Dig into the history of anime and manga and you will discover that they were birthed in the early 20th century. As an art form, they were uniquely Japanese until American media creators latched onto the genre in the 1960s and 70s. As the genre continues to evolve, anime fans are left to wonder if it is just a visual art or if there’s something more to it.

Truth be told, the visual art that became anime existed before animation itself. Japanese artists created beautiful works of art they use to tell intricate stories. Anime itself was birthed out of a desire to bring this art form into the animation realm. Furthermore, the earliest anime artists wanted to make their work distinct from American animation. They did so partly for artistic reasons and partly because budgets were tight.

Manga Comics and Graphic Novels

A true anime fan knows the difference between anime and manga. Though there are quite a few subtle differences, it boils down to this: manga is the Japanese art of illustrating comics and graphic novels. Anime is the art of taking those images and animating them. Knowing that, understanding the depths of anime as a standalone entity requires going back to manga’s comics and graphic novels.

It only takes one glance to distinguish between a manga drawing and something from a Western comic illustrator. The Japanese images just look different. They look unique. If you are an anime fan, you know exactly what’s going on here.

The same unique artwork that makes manga what it is carries through to anime. That’s because anime is the same type of art enhanced by animation. And that leads us back to the original question: is anime just a visual art, or is there more to it?

Realistic Characters in Stories

Though early anime works seemed a lot like Western works in terms of characters and stories, things changed over time. Anime characters became increasingly more complex as did the stories of their lives. More importantly though, creators made a concerted effort to ensure storylines more accurately reflected the real world. It didn’t want everything to end up warm and happy like Western animation.

That being the case, you can argue that anime is more than just a visual art. Modern anime also considers character depth, story realism, and complex social themes.

Original Anime Artwork

It should be interesting to note that the anime genre has inspired a ton of original artwork from people who aren’t directly involved in the entertainment industry. Take the good people behind the Umai anime clothing line. Almost all of their artwork is original. You will know it is anime just by looking at it. Yet you will not find any of Umai’s characters in streaming anime series or manga graphic novels.

In Umai’s case, anime has become a visual art used to create inspiring T-shirts, hoodies, hats, and even phone cases. Their artwork is technically not anime in the sense that it is not animated. And yet, people recognize it as such.

This suggests that anime is more than a visual art. It is a way of seeing the world. You could make the case that it’s a cultural movement being carried along by feature films, streaming series, and more. One way or the other, it is a unique form of animation art separate and distinct from Western animation.

Will you ever look at an anime T-shirt the same way again? If not, good. The goal of this post was to get you to think about what anime really is.