

The earliest commercial Japanese animation dates to 1917, and production of anime works in Japan has since continued to increase steadily. For simplicity, many Westerners strictly view anime as an animation product from Japan. Arguably, the stylization approach to the meaning may open up the possibility of anime produced in countries other than Japan.

In other languages, the term is defined as animation from Japan or as a Japanese-disseminated animation style often characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastic themes. The word is the abbreviated pronunciation of "animation" in Japanese, where this term references all animation. Anime (Japanese: アニメ?, ( listen)) is a term used to refer to Japanese animated productions featuring hand-drawn or computer animation.
