In addition to original works, anime are often adaptations of Japanese comics ( manga), light novels, or video games. Anime is distributed theatrically, through television broadcasts, directly to home media, and over the Internet. A characteristic art style emerged in the 1960s with the works of cartoonist Osamu Tezuka and spread in following decades, developing a large domestic audience. The earliest commercial Japanese animation dates to 1917. Video games sometimes also feature themes and artstyles that can be considered as 'anime'.
Many works of animation with a similar style to Japanese animation are also produced outside Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, anime (a term derived from a shortening of the English word animation) describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Outside Japan and in English, anime refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. Anime ( Japanese: アニメ, IPA: ⓘ) is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan.