination Period (the first animation craze) —— The performance of space warships from 1974 to 1982. During this period, the Japanese animation industry has determined the dividing line between animation and comics after a period of exploration. Comics are outside the scope of our discussion, so we don't comment. Space Battleship is the first super drama in Japanese animation history, and Leiji Matsumoto is responsible for the script and character design. After the film was broadcast on TV, it caused a "Leiji Matsumoto whirlwind". Later, there were three books, Space Battleship, Forever Yamato and Space Battleship Final, with a life span of ten years. After this film, Leiji Matsumoto has other popular works, such as Galaxy Railway 999 and The Millennium Queen. After Leiji Matsumoto, "mobile suit", which was adapted from Toyo's original novel, began to be staged at 1979. Because of its complex and rigorous plot structure, it has been warmly supported by anime fans. The last three films of this film are very popular. But since then, the animation craze has gradually subsided, and the animation industry has entered an intermittent period. Fourth, the breakthrough period of painting skills (the second animation craze)-from the performance of 1982 to 1987, people's pursuit of visual enjoyment became a trend during this period, so animation painting skills tried to break through. The breakthrough of painting technology in this period has an innovative viewpoint fast-moving effect in the fortress of time and space, causing excellent sports; Valley of the Wind and City of the Sky. Fine realistic background: "mobile suit Z" and "mobile suit ZZ" emphasize reflection and contrast between light and shade, which have made great contributions to later animation. Because the theme has been determined, and the breakthrough of painting skills, excellent works are repeated. For example, the space-time fortress ranges from 1982 to1984; 1984 "Valley of the Wind"; 1985, 1986 mobile suit Z Gundam and Gundam ZZ; 1986 City in the Sky, Aryan and many other good films. By the end of this period (1987), Japanese animation had reached a very high level in plot, content and painting skills. So animation entered a mature stage. 5. Route differentiation period Route differentiation period (mature period)-1987 to the early 1990s. After the animation entered the mature stage, several excellent films appeared. Such as Grinch; Movies "Mobile Suit Gundam-Counterattack" and "Wang Li Cosmic Army"; And the first literary animation series "A Moment Together" in Japanese TV history, which is mainly aimed at high school students and above. Among them, "A Moment Together" won the second place in the list of outstanding Japanese animation works from 65438 to 0988 (the first place in that year was "saint seiya the Saint"); In addition, there are many excellent works such as Battle of the Sky and Mobile Police (Battle of the Sky 1989 won the first animation). With the development of Japanese animation, some people think that the young audience has been neglected for four or five years, and it is time to consider making an age line. Therefore, since the second half of 1987, the animation of the elderly on TV has gradually decreased and turned to animated films. As a result, there are not many good films on Japanese TV at present, but almost all of them are wonderful. Sixth, the period of style innovation-from 1993 to the present. Japanese animation, which is becoming more and more mature in painting skills, production techniques and conceptual design, began to pursue innovation in style, trying to break through the original model and bring new sensory impact to the audience with perfect skills and concepts beyond time and space. The film Ghost in the Tortoise Shell completely abandons the lively and relaxed style of animation in the past, and echoes the hesitation and loneliness that human beings can't get rid of in the restless future although they are in a high-tech society. The TV series Gospel Warrior in the New Century, which was produced by Hideaki Anno, chose Shinji, an autistic teenager who was completely different from the previous hot-blooded hero, as the protagonist. In the story of seemingly ordinary monsters fighting to defend the earth, Shinji feels all kinds of contradictions and lonely feelings of wanting to be needed, dreaming of being loved and fearing betrayal, and builds a barrier between himself and others, which is also a reflection of modern people's psychology to some extent. Today, at the end of the century, human beings gradually think deeply about themselves, and at the same time, Japanese animation has begun to pay more and more attention to the analysis close to reality and psychology, from the initial theme of universal love to more humanized depiction. Japanese animation, which is becoming more and more perfect in all aspects, has not stopped developing, but is constantly improving and breaking through itself. We can't predict how much we can achieve, so let time decide! 1983, the world's first original video animation (OVA for short)-Dallos appeared in the Japanese animation market, which opened up a new market for animation-video market. OVA, as its name implies, is not broadcast on TV or in cinemas, but only sells videos. Unless the movie is very popular, it is possible to upgrade to a movie in the cinema. OVA has become an important market for animation since 1983. Among them, there are many masterpieces, such as 88 War Zone, Dream Battle Leda, Votalia, Galaxy Female Warrior Series, Galaxy Hero Legend Series, Five-Star Tale, Ancient Raiders and so on. After talking about history, let's talk about why animation is popular among seniors (above middle school students). Mainly because of its profound meaning, the theme of this animation is hidden behind the superficial story, which is thought-provoking. For example, in the story of the above-mentioned OVA masterpiece "Voltaria", a couple with deep feelings (hero and heroine) have to kill each other under the pressure of historical "glorious tradition", and the heroine is dead but her soul still retains the agreement with her husband before the war ... After this tragedy, we can find the themes of "oath" and "anti-war" in the film. Another example is mobile suit's series, which integrates seven works. The film emphasizes that no matter how tragic the lessons of history are, there will still be people who repeat ignorant crimes, meaningless wars and tragic endings. This shows that the theme of the film is "reincarnation", and human beings will never completely get rid of the threat of war and will always repeat stupid battles. As the title of the cover of the special issue of mobile suit Z says: "We saw the elderly teacher and felt sad in our own space." Because the meaning of Japanese animation is far-reaching but not clear, let the audience experience it themselves, so every time they watch it, they will have new feelings, so animation will be loved by some senior people.