Japanese Anime:    Japanese animation, also called anime, is not the same as normal American comics or cartoons. Anime usually covers more serious topics compared to American cartoons and has a wide range of genres. A few of those types of anime are boys' anime, also called Shounen, deals with action, guns, fighting, and machines; girls' anime, also called Shojo, and deals with romance, fantasy, and drama; Bishi anime, another girls' anime, and is usually about samurai that are also very beautiful. Examples of each of these genres are: Shounen- Cowboy Bebop; Shojo- Sailor Moon; Boshi- Rurouni Kenshin.

There are many characteristics of anime characters that set them apart from American cartoon characters. Larger eyes, oddly colored hair, overly dramatic expressions and gestures are normal in anime. For example, female characters' hair can be colored brown, black, blonde, or red, but more frequently, you will see pink, blue, green, purple, gray, white, and even multi-colored hair. Boys usually have normal hair colors. There is a wide variety of expressions and gestures, most of which are over exaggerated to make the anime funny. Some examples of these emotions are: blushing- this is not really considered an expression, it's more like an add on to a character. Blushing addsa a sense of cuteness to usually a female character, but is also sometimes seen on a boy; sweat drop- is commonly used in anime and manga to show signs of extreme nervousness; popped vein- this expression shows signs of extreme anger or rage; beady eyes- used to show confusion or hopelessness; tear streams/ waterfalls- streams of tears down a character's face shows great sadness while tear waterfalls show comical sadness or comical pain. Sometimes, neither are necessary to show great pain in a character, and tiny tears in the corners of both eyes are used.

There is a huge difference between anime, which is watched on television, and manga, which is read. You can buy manga at bookstores in single volumes, or as magazines with different chapters for different manga in each magazine. Some of these magazines are OtakuUSA, Shonen Jump, a boy's magazine, and Shojo Beat, for girls. Shonen Jump focuses on boy manga such as Naruto, YuYu Hakusho, and One Piece. Shojo beat print girl related manga, like Vampire Knight, Absolute Boyfriend, and Backstage Prince. Manga is read from right- to- left, instead of the usual American style of left- to- right. This takes some getting used to, but after a while, it's really easy.