title: Pierrot

text: The fifty poems that were published by Albert Giraud (born Emile Albert Kayenbergh) as "Pierrot lunaire: Rondels bergamasques" in 1884 were set to music several times. The best known version is by Arnold Schoenberg, i.e., his Opus 21: "Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds" Pierrot lunaire ("Thrice-Seven Poems from Albert Giraud's" Pierrot lunaire—Schoenberg was numerologically superstitious). This led, among other things, to ensemble groups' appropriating Pierrot's name, such as the English Pierrot Players (1967–70). The Pierrot behind those cycles has invaded worlds well beyond those of composers, singers, and ensemble-performers. Theatrical groups such as the Opera Quotannis have brought Pierrot's Passion to the dramatic stage; dancers such as Glen Tetley have choreographed it; poets such as Wayne Koestenbaum have derived original inspiration from it. It has been translated into still more distant media by painters, such as Paul Klee; fiction-writers, such as Helen Stevenson; filmmakers, such as Bruce LaBruce; and graphic-novelists, such as Antoine Dodé. A passionately sinister Pierrot Lunaire has even shadowed DC Comics' Batman. Pierrot is aptly honored in the title of a song by the British rock-group The Soft Machine: "Thank You Pierrot Lunaire" (1969).


title: Pierrot

text: Pierrot appears among the revelers at various international carnivals. His name suggests kinship with the Pierrot Grenade of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, but the latter seems to have no connection with the French clown.


title: Apple I

text: The Apple Computer 1, originally released as the Apple Computer and known later as the Apple I or Apple-1, is an 8-bit desktop computer released by the Apple Computer Company (now Apple Inc.) in 1976. It was designed by Steve Wozniak. The idea of selling the computer came from Wozniak's friend and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The Apple I was Apple's first product, and to finance its creation, Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator for $500 and Jobs sold a second hand VW Microbus, for a few hundred dollars (Wozniak later said that Jobs planned instead to use his bicycle to get around). Wozniak demonstrated the first prototype in July 1976 at the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California.


title: Apple I

text: Production was discontinued on September 30, 1977, after the June 10, 1977 introduction of its successor, the Apple II, which "Byte" magazine referred to as part of the "1977 Trinity" of personal computing (along with the PET 2001 from Commodore Business Machines and the TRS-80 Model I from Tandy Corporation).


title: Apple I

text: On March 5, 1975, Steve Wozniak attended the first meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club in Gordon French's garage. He was so inspired that he immediately set to work on what would eventually become the Apple I computer. After building it for himself and showing it at the club, he and Steve Jobs gave out schematics (technical designs) for the computer to interested club members and even helped some of them build and test out copies. Then, Steve Jobs suggested that they design and sell a single etched and silkscreened circuit board—just the bare board, with no electronic parts—that people could use to build the computers. Wozniak calculated that having the board design laid out would cost and manufacturing would cost another per board; he hoped to recoup his costs if 50 people bought the boards for each. To fund this small venture—their first company—Jobs sold his van and Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator. Very soon after, Steve Jobs arranged to sell "something like 50" completely-built computers to the Byte Shop (a computer store in Mountain View, California) at each. To fulfill the order, they obtained in parts at 30 days net and delivered the finished product in 10 days.


title: Apple I

text: The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 at a price of , because Wozniak "liked repeating digits" and because of a one-third markup on the wholesale price. Jobs had managed to get the inventory into the nation's first four storefront microcomputer retailers: Byte Shop (Palo Alto, California), itty bitty machine company (Evanston, Illinois), Data Domain (Bloomington, Indiana), and Computer Mart (New York City).


title: Apple I

text: The first unit produced was used in a high school math class, and donated to Liza Loop's public-access computer center. About 200 units were produced, and all but 25 were sold within nine or ten months.


title: Apple I

text: In April 1977, the price was dropped to . It continued to be sold through August 1977, despite the introduction of the Apple II in April 1977, which began shipping in June of that year. In October 1977, the Apple I was officially discontinued and removed from Apple's price list. As Wozniak was the only person who could answer most customer support questions about the computer, the company offered Apple I owners discounts and trade-ins for Apple IIs to persuade them to return their computers. These recovered boards were then destroyed by Apple, contributing to their rarity today.


title: Apple I

text: Wozniak's design originally used a Motorola 6800 processor, which cost $175, but when MOS Technology introduced the much cheaper 6502 microprocessor ($25) he switched. The Apple I CPU ran at , a fraction () of the NTSC color carrier which simplified video circuitry. Memory used the new 4K bit DRAM chips, and was , expandable to on board, or externally. The board was designed to use the next generation of 16K bit memory chips when they became available. An optional $75 plug-in cassette interface card allowed users to store programs on ordinary audio cassette tapes. A BASIC interpreter, originally written by Wozniak, was provided that let users easily write programs and play simple games. An onboard AC power supply was included.


title: Apple I

text: The Apple I's built-in computer terminal circuitry with TV composite output used shift registers and a character generator. All one needed was a television set and a ASCII keyboard. The Apple 1 did not come with a case. It was either used as-is or some chose to build custom (mostly wooden) cases. Competing machines such as the Altair 8800 generally were programmed with front-mounted toggle switches and used indicator lights (red LEDs, most commonly) for output, and had to be extended with separate hardware to allow connection to a computer terminal or a teletypewriter machine. This made the Apple I, along with earlier introduced Sphere 1 and other hobbyist microcomputers, an innovative machine for its day.


title: Apple I

text: The computer used a Signetics 2513 64×8×5 Character Generator, capable of displaying uppercase characters, numbers and basic punctuation and math symbols with a 5x8 pixel font:


title: Apple I

text: , 62 Apple I computers have been confirmed to exist, and, according to unverified information, 20 more are likely to exist. From these, 41 were produced in the first batch, 39 in the second batch, and 2 unknown versions, potentially from other batches, also exist. Most are now in working condition.


title: Apple I

text: Both Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak have stated that Apple did not assign serial numbers to the Apple l. Several boards have been found with numbered stickers affixed to them, which appear to be inspection stickers from the PCB manufacturer/assembler. A batch of boards is known to have numbers hand-written in black permanent marker on the back; these usually appear as "01-00##". As of January 2022, 29 Apple-1s with a serial number are known. The highest known number is . Two original Apple-1s have been analyzed by PSA, Los Angeles, concluding the serial numbers had been hand-written by Steve Jobs.


title: Apple I

text: Several Apple I clones and replicas have been released in recent years. These are all created by hobbyists and marketed to the hobbyist/collector community. Availability is usually limited to small runs in response to demand.


title: Carson Kressley

text: Carson Kressley (born November 11, 1969) is an American television personality, actor, and designer. Beginning in 2003, he appeared in the Bravo series "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". He was also the motivational host of the TV show "How to Look Good Naked" and OWN's "Carson Nation" and a contestant on season 13 of "Dancing with the Stars".


title: Carson Kressley

text: Since 2015, Kressley has been a judge on "RuPaul's Drag Race". Beginning in October 2018, he teamed up with former "Queer Eye" colleague Thom Filicia for a new series called "Get a Room" on Bravo. The series follows the two as Thom mentors Carson in the interior design business, and features two clients in each episode.


title: Carson Kressley

text: Kressley was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in nearby Orefield, Pennsylvania. His family raised ponies. He competed in equestrian events from an early age was a member of the U.S. World Cup Saddle Seat equitation team in 1999. He won a world championship in 2009.


title: Carson Kressley

text: He graduated from Northwestern Lehigh High School in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania in 1987. Kressley earned a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College in 1991, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity.


title: Carson Kressley

text: Kressley began his career as an independent stylist, then worked for Ralph Lauren from 1994 until 2002, working in menswear and corporate advertising. In 2003, Kressley gained exposure as the fashion savant on "Queer Eye" when the show debuted on the Bravo cable television network. Kressley appears on "Good Morning America", the E! Network, and others. Furthermore, he has critiqued red carpet fashions at the Oscars and the Golden Globes. In 2005, he acted as a judge for the Miss Universe pageant, which aired from Bangkok, Thailand. In 2006, he returned to the Miss Universe pageant as commentator and was a commentator for the 2006 Miss USA pageant.


title: Carson Kressley

text: In February 2007, he was the host of a new Lifetime makeover show, "How to Look Good Naked" (a U.S. version of a British series). The show's premiere episode on January 4, 2008 drew a record 1.6 million viewers, included significant viewership among adults 18-49 and adults 18-34 as well as the network's target demographic of women aged 18-34. In January 2008, the debut episode of "How to Look Good Naked" was Lifetime's highest-rated premiere in those three demographics.


title: Carson Kressley

text: Kressley appeared as Master of Ceremonies on Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour 2008. He was a host on the ABC series "True Beauty", along with Vanessa Minnillo and Beth Stern. In 2011, Kressley began a show on the Oprah Winfrey Network titled "Carson Nation".


title: Carson Kressley

text: In 2005, Kressley made his film debut in "The Perfect Man" starring Heather Locklear and Hilary Duff, playing Lance, a bartender. He starred in "The Year Without a Santa Claus" with John Goodman as Santa, which aired December 11, 2006, on NBC. He had a cameo role in his third movie, the independent comedy "16 to Life". The feature film "It's Christmas, Carol!" premiered December 2012. In 2021, he had a supporting role in holiday film "The Bitch Who Stole Christmas", which aired on VH1.


title: Carson Kressley

text: In November 2006, Kressley debuted "Perfect", his clothing for men and women, on QVC. He cites his experience as a stylist with Ralph Lauren and on Queer Eye as inspiration for the line, saying he "...realized a lot of people are missing great basics in their wardrobe. I consider my perfect collection for QVC to be 'basics with a twist.'" He debuted a new women's collection for Shop NBC in April 2012. The collection, called "Love, Carson", is built on transformative pieces that provide women with affordable glamour.


