A uniquely powerful form of artistic expression, anime hasembraced complex and provocative ideas since its inception inthe mid twentieth century. This dynamic and wide-ranging bookexplores eighty key themes of the genre, from wars to naturaldisasters, nature to ecology, childhood to magic, dystopiasto fables. It looks at more than one hundred masterpieces ofJapanese animation, including Akira, Ghost in the Shell, OnePiece, Princess Mononoke, Grave of the Fireflies and Howl'sMoving Castle, to show how practitioners consistently balancetradition with modernity and how anime's distinct style hasinfluenced other forms of media such as video games, comicbooks and live-action films.Covering an enormous range of talent from Isao Takahata,Katsuhiro Ôtomo, and Makoto Shinkai to Studio Ghibli andMamoru Oshii it demonstrates how anime makes room forlimitless creativity. Unfettered by the physical constraints ofnature's laws, these artists realize our deepest emotions andour wildest dreams