Content and programming copyright (c) 1998 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. This transcript may not be reproduced in whole or in part without prior permission. For further information please contact ABC's Office of the General Counsel. Transcribed by Federal Document Clearing House, Inc. under license from American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. ABC NEWS SHOW: ABC GOOD MORNING AMERICA SUNDAY (10:00 am ET) JULY 5, 1998 Transcript # 98070508-j02 TYPE: PACKAGE SECTION: NEWS LENGTH: 749 words HEADLINE: ANIME FRENZY BYLINE: BETH NISSAN, AARON BROWN HIGHLIGHT: ANIME -- WORLD APART FROM SATURDAY CARTOONS BODY: THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. AARON BROWN, Host: Well, pay special attention here. In Anaheim, California, this weekend, thousands of cartoon- loving citizens are pledging allegiance to something decidedly un-American. It's called anime, a Japanese style of animation that made news in recent months when a popular anime video triggered seizures in some kids. Strobelike lighting effects were the cause. But that type of lighting isn't typical of all of anime. In fact, if your touchstone is American cartoons, there is absolutely nothing typical about anime. Here's ABC's Beth Nissan. BETH NISSAN, ABC News: (voice-over) It's a world apart from Saturday morning cartoons. Most of this animation is not for kids. This is Japanese animation, called anime, and the American market for it is exploding. Videos of anime movies and TV series are Japan's biggest cultural export to the US, with sales estimated at $100 million a year. Just in the last year, racks of anime have popped up in major video stores, and thousands of mostly young male fans are flocking to anime conventions. The nation's largest, Anime Expo '98, held this weekend in Anaheim, California, expects to draw 5,000 enthusiasts before it closes tonight. Convention-goers grab anime sound tracks, tie-in products, and stacks of videotapes. GRAYSON ABRECHT, Anime Fan: I spent maybe $5,000 for my tapes. I've got over 100 tapes and about 50 on laser disc. BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) What is anime's big draw? Admirers say the best of it is an art form using shadow, light, and color, more often found in films than cartoons. TRISH LEDOUX, Editor, "Animerica": (inaudible)? The sound, the cue, the cut. BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) Trish Ledoux translates anime and reviews it in her monthly "Anime" magazine. TRISH LEDOUX: There are things that are done in Japanese animation that aren't done in American animation. The camera angles, the more cinematic approach. There's the moon, of course, which is the central image in the story. BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) It's the stories, say fans, that hook them. TATTON PARTINGTON, Anime Fan: You just get drawn into it. The story is so good, it's like reading a really good book. BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) Most of the anime imported to the US is sci-fi action adventure, like the film "Akira." Content is often R-rated. TRISH LEDOUX: People tend to think that that is representative of all Japanese animation, the whole big eyes, big boobs, big guns scenario. That's all that it is. Well, it's not all that it is. ACTOR: (inaudible), we needed another brewski here. BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) Animated series and sitcoms are increasingly popular. ACTOR: Would this happen to be Maison Ikkoku? BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) A favorite is "Maison Ikkoku," the interconnected stories of residents in a rundown boarding house, including a hapless college student. ACTOR: Oh, what have I done to deserve this? SCOTT FRAZIER, Anime Collector/Producer: The depth of characters, I found that I could sit down and, you know, almost empathize with these animation characters. They were so human. BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) But unlike human actors, animated characters can do all their own stunts and go from childhood to old age in minutes, or literally be erased. TRISH LEDOUX: A character will start out very young. They'll get a little older. His character will change, his nature will change. It's almost like Pip in "Great Expectations." BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) And it doesn't take expensive special effects to create fantastic worlds or bizarre plot twists, like those at the heart of the series "Ranma 1/2." Ranma is a boy who fell into a cursed pool and now turns into a bull whenever he's splashed with cold water. 1st ACTOR: What did you do that for? 2nd ACTOR: Oh, my. BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) More than 200 anime companies in Japan are laboring to produce new shows, some just for the US market. ACTOR: Get lost! BETH NISSAN: (voice-over) American importers are translating more shows into English every day, hoping to bring more of this Japanese art to light. This is Beth Nissan for Good Morning America Sunday. AARON BROWN: That is great. Isn't that cool? (Commercial Break)