title: Carson Kressley

text: In April 2006, Kressley became ordained over the Internet as a minister of the Universal Life Church, in order to be able to perform a wedding ceremony during an episode of "Queer Eye".


title: Carson Kressley

text: Kressley is also an owner of American Saddlebred horses and is horse show exhibitor. He won a world title in 2009. Kressley's interest in horses combined with his interest in promoting respect for diversity resulted in his authorship of 'You're Different and That's Super!', illustrated by cartoonist Jared Lee.


title: Carson Kressley

text: Kressley was an ambassador for the Melbourne Cup in 2007, playing a part in the "Fashion On The Field".


title: History of anime

text: The history of anime can be traced back to the start of the 20th century, with the earliest verifiable films dating from 1907. Before the advent of film, Japan already had a rich tradition of entertainment with colourful painted figures moving across the projection screen in , a particular Japanese type of magic lantern show popular in the 19th century. Possibly inspired by European phantasmagoria shows, utsushi-e showmen used mechanical slides and developed lightweight wooden projectors (furo) that were handheld so that several performers could each control the motions of different projected figures.


title: History of anime

text: The second generation of animators in the late 1910s included Ōten Shimokawa, Jun'ichi Kōuchi and Seitaro Kitayama, commonly referred to as the "fathers" of anime. Propaganda films, such as "Momotarō no Umiwashi" (1943) and "" (1945), the latter being the first anime feature film, were made during World War II. During the 1970s, anime developed further, with the inspiration of Disney animators, separating itself from its Western roots, and developing distinct genres such as mecha and its super robot subgenre. Typical shows from this period include "Astro Boy", "Lupin III" and "Mazinger Z". During this period several filmmakers became famous, especially Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii.


title: History of anime

text: In the 1980s, anime became mainstream in Japan, experiencing a boom in production with the rise in popularity of anime like "Gundam", "Macross", "Dragon Ball", and genres such as real robot, space opera and cyberpunk. "Space Battleship Yamato" and "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross" also achieved worldwide success after being adapted respectively as "Star Blazers" and "Robotech".


title: History of anime

text: The film "Akira" set records in 1988 for the production costs of an anime film and went on to become an international success. Later, in 2004, the same creators produced "Steamboy", which took over as the most expensive anime film. "Spirited Away" shared the first prize at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival and won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, while "" was featured at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.


title: History of anime

text: Before film, Japan had already several forms of entertainment based in storytelling and images. "Emakimono" and "kagee" are considered precursors of Japanese animation. "Emakimono" was common in the eleventh century. Traveling storytellers narrated legends and anecdotes while the "emakimono" was unrolled from the right to left with chronological order, as a moving panorama. "Kagee" was popular during the Edo period and originated from the shadows play of China. Magic lanterns from the Netherlands were also popular in the eighteenth century. The paper play called "Kamishibai" surged in the twelfth century and remained popular in the street theater until the 1930s. Puppets of the "bunraku" theater and "ukiyo-e" prints are considered ancestors of characters of most Japanese animations. Finally, manga were a heavy inspiration for Japanese animation. Cartoonists Kitzawa Rakuten and Okamoto Ippei used film elements in their strips in the early 20th century.


title: History of anime

text: According to Natsuki Matsumoto, the first animated film produced in Japan may have stemmed from as early as 1907. Known as , from its depiction of a boy in a sailor suit drawing the characters for "katsudō shashin", the film was first found in 2005. It consists of fifty frames stencilled directly onto a strip of celluloid. This claim has not been verified though and predates the first known showing of animated films in Japan. The date and first film publicly displayed is another source of contention: while no Japanese-produced animation is definitively known to date before 1916, the possibility exists that other films entered Japan and that no known records have surfaced to prove a showing prior to 1912. Film titles have surfaced over the years, but none have been proven to predate this year. The first foreign animation is known to have been found in Japan in 1910, but it is not clear if the film was ever shown in a cinema or publicly displayed at all. Yasushi Watanabe found a film known as in the records of the company. The description matches James Blackton's "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces", though academic consensus on whether or not this is a true animated film is disputed. According to Kyokko Yoshiyama, the first animated film called was shown in Japan at the in Tokyo sometime in 1912. However, Yoshiyama did not refer to the film as "animation.” The first confirmed animated film shown in Japan was "Les Exploits de Feu Follet" by Émile Cohl on May 15, 1912. While speculation and other "trick films" have been found in Japan, it is the first recorded account of a public showing of a two-dimensional animated film in Japanese cinema. During this time, German animations marketed for home release were distributed in Japan. In 1914, U.S. and European cartoons were introduced to Japan, inspiring Japanese creators like Junichi Kouchi and Seitaro Kitayama, both of whom were considered the "fathers of anime."


title: History of anime

text: Few complete animations made during the beginnings of Japanese animation have survived. The reasons vary, but many are of commercial nature. After the clips had been run, reels (being property of the cinemas) were sold to smaller cinemas in the country and then disassembled and sold as strips or single frames. The earliest anime that was produced in Japan to have survived into the modern day, "The Dull Sword", was released on June 30, 1917, but there it is disputed which title was the first to get that honour. It has been confirmed that was made sometime during February 1917. At least two unconfirmed titles were reported to have been made the previous month.


title: History of anime

text: The first anime short-films were made by three leading figures in the industry. Ōten Shimokawa was a political caricaturist and cartoonist who worked for the magazine "Tokyo Puck". He was hired by Tenkatsu to do an animation for them. Due to medical reasons, he was only able to do five movies, including "Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki" (1917), before he returned to his previous work as a cartoonist. Another prominent animator in this period was Jun'ichi Kōuchi. He was a caricaturist and painter, who also had studied watercolour painting. In 1912, he also entered the cartoonist sector and was hired for an animation by Kobayashi Shokai later in 1916. He is viewed as the most technically advanced Japanese animator of the 1910s. His works include around 15 movies. The third was Seitaro Kitayama, an early animator who made animations on his own and was not hired by larger corporations. He eventually founded his own animation studio, the Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo, which was later closed due to lack of commercial success. He utilized the chalkboard technique, and later paper animation, with and without pre-printed backgrounds. However, the works of these pioneers were destroyed after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. The works of these two latter pioneers include "Namakura Gatana" ("An Obtuse Sword", 1917) and a 1918 film "Urashima Tarō" which were believed to have been discovered together at an antique market in 2007. However, this "Urashima Tarō" was later proved to most likely be a different film of the same story than the 1918 one by Kitayama, which, as of October 2017, remains undiscovered.


title: History of anime

text: Yasuji Murata, Hakuzan Kimura, Sanae Yamamoto and Noburō Ōfuji were students of Kitayama Seitaro and worked at his film studio. Kenzō Masaoka, another important animator, worked at a smaller animation studio. Many early animated Japanese films were lost after the 1923 Tokyo earthquake, including destroying most of the Kitayama studio, with artists trying to incorporate traditional motifs and stories into a new form.


title: History of anime

text: Prewar animators faced several difficulties. First, they had to compete with foreign producers such as Disney, which were influential on both audiences and producers. Foreign films had already made a profit abroad, and could be undersold in the Japanese market, priced lower than what domestic producers needed to break even. Japanese animators thus had to work cheaply, in small companies with only a handful of employees, which then made it difficult to compete in terms of quality with foreign product that was in color, with sound, and promoted by much bigger companies. Until the mid-1930s, Japanese animation generally used cutout animation instead of cel animation because the celluloid was too expensive. This resulted in animation that could seem derivative, flat (since motion forward and backward was difficult) and without detail. But just as postwar Japanese animators were able to turn limited animation into a plus, so masters such as Yasuji Murata and Noburō Ōfuji were able to perform wonders that they made with cutout animation.


title: History of anime

text: Animators such as Kenzo Masaoka and Mitsuyo Seo, however, did attempt to bring Japanese animation up to the level of foreign work by introducing cel animation, sound, and technology such as the multiplane camera. Masaoka created the first talkie anime, "Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka", released in 1933, and the first anime made entirely using cel animation, "The Dance of the Chagamas" (1934). Seo was the first to use the multiplane camera in "Ari-chan" in 1941.


title: History of anime

text: Such innovations, however, were difficult to support purely commercially, so prewar animation depended considerably on sponsorship, as animators often concentrated on making PR films for companies, educational films for the government, and eventually works of propaganda for the military. During this time, censorship and school regulations discouraged film-viewing by children, so anime that could possess educational value was supported and encouraged by the Monbusho (the Ministry of Education). This proved important for producers that had experienced obstacles releasing their work in regular theatres. Animation had found a place in scholastic, political, and industrial use.


title: History of anime

text: In the 1930s, the Japanese government began enforcing cultural nationalism. This also lead to strict censorship and control of published media. Many animators were urged to produce animations that enforced the Japanese spirit and national affiliation. Some movies were shown in newsreel theatres, especially after the Film Law of 1939 promoted documentary and other educational films. Such support helped boost the industry, as bigger companies formed through mergers and prompted major live-action studios such as Shochiku to begin producing animation. It was at Shochiku that such masterworks as Kenzō Masaoka's "Kumo to Chūrippu" were produced. Wartime reorganization of the industry, however, merged the feature film studios into three big companies.


title: History of anime

text: During the Second World War, more animated films were commissioned by the Imperial Japanese Army, showing the sly, quick Japanese people winning against enemy forces. This included films such as Maysuyo Seo's "Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei or Momotarō’s Divine Sea Warriors" which focused on Japanese occupation of Asia.


