An Anime is a cartoon series that originates from Japan. MeinMMO lists 5 of these series that at first glance you wouldn’t suspect are Japanese animated series.
For many, it’s clear: large round eyes, colorful costumes, it must be an anime. However, the definition of an anime is much simpler. For instance, looking at the Duden, it describes it as a “Japanese animated film.” Wikipedia is more precise: Animes are animated films and series produced in Japan.
And that’s exactly why there are animated series that you didn’t even know were actually animes. You watched them repeatedly in your childhood.
Many of the animes presented here aired in the morning program of ZDF or KIKA. So if you spent a lot of time as a child on those channels, you have been an anime fan from a young age.
Pinocchio
- Original title: Piccolino no Boken
- Release year: 1976
- Produced by: Nippon Animation, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, Apollo Film
What is it about? The anime is separate from the Disney film and is based on the book by Carlo Collodi, which is much more moralistic and darker. The old woodcarver Geppetto carves a puppet from a magical wood which he names Pinocchio. In the beginning, the puppet is quite cheeky. He is naive, stubborn, lazy, and easily seduced into bad deeds.
But Pinocchio just wants to be a real boy. To achieve this goal, he is helped not only by the cricket Pepino but also by the little duck Gina. They are Pinocchio’s conscience.
What’s exciting to know? The duck Gina was completely invented for the series. In the book, Pinocchio is much lonelier. Pinocchio needed someone to talk to when he was lonely. So the creators of the series invented Gina, who often serves as an anchor to prevent the series from becoming too scary.
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