anime

is the use of the frame in such a way that the artists aren't afraid to break it.

Steve Alpert is an American who studied art history and Japanese literature. He moved to Japan more than thirty years ago. For the past decade, he has worked for Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli as the Director of International Relations. I asked him what he loved about anime style. “The way they used the frame—they weren't afraid to break it!” he said, referring to the volumes of manga he found in Japan in 1974, the year he first visited the country.“You're used to ‘wham!' and ‘bam!' as an American kid, but what about ‘wheeeee' . . . . The perspectives are so evocative. They'll go top down, then from tatami (floor) level. Things will get suddenly perverse and violent. These are unbelievable ways of expression. You just don't see that in the cartoon form anywhere else.”

Steve AlpertThinkers

Steve Alpert