title: History of anime

text: In the post-war years, Japanese media was often influenced by the United States, leading some to define anime as any animation emanating from Japan after 1945. While anime and manga began to flourish in the 1940s and 1950s, with foreign films (and layouts by American cartoonists), influencing people such as Osamu Tezuka,


title: History of anime

text: In the 1950s, anime studios began appearing across Japan. Hiroshi Takahata bought a studio named Japan Animated Films in 1948, renaming it Tōei Dōga, with an ambition to become "the Disney of the East." While there, Takahata met other animators such as Yasuji Mori, who directed "Doodling Kitty", in May 1957. However, for the Japanese public, it wasn't until the release of "Panda and the Magic Serpent" in October 1958 that Japan fully entered into world of professional animation. While animators began to experiment with their own styles, using Western techniques, Tezuka Osamu began drawing shonen manga like "Rob no Kishi" (Knight of the Ribbon), which later became "Princess Knight", trying to appeal to female readers, while also pioneering shoujo manga.


title: History of anime

text: Toei Animation and Mushi Production was founded and produced the first color anime feature film in 1958, "Hakujaden" ("The Tale of the White Serpent", 1958).


title: History of anime

text: It was released in the US in 1961 as well as "Panda and the Magic Serpent". After the success of the project, Toei released a new feature-length animation annually.


title: History of anime

text: Toei's style was characterized by an emphasis on each animator bringing his own ideas to the production. The most extreme example of this is Isao Takahata's film "" (1968). "Horus" is often seen as the first major break from the normal anime style and the beginning of a later movement of "auteuristic" or "progressive anime" which would eventually involve directors such as Hayao Miyazaki (creator of "Spirited Away") and Mamoru Oshii.


title: History of anime

text: A major contribution of Toei's style to modern anime was the development of the "money shot". This cost-cutting method of animation allows for emphasis to be placed on important shots by animating them with more detail than the rest of the work (which would often be limited animation). Toei animator Yasuo Ōtsuka began to experiment with this style and developed it further as he went into television. In the 1980s, Toei would later lend its talent to companies like Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, DiC Entertainment, Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, Ruby Spears and Hanna Barbera, producing several animated cartoons for America during this period. Other studios like TMS Entertainment, were also being used in the 1980s, which lead to Asian studios being used more often to animate foreign productions, but the companies involved still produced anime for their native Japan.


title: History of anime

text: Osamu Tezuka established Mushi Production in 1961, after Tezuka's contract with Toei Animation expired. The studio pioneered TV animation in Japan, and was responsible for such successful TV series as "Astro Boy", "Kimba the White Lion", "Gokū no Daibōken" and "Princess Knight".


title: History of anime

text: Mushi Production also produced the first anime to be broadcast in the United States (on NBC in 1963), although Osamu Tezuka would complain about the restrictions on US television, and the alterations necessary for broadcast.


title: History of anime

text: In the 1960s, the unique style of Japanese anime began forming, with large eyed, big mouthed, and large headed characters. The first anime film to be broadcast was "Moving pictures" in 1960. 1961 saw the premiere of Japan's first animated television series, "Instant History", although it did not consist entirely of animation.


title: History of anime

text: Magic Boy, known in Japan as , is a 1959 Japanese animated feature film released on December 25, 1959. Released as Toei Animation's second theatrical anime, the film was released in theaters in United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on June 22, 1961, making it the first anime film to be released in the country, followed by "The Tale of the White Serpent" on July 8, 1961. These films were popular enough they paved the way for other anime to follow.


title: History of anime

text: Astro Boy, created by Osamu Tezuka, premiered on Fuji TV on January 1, 1963. It became the first anime series shown widely to Western audiences, especially to those in the United States, becoming relatively popular and influencing U.S. popular culture, with American companies acquiring various titles from Japanese producers. "Astro Boy" was highly influential to other anime in the 1960s, and was followed by a large number of anime about robots or space. While Tezuka released many other animated shows, like "Jungle Emperor Leo", anime took off, studios saw it as a commercial success, even though no new programs from Japan were shown on major U.S. broadcast media from the later 1960s to late 1970s. The 1960s also brought anime to television and in America.


title: History of anime

text: 1963 introduced "Sennin Buraku" as the first "late night" anime and Toei Doga's first anime television series "Wolf Boy Ken". Mushi Pro continued to produce more anime television and met success with titles such as "Kimba the White Lion" in 1965. What is noted as the first magical girl anime, "Sally the Witch", began broadcasting in 1966. The original "Speed Racer" anime television began in 1967 and was brought to the West with great success. At the same time, an anime adaptation of Tezuka's "Princess Knight" aired, making it one of very few "shoujo" anime of the decade. The first anime adaptation of Shotaro Ishinomori's manga "Cyborg 009" was created in 1968, following the film adaptation two years prior. 1969's "Attack no.1", the first "shoujo" sports anime was one of the first to have success in Japanese primetime and was also popular throughout Europe, particularly in Germany under the name "Mila Superstar."


title: History of anime

text: The long-running "Sazae-san" anime also began in 1969 and continues today with excess of 6,500 episodes broadcast as of 2014. With an audience share of 25% the series is still the most-popular anime broadcast.


title: History of anime

text: During the 1970s, the Japanese film market shrank due to competition from television. This reduced Toei animation's staff and many animators went to studios such as A Pro and Telecom animation. Mushi Production went bankrupt (though the studio was revived 4 years later), its former employees founding studios such as Madhouse and Sunrise. Many young animators were thrust into the position of director, and the injection of young talent allowed for a wide variety of experimentation. One of the earliest successful television productions in the early 1970s was "Tomorrow's Joe" (1970), a boxing anime which has become iconic in Japan. 1971 saw the first installment of the "Lupin III" anime. Contrary to the franchise's current popularity, the first series ran for 23 episodes before being cancelled. The second series (starting in 1977) saw considerably more success, spanning 155 episodes over three years.


title: History of anime

text: Another example of this experimentation is Isao Takahata's 1974 television series "Heidi, Girl of the Alps". This show was originally a hard sell because it was a simple realistic drama aimed at children, and most TV networks thought children needed something more fantastic to draw them in. "Heidi" was an international success, popular in many European countries, and so successful in Japan that it allowed for Hayao Miyazaki and Takahata to start a series of literary-based anime ("World Masterpiece Theater"). Miyazaki and Takahata left Nippon Animation in the late 1970s. Two of Miyazaki's critically acclaimed productions during the 1970s were "Future Boy Conan" (1978) and "Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro" (1979).


title: History of anime

text: During this period, Japanese animation reached continental Europe with productions aimed at European and Japanese children, with the most-pronounced examples being the aforementioned "Heidi" but also "Barbapapa" and "Vicky the Viking". Italy, Spain and France grew an interest in Japan's output, which was offered for a low price. In the 1970s, censored Japanese animation were shown on U.S. television. One example of this censorship was transgender characters in Gatchaman ("Battle of the Planets").


title: History of anime

text: Another genre known as mecha came into being at this time. Some early works include "Mazinger Z" (1972–1974), "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman" (1972–1974), "Space Battleship Yamato" (1974–75) and "Mobile Suit Gundam" (1979–80).


title: History of anime

text: As a contrast to the action-oriented shows, shows for a female audience such as "Candy Candy" and "The Rose of Versailles" earned high popularity on Japanese television and later in other parts of the world.


title: History of anime

text: In the 1980s, anime started to go through a "visual quality renewal" thanks to new directors like Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who founded Studio Ghibli in 1985, and Katsuhiro Ōtomo. Anime began to deal with more nuanced and complex stories, while Boy's Love continued to impact cultural norms, taking root across East Asia, as countries such as South Korea, Thailand, and China ingested these Japanese pop culture exports. The shift towards space operas became more pronounced with the commercial success of "Star Wars" (1977). This allowed for the space opera "Space Battleship Yamato" (1974) to be revived as a theatrical film. "Mobile Suit Gundam" (1979) was also successful and revived as a theatrical film in 1982. The success of the theatrical versions of "Yamato" and "Gundam" is seen as the beginning of the anime boom of the 1980s, and of "Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age".


title: History of anime

text: A subculture in Japan, whose members later called themselves "otaku", began to develop around animation magazines such as "Animage" and "Newtype". These magazines formed in response to the overwhelming fandom that developed around shows such as "Yamato" and "Gundam" in the late 1970s and early 1980s.


title: History of anime

text: In the United States, the popularity of "Star Wars" had a similar, though much smaller, effect on the development of anime. "Gatchaman" was reworked and edited into "Battle of the Planets" in 1978 and again as "G-Force" in 1986. "Space Battleship Yamato" was reworked and edited into "Star Blazers" in 1979. The "Macross" series began with "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross" (1982), which was adapted into English as the first arc of "Robotech" (1985), which was created from three separate anime titles: "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross", "Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross" and "Genesis Climber Mospeada". The sequel to "Mobile Suit Gundam", "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam" (1985), became the most successful real robot space opera in Japan, where it managed an average television rating of 6.6% and a peak of 11.7%.


title: History of anime

text: The "otaku" subculture became more pronounced with Mamoru Oshii's adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi's popular manga "Urusei Yatsura" (1981). "Yatsura" made Takahashi a household name and Oshii would break away from fan culture and take a more auteuristic approach with his 1984 film "". This break with the "otaku" subculture would allow Oshii to experiment further.


title: History of anime

text: The "otaku" subculture had some effect on people who were entering the industry around this time. The most famous of these people were the amateur production group Daicon Films which would become Gainax. Gainax began by making films for the Daicon science fiction conventions and were so popular in the "otaku" community that they were given a chance to helm the biggest-budgeted anime film (at that time), "" (1987).


title: History of anime

text: One of the most-influential anime of all time, "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" (1984), was made during this period. The film gave extra prestige to anime allowing for many experimental and ambitious projects to be funded shortly after its release. It also allowed director Hayao Miyazaki and his longtime colleague Isao Takahata to create their own studio under the supervision of former "Animage" editor Toshio Suzuki. This studio would become known as Studio Ghibli and its first film was "" (1986), one of Miyazaki's most-ambitious films.


title: History of anime

text: The success of "Dragon Ball" (1986) introduced the martial arts genre and became incredibly influential in the Japanese Animation industry. It influenced many more martial arts anime and manga series' including "Hajime no Ippo" (1989), "Baki the Grappler" (1991), "Naruto" (2002), and "The God of Highschool" (2020).


