Anime (アニメ) refers specifically to either hand-drawn or computer-generated Japanese animation commonly produced as shorts, television series and movies. Different countries have other terms, though sometimes styles are borrowed from each-other. In short, if it is Japanese animation, it’s anime. If it is from somewhere else, it’s called something different; and if it is on paper, it’s probably Manga.
イヴの時間 is an award-winning ONA (an anime series made for the Internet) written and directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura (吉浦 康裕).
The series is just six episodes, roughly 15 minutes each (except for the last at 27 minutes), for a total running time of about 104 minutes.
イヴの時間 tells a story and features themes that would have done Isaac Asimov proud. This is fine Sci-Fi storytelling.
四月は君の嘘 (Your Lie in April) is an anime-adaption of the manga series written and illustrated by Arakawa Naoshi (新川 直司). It spans two cours, and weighs in at 22 episodes of 25 minutes each (total viewing time, just over 9 hours).
四月は君の嘘 centres on romance and drama with a hefty serving of classical music, wrapped up in some very nice animation, indeed. It is a very adult story about four teenagers and the people around them. By ‘adult’, I don’t mean that it contains sex, drugs, or violence, or indeed anything that might warrant censoring, but that the story conveys the thoughts and emotions of its characters frankly and without shame, in a fashion usually reserved for mature audiences.
Unlike many anime-adaptions of manga, this series forms a full and complete story with a definite conclusion.
アナザー (Another) is an anime adaption of a light-novel written by Ayatsuji Yukito (綾辻 行人), award-winning Japanese Mystery/Horror author. The anime was produced by Progressive Animation Works (株式会社ピーエーワークス) as a single-cour of 12 episodes (25 minutes each, for a total run of five hours), and provides a fine example of Japanese horror.
