Anime is very different to most western animation. Western animation tends to have a quickly paced story that ends within the show’s timeframe whereas anime often uses several episodes to get to a specific event. Anime is not afraid to spend time within an episode where nothing much happens. For example, minutes can pass whilst a panning shot shows a field of grass blowing in the wind, which is very rare in other types of animation. These pauses are used to ground the viewer, allowing time to process what has just happened and to allow the viewer to imagine what can happen next. In anime these slow scenes are often in contrast with the rest of the animation, which may be action packed or very dramatic.
Published: 2019-03-08