title: History of anime

text: The 1980s brought anime to the home video market in the form of original video animation (OVA), as shows were shifting from a focus on superheroes to robots and space operas, with original video animation (OVA or OAV) coming onto the market in 1984, with a range in length. Home videos opened up the floodgates, introducing viewers, especially those in the West, to anime films. Although anime was widely distributed through international piracy in the 1980s and 1990s, before the days of online piracy, it continued to survive. Anime recovered in the U.S., becoming more of Japan's television exports as the country became the "world's leading authority" in entertainment. The first OVA was Mamoru Oshii's "Dallos" (1983–1984). Shows such as "Patlabor" had their beginnings in this market and it proved to be a way to test less-marketable animation against audiences. The OVA allowed for the release of pornographic anime such as "Cream Lemon" (1984); the first "hentai" OVA was actually the little-known Wonder Kids studio's "Lolita Anime", also released in 1984.


title: History of anime

text: The 1980s also saw the amalgamation of anime with video games. The airing of "Red Photon Zillion" (1987) and subsequent release of its companion game, is considered to have been a marketing ploy by Sega to promote sales of their newly released Master System in Japan.


title: History of anime

text: Sports anime, as it is now known, made its debut in 1983 with an anime adaptation of Yoichi Takahashi's soccer manga Captain Tsubasa, which became the first worldwide successful sports anime. Its themes and stories were a formula that would be used in many sports series that followed, such as "Slam Dunk", "Prince of Tennis" and "Eyeshield 21".


title: History of anime

text: The late 1980s saw an increasing number of high-budget and experimental films. In 1985, Toshio Suzuki helped put together funding for Oshii's experimental film "Angel's Egg" (1985). Theatrical releases became more ambitious, each film trying to outclass or outspend its predecessors, taking cues from "Nausicaä"s popular and critical success. "Night on the Galactic Railroad" (1985), "Tale of Genji" (1986), and "Grave of the Fireflies" (1988) were all ambitious films based on important literary works in Japan. Films such as "Char's Counterattack" (1988) and "Arion" (1986) were lavishly budgeted spectacles. This period of lavish budgeting and experimentation would reach its zenith with two of the most-expensive anime film productions ever: "" (1987) and "Akira" (1988). Studio Ghibli's "Kiki's Delivery Service" (1989) was the top-grossing film for 1989, earning over $40 million at the box office.


title: History of anime

text: Despite the commercial failure of "Akira" in Japan, it brought with it a much larger international fan base for anime. When shown overseas, the film became a cult hit and, eventually, a symbol of the medium for the West. The domestic failure and international success of "Akira", combined with the bursting of the bubble economy and Osamu Tezuka's death in 1989, marked the end of the 1980s era of anime.


title: History of anime

text: In 1995, Hideaki Anno wrote and directed the controversial anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion". This show became popular in Japan among anime fans and became known to the general public through mainstream media attention. It is believed that Anno originally wanted the show to be the ultimate "otaku" anime, designed to revive the declining anime industry, but midway through production he also made it into a heavy critique of the subculture. It culminated in the successful but controversial film "The End of Evangelion" which grossed over $10 million in 1997. The many violent and sexual scenes in "Evangelion" caused TV Tokyo to increase censorship of anime content. As a result, when "Cowboy Bebop" was first broadcast in 1998, it was shown heavily edited and only half the episodes were aired; it too gained heavy popularity both in and outside of Japan.


title: History of anime

text: "Evangelion" started a series of so-called "post-"Evangelion"" or "organic" mecha shows. Most of these were giant robot shows with some kind of religious or complex plot. These include "RahXephon", "Brain Powerd", and "Gasaraki". It also led to late-night experimental anime shows. Starting with "Serial Experiments Lain" (1998), late night became a forum for experimental anime such as "Boogiepop Phantom" (2000), "Texhnolyze" (2003) and "Paranoia Agent" (2004). Experimental anime films were also released in the 1990s, most notably the cyberpunk thriller "Ghost in the Shell" (1995), which had a strong influence on "The Matrix". "Ghost in the Shell", alongside "Evangelion" and the neo-noir space Western "Cowboy Bebop", helped further increase the awareness of anime in international markets.


title: History of anime

text: In 1997, Hayao Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" became the most-expensive anime film up until that time, costing $20 million to produce. Miyazaki personally checked each of the 144,000 cels in the film, and is estimated to have redrawn parts of 80,000 of them. 1997 was also the year of Satoshi Kon's debut, "Perfect Blue", which won "Best Film" and "Best Animation" awards at Montreal's 1997 Fantasia Festival, It also won awards in Portugal's Fantasporto Film Festival.


title: History of anime

text: The late 1990s also saw a brief revival of the super robot genre that had decreased in popularity due to the rise of real robot and psychological mecha shows like "Gundam", "Macross", and "Evangelion". The revival of the super robot genre began with "Brave Exkaiser" in 1990, and led to remakes and sequels of 1970s super robot shows like "Getter Robo Go" and "Tetsujin-28 go FX". There were very few popular super robot shows produced after this, until "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann" in 2007.


title: History of anime

text: Alongside its super robot counterpart, the real robot genre was also declining during the 1990s. Though several "Gundam" shows were produced during this decade, very few of them were successful. The only "Gundam" shows in the 1990s which managed an average television rating over 4% in Japan were "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" (1994) and "New Mobile Report Gundam Wing" (1995). It wasn't until "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" in 2002 that the real robot genre regained its popularity.


title: History of anime

text: By 1998, over one hundred anime shows were aired on television in Japan, including a popular series based on the "Pokémon" video game franchise. Other 1990s anime series which gained international success were "Dragon Ball Z," "Sailor Moon," and "Digimon"; the success of these shows brought international recognition to the martial arts superhero genre, the magical girl genre, and the action-adventure genre, respectively. In particular, "Dragon Ball Z" and "Sailor Moon" were dubbed into more than a dozen languages worldwide. Another large success was the anime "One Piece", based on the best-selling manga of all time, which is still ongoing.


title: History of anime

text: The ""Evangelion"-era" trend continued into the 2000s with "Evangelion"-inspired mecha anime such as "RahXephon" (2002) and "Zegapain" (2006) – "RahXephon" was also intended to help revive 1970s-style mecha designs. The number of anime productions began to decline after peaking in 2006 due to alternative forms of entertainment, less ad revenue, and other reasons, with TV Tokyo remaining one of the only channels airing anime shows. Even so, anime began entering U.S. homes like never before, with fans able to get their hands on Japanese-language originals of anime they watched, thanks to the internet.


title: History of anime

text: The real robot genre (including the "Gundam" and "Macross" franchises), which had declined during the 1990s, was revived in the early 2000s with the success of shows such as "FLCL" (2000), "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" (2002), "Eureka Seven" (2005), "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion" (2006), "Mobile Suit Gundam 00" (2007), and "Macross Frontier" (2008).


title: History of anime

text: The 1970s-style super robot genre revival began with "GaoGaiGar" in 1997 and continued into the 2000s, with several remakes of classic series such as "Getter Robo" and "Dancougar", as well as original titles created in the super robot mold like "Godannar" and "Gurren Lagann." "Gurren Lagann" in particular combined the super robot genre with elements from 1980s real robot shows, as well as 1990s "post-"Evangelion"" shows. "Gurren Lagann" received both the "best television production" and "best character design" awards from the Tokyo International Anime Fair in 2008. This eventually culminated in the release of "Shin Mazinger" in 2009, a full-length revival of the first super robot series, "Mazinger Z".


title: History of anime

text: An art movement started by Takashi Murakami that combined Japanese pop-culture with postmodern art called Superflat began around this time. Murakami asserts that the movement is an analysis of post-war Japanese culture through the eyes of the "otaku" subculture. His desire is also to get rid of the categories of 'high' and 'low' art making a flat continuum, hence the term 'superflat'. His art exhibitions have gained popularity overseas and have influenced a handful of anime creators, particularly those from Studio 4 °C.


title: History of anime

text: The experimental late night anime trend popularized by "Serial Experiments Lain" also continued into the 2000s with experimental anime such as "Boogiepop Phantom" (2000), "Texhnolyze" (2003), "Elfen Lied" (2004), "Paranoia Agent" (2004), "Gantz" (2004), and "Ergo Proxy" (2006). Elfen Lied in particular being aired on subsidiary premium network AT-X, allowing director Mamoru Kanbe to push the boundaries of violence, nudity, and story themes, as well as employ unique artistic elements such as artwork inspired by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt.


title: History of anime

text: Before the massive boom from companies like Funimation and Adult Swim, view or even obtaining anime in the United States was quite difficult. since the market value and the interest in the states as quite low many broadcasting companies would not bother with airing the shows. This was due to a number of factors one of which was getting the show translated. In the modern we have anime that is dubbed over with English voices making it easier for western audiences. However in the early 90's when anime was first stating to become big that was not available. Many fans of the genre would translate the show them selves and would post them online for others to view. This trend would continue until September 2, 2001. This is when the show "Cowboy Bebop" first aired on the broad casting network Adult Swim and was the first anime to be broadcast on live television. The show was an instant success, the only problem being the air time was late and at night, meaning that the audience was subject to a small number of people.


title: History of anime

text: In addition to these experimental trends, the 2000s were also characterized by an increase of moe-style art and bishōjo and bishōnen character design. There was a rising presence and popularity of genres such as romance, harem and slice of life.


title: History of anime

text: Anime based on eroge and visual novels increased in popularity in the 2000s, building on a trend started in the late 1990s by such works as "Sentimental Journey" (1998) and "To Heart" (1999). Examples of such works include "Green Green" (2003), "SHUFFLE!" (2006), "Kanon" (2002 and 2006), "Fate/Stay Night" (2006), "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" (2006), "" (2007), "True Tears" (2008), and "Clannad" (2008 and 2009).


