The dynamism of anime images: The case of the ‘Kanada-style’ movement

Watzky, Matteo

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121874 Copy

Description

Title

The dynamism of anime images: The case of the ‘Kanada-style’ movement

Author(s)

Watzky, Matteo

Issue Date

2023-12

Keyword(s)

• Kanada Yoshinori
• Anime History
• potential movement
• anime boom
• Otaku

Abstract

Kanada Yoshinori is considered one of the most important animators in anime history. He turned the constraints imposed by anime’s “limited animation” techniques on their head thanks to his unique approach to drawing and timing on works such as Invincible Super Man Zambot 3 (Muteki Chôjin Zambot 3, 1977) or Galaxy Express 999 (Ginga Tetsudô 999, 1979). This paper aims to consider Kanada’s place and importance in anime history by reevaluating the role of animated movement in aesthetic and media analysis. Tom Gunning’s concept of “potential movement” serves as a basis to understand how animation works—how it is created and how it functions—and two of its central parameters, “rhythm” and “tension.” These are then used to explain the appeal of Kanada’s animation in aesthetic terms and its transmedia success in the environment of the “anime boom” of the 1970s and 1980s. Aesthetic and technical parameters can then become tools to explain the success and spreadability of certain trends and styles over anime history.

Series/Report Name or Number

Journal of Anime and Manga Studies, vol. 4

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jams.v4.1195

Copyright and License Information

• Copyright 2023 Matteo Watzky
• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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