Hi! Do you need some help? Yes, thanks. It's my friend's birthday next week and he loves Japanese cartoon and comic books. But, to be honest I know very little about it! Could you help me to choose something he would like? No problem. I'm an expert in this area, which we call "Anime". "Anime"? Yes, I've heard my friend talk about this. I had no idea he meant cartoons! Anime began a long time ago, the first short pieces were made in 1917, but these were mainly folk tales. Nothing like the anime we get today. It then developed into western-style humour during the 1930s and then on to giants, robots and outer space adventures. Yes, my friend watched a cartoon about robots and strange cars and things like that. These types of anime are very popular nowadays, with both children and adults. He probably enjoys the ones which started in the 1980s and were made by Miyazaki and Takahata. These are the most popular ones. Have you heard of the movie Akira? That was made in 1988, and is still very popular today. Yes! My friend loves that movie.