title: History of anime

text: Many shows have been adapted from manga and light novels, including popular titles such as "Yu-Gi-Oh!" (2000), "Inuyasha" (2000), "Naruto" and its sequel series "Naruto Shippuden" (2002 and 2007), "Fullmetal Alchemist" and its manga faithful adaptation "" (2003 and 2009), "Monster" (2004), "Bleach" (2004), "Rozen Maiden" (2005), "Aria the Animation" (2005), "Shakugan no Shana" (2005), "Pani Poni Dash!" (2005), "Death Note" (2006), "Mushishi" (2006), "Sola" (2007), "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" (2006), "Lucky Star" (2007), "Toradora!" (2008), "K-On!" (2009), "Bakemonogatari" (2009), and "Fairy Tail" (2009); these shows typically last several years and achieve large fanbases. Nevertheless, original anime titles continue to be produced with the same success.


title: History of anime

text: The 2000s marked a trend of emphasis of the "otaku" subculture. A notable critique of this "otaku" subculture is found in the 2006 anime "Welcome to the N.H.K.", which features a "hikikomori" (socially withdrawn) protagonist and explores the effects and consequences of various Japanese sub-cultures, such as "otaku", lolicon, internet suicide, massively multiplayer online games and multi-level marketing.


title: History of anime

text: In contrast to the above-mentioned phenomenon, there have been more productions of late-night anime for a non-"otaku" audience as well. The first concentrated effort came from Fuji TV's Noitamina block. The 30-minute late-Thursday timeframe was created to showcase productions for young women of college age, a demographic that watches very little anime. The first production "Honey and Clover" was a particular success, peaking at a 5% TV rating in Kantou, very strong for late-night anime. The block has been running uninterrupted since April 2005 and has yielded many successful productions unique in the modern anime market.


title: History of anime

text: There have been revivals of American cartoons such as "Transformers" which spawned four new series, "" in 2000, "" in 2003, "" in 2004, and "" in 2005. In addition, an anime adaptation of the G.I Joe series was produced titled "".


title: History of anime

text: The revival of earlier anime series was seen in the forms of "" (2006) and "Dragon Ball Z Kai" (2009). Later series also started receiving revivals in the late 2000s and early 2010s, such as with Studio Khara's "Rebuild of Evangelion" tetralogy (2007–2021), and new adaptations of Masamune Shirow's manga "Appleseed XIII" (2011) and "" (2013–2016).


title: History of anime

text: The decade also dawned a revival of high-budget feature-length anime films, such as "Millennium Actress" (2001), "Metropolis" (2001), "Appleseed" (2001), "Paprika" (2006), and the most expensive of all being "Steamboy" (2004) which cost $26 million to produce. Satoshi Kon established himself alongside Otomo and Oshii as one of the premier directors of anime film, before his premature death at the age of 46. Other younger film directors, such as Mamoru Hosoda, director of "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" (2006) and "Summer Wars" (2009), also began to reach prominence.


title: History of anime

text: During this decade, anime feature films were nominated for and won major international film awards for the first time in the industry's history. In 2002, "Spirited Away", a Studio Ghibli production directed by Hayao Miyazaki, won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and in 2003 at the 75th Academy Awards it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was the first non-American film to win the award and is one of only two to do so. It has also become the highest grossing anime film, with a worldwide box office of US$274 million.


title: History of anime

text: Following the launch of the Toonami programming block on Cartoon Network in the United States in March 1997, anime saw a giant rise in the North American market. Kid-friendly anime such as "Pokémon", "Yu-Gi-Oh!", "Digimon", "Doraemon", "Bakugan", "Beyblade", "Sonic X", and the 4Kids Entertainment adaptation of "One Piece" have all received varying levels of success. This era also saw the rise of Anime-influenced animation, most notably "" and its sequel "The Legend of Korra", "Megas XLR", "Code Lyoko", "Ben 10", "Chaotic", "Samurai Jack", "The Boondocks", "RWBY" and "Teen Titans".


title: History of anime

text: As such, anime further became entrenched in U.S. households with the launch of Adult Swim by Cartoon Network in 2001, aimed at those in the "older OVA & tape trading crowd," with a new fandom forming. This fandom was, however, exclusive and elitist with newcomers expected to know how to use IRC, some basic Japanese, and so on.


title: History of anime

text: At the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, "", directed by Mamoru Oshii, was in competition for the Palme d'Or and in 2006, at the 78th Academy Awards, "Howl's Moving Castle", another Studio Ghibli-produced film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, was nominated for Best Animated Feature. "5 Centimeters Per Second", directed by Makoto Shinkai, won the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2007, and so far, anime films have been nominated for the award every year.


title: History of anime

text: In 2006, graduates of the University of California, Berkeley launched Crunchyroll in 2006, becoming the first "anime streaming service," a model later used by Netflix, Funimation, and Amazon.com in the later 2010s.


title: History of anime

text: In May 2012, the Toonami programming block in the United States was relaunched as a late night adult-oriented action block on Adult Swim, bringing more uncut popular anime back to a wider audience on cable television. In addition to broadcasting or re-broadcasting previously released dubbed anime, the block (as well as Adult Swim itself) has overseen the worldwide premiere of English dubbed releases for various anime, including but not limited to: "Durarara!!" (2010), "Deadman Wonderland" (2011), "Hunter x Hunter" (2011), "Sword Art Online" (2012), "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" (2012), "Attack on Titan" (2013), "Kill la Kill" (2013), "Space Dandy" (2014), "Akame ga Kill!" (2014), "Parasyte -the maxim-" (2014), "One-Punch Man" (2015), "Dragon Ball Super" (2015), "My Hero Academia" (2016), "" (2017), and "" (2019).


title: History of anime

text: On September 6, 2013 Hayao Miyazaki announced that "The Wind Rises" (2013) would be his last film, and on August 3, 2014 it was announced that Studio Ghibli was "temporarily halting production" following the release of "When Marnie Was There" (2014), further substantiating the finality of Miyazaki's retirement. The disappointing sales of Isao Takahata's comeback film "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" (2013) has also been cited as a factor. Several prominent staffers, including producer Yoshiaki Nishimura and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, left to form their own Studio Ponoc, premièring with "Mary and the Witch's Flower" (2017). Both Ghibli and Miyazaki subsequently went back into production for the up-coming film "How Do You Live?", while Takahata died on April 5, 2018 of lung cancer.


title: History of anime

text: Various international anime distribution companies, such as ADV Films, Bandai Entertainment, and Geneon Entertainment, were shut down due to poor revenue, with their assets spun into new companies like Sentai Filmworks or given to other companies.


title: History of anime

text: In 2011, "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" was aired in Japan. The anime was a change from normal magical girl anime, as this anime contained more darker, complex and more gorier themes than magical anime usually would. The anime got great reception from critics, as "United Kingdom's Anime Network's" Andy Hanley rated it a 10 out of 10 for its emotional content and evocative soundtrack.


title: History of anime

text: Both "Attack on Titan" and "The Wind Rises" reflect a national debate surrounding the reinterpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, with Miyazaki's pacifism in the film coming under fire from the political right, while "Attack on Titan" has been accused of promoting militarism by people in neighboring Asian countries, despite being intended to show the haunting, hopeless aspects of conflict. The mecha anime genre (as well as Japanese kaiju films) received a Western homage with the 2013 film "Pacific Rim" directed by Guillermo del Toro.


title: History of anime

text: Western streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are increasingly becoming involved in the production and licensing of anime for the international markets.


title: History of anime

text: The international popularity and demand of anime rose highly during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the medium's increased availability on streaming services.


title: History of anime

text: "" became the highest-grossing Japanese film and the world's highest-grossing films of 2020. It also became the fastest grossing film in Japanese cinema, because in 10 days it made 10 billion yen ($95.3m; £72m). It beat the previous record of "Spirited Away" which took 25 days.


title: History of anime

text: In 2021, the anime adaptations of "Jujutsu Kaisen", "" and "Tokyo Revengers" were among the top 10 most discussed TV shows worldwide on Twitter.


title: History of anime

text: In 2022, "Attack on Titan" won the award of "Most In-Demand TV Series in the World 2021" in the Global TV Demand Awards. Attack on Titan became the first ever non-English language series to earn the title of World’s Most In-Demand TV Show, previously held by only "The Walking Dead" and "Game of Thrones".


title: Dale Dickey

text: Diana Dale Dickey (born September 29, 1961) is an American character actress who has worked in theater, film, and television. She began her career on stage, performing in the 1989 Broadway version of "The Merchant of Venice", before appearing in popular revivals of "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Sweeney Todd" and more off-Broadway and in regional theaters. She's the recipient of two Ovation Awards for her stage work in Los Angeles.


title: Dale Dickey

text: Now known as a "consummate character actor," Dickey made her screen debut in 1995. She won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her breakthrough performance as Merab in the 2010 independent drama film "Winter's Bone". Over her career, she has appeared in more than 60 movies, most notably "Changeling" (2008), "Super 8" (2011), "Iron Man 3" (2013), "Regression" (2015), "Hell or High Water" (2016), "Leave No Trace" (2018) and "Bloodline" (2018). Her television credits including recurring roles on "My Name Is Earl" (2005–09), "Breaking Bad" (2009), "True Blood" (2012–13), "Justified" (2014), and "Claws" (2017–22). She also was a regular cast member on the second season of the HBO comedy series "Vice Principals" (2017), co-starred in the Netflix miniseries "Unbelievable" (2019), and currently features in Amazon's comedy-series reboot of "A League of Their Own".


title: Dale Dickey

text: Dickey received widespread acclaim from critics for her lead performance in the 2022 romantic drama film "A Love Song", for which she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance and the Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Lead Performance.


