Anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, anime refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and Japanese, anime describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Many works of animation with a similar style to Japanese animation are also produced outside Japan. Video games sometimes also feature themes and art styles that are sometimes labelled as anime.
A frame from Namakura Gatana (1917), the oldest surviving Japanese animated short film made for cinemas
Frame from the opening sequence of Tezuka's 1963 TV series Astro Boy
Anime artists employ many distinct visual styles. Clockwise from the top left: Dead Leaves, Flag, Serial Experiments Lain, Monster, Mind Game, Lucky Star, Cat Soup, and Gurren Lagann.
Japanese composer Yuki Kajiura, known for her musical contributions to the soundtracks of several popular anime series such as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Sword Art Online and Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Japanese is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 120 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide.
A page from the Man'yōshū, the oldest anthology of classical Japanese poetry
A 12th-century emaki scroll of The Tale of Genji from the 11th century
