Anime burst onto the scene in September of 1963, when NBC syndicated a dubbed version of the Japanese series Astro Boy. Robot anime like Gundam and Macross became instant classics in the 80s, and the robot genre of anime is still one of the most heard about in Japan and worldwide today.

In the 1980s, anime was accepted in the mainstream in Japan, and experienced a boom in production (It should be noticed that, manga has considerably more mainstream exposure than anime in Japan). The mid-to-late ’90s, on in to the 2000s, saw an increased acceptance of anime in overseas markets.

There are plenty of books available that will help in perfecting the anime drawing style. Such books come complete with information and instructions on the styles utilized in anime.

A common approach will be the large eyes style drawn on many anime and manga characters, credited to the influence of Osamu Tezuka, link homepage who was inspired through the exaggerated features of American cartoon characters such as Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse and from Disney’s Bambi.

Although not all anime have large eyes many western audiences associate anime with large detailed eyes as many shounen or boy comics and shoujo young girl comics depict their characters with large eyes.

Other stylistic elements are common also; often in comedic anime, characters which are shocked or surprised will perform a “face fault”, through which they display an extremely exaggerated expression.

In anime the lines tend to be influenced more from a stylistic look from brushwork, rather than that of the calligrapher’s pen. This is best demonstrated within the anime Karekano.

The anime might also be edited to alter cultural references that will not be understood by a non-Japanese person and certain companies may remove what may be regarded as objectionable content.

Anime also provides a window into another culture. Anime appears to function very effectively as a cultural ambassador.