title: Dale Dickey

text: Diana Dale Dickey was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and attended Bearden High School. She played several roles in high school productions, notably as Emily in "Our Town". She later attended the University of Tennessee from 1979 to 1984, but left to pursue her acting career. On December 10, 2015, she returned to the University of Tennessee as a guest speaker, where she gave the commencement speech to Fall graduates, and was awarded an honorary Master of Fine Arts degree from the university.


title: Dale Dickey

text: Dickey has been working as a character actress in both mainstream and independent films since the 1990s. She made her television debut playing the recurring role of Opal McHone in CBS historical drama "Christy" from 1994 to 1995. The following year, she made her big screen debut in the comedy-drama film "The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love". She later had supporting parts in the made-for-television movies "Cagney & Lacey: Together Again" (1995), "Prison of Secrets" (1997) and "" (2000). She played Glyndora Roberts in the 2000 independent comedy film, "Sordid Lives", and later returned to role in the Logo sitcom "" (2008). She returned to franshise in 2017, playing different role in "A Very Sordid Wedding" (replacing Beth Grant as Sissy Hickey). Her other 2000s film credits include "The Pledge" (2001), "Our Very Own" (2005), and "Changeling" (2008).


title: Dale Dickey

text: Dickey guest-starred in a number of television series, including "The X-Files", "Frasier", "", "Gilmore Girls", "The Closer" and "Ugly Betty". From 2005 to 2009, she had a recurring role as Patty the Daytime Hooker in the NBC comedy series, "My Name Is Earl". In 2009, she had a recurring role in the AMC drama series, "Breaking Bad". Dickey also performed in various stage production, include the Broadway production of "The Merchant of Venice" (1989) and in the 2009 stage adaptation of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and many other off-Broadway and regional theatres receiving two Ovation Awards.


title: Dale Dickey

text: Dickey received critical praise for her performance as Merab in 2010 independent drama film "Winter's Bone" opposite Jennifer Lawrence, winning the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female in February 2011. From 2012 to 2013, she played the role of Martha Bozeman in the fifth and sixth seasons of the HBO series "True Blood". After "Winter's Bone", Dickey appeared in the science fiction film "Super 8" (2011) directed by J. J. Abrams, and the superhero film "Iron Man 3", directed by Shane Black in 2013. She also was cast in "Bonnie and Clyde: Dead and Alive" miniseries in 2013. In 2014, she had a recurring role in the FX series "Justified". In 2015 Dickey portrayed Rose Gray in the Spanish-American thriller film "Regression", in which she co-stars with Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson.


title: Dale Dickey

text: Dickey had a recurring role of Juanda Husser in the TNT comedy-drama series, "Claws" from 2017 to 2022. In 2017, she starred in the second season of HBO dark comedy "Vice Principals" and in 2019 appeared in the Netflix miniseries "Unbelievable". In 2022, she had a recurring role in the Amazon series "A League of Their Own". She appeared in films "Hell or High Water" (2016), "Leave No Trace" (2018), "Bloodline" (2018) and "Flag Day" (2021).


title: Dale Dickey

text: In 2022, Dickey played the leading role in the drama film "A Love Song". The performance received positive reviews from critics, notable from Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone. The film marks the first leading role in her career. In her interview for IndieWire, Dickey said: “I fell between the cracks. I was not pretty enough in this category to be the leading lady and I wasn’t quirky or odd enough in this category to be the only character actress”. “Even in college, I tended to play everybody under 12 or over fifty. I think you finally grow into your age range and, sure enough, when I started getting into my mid-forties is when I started working more. I slowly built a career, but it was difficult.” She received Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance and Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Lead Performance nominations for her role. Also that year, she played another leading role in the Irish drama film "The Cry of Granuaile".


title: Savoy

text: Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.


title: Savoy

text: Savoy emerged as the feudal County of Savoy ruled by the House of Savoy during the 11th to 14th centuries.


title: Savoy

text: The original territory, also known as "ducal Savoy" or "Savoy proper", is largely co-terminous with the modern French Savoie and Haute-Savoie "départements", but the historical expansion of Savoyard territories, as the Duchy of Savoy (1416–1860) included parts of what is now western Italy and southwestern Switzerland.


title: Savoy

text: The current border between France and Italy is due to the Plombières Agreement of 1858, which in preparation for the unification of Italy


title: Savoy

text: ceded western Savoy to France, while the eastern territories in Piedmont and Liguria were retained by the House of Savoy, which was to become the ruling dynasty of Italy.


title: Savoy

text: In modern France, Savoy is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Following its annexation to France in 1860, the territory of Savoy was divided administratively into two separate departments, Savoie and Haute-Savoie.


title: Savoy

text: The traditional capital remains Chambéry (Ciamberì), on the rivers Leysse and Albane, hosting the castle of the House of Savoy and the Savoyard senate. The state included six districts:


title: Savoy

text: The County and Duchy of Savoy incorporated Turin and other territories in Piedmont, a region in northwestern Italy that borders Savoy, which were also possessions of the House of Savoy. The capital of the Duchy remained at the traditional Savoyard capital of Chambéry until 1563, when it was moved to Turin.


title: Savoy

text: The region was occupied by the Allobroges, a Gaulish people that the Roman Republic subdued in 121 BC. The name "Savoy" stems from the Late Latin "Sapaudia", referring to a fir forest. The word is likely ultimately from Gaulish – sapin itself is a blend of Gaulish "sappos" (fir tree) and Latin "pinus" (pine tree). It is first recorded in Ammianus Marcellinus (354), to describe the southern part of "Maxima Sequanorum". According to the "Chronica Gallica" of 452, it was separated from the rest of Burgundian territories in 443, after the Burgundian defeat by Flavius Aetius.


title: Savoy

text: By the 8th century, the territory that would later become known as Savoy was part of Francia, and at the division of Francia at the Treaty of Verdun in 843, it became part of the short-lived kingdom of Middle Francia. After only 12 years, at the death of Lothair I in 855, Middle Francia was divided into Lotharingia north of the Alps, Italy south of the Alps, and the parts of Burgundy in the Western Alps, inherited by Charles of Provence. This latter territory comprised what would become known as Savoy and Provence. For a short time, this province fell to the Arabs.


title: Savoy

text: From the 10th to 14th century, parts of what would ultimately become Savoy remained within the Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles. Beginning in the 11th century, the gradual rise to power of the House of Savoy is reflected in the increasing territory of their County of Savoy between 1003 and 1416.


title: Savoy

text: The County of Savoy was detached "de jure" from the Kingdom of Arles by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in 1361. It acquired the County of Nice in 1388, and in 1401 added the County of Geneva, the area of Geneva except for the city proper, which was ruled by its prince-bishop, nominally under the duke's rule: the bishops of Geneva, by unspoken agreement, came from the House of Savoy until 1533.


title: Savoy

text: On 19 February 1416 Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, made the County of Savoy an independent duchy, with Amadeus VIII as the first duke. Straddling the Alps, Savoy lay within two competing spheres of influence, a French sphere and a North Italian one. At the time of the Renaissance, Savoy showed only modest development. Its towns were few and small. Savoy derived its subsistence from agriculture. The geographic location of Savoy was also of military importance. During the interminable wars between France and Spain over the control of northern Italy, Savoy was important to France because it provided access to Italy. Savoy was important to Spain because it served as a buffer between France and the Spanish held lands in Italy. In 1563 Emmanuel Philibert moved the capital from Chambéry to Turin, which was less vulnerable to French interference.


title: Savoy

text: Vaud was annexed by Bern in 1536, and Savoy officially ceded Vaud to Bern in the Treaty of Lausanne of 30 October 1564.


title: Savoy

text: In 1714, as a consequence of the War of the Spanish Succession, Savoy was technically subsumed into the Kingdom of Sicily, then (after that island was traded to Austria for Sardinia) the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1720.


title: Savoy

text: While the heads of the House of Savoy were known as the Kings of Sardinia, Turin remained their capital.


title: Savoy

text: Savoy was occupied by French revolutionary forces between 1792 and 1815. The entire region was first created to form the département of Mont-Blanc. In 1798, it was then divided between the departments of Mont-Blanc and Léman (French name of Lake Geneva). In 1801, Savoy officially left the Holy Roman Empire. On 13 September 1793 the combined forces of Savoy, Piedmont and Aosta Valley fought against and lost to the occupying French forces at the Battle of Méribel (Sallanches).


title: Savoy

text: Two-thirds of Savoy was restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia in the First Restoration of 1814 following Napoleon's abdication; approximately one-third of Savoy, including the two most important cities of Chambéry and Annecy, remained in France. Following Napoleon's brief return to power during the Hundred Days and subsequent defeat at Waterloo, the remaining one-third of Savoy was restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia at the Congress of Vienna to strengthen Sardinia as a buffer state on France's southeastern border.


title: Savoy

text: The French Second Republic first attempted to annex Savoy in 1848. A corps of 1,500 was dispatched from Lyon and invaded Savoy on 3 April, occupying Chambéry (capital city) and proclaiming the annexation to France. On learning about the invasion countrymen rushed to Chambéry. The corps were chased away by the local population. Five Frenchmen were killed and 800 captured.


title: Savoy

text: On 21 July 1858 in Plombières-les-Bains, Vosges, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, met in secret with Napoleon III to secure French military support against the Austrian Empire during the conflicts associated with the Italian unification. During the discussion, Cavour promised that Sardinia would cede the County of Nice and Duchy of Savoy to the Second French Empire. Though this was a secret arrangement, it quickly became widely known.


title: Savoy

text: The treaty annexing Nice and Savoy to France was signed in Turin on 24 March 1860 (Treaty of Turin). In the northern provinces of the Chablais and Faucigny, there was some support for annexation to neighboring Switzerland, with which the northern provinces had longstanding economic ties. To help reduce the attractiveness of Switzerland, the French government conceded a free-trade Zone that maintained the longstanding duty-free relationship of northern Savoyard communes to Geneva. The treaty was followed on 22–23 April by a plebiscite employing universal male suffrage, in which voters were offered the option of voting "yes" to approve the treaty and join France or rejecting the treaty with a no vote. The disallowed options of either joining Switzerland, remaining with Italy, or regaining its independence, were the source of some opposition. With a 99.8% vote in favour of joining France, there were allegations of vote-rigging, notably by the British government, which opposed continental expansion by its traditional French enemy.


