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Understanding anime

Animation from the East is becoming popular in the west.

By Zayaan Schroeder Mollagee

Article originally in Parent24

Everyone has watched anime, or at least every parent has, whether you know it or not. Pokemon, Dragonball Z and Yu Gi Oh are all anime originating from Japan. Everyone’s favourite Heid i is also an anime from the stables of Japan’s most famous anime company, Studio Ghibli.

Bakugan Battle Brawlers is the latest trend to take over little boy’s worlds. And while the toys may be pretty expensive you can get the DVD collection for your little man and he can relive those battles over and over again.

Bleach and Naruto are two of the more popular action animes among teens.

Bleach is about a highschool boy, Kurosaki Ichigo who becomes his town’s substitute Shinigami (Soul Reaper) after accidentally obtaining the powers of Kuchiki Rukia. This forces him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits and guiding departed souls to the afterlife.

Naruto tells the story of a boy shunned by his village for having the Nine Tails monster sealed inside of him by the villages leader. He goes on to become one of the greatest ninja’s and the series follows his adventures from graduating from the Academy to going on various missions.

Besides owning both series episodes on DVD there are also movies, collectors books and also the original manga comics that are available. And let’s not forget that you can also get them for PS3 and other console games.

But anime isn’t only for the guys. Girl’s will love Spirited Away or the Howl’s Moving Castle. Spirited Away sees a little girl, Chihiro being held captive in a fantasy world where she is trying to escape from and rescue her parents who have been turned into pigs. The movie is directed by one of Japan’s finest, Hayao Miyazaki.

Howl’s Moving Castle is about a girl who gets turned into an old woman by a witch out of jealousy. She too wants to get back to her former self and looks to the wizard Howl to help her. Both Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle have been nominated for Academy Awards although only Spirited Away won in 2002.

Are you into anime? What are your children's favourites or your own?