You've seen it on Cartoon Network - now you can experience it in all of its cinematic glory; anime is coming to the big screen at Ball State University.
Two full-length anime films will be screened starting at 7 p.m. today in Pruis Hall. Sponsored by the Ball State Japanese Animation Society, the event will also feature a raffle with prizes including a T-shirt and other anime-related items.
The first film, "Ranma 1/2 The Movie: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China," tells the story of a boy named Ranma Saotome, a 16-year-old martial arts expert who transforms into a girl each time he touches cold water.
Before it was made into a film "Ranma 1/2" began as a manga, a comic book read by people of all ages in Japan.
"Most of the animation you're watching started out as manga," Japanese Animation Society President Rocky Burton said. "Everybody reads it. Your average business man grabs a manga to read on the bullet train on his way to work."
The plot to "Catnapped!," the second film to be shown at Wednesday's event, follows the adventures of Toriyasu, a young boy who travels in a hot air balloon with three cats in a quest to find his lost dog. The group journeys to a strange new world where Toriyasu discovers his dog has turned into a flying monster.
"It's very trippy," vice president Emily Kelley said. "Genre-wise, the plot is completely outlandish."
Burton said the rise of TV shows like "Dragon Ball Z," along with many programs seen on Cartoon Network, have introduced anime to many people in the United States. Prior to this, Americans had some strange ideas about the genre. Partly because some of the first anime to come to the United States featured nude scenes, many people assumed all anime was sexually explicit.
"Fifteen or 20 years ago, anime was seen as something a bit risque," Burton said. "There were a few videos released and circulated that were adult-like in nature; cartoons with women with huge boobs jiggling around."
Burton said another stigma recently applied to anime is that it's all cutesy cartoons meant for children, that it's full of the characters like Picachu and Jigglypuff - that it's all like Pokemon.
Kelley said these contradicting stereotypes about anime are far from accurate.
"Usually people hold one or the other," she said. "You wouldn't say that live action movies are all porn or all for kids. Anime is just another medium for storytelling."
Burton said the genre has come along way from the days of "Astro Boy," "Speed Racer" and "Gigantaur." Today's anime features deeper plots and a sleaker, more polished look.
The society's next movie screening is set for Dec. 3 at Pruis Hall.
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