title: Savoy

text: The correspondent of "The Times" in Savoy who was in Bonneville on 22 April called the vote "the lowest and most immoral farce(s) which was ever played in the history of nations". He finished his letter with those words: I leave you to draw your own conclusions from this trip, which will show clearly what the vote was in this part of Savoy. The vote was the bitterest irony ever made on popular suffrage. The ballot-box in the hands of those very authorities who issued the proclamations; no control possible; even travellers suspected and dogged lest they should pry into the matter; all opposition put down by intimidation, and all liberty of action completely taken away. One can really scarcely reproach the Opposition with having given up the game; there was too great force used against them. As for the result of the vote, therefore, no one need trouble himself about it; it will be just as brilliant as that in Nice. The only danger is lest the Savoy authorities in their zeal should fare as some of the French did in the vote of 1852, finding to their surprise rather more votes than voters inscribed on the list. In his letter to the ambassador of Vienna Lord Augustus Loftus, the then–Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russell, said, "Voting in Savoy and Nice a farce ... we are neither entertained or edified".


title: Savoy

text: The annexation was promulgated on 14 June 1860. On 23 August 1860 and 7 March 1861, two agreements were signed between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia to settle the remaining issues concerning the annexation.


title: Savoy

text: This was part of a secret agreement (the Plombières Agreement) brokered between the French emperor Napoleon III and the Count Camillo of Cavour (Prime Minister of Sardinia at that time) that allowed the final steps in the process of unification of Italy. Victor Emmanuel's dynasty, the House of Savoy, retained its Italian lands of Piedmont and Liguria and became the ruling dynasty of Italy.


title: Savoy

text: In 1919, contrary to the annexation treaty, France officially ended the military neutrality of the parts of the country of Savoy that had originally been agreed to at the Congress of Vienna, and also eliminated the free trade zone – both treaty articles having been broken unofficially in World War I. France was condemned in 1932 by the international court for noncompliance with the measures of the Treaty of Turin regarding the provinces of Savoy and Nice.


title: Savoy

text: In 1960, the term "annexation" having acquired negative connotations in France, particularly after Germany's 1871 annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, the annexation was renamed "Rattachement de la Savoie à la France" (Incorporation of Savoy to France). It was the latter term which was used by the French authorities during the festivities celebrating the 100th anniversary of the annexation. Daniel Rops of the French Academy justified the new title with these words:


title: Savoy

text: Savoy has begun to solemnize the feasts in 1960, commemorating the centenary of its incorporation ("rattachement") to France. It is on purpose that the word incorporation ("rattachement") is highlighted here: the Savoyards attach great value to it, and it is the only one they have resolved to use in the official terminology of the Centenary. In that, they are infinitely right. Yesterday another term that was used: annexation. Looking at it more closely it was wrong! Can we say annexation when we talk about a decision which was approved by 130,889 voters over 135,449? [...]. Savoy was not annexed [...] but actually incorporated freely and by the will of its inhabitants.


title: Savoy

text: In late March 1860, the betrothal ceremony of Savoy to France took place in Tuileries Palace [...], a ceremony which was a pact of love and fidelity [...] it is with free consent that she [Savoy] gave itself to France by a solemn plebiscite of which our leaders can ignore neither the terms nor the commitments. [...] May the bells of our cities [...] in Savoy vibrate in unison to glorify, in this magnificent Centenary, the indefectible commitment of Savoy to France. The Savoyards did not feel Italian. Besides, they spoke French. This explains why in 1858–1859 when rumours ran of the Plombières secret agreement, where Napoleon III and Cavour decided of the fate of Savoy, the Savoyards themselves took the initiative to ask for the incorporation ("rattachement"). [...] Incorporation, not annexation [...] The incorporation was an act of free will, in the logical order of geography and history [...].


title: Savoy

text: Since the mid-20th century, regionalist movements have appeared in Savoy much as in other historic provinces of France. The "Mouvement Région Savoie" (Savoy Regional Movement) was founded in December 1971 as a 'movement' (rather than a traditional political party) in favour of regional autonomy. Unlike other historic provinces, including Normandy and Brittany, Savoy does not currently have its own region within France and is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. In the 1996 local elections, the Savoy Regional Movement received 19,434 votes; it received 4,849 in the 1998 regional elections. A new non-party organisation, "La Région Savoie, j’y crois !" ("I believe in the Savoy Region!"), was founded in 1998. The organisation campaigns for the replacement of the Savoie and Haute-Savoie departments with a regional government, separate from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with greater devolved powers.


title: Savoy

text: A very marginal separatist movement has also appeared in Savoy within the past twenty years, most prominently represented by the "Ligue Savoisienne", founded in 1994. In the March 1998 regional elections, 1 seat (out of 23) was won by Patrice Abeille, leader of the Ligue, which won a total of 17,865 votes across the two departments. In 2004, "Waiting for Freedom in Savoy" was founded to promote the peaceful separatist cause to young people.


title: Savoy

text: According to surveys conducted in 2000, between 41% and 55% of the population were in favour of the proposal for a separate Savoy region, while 19% to 23% were in favour of separation from France. Towards the end of 2005, Hervé Gaymard called for Savoie to be given special status, similar to a French region, under his proposed "Conseil des Pays de Savoie".


