Wonderful Days is a South Korean animated movie with a runtime of ninety minutes. This masterpiece was directed by Kim Moon-saeng and was released worldwide in the year 2003. It has been stunningly designed and is a flat animation-CGI hybrid.
Although it failed at the box office, it has been a tremendous leap in the history of Korean animation. While there are contentions to the argument regarding the definition of anime, the technical aspects add the most to the definitive features of an anime.
Wonderful Days – What is it about?
Wonderful Days of Sky Blue is an animated tale that narrates the plight of the doomed city of Ecoban. This city protects the citizens from a century-old war that left Earth in a perpetual nuclear winter. The city has evolved into a dystopia and has formulated a despotic caste system. It is the tale between Jay and Shua, who come with different ideological conflicts and have different dreams of the perfect city.
Wonderful Days is a flawed masterpiece and has a larger-than-life story that perfectly gives the viewer a pleasure of a lifetime. It is an outstanding animated creation, which imbibes different modes of animation in a seamless experience. It is surreal, beautiful, and gorgeous, and is much more than the average animated show.
The history of South Korean animation and the technicalities associated with anime
The historical basis of the South Korean animation industry dates back to the 1950s. It all began with the Motion Picture Law of 1962 and famous children’s movies like Space Monster Wangmagwi were released in theatres. Korean animation industry experienced a major growth in 1981 and the mass production of anime began in 2004.
- Anime is a distinct style of Japanese animation, which has manga as its source material and the Japanese language as its basis.
- But Korean influences like Manhwa have a significant role to play in the growth and evolution of anime.
- Therefore, while anime is distinguished from Japan, the influences from outside and the West are paramount to its growth.
Is Wonderful Days an anime and how is it significant to the Japanese anime culture?
Anime is a specific genre of animation but according to the Japanese, all animation is anime. Looking from that perspective, Wonderful Days should be considered an anime and it is particularly not the source but the output which results in the definitive aspects. Wonderful Days employs all kinds of technical aspects when it comes to defining anime, making it a notable contribution to the genre.
Wonderful Days has also played a significant role in the growth of Japanese anime culture. It has become a major source of inspiration for budding anime creators, making it a piece which released in a period of importance. It was a period when Ghibli anime was also witnessing a major growth and Wonderful Days added much more fuel to the hype.
Conclusion
Wonderful Days is not anime in the traditional terms but it is definitely anime when it comes to the technical aspects. The movie is filled with all forms of markers which point towards an anime and it thus becomes a hallmark for South Korean animation.