title: Savoy

text: In recent years, sparked by the tiny Savoyard separatist movement, much attention has been focused on questioning the validity of the 1860 annexation. The Ligue Savoisienne, for example, rejects the Treaty of Turin and subsequent plebiscite as null and void, arguing that the plebiscite did not meet the standards of a free and fair vote. Today, historians generally acknowledge that the plebiscite of 1860 did feature irregularities, but they also affirm that the annexation instrument was the Treaty of Turin and not the plebiscite, whose main purpose was to demonstrate favorable public opinion in Savoy for the annexation after the signature of the treaty. In an interview for the newspaper "Le Dauphiné Libéré", Sylvain Milbach, a historian at the University of Savoy, qualifies the vote as Napoleonic, but also argues that a completely free and fair vote would not have dramatically changed the outcome, as the majority of Savoyards wished to become French. This is today the official stance of the General Council of Savoie.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: Monster Hunter: World is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Capcom and the fifth mainline installment in the "Monster Hunter" series. It was released worldwide for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2018, with a Microsoft Windows version following in August 2018. In the game, the player takes the role of a Hunter, tasked to hunt down and either kill or trap monsters that roam in one of several environmental spaces. If successful, the player is rewarded through loot consisting of parts from the monster and other elements that are used to craft weapons and armor, amongst other equipment. The game's core loop has the player crafting appropriate gear to be able to hunt down more difficult monsters, which in turn provide parts that lead to more powerful gear. Players may hunt alone or in a group of up to four players via the game's online multiplayer.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: Announced at E3 2017, "Monster Hunter: World" adopts the series' standard formulas from its older home console roots and recent handheld games to take advantage of the higher processing power provided by modern consoles and computers. Changes made in "Monster Hunter: World" include creating environmental spaces that are fully connected and removing the "zones" that were necessary for the PlayStation 2 and handheld games, more advanced monster artificial intelligence and physics, a more persistent cooperative multiplayer experience, and a refinement of the game's tutorials and user interface to help with bringing new players into the series. These changes led Capcom to plan for the game's simultaneous release worldwide, since "Monster Hunter" as a series has generally languished outside of Japan partially due to disparate release schedules. Capcom also opted to support online play between these different geographic regions for similar reasons. The delay for the Windows release was attributed to Capcom seeking to make sure its first foray into the Windows market was optimized for players on computers. By April 2020, updates to the game were synchronized among all platforms.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: "Monster Hunter: World" received critical acclaim upon release, with critics praising how Capcom was able to make the game more accessible to new players and to Western markets, without detracting from the series' core gameplay elements and enjoyable difficulty, and fully taking advantage of the computational capacity of modern consoles to create living ecosystems, with some even calling it the best in the franchise. "Monster Hunter: World" is the single highest-selling game in Capcom's history, with over 21 million copies shipped by July 2022. A DLC expansion pack, subtitled "", was released for home consoles in September 2019 and for Windows in January 2020, and reached over 9.2 million sales by May 2022. The next mainline installment, "Monster Hunter Rise", was co-developed alongside "World" and announced for a worldwide release on Nintendo Switch in March 2021, with a Microsoft Windows version released the following year.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: "Monster Hunter: World" is an action role-playing game played from a third-person perspective. Similar to previous games in the series, the player takes the role of a player-created character who travels to the "New World", an unpopulated landmass filled with monsters, to join the Research Commission that studies the land from their central command base of Astera. The Research Commission tasks the Hunter to hunt down and either kill or capture large monsters that roam outside Astera to both protect the Commission and to study the monsters there. The player's character does not have any intrinsic attributes, but instead these are determined by what equipment the character is equipped with. This includes a weapon, selected from the series' fourteen archetypes (such as long sword, bow, or hammer), which then further defines the types of combat moves and abilities the player can use, and pieces of armor, which can lead to beneficial or detrimental combat skills if matched properly. While some basic equipment can be purchased using in-game money, most equipment is built from loot obtained by slaying or trapping monsters, rewards from completing quests, or items gathered while in the field. This creates a core loop of gameplay that has the player fight monsters they can beat to obtain the right loot to craft improved weapons and armor to allow them to face more powerful monsters and the potential for even better equipment.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: Astera acts as a central hub where the player can buy and sell goods, manage their inventory, craft new equipment, and gain new quests. A core facet of "Monster Hunter" games is the construction and upgrading of armor and weapons at a forge using the monster parts and resources the player has gained from combat. As the player defeats tougher monsters, they can make armor with more defensive value or particular elemental resistance or can improve weapons to be more lethal and deal elemental or debuffing damage. Weapons and armor also carry various skills which have a number of different effects for the player; "World" introduces a new streamlined skill system compared to previous games, where each weapon or armor piece has one or more ranks in at least one skill, and the total effect of a skill on the player is determined by adding up all ranks of that skill from all equipped items the player carries. Additional services in Astera include a farm to grow quantities of flora while the player is out on quests, training areas to practice weapons, a gathering hub to take on special Arena challenges against one or more monsters, and a canteen which the player can order a meal from specific ingredients to provide buffs and special conditions while out on the field.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: After taking a quest in Astera, or after choosing to simply go on an open-ended expedition, the player is taken to a base camp in one of six large regions that make up the New World. Each region is made up of numbered zones, but unlike previous "Monster Hunter" games, these zones are seamlessly connected, and there are no loading screens when moving between zones. The player must traverse zone to zone, though they can quick-travel to any of the base camps in that particular region when outside of combat. From camp, the player can acquire limited provisions, rest to restore their health, and new to "World", have a meal that provides limited-time buffs to the player. The player sets out to track down monsters, which in "World" is aided with the use of Scout flies, which hover near tracks and other signs of large monsters, or highlight resources that the player can collect such as flora, ores, bones, and insects. Investigate the traces of the monster leads to improving the Scout flies' abilities for the quest, eventually enabling them to lead the player via their glowing flight path towards the monster they seek; further, investigating these help the player to gain research towards the monster that helps them gain insight on its strengths, weaknesses, and behavior.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: Once a monster is located, the player can take several approaches to either slay or capture it using traps once sufficiently weakened, using a combination of their weapons and items they are carrying. As a monster is weakened, its tactics will often change, frequently becoming more aggressive, or fleeing to a lair to rest or find food to recover. The player has additional tools within "World" for combat. Each player has a Slinger, a tool that can be used to fire small projectiles like rocks at the monster to damage it or cause other debuffs, or can be used as a grappling hook to reach higher elevations or pull-down objects onto a monster. A new type of tool called a Mantle can be used for a limited amount of time; these cloak-like objects provide a buff to the player, such as acting like a ghillie suit to reduce the chances of monsters detecting the player. Furthermore, the player has opportunities to use the environment strategically against the monster, such as bursting a natural dam to flood out a monster, or leading a monster into another monster's den to cause them to fight each other. The game includes a dynamic weather system and day-night cycle, which can affect the behavior of some monsters mid-quest.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: In combat, the player must watch their health — if it falls to zero, they faint and are taken back to camp but then can set out again at a reduced reward; however, fainting more than three times (the exact amount depends on the quest) will cause the quest to fail. Further, the player must watch their stamina, which is consumed for dodging and certain other attacks and actions; stamina will recover quickly but the player must not take other aggressive actions for this to happen, which can be tricky in the heat of battle. The player can carry various restorative items for health and stamina; unlike previous games where the player was forced to stand still to consume them, "World" allows the player to do so while walking, though the player must not be interrupted for a few moments to gain the full effects of the restorative item. The player must also be aware of various debuffs that monsters can inflict on them, the sharpness of their weapon or the quantity of ammo for certain weapon types, and the limitations of items they can bring on a quest that restricts how much they can recover while in the field. If the player successfully completes the quest, they gain reward resources, often consisting of parts from that monster along with zenny, the in-game currency. The distribution of rewards from a quest is determined by rarity, so obtaining certain rare parts may require repeating a quest several times to get a desired part.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: "World" features a story mode offered through the quest system. Unlike previous games, where the story mode led the player through and to complete the "Low Rank" quests, before opening the game to more difficult "High Rank" quests without a story driver, "World" will have a narrative that continues into the "High Rank" quests. The game's complete story mode is estimated to take between 40 and 50 hours, according to director Yuya Tokuda. Instead of quests that required the player to slay a number of smaller monsters or collect resources, "World" will offer these as Bounties that can be achieved alongside the main quests, or provided as Optional quests that generally lead to improving some facet of the resources in Astera. A player can have up to six different Bounties active, and which provide rewards when they are completed. The player can gain Investigation quests as well, which come from investigating the trail of monsters with Scout flies or by breaking off parts of monsters in combat. Each Investigation offers a quest that may have unique limitations or goals compared to main story quests, such as time limits or reduced fainting limits but also provide additional rewards; Investigations can only be attempted, successfully or not, a limited number of times before they are exhausted and removed.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: The game supports both single-player and up to four player cooperative mode while being online; there is no local offline multiplayer. The game's quest system is the same in both modes. Players gather in multiplayer servers supporting up to sixteen players, during which they can post quests to invite others to join, or join other existing quests as long as they have progressed far enough in the game's storyline. If there are only one or two hunters on a quest, each brings with them a Palico (an anthropomorphic sentient cat species) to assist them in combat; these Palico can be equipped with weapons and armor crafted in the same manner as the hunter themselves. If there are less than four players in a party, a party member can launch a red SOS flare, which other players, while in their instance of Astera, can opt to join to help out, creating a drop-in/drop-out system. The game also supports Squads, the equivalent of clans or guilds in typical massively multiplayer online games. The game allows players in different release regions to work together; the game will use a pre-determined set of common greetings and commands that are translated to the various languages so that players can effectively communicate with each other. However, players are limited to cooperating with those on the same platform, and will not feature cross-platform play. Players also need to register with their console's service (PlayStation Network or Xbox Live) to use multiplayer features. With an aim to reach a wider audience than past games, "Monster Hunter: World" also provides more information to players, such as a companion that will warn the player when they are running low on health, and more details on the advantages and disadvantages of weapons and armors against specific monsters.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: In addition to quests shipped with the game, Capcom has offered downloadable content quests, similarly featured in the handheld versions. However, with the greater degree of connectivity offered by modern consoles/computers compared to handheld systems, Capcom has been able to offer several time-limited Event quests that players can easily jump in on through the new matchmaking system. Through the event system, the game has included limited-time unique gameplay modes, such as a 16-person raid against a single monster, with players working in teams of four to help defeat the monster. Capcom has also added new monsters to hunt through free downloadable content; the first such update, adding in the Deviljho monster from previous games was released alongside other quality-of-life updates in March 2018. Capcom also expected to provide paid post-content material as well; however, Capcom does not see "World" as a type of service, as they do not expect players to continue playing the game five to ten years after release. The game will not include any type of microtransactions that influence gameplay; Tsujimoto said that as "Monster Hunter" is meant as a cooperative game, they did not want to create any type of "friction" between players due to some having simply purchased better equipment with real-world funds compared to those that spent the time to work through challenges to acquire the equipment. There is paid downloadable content available for the game, but with the exception of the "Iceborne" expansion, these are limited to cosmetic items only, such as gestures, character customization options, and stickers used in communicating with other players.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: In an unnamed low fantasy setting, humans and other sentient races have set their eyes on the New World, a separate continent from the populated Old World. The New World is an untamed wilderness where many powerful monsters roam free, and where researchers have been drawn to uncover new mysteries. Several ocean-bound Fleets have been sent already to establish working bases, safe from monsters, and operations are led by the Research Commission.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: Characters of this game are Handler, Commander, Admiral, Field Team Leader, Seeker, Second Fleet Master, Third Fleet Master, Huntsman, Analytics Director, Tracker, Excitable A-Lister, Provisions Manager, Chief Ecologist, Tech Chief, Captain and Serious Handler.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: The player controls a hunter that they can name, supported by an assistant handler, and a palico who are a part of the Fifth Fleet which has been summoned by the Research Commission to provide more support to the New World. A particular focus of the Expedition is to study Elder Dragons, powerful beasts that can affect entire ecosystems, and why they migrate to the New World every ten years in an event known as the Elder Crossing. While traveling to the New World, the Fifth Fleet encounters Zorah Magdaros, a massive, volcanic, turtle-like Elder Dragon the size of a mountain. After being rescued and arriving at the base camp, known as Astera, the Hunter and their Handler undertake various tasks to explore the area and study Zorah Magdaros at the behest of the Commander of the Expedition. The Expedition determines that Zorah Magdaros is dying and is migrating to a massive graveyard, known as the Rotten Vale. An Expedition-led capture mission against Zorah Magdaros is foiled by Nergigante, a spiked Elder Dragon that feeds on other Elder Dragons, and is protecting Zorah Magdaros as its future meal. After escaping the ambush, Zorah Magdaros unexpectedly enters the Everstream, a massive underground river that runs under the entire New World, rather than traveling to the Rotten Vale. After further investigations, the Expedition learns that if Zorah Magdaros dies within the Everstream, its released bio-energy will destroy the New World. With no time to evacuate, the Expedition develops an emergency plan to intercept Zorah Magdaros and drive it to the ocean, where its released bio-energy will form a new aquatic ecosystem. Nergigante once again interferes, but this time is driven off by the Hunters, and Zorah Magdaros is successfully driven into the ocean.


title: Monster Hunter: World

text: However, when Nergigante flees to the Elder's Recess, a volcanic environment covered in the crystallized bioenergy of Elder Dragons, the presence of Nergigante drives away its Elder Dragon prey toward neighboring locations, upsetting each individual ecosystem. With the help of the Admiral, the true leader of the Expedition, the Hunter is able to track down and kill Nergigante. With Nergigante dead, the Elder Dragons calm down and return to the Recess. After their defeat by the Hunter, the source of energy within the Elder's Recess is discovered: Xeno'jiiva, an infant, but yet highly dangerous Elder Dragon, which had been incubating within the Elder's Recess, and was feeding on the bio-energy of dead Elder Dragons. Xeno'jiiva hatches upon being discovered, and at the behest of the Admiral, the Hunter kills it before it can wreak havoc on the world. With the Elder Crossing now fully understood, the Expedition is considered finished, but members are offered the chance to stay in the New World to continue their research.